Do Actor's truly have control over their lives?

In My Humble Opinion
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Ok first off I use Actor’s in the latest form of the word to include both males, and females.

The reason I ask is because most big superstar’s can not even venture into a store with out being mobbed by the teeming millions. Some who have the unfortunate appendage of the paparazzi can not get away period.

Thus making them live very secluded and under-the-rug type lives… To delve even deeper, does anyone think they are so cloak and dagger that their personality morays change and they actually think they are something they are not. Example: actor’s who think they are above the law, immune from harmful effects of drugs, or in some other way different from the populace at large?

I’m not necessaerily suggesting psychosis. But certainly disorderly.

So what do you all think? Do superstar actor’s really have control over their lives, or not. Pick your favorite and think about it?

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Here’s a hint: The plural of actor is actors.
The easy way to remember whether or not to use an apostrophe is When in doubt, thow it out! Lot’s of time’s writers’s put apostrophe’s where they don’t belong, but never do they leave them out.

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They’ve made the choices to get there, though they perhaps didn’t understand the consequences of what stardom might entail. And they also have enough money to shield themselves from their adoring public. And they can stop, and in just a few years they’ll become has-beens who won’t get mobbed anymore

So I’d say they way more control over their lives than you or I do.

4

Now, I don’t want to make light of the difficulties a famous actor can face, but…

Mel Gibson is a pretty huge star, right? Now, how much do you know about Mel Gibson’s private life?

Denzel Washington is a big star, too. Quick- tell me everything you know about his private life!

Ron Howard is one of the most successful directors in Hollywood. Do you think the papparazzi follow him everywhere he goes?

Bruce Springsteen is a pretty huge star, isn’t he? How often do you see his name in tabloids? How much have you read or heard about his private/family life in the last ten years?

Get the idea? Even if you’re a show biz mega-star, you can STILL fly under the media radar. MANY of the biggest stars in show biz are rarely mentioned in the National Star, never pop up on “Entertainment Tonight,” and seem to live reasonably quiet, relatively normal lives. Even the biggest stars don’t attract media attention where they’re doing ordinary things.

Yes, I know the media can be nosy and oppressive, but not as often as you think. Stars who REALLY want to avoid the spotlight can do it. And let’s face it, MANY of the celebs who weep and moan about how they can’t escape the media are the types who are always hanging out at hot, trendy nightclubs and going to high society parties! Itd doesn’t make sense to go to places where you KNOW the paparrazzi hang out and then complain that you can’t get any privacy!

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Well, crap. I wrote up a long response and the hamsters ate it.

In short:

astorian is correct about the “deal with the devil” many actors make in order to maintain their celebrity status.

To see how it works, look at the career of Jennifer Lopez. Her movies have been mediocre, her acting talents questionable (lately, anyway; the smoky charm she displayed in Out of Sight has apparently evaporated), and her movie-star status has been tenuous at best. Was Maid in Manhattan profitable because of J-Lo’s star power, or because there weren’t any other romantic fantasies in the marketplace at the time?

J-Lo has been fairly smart about manipulating the media in order to keep up her profile. I mean, look back at the Infamous Green Dress. The day before she wore it, nobody but a few movie and music geeks knew who she was. The day after, Instant Mega Star. She knew exactly what she was doing; she got on the cover of everything within a week.

Just a couple of weeks ago, she got more coverage for demanding a fleet of limousines to take her and her entourage of like thirty people on a trip of five or six blocks. Now, I suppose it’s possible that she’s stupid and self-centered enough to think that’s normal behavior. I find it unlikely, though, given the razor-sharp career management she’s displayed behind the scenes. I think it’s far more probable that she engages in this outrageous diva-style behavior because she’s well aware she can get all sorts of free publicity about it. That’s what being a big star is; we read about them all the time, and occasionally they put out an album or a movie. It’s death to their stardom if we forget about them between release of actual product. J-Lo knows this, and works it.

Of course, once you communicate to the Machine that you’re willing to feed it, it demands more and more, because it has a bottomless appetite. Us, People, Access Hollywood, all the tabloids, and on and on: they need material. The British tabloids in particular are so ravenous for celebrity gossip that they regularly make shit up. Just plain fabricate stories, in order to have something to print. Someone like J-Lo is a dream celebrity, as long as she’s willing to keep producing outlandish behavior for them to report on.

The tradeoff is that she gives up her private life. It’s how she chooses to maintain her celebrity status, and keep people interested in her movies. But based on astorian’s examples, that’s not the only way to do it. Johnny Depp, to name another option, moved to Paris. Nobody really bothers him there. Of course, he isn’t a big megastar like J-Lo or Leo, but that suits him just fine.

So there’s no way to generalize. Everybody does it differently. Some thrive, some self-destruct, some go into seclusion, some remain normal people. That last is rare, because how many of us could maintain an objective point of view when literally millions of people are fawning over us and telling us how smart and funny and beautiful we are? But it does happen.

Anyway, that’s my two cents. The version the hamsters ate was better. :mad: :rolleyes: :stuck_out_tongue: