How to handle yourself in front of celebrities
I see it happen quite a bit. An intern or a PA will find themselves working on a set with a celebrity and they immediately come unglued.
“Oh my God!!!! I’m your biggest fan! Can I get a picture with you? Please!!!”
That phrase above, or anything like it, can be a real stinger to your career. Let me explain.
As a professional in this industry, we are held to a different standard than your average, everyday person. We come in conatact with a lot of famous people and we are expected to treat them with respect. In doing so, we create an atmosphere of calm and peace in their otherwise chaotic lives. When working on a set or on location with a production company, famous people look forward to interacting with us (the production professionals) without the crazy hoopla that comes with being famous. Think of it as their sanctuary from the rest of the crazy world.
However, when they are ambushed by an “adoring” fan on set – it becomes an annoyance and this is a problem. You see, when the talent is annoyed, the talent’s agent gets called. When the agent gets called, the producer hears about it. When the producer hears about it – you hear about it . . . and “it” is not pretty. So here are some rules to follow when working with celebrities on set.
Things to NOT do around celebrities
- Never ask for an autograph. If you really “must” have someone’s autograph, politely ask the person that hired you before you run up with your autograph book. Do it in a professional manner and expect a “no.” If you plan on doing this, be warned; it really does come off as cheesy to most of the professional world.
- Don’t gush on the talent. Phrases like, “I’m your biggest fan!” or “You’re film is my favorite film of all time!” put you in the “crazy fan” category to most celebrities. They don’t want to hear that you can recite their latest film word-for-word or that you own a copy of all of their albums – including the one that was only released in Sweden. This frightens them and puts them on edge with you.
- Never talk about anything from the gossip columns or tabloids. Please! For the love of God, don’t talk about anything personal with a celebrity – especially if it’s controversial.
- Don’t take pictures without consent. We all have camera phones. We all want to let our Facebook friends know about the cool stuff that we’re doing. But if you want to keep your job – and continue to get more jobs – never take a photograph without consent. I’m not talking about asking the celebrity for consent. Most times they are too nice to say no. This means you have to ask the person that hired you for the job. You know, the one person that might want to hire you again and pay you in American dollars. Don’t jeopardize future work over something so silly. (You’ll see another article about pictures on set later. Taking pictures is a HUGE problem, especially if the material is sensitive. Always ask permission!)
- Don’t stare. This one sounds so strange, I almost hate to type it out. Unfortunately, it happens so often that I can’t really believe it most of the time. When you stare at someone, it makes you look like a psychopath. I know that you can’t believe that you’re in the same room with (insert famous name here) and you can’t help yourself but please try to control your urges.
Three things to remember when celebrities are on set
- Ask the person that hired you if there is anything you need to know about working with the celebrity. Most of the time, there are no special restrictions and you are only asked to be professional. However, there are occasions where the celebrity has some specific rules. This can be as simple as “don’t talk to this person” or as weird as “don’t look at this person in the eyes.” If you respect your job, you’ll respect their strange requests.
- Be polite. This should be a given when dealing with anyone on a film or video set, but I wouldn’t be typing it if I didn’t see it with my own eyes.
- Treat them like everyone else. If you want to impress a celebrity, simply treat them like they’re one of the crew – an important member of the crew. You’ll find that they will open up and be more talkative with you if you aren’t throwing yourself at them.
The most important thing to remember here is that you are considered a professional when you step on set and you are expected to act as a professional. Keep these things in mind when working around celebrities and you will be just fine.
Photo courtesy: Dailymail
