Most people fall into the fame game unexpectedly. Often they have a special talent that puts them in the spotlight whether it be in sports, TV, music or film.
I don’t know many people who actively pursue a career for fame alone. If they did then they would never make it. Fame is often a by-product of success or in some cases a necessity to achieve success.
Having worked with my fair share of ‘famous’ people I can tell you that most are incredibly uncomfortable with the fame game. Sure, they enjoy some of the perks but after experiencing the dizzy heights of fame, most would take the money and leave out the fame if given the choice.
The biggest downside to the fame game is that there is no off and on button. You can’t switch it off on a bad day. When times are good and the press positive, famous people will happily stand in the spotlight and do star jumps. But come tough times and negative press, the same people want to turn the light off and curl into a ball.
This inability to turn the light off still troubles the most experienced famous people, you only have to look at the Greg Norman / Chris Evert story. Greg has never had a problem using his fame to build a successful business empire and was more than happy to tell the world about his new relationship (picture Greg under a spotlight doing star jumps) but then it broke down. Suddenly a relationship that was everyone’s business, is now no ones business according to Greg. The game doesn’t work that way.
The point I’m trying to make is this. Whether you’re already famous or you’re chasing a career with the potential to be famous, you gotta realise that the light stays on through the good, bad and the downright ugly. If you can accept this as reality and you are comfortable to wear the consequences in the tough times then go ahead and turn that light on.
