How did you first find out what an actor was when you were a kid?

Were you the type of kid to always be scared by villains and monsters in plays and movies? Did your parents have to gently explain to you that they were just actors playing a role? Did you ever actually meet an actor and saw that they were just like you?

I think I may have seen some sort of play and, at the curtain call after the show, I saw that whoever was playing the evil characters were human as well and seemed relatively nice. I do distinctly remember watching Home Alone and being assured that Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern were nice people in real life and that they were just playing a role.