Movie stars.

Some actors are movie stars.

You may be one now or in the future.

Most of what you need to learn as a movie star is different from what you’ve learned as an actor. They’re two – often overlapping – different jobs.

Everyone knows the things movie stars do. Interviews on talk shows, red carpets, posing for pictures, promoting movies, getting involved with social questions of the day, being famous. You know all this because of the massive attention given to them and that attention can be diverting.

As films are made collectively it’s a contradiction to make the individual – the movie star – the focus.

They carry a huge responsibility when they take on a movie. The biggest stars are referred to when people talk about the project. That’s the so-and-so picture.

It’s their movie.

To be the focus of a multi-million dollar project is a very definite kind of pressure. Not an easy or natural pressure to bear.

Today, with social media these famous people have a scrutiny the likes of which has never been seen before. 

Hollywood created this idea of the importance of individual actors as one of the means to garner more box office. It’s lasted until today.

One thing is for sure - you don’t learn how to be a movie star in drama school.

In the end, someone appearing in a movie is just an actor. Their actual importance to society is only as great as the truth of their character’s portrayal warrants.

Movie stars are an interesting phenomenon in your actor’s world.