How stars balance the fine lines between fame, privacy

By SAMANTHA ETTUS
Scripps Howard News Service
24-MAR-05

In the days of Greta Garbo, Katharine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart, celebrities were able to maintain a sense of mystery and inaccessibility, which perhaps enhanced their staying power. But those days are long gone, as celebrities face consumers with an insatiable craving for star sightings and gossip, and reality TV makes the game even tougher to navigate.

To stay hot, a celebrity must remain relevant by capturing a significant amount of media attention. As box-office stars like Meg Ryan and Tom Cruise have experienced, a successful career does not keep you top of mind.

Normally in Hollywood, you might as well be dead if you are not read, so let's check in on two celebrities who have managed to remain prominent while staying relatively private, and one who is in danger of failing to do so.

This week we take a peek at Ashton Kutcher, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Teri Hatcher.

Ashton Kutcher

After rising to fame on the offbeat TV hit "That '70s Show," Kutcher made a smooth transition to box-office success. Meanwhile, he created and now stars in and produces "Punk'd," his hit MTV show in its third season. The brilliance of "Punk'd" is twofold: Its unusual format enables Kutcher to capitalize on the reality-TV craze without subjecting himself to an intense personal spotlight; and because of the show's focus on pranking celebrities, he is "in" with stars from the music, film and TV worlds. While most celebrities must attend parties with peers to maintain their visibility, Kutcher interacts with a new set of celebrities each time he tapes his show, and getting "Punk'd" by Kutcher has become a badge of honor in Hollywood.

On the personal front (yes, he manages to keep them relatively separate), Kutcher's relationship with Demi Moore, 15 years his senior, could have sunk the 27-year-old. Instead, it has bolstered his celebrity status while reigniting hers. Despite its best efforts, the media has failed to poke holes in the companionship, and has now moved on to a voyeuristic yet supportive fascination with the pair.

Kutcher's new film, "Guess Who," opens this weekend. The comedy reprises legend Sidney Poitier's role in a comedic take on the classic, "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner."

Initial buzz on the film is good, and if Kutcher continues to manage his career intelligently, the buzz will be lasting.

Ashton Kutcher's Brand A$$$$ets

Teri Hatcher

After her stint in the Superman TV series, "Lois and Clark," and a handful of mediocre film roles, Hatcher faded into obscurity. But her starring turn in the breakaway hit "Desperate Housewives" has given her a new lease on fame.

Hatcher has tremendous opportunity in front of her, but she needs to manage it wisely. Her Golden Globe acceptance speech and overexposure suggest that these may be her 15 minutes of fame rather than the launch of a long string of successful years. In that speech, she exclaimed that she was cast by ABC at a time when, "She couldn't have been a bigger has-been."

While many felt inspired by Hatcher's self-deprecating confession, it had us wincing; it is hard to imagine a big-screen star like Nicole Kidman or Gwyneth Paltrow ever uttering words like this. If she wants a future as big as her present, Hatcher needs to manage the attention wisely and consider the longer path ahead.

Teri Hatcher's Brand A$$ets

Sarah Jessica Parker

By the time "Sex and the City" ended, Parker was overexposed, and at Celebrity Assets we had concerns that her three-year contract to be the face of the Gap would make the situation worse. But Parker kept a healthy distance from the limelight after her mega-hit series ended, and focused instead on husband Matthew Broderick and their new son. Now that "Desperate Housewives" has taken over where "Sex and the City" left off, we are ready for a Parker comeback. Her Gap deal is ending and her new deal with HBO to develop and produce programming couldn't be better timed.

We do have some questions about Parker's fragrance, due to launch this fall. With so many celebrity fragrances on the market it will be hard to distinguish hers from the pack. Then again, Parker has surprised us before.

Sarah Jessica Parker's Brand A$$$ets

Remember: The most dependable road to the top is to treat your brand as your greatest asset.

(Samantha Ettus is the author of "The Experts' Guide to 100 Things Everyone Should Know How to Do" (Random House). Contact her at Samantha(at)celebrityassets.com.)

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.shns.com)