Maybe I am misunderstanding you, but I actually met Hulk Hogan many years ago (we worked out together at the same gym while he was in town for a show). And he wasn’t putting on the act - we were working back at the same time and we traded sets for a while, and he wasn’t pushy or over-the-top - chatted away about nothing in between. And a kid (the son, I believe, of the gym owner) interrupted him in the middle and asked for an autograph. Which he did very graciously, adding some standard remarks about the kid’s homework and how important doing well in school was, and then signed the paper and the kid left, happy as a clam.
So he can manage to appear in public without being obnoxious - quite the opposite, in fact.
I’ve heard the same from somebody I knew who had met Hogan. He said that Hogan went by his real name (which is Terry Bollea) and made it clear that Hulk Hogan is just a character he plays.
But I think the point the OP was making is that there are some celebrities who always play their character when they’re at public events. Not that they’re playing the character twenty-four hours a day (unless they’re Leon Redbone apparently).
Sacha Baron Cohen seems like the kind of person who is always in character (although he has several to choose from). I’m trying hard to remember if I have ever seen him as himself.
[Joan Rivers] was playing a fully developed comic character in her shows and appearances. But I don’t think her comedy act was “herself unfiltered.” She was just that good–and always in character when in the spotlight. Outside the “biz,” I’m pretty sure she was much more human, with far more dimensions that her Hollywood persona. It’s called an “act.”
Speaking of wrestlers, there’s a whole genre of Mexican wrestler/superhero movies, mostly from the '50s through '70s, where stars like Blue Demon and Santo fight various monsters, vampires, mad scientists and whathaveyou. They never take off their wrestler’s masks, even when they are otherwise dressed in business suits or cowboy outfits, and they usually defeat the monsters through their “secret” wrestling holds.
He was before my time, but didn’t Jack Benny always perform as his persona of a miserly, vain, inept violinist? Did he do interviews and such in character? As I understand it, he was generous and kind in real life. And I presume he was actually a decent violinist, because, while anyone can be terrible, I imagine it takes skill to be humorously terrible.
Robin Williams always was in some character. Usually his own hyperactive comic one or a scripted drama character.
I recall being disappointed when he appeared on James Lipton’s Inside The Actors Studio. Its intended as a teaching device for Graduate Level performing arts students. Actors talk candidly about their training, early experiences breaking into the business, how they create characters and study a script, give advice on navigating a career in the performing arts. A fascinating study in how some of the greatest performers and directors sustained their long careers.
Robin came on. answered a handful of questions, and then went into his hyper comic act. Lipton wisely just tore up his question cards. Robin entertained that group of students for most of the hour. But that wasn’t why he was invited to appear. They weren’t there to see a comedy act. He just wasn’t comfortable dropping the mask and talking as himself.