Keeping stellar careers flying high

Stardom is such a prized but ephemeral state of being that show biz luminaries are constantly focused on trying to come up with projects that will keep their careers on an upward trajectory.

That’s a very tall order, given the intense efforts of other stars to do the same, but they sure give it their best shot—knowing full well that, in the entertainment biz, you’re only as good as your last starrer!

JULIA Roberts’ embarrassing flops made her rethink her thespic priorities in a radical way. Getty Images/AFP

Indeed, even the biggest stars have occasionally stumbled and fallen by the wayside and have been upstaged by younger luminaries.

Take Julia Roberts: She’s an A-list star but she’s fumbled with embarrassing flops like “Mary Reilly”—a dire defeat that made her rethink her thespic priorities in a radical way. She ended up starring in a smaller but more relevant movie, “Erin Brockovich”—and won prestigious awards that brought her back into the A-list limelight.

Ditto for John Travolta, whose past movies bit the dust so badly that it similarly forced him to refocus his career and play edgy roles in dark chillers like “Pulp Fiction,” which also boosted his thespic cachet and revived his stellar career.

Other stars can learn from these two leads’ bitter experience, and realize that just top-billing a series of “big” productions doesn’t guarantee a long and prosperous career.

Sometimes, looking for a small, unheralded but significant film with a lot of edge, bite and texture to it will do the trick!

Artistic perspicacity

That’s the big lesson very productively learned last year by Michael Keaton, Edward Norton, Emma Stone and the other stars of “Birdman,” who all got either awards or raves for their artistic perspicacity and spot-on good judgment.

Other stars on the lookout for career-reviving vehicles have been finding the solution in stage plays, which pay relatively little money, but give them the opportunity to stretch their wings, surprise their fans and show how versatile they can be!

BRADLEY Cooperap

For instance, Bradley Cooper has used his own money to put up a new staging of “The Elephant Man,” which has made him the hottest thing on Broadway. A Tony award may not be as big a deal as an Oscar, but it enables an artist to gain some real thespic “cred” and respect.

To make the stage production, even more amazing than the movie that won acclaim for John Hurt decades ago, Cooper sets up an “impossible” challenge for himself: Instead of portraying the contorted character with the help of prosthetics, he pulls it off with no help at all, just his amazing use of his body and face, to approximate the tormented protagonist’s disfigurement!

Finally, other major stars are now taking full cognizance of how huge the TV industry and its impact has become and have agreed to star in TV drama specials or series, which they used to eschew in the past, because it was “beneath” them.

The disdainful attitude has vanished, because some TV shows have become so good that they’re as substantial as mini movies!

In addition, TV shows are now produced not just by the major networks, but by other viewing “platforms” and screening services, so their options and choices have—exponentially increased!