SANDRA Bullock in a scene from “Gravity,” for which she got an Oscar nomination. AP
An old saw in show business goes this way: “You’re only as good as your last performance.” Another time-tested truism: “Stars don’t care what you say about them, as long as you spell their names right.” A third old chestnut wraps things up with: “Nobody ever went hungry underestimating the intelligence of the average show biz fan.”
Faced with this welter of contradictory “truths,” what’s a newbie or veteran to do? Above all else, he has to keep himself in the public eye because fans are notoriously forgetful and all too quickly transfer their allegiance to the next most available screen fave.
Given the innate impermanence of stardom, it’s a testament to some veteran stars’ creativity in self-promotion that, despite the “invasion” of much younger and hotter faves like Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry and Taylor Swift, they ended up among the most visible and audible newsmakers of 2013, by way of a wide range of ploys to keep viewers interested and excited.
Hot stars
It was her two hit films, “The Heat” and “Gravity,” that did it for Sandra Bullock. Angelina Jolie wasn’t busy on-cam, but her advocacies, including her “preventive mastectomy,” won her the grateful attention of the multitude. For Beyoncé, it was pretty much business as usual—until she launched multiple releases in one fell swoop, upstaging the competition—and leaving it holding the bag.
Two hot stars with similar names, Jennifer Lopez and Jennifer Lawrence, hit the headlines in instructively differing ways—JLo with her penchant for pushing the envelope by way of inspired self-promotion and self-reinvention moves, and J-Law with her precociously acclaimed portrayals, one of which was in “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire,” which also ended up as one of the “monster” hits of the year.
Oprah’s moves
Even the “dowager diva,” Oprah Winfrey, refused to be taken for granted and scored with her acclaimed portrayal in Lee Daniels’ “The Butler,” and in the hot exclusives she wrangled from the most controversial personalities.
Oprah seemed so controversy-driven by way of her interview specials that some observers felt she was intruding into the even more senior Barbara Walters’ turf.
Given this dynamic activity on senior players’ part, it’s no wonder that Miley Cyrus felt she had to do something really shocking to make people realize that she’s no longer Disney’s princess and is all grown up now. Her in-your-face antics at awards shows turned some people off in a big way, but she did end up as one of the year’s top female newsmakers—so, she must be doing something right!
Male stars
Male stars were less controversial in their promotional moves, with Brad Pitt mellowing as he turned 50, and Michael Douglas and Hugh Jackman getting temporarily sidelined by illnesses. Still, Tom Cruise ruffled some feathers in his insistent defense of Scientology, and Kanye West emerged as the year’s most loudly self-promotional and perhaps even delusional male celebrity!
Given this occasional loudness and vileness, it was a distinct relief to see George Clooney holding his own in terms of headline-hogging, by calling attention to himself not as a star, but as the producer of some very worthy films!