Amid All That Chappell Roan Paparazzi Discourse, People Are Sharing The Celebrities They Think Have “Mastered The Art” Of Fame — And This Is Truly Fascinating

If your algorithm is anything like mine, you’ve probably seen this new video of Chappell Roan confronting paparazzi and fans outside a restaurant in Paris.

In the video, Chappell calls out the paparazzi and begins filming them on her phone, saying she feels “disregarded as a human.” “These are all the people who are completely disregarding all of my boundaries,” she said, filming a fan who was asking her to sign something.

This certainly isn’t the first time we’ve seen her express her frustrations with fame. Making her debut at the MTV VMAs in 2024, Chappell memorably yelled at photographers on the red carpet, later saying she found the experience “quite overwhelming and quite scary.” A month prior to this, in August 2024, she posted TikTok videos calling out “entitled” fans who ask her for pictures in public.

“I don’t want whatever the fuck you think you’re supposed to be entitled to whenever you see a celebrity,” she said. “I don’t give a fuck if you think it’s selfish of me to say no to a photo, or your time, or for a hug. That’s not normal. That’s weird! … I’m allowed to say no to creepy behavior, okay.”

With all this in mind, the latest clip of Chappell’s paparazzi run-in has sparked conversations about major celebrities and how it seems some stars are better at being famous than others. In light of this debate, one Reddit user asked people to share the celebs who they think have “mastered the art of being in the public eye.”

“I recently saw the Chappell Roan video with the paparazzi, and there was a lot of backlash in the comments about her not handling fame well or that we made the wrong person famous,” user sophiemophie421 began the thread. “I feel like a lot of celebrities today overshare their personal lives, which wreaks havoc on their careers and reputation. Who’s a celebrity that you’ve noticed seems to have it all figured out, or at least pretends to? Mystery and keeping people wanting seems to be the key to longevity in the entertainment industry, and I wanna know who you think has mastered it… I’m not saying Chappell Roan deserves to be criticized for what happened to her. It just made me think about how certain celebs seem to cope or navigate fame better.”

As the user clearly stated, the intention here isn’t to shame Chappell, particularly given how vocal she’s been about her mental health struggles. I personally love seeing her defend herself and establish boundaries in such an invasive industry! On the thread, fans have also suggested that “luck” might play a role in how celebrities are perceived by the public, and that is important to consider.

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So, as someone who finds celebrity stardom deeply fascinating, I thought this thread was really interesting — and I’d love to hear your thoughts on some of these responses. Let’s get into it!

Note: These are people’s own personal takes. Some of the text has been edited for clarity and length.

“Zendaya is everywhere, yet you almost feel like you never see her anywhere.”

—Optimal-Talk3663

“She has cultivated a professional persona that feels refreshing in a sea of terminally online Gen Z celebrities.”

—The_Duke_of_Gloom

“Couple/relationship-wise, Tom Holland and Zendaya have the ideal balance. They support each other and will acknowledge publicly, so you never have to wonder, ‘are they still together,’ but they won’t do daily Instagram stories about each other or sell their whole story. It’s the perfect balance of private but not secret.”

—BlueberryNo5363

“Doesn’t ever put her foot in her mouth. She isn’t always in the unwanted spotlight despite literally having a freaking theme park named after her. I think she is the perfect answer.”

—sophiemophie421

“Dolly Parton comes to mind because her public persona is basically drag, and she doesn’t get recognised without it. She has complete control over when and where she has to interact with people as Dolly Parton.”

—StormThestral

“She isn’t full of drama! She is humble about her fame and position and recognizes that fame and paps go hand in hand, which massively helps.”

—Mariashax

3. Ryan Gosling

“Ryan Gosling has maintained a good balance between being private and intentional with his publicity while still being down to earth and not taking himself or Hollywood too seriously.”

—Mabroon

“He’s still very active in promotion and keeps his face and name in the zeitgeist, but it seems to be always on his terms.”

—Natural_Error_7286

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“I forget that he is with Eva freaking Mendes because he keeps his family life very private, and rightly so.”

—merlotbarbie

4. Daniel Radcliffe

“The star of one of the biggest franchises ever, but has always kept a low profile. He figured out how to outsmart the paparazzi by wearing basically the same outfit for six months straight. The public and the paparazzi got bored with seeing the same thing, so he was left alone. No one even knew about his struggles with alcohol until he came out about it. He’s been able to gracefully control his public persona and not have it feel like it’s in a calculated or over-produced way either.”

—moebanks

“I think Daniel also got famous at a time when social media was just starting to blow up, and he made the wise decision not to make a lot of his life public there. He could’ve gone all in on being a figure in the public eye, but he definitely made the right choice.”

—merlotbarbie

“Had every excuse in the book to be fucked up. Probably the most famous child on the planet for the best part of a decade. Seems like a lovely, well-adjusted person.”

—lawdjesustheresafire

5. Amy Adams

“I feel like I don’t know anything about her except that she has deserved an Oscar many times over now!”

—Ancient-Leg-8261

6. Kendrick Lamar

“I feel like he is in it for the love of the game, and everybody loves him, so he doesn’t have to constantly grasp at straws to get people’s attention… It seems like the more talented and respected you are the more likely you can pull this off.”

—sophiemophie421

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“As we see him reach new levels of success, he still remains out of reach. His circle is tight and loyal, with nothing ever leaked. I don’t think that all people in the public eye who are overexposed are bad people, but I think that when you’re a solid person who treats the people around them well, it’s a lot less likely for them to have tabloid leaks/gossip.”

—merlotbarbie

“He just disappears for years, doesn’t speak much, and still remains relevant.”

—toastslapper

7. Jodie Foster

“For most of her life, she endured enormous scrutiny for being a child star, the Reagan assassination attempt, and finally all of the speculation about her sexuality. She seems to have been able to pick her own projects and her own path in life.”

—Lady_Libra

8. Lady Gaga

“She’s not super private, quiet, or exceptionally careful about maintaining a generally neutral public image. Lady Gaga doesn’t shy away from the public eye and has always been unapologetically outspoken, articulate, ‘controversial,’ a major fashion and artistic risk taker, etc. She’s truly mastered the art of curating her public persona, incorporating authenticity while remaining conscious of branding, marketing, and staying relevant. And maintaining that through her many evolutions: pop star in a meat dress to avant-garde artist to serious dramatic actor, and everything in between.”

—qlanga

9. Oscar Isaac

“Very private and keeps to himself. Also universally loved and not too overly-recognized.”

—souljaboy765

10. Mariah Carey

“Her celeb persona is just so opulent. Talented to the heavens, a stunner, absolute diva, loaded as hell and generational hater — the perfect woman lol.”

—Inside-Pepper-5988

“You won’t find a bad pap photo of her lol.”

—joshually

11. Christian Bale

“Christian Bale doesn’t do a lot of interviews to maintain a certain level of privacy for his private life. So I feel like he’s figured it out. He’s done quite a few high-profile roles. But his presence when it comes to interviews is minimalistic compared to other actors and actresses of a similar level of fame. He still does interviews, just not as much.”

—TheMysticalPlatypus

Related: 21 Actors And Singers Who Could’ve Been Way More Famous, But Actively Chose Not To Be

12. Cillian Murphy

“I honestly love his level of honesty, that he genuinely does not like being in the spotlight. I like that the only time you really see him excited is in an interview when someone asks about his favorite books. It seems very authentic.”

—TheMysticalPlatypus

“Cillian Murphy has managed to keep the attention on his performances and projects instead of his private life.”

—JackknifeJohanna

“His spirit just leaves his body every time he’s in public.”

—MistakesWereMade59

13. Beyoncé

“She grinded hard for publicity in the first half of her career and has mastered being completely private while still getting love and attention from her fans. Now she drops music or a haircare brand, and then goes back inside her house. Whenever she does pop out, it’s a whole hubbub because she’s usually inside most of the time.”

—lemonbottles_89

“So many celebrities are encouraged to give people access to themselves so they can market themselves and form parasocial relationships with fans to ensure long-term support, but Beyoncé has kept a wall up for decades, and it’s been to her benefit.”

—TamarindSweets

“As famous as she is, you never really get to see the real her, and she manages to keep her personal life pretty quiet, and the public sees only what she wants you to see.”

—itsfrankgrimesyo

14. And a bonus mention for this incredible answer…

“Think of all the people who are in world-famous bands but are not the famous frontman/woman. There are people like the members of Maroon 5 who aren’t Adam Levine, or of Arctic Monkeys that aren’t Alex Turner, who get to perform at the biggest venues around the world to enormous crowds, make presumably very decent money, but don’t have to deal with the madness of being famous and recognised wherever you go. You can afford an amazing life without the downsides that fame can bring (this is an assumption).”

—ilove_butter89

Oh, to be a member of Coldplay that isn’t Chris Martin…my dream job.

Is there anyone else you can think of who’s mastered the art of being a famous person? Let me know using the form below!

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