Pros & Cons Of Being Famous

You will always pay a price for becoming famous, and the more famous you become, the higher the price you will have to pay,
especially for privacy security, and so much more.

While being famous can allow you to fulfill your dreams, travel the world, shop till you drop and even help your close family and
friends financially, there will be times you won't be able to leave your home. Your cars, homes and phones may be bugged.
Tracking devices may be hidden in your cars, bikes following your every move.

You will need to relocate, perhaps with all your family to a more secure location to avoid the paparazzi or other strangers who will
be right up-in-your-face or hiding behind bushes following and documenting your every move. They will go through your trash.
They will always be there to follow your rise to and, sometimes, your fall from fame. They will be there until the day you die and
trust me, when they take your picture they're not always looking for the most flattering shots.

People may hate you for a character you may have played or portrayed. They may despise you for whatever reason. While some
fans may love and adore you, others may stalk you or camp outside your home. They will often pester you for your autograph.
You may be tailed day and night by strangers, aka fans and the paparazzi, aka stalkarazzi forever.

It's getting much harder for famous people to have privacy these days especially when almost everyone carries a mobile phone
with video recording capabilities which will capture your every move and actions. Finding people to trust is difficult and you'll
soon know who your true friends are because the rest would sell you out at a price. There's no going back.

Once you are famous your celebrity status will rise and fall. Take a look at those who achieved the 'A' List before they fell to the
'Z' List. Today they're always trying to find tips and tricks to get back on the A List again. Others get there via sex and drug
scandals, sex tapes leaked on the Internet or by fighting with other celebs or even with the paparazzi just for the attention/press
exposure. They will simply do whatever it takes to be regain their fame.

Having a good agent, a manager and a publicist always helps and what helps most of all is talent. Once you are famous, the
celebrity lifestyle is awesome - you rub shoulders with the rich and famous, shop till you drop with designer cloths, flash cars,
jewelry, and have power beyond your wildest dreams; but most famous people would throw away their celebrity/famous status
purely for a more peaceful and private life.

Most famous people will have other skills, jobs or a business as another source of income because they know fame can last for just
15 minutes. When you're famous you never know what's around the corner: you may fall out with your manager, work or band-
mates, an injury could ruin acting work, you could lose your voice or even (lose) your marbles. These are a few reasons why fame
does not last and pay for everyone all the time so think about what you really want to do. You can still be very rich and successful
and still rub shoulders with the rich and famous without the fame, but that's another story.

David Duchovny balances pros, cons of fame (an interview)

When David Duchovny heard the shocking news of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, he said, his first reaction was to assume
that the circumstances of her tragic accident would lead to a positive change in the way the paparazzi covered celebrities.
Two weeks later, the handsome star of the TV mega-hit "X- Files" and the new movie "Playing God," which opens Friday, knew
his initial reaction was wrong. "There are so many wonderful things about the job I have. The part I don't like is the trivialization
of what is important to you, such as your family and your emotional life."
He came to that conclusion as he maneuvered his speeding car through the streets of Burbank and Los Angeles. He was being
chased by a carload of photographers who had followed him after his appearance on Jay Leno's talk show.

"It took me an hour to lose those people who were tailing me," a disgusted but resigned Duchovny said after the incident as he
rested in his suite at a trendy West Hollywood hotel.

"I can't believe that I actually believed that Diana's death would change things. I was naive."
Duchovny, 37, has learned a great deal about the downside of fame since his marriage in May to actress Téa Leoni, the 31-year-
old star of the NBC show "Naked Truth." Both actors were extremely popular with the media before the wedding, and their union,
in a secret ceremony attended by a few family members at a Greenwich Village church school, triggered a tabloid feeding frenzy.

"I was prepared for the scrutiny because people have been writing about me since the success of `The X-Files,' but I was not
prepared for the actual imposition into my private life. I was not prepared for being chased down the street.
"We were married in New York, and I wanted to show Téa my hometown. I wanted to show her the places I grew up. I wanted to
show her the places that meant so much to me.

"But they wouldn't let us out of our hotel," he said. "We felt like rats in a cage. Their response, of course, is that we shouldn't hide; that we
should be like the old- timers who cooperated and posed for photographs. They say that if we just cooperated, they would go away. But they
don't go away. After you're done posing, they jump in their cars and follow you." Duchovny said he fully understands that this type of intrusion
is the price of his celebrated position, but that doesn't mean he approves of it or has to like it.

"There are so many wonderful things about the job I have," he said. "It is creative and challenging, I am extremely well-paid and
I met a wonderful woman through this business. The part I don't like is the trivialization of what is important to you, such as your
family and your emotional life.

"It's a weird feeling. As a public person, it's your responsibility to come to terms with it. You have to stop wanting the approval,
which makes you care about what people say about you. But I want people to like my work. I do care what people say about me. I
wish I didn't care so much." Although his educational background is rich with private schools and Ivy League colleges,
Duchovny described his family's economic status as "lower middle-class." He grew up in a house near 11th Street and Second
Avenue in lower Manhattan and attended those private schools on scholarship.

His parents — his father is a Brooklyn-born writer and his mother a Scottish schoolteacher — emphasized education, and their
son responded. He received an undergraduate degree in English literature from Princeton and a graduate degree from Yale and
was well on his way to earning his doctorate when he quit to pursue acting. By the way, the title of his dissertation was going to
be "Magic and Technology in Contemporary American Fiction and Poetry." For some reason, he thought chasing aliens would be
more fun.

"First of all, I was a long way from getting that doctorate," he said. "People make it like all I had to do is write this little paper.
The second misconception is that I just went into acting with no warning. That's not true. I had already started acting and was
doing both while still in school."

The 6-foot-1-inch actor did stage work until making the move to films. He made brief appearances in "New Years Day" and
"Working Girl" and was first noticed in the cult TV hit "Twin Peaks," in which he played the transvestite FBI agent
Dennis/Denise Bryson. More feature films followed, including "Kalifornia," "Chaplin" and "Beethoven," but it was his role as
the alien-chasing FBI agent in "The X-Files" that made him a star.

"My manager sent me the pilot script of "The X-Files" and said, "I know you don't want to do any TV, but you really should read
this script." My agent, on the other hand, didn't think I should do another TV series.
"I have forgiven both my manager for wanting me to do the show and my agent for not wanting me to do the show."

The reason for the conflict, Duchovny said, is that he loves the series, but the heavy workload is taking its toll. The long
workdays in Canada, where the series is filmed, have become arduous, particularly since his wedding. His wife's show is shot in
Los Angeles, and Duchovny reportedly has asked that his show's location be moved so he can be closer to his wife.
"Let's put it this way," Duchovny said. "Each morning, I drive to work with my dog, Blue. When we get to within a half-mile of
the set, she starts jumping up and down and getting all excited. I start getting depressed.

"I'm trying to learn from her," he added. A movie based on "The X- Files" will be released in the summer, and Duchovny said
that might be the last we see of the quirky Agent Mulder. He said TV work is too demanding, and he expects to concentrate on
films. What we probably will see more of after "The X-Files" has gone off the air is Duchovny in roles such as the one in
"Playing God." He plays a discredited physician enticed back into medical service by a mob chieftain, played by Timothy Hutton.

"The character of the mob doctor is always a minor character in films, and this is the first time this character has been the star,"
the actor said. "For that reason alone, I thought it was a part worth playing.
"I don't know if you could call it a career strategy, but I want to play more of these kinds of roles. I don't want to be in the `Men in
Black' and `Batman' type of roles. I don't want to carry a film that people expect to make $100 million.
"Id rather be in a small, interesting film that has a chance of making $15 million and still be considered a success."

Duchovny is considered quite the dreamboat, in and out of cyberspace. Legions of admirers praise his good looks on various Web
sites devoted to him — they're called "hormone brigades" — and his familiar face adorns countless magazine covers. He is your
basic stud. The only person who doesn't get it is Duchovny. When he gets up in the morning and looks in the mirror, Duchovny
says, he sees the same flaws he has seen his whole life. "I have so many flaws, but I won't tell you what they are because then
people will start looking for them.

"Believe me, there are plenty of flaws in this face. And my body is starting to go. I feel like the Terminator sometimes; every
time I move, my body clicks.

"But the good thing about this whole obsession with looks is that it always fades. That's the justice of looks; they fade.
"I'm just glad that whatever I've got, it was good enough to attract someone like Téa Leoni."