SHORT TAKES : Actress Is ‘Queen of Anonymity’

Isabella Hofmann says although millions of people watch her every week on the NBC comedy “Dear John,” she is the “Queen of Anonymity” when she walks down the street.

The actress, who plays Kate McCarron on the show about a singles’ support group, says in TV Guide that she never gets stared at or stopped for autographs.

To illustrate, she described a recent lunch with her manager in a trendy Los Angeles restaurant. The waitress said the restaurant owner wanted to send her a dessert on the house. Hofmann said she could not figure out why.

“My manager said, ‘Now Isabella, please. You’re in a hit show, and people just do this sort of thing.’ And I said, ‘No, you know how it is with me. No one ever recognizes me. Something’s wrong, you watch.’ . . . Then the owner came over and said, ‘Oh, I’m sorry. The waitress had the wrong table.’ ”