Stars Who Hate Being Famous
Celebrity life isn't all about million dollar paychecks. There comes a sacrifice in personal space, privacy, and just being normal that the average person takes for granted. Some stars seem to adapt to the spotlight well, or at least don't show their frustrations with being famous, but others are more than willing to share their horror stories of the downside of fame.
Harrison Ford
Everyone's favorite space smuggler comes off a bit sarcastic and dismissive at times, and it turns out there's a reason for it—Harrison Ford really dislikes being famous. Ford has gone on record saying fame and the ensuing loss of privacy is a burden. He says you can easily get a table in a popular restaurant based on your name, but what is that worth? To him, nothing, especially if he's going to have every camera and pair of eyes in the room aiming at him the whole time. He said all of this was unanticipated when he started his career and definitely nothing he ever wanted.
Daniel Radcliffe
Daniel Radcliffe had to learn from an early age how to deal with being scrutinized by the media and fans, who all want to know everything about him at every moment he's outside his front door. That kind of pressure is daunting for adults, and for a child it must be overwhelming. Luckily, Radcliffe has taken it in stride and done his part to keep his life normal.
For a period of over 5 months, Radcliffe would leave his home wearing the same clothes every time he went out. The result was that the paparazzi following him continuously wouldn't make any money, because their photos would always look the same and be worthless to magazines and websites that wanted new and fresh material. Excellent work, Mr. Potter.
Steve Ditko
Steve Ditko is a legend in the world of comic books, shoulder to shoulder with Stan Lee when it comes to influence. In fact, he worked with Stan Lee on a lot of the early Marvel creations, including the design of Spider-Man. But unlike Lee, who's always been the public face of Marvel, Ditko hated the limelight and went to extreme measures to never be involved. Ditko said in one of his rare interviews, "When I do a job, it's not my personality that I'm offering the readers but my artwork. It's not what I'm like that counts; it's what I did and how well it was done."
In 2007, Ditko was the subject of a film called "In Search of Steve Ditko" in which Jonathan Ross and writer Neil Gaiman try to track the legendary artist down. They did manage to find him, but even then he refused to be interviewed or appear on camera.
Dave Chappelle
To this day, people are baffled by the deal Dave Chappelle walked away from on Comedy Central to continue his hit series, Chappelle's Show. The network offered Chappelle $50 million, and in a stunning move he quit Hollywood altogether. For about 5 years, he flew under the radar and then slowly started returning to do very rare talk show and stand-up comedy appearances.
Chappelle explained in interviews that while he did enjoy some parts of the fame, but he didn't enjoy all of it. He now lives on a farm in Ohio with his family, and he still does random stand-up gigs, but it seems to be entirely at his leisure and usually at smaller venues.
J.D. Salinger
J.D. Salinger, the famous author of The Catcher in the Rye, is the quintessential reclusive celebrity. He started shying away from the public life back in 1951 after his novel was published. By 1980, he stopped giving interviews.
Most of what is known about the man behind the novel comes from a book published by his daughter, but the stories in it are so outlandish that most people are unsure whether or not they're real. According to his daughter, Salinger was a recluse who rarely went outdoors and lived in his own filth. Her brother publicly refuted most of her tales.
Jennifer Lawrence
Jennifer Lawrence hasn't been one to shy away from expressing her frustrations at being famous. In a number of interviews, Lawrence has spoken about how lonely she is and spends most Saturday nights home alone since guys apparently won't ask her out anymore.
As she pointed out in a Vogue interview, there's a difference between fame and anonymity. If she were a "regular" girl and strange men were camping on her yard, she could call the cops and have them removed. But because she's famous she's supposed to just accept this invasion of privacy as just a part of the job.
Zach Galifianakis
You might think perennial goofball Zach Galifianakis would be the sort of guy who enjoys the limelight and having fun, but he doesn't. During the press tour for Birdman, Galifianakis explained he's not interested in being a celebrity. He likes being an actor, but he'd rather just get the job done then go home and watch Lifetime—seriously.
Johnny Depp
Though he undoubtedly enjoys a lot of the perks that come with fame, Johnny Depp has also expressed his disappointment with its restrictions. As he told Today, he's never really gotten used to being famous and that it's like "living like a fugitive."
Depp went on to explain that his life is all based on strategy. If he wants to enter a hotel, there's a strategy to get in; if he wants to leave and go to a restaurant, he has to plan his way out. As for life with his family, Depp adds "If I want to take my kids to the mall or walk through Disneyland or ... just walk the streets even, that's out of the question. It just doesn't exist anymore." Don't be sad, Johnny, you made millions from being a pirate. You're living the dream!