By SARAH HAMPSON
Saturday, October 4, 2003 - Page R3
TORONTO -- 'In Hollywood, you can walk into a room and people will be interested in you whether or not you're deserving, simply because you've been on the screen. That's an odd psychological state to deal with. It's hard not to think you're the most interesting person in the room."
Eric Stoltz rolls his eyes skyward as he says this. Don't ask how we got onto the subject of the psychology of fame. We are having a kaleidoscopic conversation. There are little bits of everything in this hour: his vegetarianism, his love of film, why he is still single at 41, why it bugs him people care. He keeps changing the pattern and the tenor of the discussion, to add more colour, some sparkle; to offer a series of brief perspectives on his life as director, actor, producer and sensitive guy in search of himself.
Oh yes, it felt like a therapy session -- an interesting one, mind you, because it gave some insight into what it's like to have the world think you're fabulous, in case you didn't know.
Celebrities, at least the ones I've interviewed, can be roughly categorized into a few convenient groups. There are the types like Peter O'Toole or Frankie Avalon, who see fame as an entitlement, even though they haven't done much to deserve it for, say, 30 years.
Then there are the prepackaged, like Faith Hill, for example, who knows what she is allowed to talk about: in her case, her dishy husband, Tim McGraw; her ideal family life with three children; that big ol' canary-yellow diamond ring winking on her wedding finger; and her music -- because she has a team of flacks, hovering in the background, to guard against off-image questions.
And then there are the Eric Stoltz types, for whom fame and even film itself is an existential exercise.
"I'm interested in and thrilled when I see film that captures a moment of accidental connection, whether it's with words or behaviour," he says, as he gazes out his hotel room window into clouds and air. "It's magical to me and it takes my breath away. There's always the possibility of having a visceral response to something you see in film, and when that happens, there's nothing like it in the world. It's what we aim for. A brief moment of transcendence."
Stoltz is all about the work -- the search for meaning in it. As a result, he is almost apologetically famous.
"I'm sure I've been caught up in my own bullshit in the past and I'm sure I will again. I've been doing this [work as an actor] for more than 20 years or so, and you can't help but notice how ridiculous and wonderful a profession it is.
"I try to deal with it as gracefully and quietly as possible," he says of his celebrity. "It's a gift, but it's a gift that's wrapped in barbed wire. I'm not complaining," he quickly adds, suddenly aware of not wanting to sound peevish, "because my fame is minuscule. I've been around people who are hugely famous and they can barely function in public, and that's debilitating."
His level of fame, he says, is "by choice and by fate."
Continue reading ...