ACTORS ON MOVIE SETS ARE THERE TO ACTUALLY WORK – OBS SPEAKS OUT
By OBS Staff Member ifellhard
Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart were out in Vancouver to film a scene at the Orpheum Theatre last week for “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn”. Needless to say, word got out and fans were out to catch a glimpse of the stars of the Saga. Many in the crowd took to their social media sites to complain that the actors went out of their way to avoid the fans in the crowd and one fan tweeted:
“I don’t understand the effort Rob and Kristen make to avoid fans & photogs. I get the privacy but do they get who pays their salary? Giveback.”
(Source)
Statements like this absolutely irritate me to no end for so many reasons.
While I understand why fans would be excited about seeing the actors out and about, let’s put this into perspective. The actors are there to actually perform a job. ..acting and filming the scenes for the movie that we will later pay to go see. We, the fans, pay to see the FINAL PRODUCT, not the making of the film. At this point, the only one paying their salary is the studio.
If Rob and Kristen (or any other actor in any other film) were to take the time to stop and meet and greet with the fans, they would be holding up production and the studio would be losing money. It is simple project management – when something interrupts a step in the process for the project, it throws everything else off kilter. Let’s not forget that the studio is paying someone for the time to rent the venue where they are shooting and there is also the fact that there are dozens of other people on the set who are getting paid to be there (some of whom are being paid by the hour). The actors were at WORK, not a press event or fan convention. They should not be expected to grace us with an autograph and photo session when they are at work. If they were to treat every shoot like a red carpet event, production would be so far behind schedule that we would end up having to wait even longer for the film to hit theaters.
Have these fans forgotten the drama that they and the paparazzi caused during the filming of “Remember Me” in New York just a couple of summers ago? The paparazzi hovering around the outdoor sets led to director Allen Coulter to unleash on them because they were messing up his shots. Rob was even grabbed by a fan on his way to shoot a scene. The overzealousness of the fans created more work for the actor that they were there to see.
This tweeter stated, “I get the privacy but do they get who pays their salary?” Allow me to make this clear, we do not pay the actors to entertain us in person! In fact, we don’t pay them at all. The studio which has the contractual relationship with the actors pays them. We pay to see the fruits of their labor on the screen. We buy the DVD and allow them to live their lives as they see fit. If they want to be reclusive, let them. Just because we are huge fans and they are in a blockbuster film with an enormous fan-base, we should not expect them to do something outside of their comfort zone just because we paid $10 to see their movie. They are NOT at our beck and call. This kind of logic leads us to believe that customers at a restaurant have the right to request things outside of the normal scope of employment from their servers while dining or that flight attendants should be doing something other than keeping travelers safe and comfortable onboard airplanes. I think that I’ll ask my flight attendant to play cards with me the next time I fly because I’m paying their salary!
Do these fans really “get the privacy” as was stated in the tweet? Imagine going from being a virtual nobody to one of the most sought-out celebrities in the world. You used to be able to walk down to your local Starbucks without anyone bothering you and now you can’t even drive yourself around town because you’re being tailed by someone all of the time. You can’t go out to pick up your newspaper, to walk your dog, get your mail, or go to the gym without someone taking a picture (and Heaven forbid you’re caught without your contacts in or makeup on). Imagine being prone to panic attacks and having dozens (if not hundreds or thousands) of people screaming at you and reaching out to touch you. Does the fact that someone’s a fan who bought tickets to your movie easy that anxiety for you? Try going to work one day and as you’re getting into the zone to do your job, a dozen or so people that you don’t know just show up and ask you to do something just for them, interrupting your work day.
Yeah, I get it. You waited for a chance to touch Rob’s beautiful hair and take a picture with him, and you got dissed so now you’re disappointed. So what? Grow up and get over it. Claim your spot on for the red carpet premiere or buy your ticket for a Twilight Convention and see them when their purpose for being there is to say hello and thank you for your support.
What do you think? Do these disgruntled fans have a legitimate case? Should the actors stop and pose for pictures and sign autographs just because the fans camped out for hours for the chance to see them or are they overreacting? Join us in the forum and share your thoughts. We'd love to hear you speak out! Links to source and other references in the news blog:
http://openbooksociety.com/article/actors-set-work-obs-so-3-24-11
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