I think identifying with ourselves is supposed to be a given, but I don't entirely identify with myself. My body is wrong, my personality fluctuates. Some days I'm the greatest comedian, on my toes, everyone's laughing. I was a hit last night at prom, giving smiles away. But other times, I'm a lonely, depressed introvert. That doesn't feel like who I "should" be.
I don't consider actors "media persona" as I don't JUST watch their films. I investigate a lot more and try to understand their role in the filming industry, as ACTORS, not CHARACTERS. I try to understand their JOB, their actual OCCUPATION, not their "magic" or whatever it is that makes people so obsessed with actors. Their good looks or something? I don't know. But I am into acting as a profession that I take seriously and I resent that all actors are automatically "media icons" and no longer actual people.
You look at my signature and you see Elwood Blues, a character, playing his harmonica during a show. I see Dan Aykroyd portraying a character, thinking about his every move in his head to make sure he's portraying this character correctly, wearing the character's shoes and putting on a nicely made facade for the audience to enjoy. As soon as those cameras are off he probably shakes off the excitement of performing and moves on to whatever the next filming job he has to do is, or rests, or writes. Because he too is human and has an actual job. And performers are not up there just "faking" it. Not the good ones, anyway. There's a lot to performing.
