Con of using celebrities as DD characters

[Laura]

This is kind of a weird issue and now that I know about this site and everyone on it, I want to share it with people who understand. So like a lot of you, my DD characters are all actors (I wanted to act as a kid so I started just 'living my dream' through them) whose lives/personalities I've heavily modified to fit for my characters. This hasn't been too much of an issue except sometimes I'm heavily triggered when I see them in a movie or whatever (and I am a fan of all of them) but for the most part, it's been ok because although I know they're real people, it's not like I'll ever see them.

But tomorrow I am. As mentioned, I AM fan of the people I made into my characters and I'm seeing one of them in a off Broadway play tomorrow. I almost didn't because I didn't know how I'd handle it but I didn't want my DD thing to stop me so I bought tickets and am going with a friend tomorrow. So basically I'll be looking at one of my DD characters, in person, for 2 hours tomorrow. Obviously I know that it's not really my DD character but they have the same name and look like them and I don't know, seeing them person just seems... kind of scary. And just completely weird. I am hoping it's like a "facing your fears" thing.

So that's it! I just wanted to get that off my chest before I go tomorrow as I'm a little worried. I never had trouble with separating my fictional DD world from reality but this may be somewhat of a shock for me tomorrow. Maybe some of you have had (or will have) a similar issue.

[Nancy]

I remember when i was a kid i would involve US president in my daydreams lol pretending i was their daughter

[Laura]

Aww! Good one!

Razan said:

I remember when i was a kid i would involve US president in my daydreams lol pretending i was their daughter

[Laura]

Just in case anyone else ever faces an issue: I went! It was super weird at first but I think it helped me separate the actor from my character. I even met them and got a pictures with them! 

[Sharon]

I know this was posted months ago LOL! But I am glad it was a positive experience for you! I myself would be to scared to meet one of my celeb characters in person. I would worry what if it was the one and only bad day they had and didn't live up to my character? I would totally go in and rewrite years of history I know! I have changed entire story lines because the celeb character got married in "real life" and my mind would not let me ignore that in my DD, so my main character and the celeb would break up :-(

Laura said:

Just in case anyone else ever faces an issue: I went! It was super weird at first but I think it helped me separate the actor from my character. I even met them and got a pictures with them! 

[Laura]

Hi!! No worries! I COMPLETELY know what you're going through right now. I'm too far in with my main characters to really change relationships based on the real actors' relationships and I know it's stupid but sometimes I get really upset when I see the real actors with their real girlfriends/boyfriends and it's not what is in my head. Sometimes it can put me in a really bad mood. I know my character and the person they're based on are two different things and I know that no matter what the real person does it really can't affect what I made up in my own head yet it still bothers me. I still need to work on that. 

And for meeting the celebs- I have actually met a lot of the celebs my characters are based on (most of them are from one movie franchise, I went to 2 premieres for this franchise, it's complicated haha). One of them I talked to a lot and she was so wonderful. I didn't mention this but she was actually at the play I mentioned in the original post and she remembered me from the premiere and we talked for awhile. That was... so surreal. It's funny because I was able to talk with her normally and then meeting the other actress was hard for me yet they're both equally important characters in my story. Sorry I'm rambling now, this doesn't even make sense. 

BUT, as mentioned, at the movie premieres I was only able to meet some of the stars very very briefly. It was a little awkward but they were sweet. It wasn't too big a deal for me. One of them wasn't so sweet. I mean I wouldn't say they were mean they just kind of ignored all the fans, it was a little disappointing but I guess I seperated my character and the real person enough to where it didn't even bother me anymore.

Feel free to message me any time for more details or if you just wanna talk! It's still amazing to me I'm not the only one out there with these problems because for years I thought I was.

Sharon said:

I know this was posted months ago LOL! But I am glad it was a positive experience for you! I myself would be to scared to meet one of my celeb characters in person. I would worry what if it was the one and only bad day they had and didn't live up to my character? I would totally go in and rewrite years of history I know! I have changed entire story lines because the celeb character got married in "real life" and my mind would not let me ignore that in my DD, so my main character and the celeb would break up :-(

Laura said:

Just in case anyone else ever faces an issue: I went! It was super weird at first but I think it helped me separate the actor from my character. I even met them and got a pictures with them! 

[Alfie]

I think I know what you mean ... I do that, take someone's face and put my own personality to it. Usually its characters played in a film/tv series rather than the actors themselves (currently most of the characters from Now You See Me), so I avoid seeing interviews of the actors talking about how they played the role.

And yeah, I also get put out when I see an actor/character with their partner. Though I think that's common, e.g. most fan girls hate the partner of their celeb crush. Don't worry too much about it. c:

[Rose]

Hi Laura, I can relate.

My character and world has developed over about 15 years and is not based on anyone in real life or any show. There are obviously people (real and fictional) who have influenced him, but he's basically just a weird character with 15 years of backstories and bits and pieces of other people I liked thrown in. His appearance was initially based on my first real crush who continuously rejected me, but I didn't realise this until years later. Oh and yes, for some reason he's male and I'm female.

Anyway, a couple of things have happened which made me almost have a nervous breakdown:

1. about 7 years ago, this new reality TV show came on, and one of the judges on it was almost exactly what I wanted my character to look and act like. He was almost an overnight celebrity and was only really famous for doing a few columns in local newspapers then bam...he was everywhere. My mind would go into meltdown everytime I saw him. I just kept thinking over and over again...."I'm not the real me, that guy's the real me!"   I was overruled by anxiety for about a month. I explained to my parents (who know about my MD, although they just think I have an overactive imagination, plus I have Asperger's) and my mum said the best piece of advice, that "there are many Elvis impersonators out there, but only 1 Elvis." The more I learned about this celebrity, the more I realised that he is not 100% my character and I was ok after a while.

2. A year after that happened, I started noticing this guy who would regularly be walking to work at the same time I'd be walking to class. I lived in a regional town at the time, so about 100,000 people (I'm Australian too by the way so you wouldn't know the town) and then I started seeing him in town sometimes. The first time I ever saw him I was on the bus and he got on and sat behind me, and he was the absolute spitting image of my character.

To start with, I felt a bit like I did about the celeb, but seeing how I didn't know this guy's name or anything about him, I started pretending he was my character if he was to exist in the real world. I started noting what times he'd be walking home and all of that, and one day I contemplated following him just to see where he lived. Then I started realising how obsessive and stalker-y I was becoming! I also imagined going to his house and finding out his name was different to my characters, and his personality was different...would I fall in love with him? Would I change my character for him? Would my imaginary world disappear, or would I have another breakdown? It all scared me too much. This was the point that I realised I had a real problem.

At the moment I'm in a musical and I'm getting really attached to my character in the play. I haven't been DDing much since I've been in the musical, maybe I have an outlet to play a character, or maybe I'm just too busy and tired. I'm starting to feel like if I get too attached to my character I'm on the path for another breakdown. I'm trying to slot him into my current world but not sure how it will go (yes, I'm playing a male role). All of my writing and art work for the past 15 years is based on my DD and if I all of a sudden start painting and writing about my new character people will think it's strange, as many of my friends are familiar with my DD characters and world, which is totally original (they don't know it's a DD of course).

Sorry about the long rambling reply, I just wanted you to know that I face this problem regularly.

[Laura]

It's ok! It's still kind of comforting to know I'm not alone and to know someone else understands how weird and hard it can be.

Rose said:

Hi Laura, I can relate.

My character and world has developed over about 15 years and is not based on anyone in real life or any show. There are obviously people (real and fictional) who have influenced him, but he's basically just a weird character with 15 years of backstories and bits and pieces of other people I liked thrown in. His appearance was initially based on my first real crush who continuously rejected me, but I didn't realise this until years later. Oh and yes, for some reason he's male and I'm female.

Anyway, a couple of things have happened which made me almost have a nervous breakdown:

1. about 7 years ago, this new reality TV show came on, and one of the judges on it was almost exactly what I wanted my character to look and act like. He was almost an overnight celebrity and was only really famous for doing a few columns in local newspapers then bam...he was everywhere. My mind would go into meltdown everytime I saw him. I just kept thinking over and over again...."I'm not the real me, that guy's the real me!"   I was overruled by anxiety for about a month. I explained to my parents (who know about my MD, although they just think I have an overactive imagination, plus I have Asperger's) and my mum said the best piece of advice, that "there are many Elvis impersonators out there, but only 1 Elvis." The more I learned about this celebrity, the more I realised that he is not 100% my character and I was ok after a while.

2. A year after that happened, I started noticing this guy who would regularly be walking to work at the same time I'd be walking to class. I lived in a regional town at the time, so about 100,000 people (I'm Australian too by the way so you wouldn't know the town) and then I started seeing him in town sometimes. The first time I ever saw him I was on the bus and he got on and sat behind me, and he was the absolute spitting image of my character.

To start with, I felt a bit like I did about the celeb, but seeing how I didn't know this guy's name or anything about him, I started pretending he was my character if he was to exist in the real world. I started noting what times he'd be walking home and all of that, and one day I contemplated following him just to see where he lived. Then I started realising how obsessive and stalker-y I was becoming! I also imagined going to his house and finding out his name was different to my characters, and his personality was different...would I fall in love with him? Would I change my character for him? Would my imaginary world disappear, or would I have another breakdown? It all scared me too much. This was the point that I realised I had a real problem.

At the moment I'm in a musical and I'm getting really attached to my character in the play. I haven't been DDing much since I've been in the musical, maybe I have an outlet to play a character, or maybe I'm just too busy and tired. I'm starting to feel like if I get too attached to my character I'm on the path for another breakdown. I'm trying to slot him into my current world but not sure how it will go (yes, I'm playing a male role). All of my writing and art work for the past 15 years is based on my DD and if I all of a sudden start painting and writing about my new character people will think it's strange, as many of my friends are familiar with my DD characters and world, which is totally original (they don't know it's a DD of course).

Sorry about the long rambling reply, I just wanted you to know that I face this problem regularly.

[Stasia OBrien]

I know it's stupid but sometimes I get really upset when I see the real actors with their real girlfriends/boyfriends and it's not what is in my head. Sometimes it can put me in a really bad mood. I know my character and the person they're based on are two different things and I know that no matter what the real person does it really can't affect what I made up in my own head yet it still bothers me. I still need to work on that. 

Not stupid at all. This is a major, major sore spot for me and my MDD'ing. I cannot let it go or change things around in my MDD - if reality clashes with my MDD, I have a breakdown that paralyzes me for months and months. It's awful. I can only hope to move on to someone else or, that they break up. I have been depressed for years b/c of this. It sucks. I always get into relationships with my celeb crushes and my MDD revolves around us both being actors and in a relationship (this is all I MDD about ever - nothing else) and so, they have ot be single in real life for it to work...I've been caught in this vicious cycle my entire life.

[Veronica]

Ugh it breaks my heart when I see my celeb boyfriend with their real girlfriend, I cried once,