"She Was Actually Super Mean": People Who Knew Celebrities Before Fame Reveal What They Were Like

Imagining one’s self famous is a common fantasy, but in reality, it can be somewhat traumatic. Obviously, being a celebrity could help one fix a lot of financial problems. But fame and fortune are no protection against bad decisions in general. For example, actor Nicolas Cage ended up in over $14 million dollars of debt to the IRS after a long series of bad investments and excessive spending. 

While he has since cleared the debt, fame also brings with it some serious psychological risks. This is most visible with child stars, to the point that “child star” is synonymous with crazy. Many end up suffering from addictions and estrangement since they are often not able to socialize with their peers and just be a kid. Often they will feel a lot of resentment towards parents or guardians who forced them into the profession. So as nice as wealth is, it’s hard to put a price on mental health.

American journalist Rober Caro, when covering election cycles, once said “power doesn’t corrupt, it reveals.” If a person has the potential to be evil, conceited, or downright crazy, giving them power is a great way to find out. Most celebrities, outside of the so-called nepo babies, started as regular people. Fame gives one a lot of freedom to just do what they wanted to do in the first place.

Now that we’ve had multiple generations of celebrities, people are catching on to the pitfalls of fame. Some celebrities take conscious steps to stay grounded since stars often totally lose their connection with the average person. Some are very careful with money like actresses Kristen Bell and Halle Berry. Others take the advantages given to them by fame and turn it into a springboard for philanthropy, like Angelina Jolie who works with the UN Refugee Agency.

It’s particularly impressive when a celebrity who could theoretically retire at thirty instead chooses to regularly help people. Elton John, for example, started and still maintains an AIDS foundation and hosts an annual ball where he auctions off his own instruments to raise money for research and medication.