Thursday, February 19, 2009

Excerpts from my new book The Cult of Celebrity, Part 4


Actor, author, and musician Stephen Collins from 7th Heaven dishes on a certain JT lover he knows....

“I’ve known and worked with countless huge stars and found that they can pretty much all be divided into two groups: those who—at least subconsciously—desperately need the ego gratification that comes from being noticed wherever they go, and those who get over themselves and move quietly through the world attracting little attention. It’s a conscious decision that one has to make.”

Collins goes on to recall:

“I worked with Robert Redford when he was pretty much at the height of his fame. He just walked down Fifth Avenue in New York, and there’s something about him that says, ‘Yeah, it’s me. No big deal. You don’t have to make a fuss.’ No bodyguards, no entourage. And people left him alone. I’ve known others, who shall remain nameless, who just seemed to invite people to notice them and make a fuss. I mean, if you walk around the streets of Manhattan with a phalanx of bodyguards, as I once saw a big star do—six bodyguards surrounding him—people wonder who the hell it is and need to know, to see more, to get closer.”