I laughed when I was reading the transcript of this Zoom interview of Sharon Stone for her newly published memoir with an interesting title of “The Beauty of Living Twice.” Sharon was not exactly my favorite, perhaps because her hairdo in the movie Basic Instinct (I like hairs to the shoulders) but that did not matter and would not affect me liking her book.
What I found funny was that after Sharon realized how big a hit the Basic Instinct was and felt sick or dry-heaving (I did not know this word before and had to Google it this morning), her male friend offered counseling for some “rules of fame.” One of the things he told Sharon — and I will never forget this from now on — was “to pay for anything under a hundred dollars with a check because people won’t cash the check. They’ll want your autograph.”
Surprising but true if you think about it. Having a superstar’s personal check and her own signature is something not everyone is capable of bragging about in life. The superstar was paying the goods by her/his fame, which could mean a higher value than dollars — at least to some people. This makes a win-win scenario and everyone is happy.
Today’s technology would perhaps allow a different solution: The recipient of a celebrity check could take a photo of the check with her /his smartphone, and still cash the real check. However, we must admit that a photo copy of the check is not the same as the paper check. So some may still keep the real check.
I was also impressed by her experience as a celebrity from nowhere: “When I was at Elton John’s wedding, someone said to me, ‘Clark Gable didn’t come from Park Avenue, Sharon. We’re all just a bunch of kids from nowhere who had a dream and look where we are.” But that is the beauty of America, where it is still theoretically speaking possible that everyone could make it up to the “fame land” someday, somehow. The most important thing is to have a dream and keep trying to reach it.
The best dream is not so much about making it to fame and fortune, but to serve the society and help others, and do it in your unique way.
Even Celebrities Get Nervous
Celebrities are just like us. They could get nervous when they see other celebrities. I was laughing out loudly when I read this report in People magazine about an interview of Warren Buffett talking about when he encountered a moment of being in the same room with Princess Diana: “‘I was in a room alone one time with Princess Di at a party. Somehow we find ourselves in this library,’ he said. ‘In 15 minutes, I don’t think I could take it. I had trouble remembering my name, I couldn’t figure out anything to say, and it was a total disaster.’” It’s so funny to hear from one celebrity talking about the awkward experience of interacting with another celebrity — when we thought celebrities should never be nervous! What makes it funnier is that Buffett was an old man, in his 80s I think, and yet he still was nervous meeting a pretty lady, even to the point of forgetting his name!
The whole world is just a huge theatre and we ordinary folks as well as the celebrities all watch each other out — sometimes closely and nervously!