17 Celebrities Talk About The Downsides Of Being Famous

Jennifer Lawrence is forever associated with the Hunger Games, but that doesn't mean her role as Katniss Everdeen defines her. Most celebrities find it challenging — if not impossible — to retain some level of normalcy once their face becomes an international icon. 

As such, Lawrence took a much-needed break from the spotlight, telling BuzzFeed News, "I got to feel like I could become a part of the world again without fanfare. Literal fanfare.” According to Marie Claire, Lawrence explained she is:

 A lot more closed off and frankly probably rude… I mean, I’m from Kentucky. I used to be very personable and make eye contact and smile at people, and now all I do is look down. When I’m at dinner and one person after another keeps interrupting to take pictures, it’s like, ‘I can’t live like this.’

Danielle Radcliffe might be the face of Harry Potter, but the unprecedented level of success took a toll on the actor. He turned to alcohol as an attempt to deal with the stress. In an extremely candid interview (“Off Camera With Sam Jones"), Radcliffe explained how fame can affect a person — especially a young person. 

Reflecting on the struggles he faced in his “late teens,” Radcliffe explained, 

Again it could have largely been in my head but…you would feel watched when you went into a bar, when you went into a pub.  Then, in my case, the quickest way of forgetting about the fact that you were being watched was to get very drunk and then as you get very drunk, you become aware that, oh people are watching more now because now I’m getting very drunk, so I should probably drink more to ignore that more.

Johnny Depp is no stranger to being in the spotlight, most notably for his public defamation trial with ex-wife Amber Heard. Not only was Depp involved in a trial, but it's also a Netflix limited series — proof of just how all-consuming fame is. Depp has commented on fame and being in the spotlight throughout the years, not holding back on how it has affected him. 

He explained to James Mottram of Metro,

The thing hits you and then you can’t go anywhere without people looking at you…The first thing that’s really mad is to expect anyone who’s lived in that kind of situation to be anything remotely close to normal… How do I live? I live behind windows. I live behind car windows, train windows, plane windows, hotel room windows… F***ing windows!

Brad Pitt is one of the most well-known actors in Hollywood. From movies such as Fight Club, Thelma & Louise, Troy, and more, Pitt quickly realized that fame wasn't all it was cracked up to be. It's easy to think that a celebrity would clamor for attention, but some people simply find it too overwhelming. According to People magazine, Pitt said, 

In the ’90s, all that attention really threw me. It was really uncomfortable for me, the cacophony of expectations and judgments. I really became a bit of a hermit and just bonged myself into oblivion.

Actress Mila Kunis has spoken out about fame and its negative effects on both her and her family. At one point, tabloids erroneously reported on the status of her pregnancy, causing her parents and grandparents to needlessly worry. This speaks to the way fame negatively affects celebrities and those around them, something taken for granted or not often acknowledged. According to Kunis in an interview for Cosmopolitan, 

The only thing that's upsetting is my parents and my grandparents sometimes get confused… At one point when I was pregnant, [the tabloids] said that I had an emergency and was rushed to the hospital, and my face was on the cover. The amount of stress that caused my family, nobody will understand.

Kurt Cobain is one of the most notable celebrities who has spoken out about the downside of being a celebrity. Before rising to unprecedented levels of fame as the lead singer of Nirvana, Cobain was unhoused, his tenacity on display as he worked tirelessly to become Seattle's most iconic grunge rocker. 

Although his relationship with fame teetered on love/hate, he spoke freely about the burdens of his celebrity and subsequent media-induced abuse. Cobain said to Pleasant Gehman in 1992,

It's amazing the sh*t people can get away with. I don't understand. If I had known about all this crap, I would've thought twice about putting myself in the public eye so much. I had no idea people could abuse you so much.