Anonymous wrote:Dave Grohl seems like a dude you'd want at your cookout.

I know Dave Grohl and his family well. I taught with his mom in Fairfax County public schools. He is exactly that guy that you’ve seen in interviews, etc. Not a mean nor arrogant bone in his body. He is a total mensch.

Anonymous wrote:Going to add Stephen Colbert. I went to the same university at the same time though we didn't ever meet there. But I know people who knew him in the years post-college and who still know him now, and they say he's thoughtful, intelligent, genuinely nice. And his marriage, kids and religion ground him in a big way. I think it helps when celebrites, comedians or actors have solid marriages or partnerships with people who have known them a long time--since before fame.

True. I have friends who go to church with him and it's no big deal.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So many of the 90s kids, like the ones on “The Wonder Years,” turned out just fine. They all went to college. The kid who played Paul is a practicing and successful lawyer. Mayim Bialik has a PhD in neuroscience. Candace Cameron is always working. I’d say they’re all highly functioning. I’m thinking the show runners were careful about psychologically screening the children, but then again the Olsen twins were to young and they function just fine, you.

Ummm…I think Fred Savage was let go as producer of the newer Wonder Years because he was accused of behaving improperly? The 1990s was really not the height of safety for child actors in Hollywood.

You’ve got to be kidding. He was 16 at the time of the alleged improper behavior (the accuser was an adult) and then he went on to graduate from Stanford.

If you believe he got let go because of her accusations, I have a bridge I can sell ya, too.

I haven't read the whole thread but I thought that Pierce Brosnan was the poster child for someone who stayed married for thirty years even though his wife got fat, making him normal, I guess. But isn't he a trump supporter or something?

Anonymous wrote:Adding on Kate Winslet.

The answer seems to be to be British.

Anonymous wrote:So many of the 90s kids, like the ones on “The Wonder Years,” turned out just fine. They all went to college. The kid who played Paul is a practicing and successful lawyer. Mayim Bialik has a PhD in neuroscience. Candace Cameron is always working. I’d say they’re all highly functioning. I’m thinking the show runners were careful about psychologically screening the children, but then again the Olsen twins were to young and they function just fine, you.

Ummm…I think Fred Savage was let go as producer of the newer Wonder Years because he was accused of behaving improperly? The 1990s was really not the height of safety for child actors in Hollywood.

So many of the 90s kids, like the ones on “The Wonder Years,” turned out just fine. They all went to college. The kid who played Paul is a practicing and successful lawyer. Mayim Bialik has a PhD in neuroscience. Candace Cameron is always working. I’d say they’re all highly functioning. I’m thinking the show runners were careful about psychologically screening the children, but then again the Olsen twins were to young and they function just fine, you.

Mick Jagger actually seems grounded given the fact that he's been insanely famous for decades and remains good humored and has never gotten into serious woe. Same with Paul McC.

Adding on Kate Winslet.

Anonymous wrote:Celebrities who volunteer off camera. My company has a big volunteer day every year and I happened to be in LA for it one year. As we were gathering with my work group, this a-list actor walks by, greeting the workers by name. He picked up a pair of gloves and got to it.

The point of this thread is to name names!!

Celebrities who volunteer off camera. My company has a big volunteer day every year and I happened to be in LA for it one year. As we were gathering with my work group, this a-list actor walks by, greeting the workers by name. He picked up a pair of gloves and got to it.

Anonymous wrote:Doubtful. The kind of person who pursues that sort of constant visibility and fame isn’t well adjusted with good values. I’m not sure why that isn’t obvious. It’s like running for president—the kind of person who thinks they should rule over everyone else isn’t well adjusted with good values. The megalomaniacs, narcissists, borderline personalities, and pathologically avaricious among us do better in the limelight. You don’t want those people hanging around the office and they typically cause chaos in normal settings. The well regulated, securely attached, high values people of the world do better in private and mundane pursuits. Both types of people have their place in the world.

You assume that they are in it for the visibility primarily. But consider that so many celebrities become who they are because they happen to be so gifted in something, so willing to work hard for it, and visibility comes as a result of this, not a primary goal. Like if you look at classical pianists, you get a sense that even if they were locked up in a room, they'd still play because there is an inner urge to play. Do you think David Beckham would want to keep playing if there was no one to watch him? Would Michelle Kwan keep skating in an empty rink? Maybe not but maybe they like the game so much that they would. Like do you think Paul McCartney became a global superstar because he was after the fame or because his music was so damn good? (and by all accounts he is normal ish).

I think it's hard for them to stay normal even if they start out this way because the fabric of their lives becomes organically ....abnormal, or at least far removed from the usual.

First, the constant attention.
Second, never having to wait for anything, and resulting lack of tolerance for everyday annoyances.
Third, they can really only be friends with their own, or own-adjacent. They are probably only really surrounded by other entertainers and people who serve that industry.

Anonymous wrote:Julia Louis-Dreyfus

She's the first one I thought of too. I am especially impressed with her after listening to her wonderful podcast Wiser Than Me.

Steve Carell is fantastic. I am the Chris Evans poster above - guess where I grew up? My cousin actually dated his niece for a long time. They are just normal average folk.