Watching the newest episode of The Mentalist reminded me of a funny story.

Last week at work, I was at the museum when the following happened:

Actor Owain Yeoman, who plays Wayne Rigsby on The Mentalist (which films at the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, CA), was in the museum. He was there with some friends and family members. His wife, the beautiful and talented Lucy Davis, was there with him. She’s a doll, by the way, totally unassuming and so cheerful.

Owain was in costume that afternoon, which means he pretty much looked like a business man on a break (no jacket). He didn’t really stand out that much from anyone else in the museum, except that he’s strikingly tall and thin, not to mention quite handsome.

Perhaps it was the way he was chatting and laughing with his posse, or maybe it’s just his natural, easygoing manner, but there’s nothing really about Owain that screams “celebrity.” So most people probably wouldn’t pick him out as an actor, let alone as one of the stars of TV’s highest-rated dramas (Biased opinion? Not really. Well, maybe just a little.).

Anyway, after perusing the first floor of the museum, Owain, Lucy and their family and friends headed to the second floor to check out the props and costumes from all the Harry Potter films.

At the museum, there are security officers on both floors, wandering around to make sure no one messes with the props or costumes. There are also docents, retired employees, who volunteer a morning or an afternoon to spend in the museum, answering questions from guests about Warner Bros. The docents are our link to the past, some of them having been at Warner Bros. since the days of Jack Warner.

When one of the docents saw Owain showing his friends and family the Harry Potter exhibit, she became quite concerned.

Approaching one of the security guards, she whispered, “Is he allowed to have a gun in here?”

I guess she’s never seen The Mentalist.

The gun is just a prop, ma'am.