Miranda July on creating versus the urge for fame
In a recent interview [Miranda Writes, by Scott Indrisek, Radar Magazine], writer, actor and director Miranda July refers to making an upcoming book based on to her web project, Learning to Love You More, and finding many creative projects submitted by “ordinary people.”
“I assume that not everyone is trying to be a famous artist,” she says… I think there’s wanting to make things, and then there’s this sort of other thing, of desperately needing to be seen and acknowledged.
“Life is easier if you don’t have the latter. I know a lot of artists who have that to a lesser degree than me - and it’s amazing, a little calmer. Their work’s getting out there, but it’s not compelling their every move in a way that I feel like it oftentimes is for me… that kind of loneliness that’s making me really need to keep putting myself out there.”
Web project: Learning to Love You More
Miranda July was writer, director and star of Me and You and Everyone We Know, and her new book is No One Belongs Here More Than You: Stories.
Although being in a career that involves more attention than most, many actors are actually shy, such as Melanie Lynskey, who admits she doesn’t like attention, as she notes in my Inner Actor post Hating the attention.
And as I note in my article The Dark Side of Fame, many creative people actively pursue fame, or at least endure it, as a way to advance their careers. But fame may also be driven by hidden emotional needs, and can lead to harmful expectations and distorted thinking on both sides.
[Photo: Charlize Theron on a red carpet.]
Related page: Fame and celebrity.
