Unrecognized Success post #8

The funny thing about celebrity is that when we actually examine it, it seems quite arbitrary. A friend of mine stumbled upon a site that listed "that guy" in films, meaning all the actors that we know, that we see in more films than many stars, but are largely unknown and unrecognized. Luis Guzman is a stellar example of this. His IMBD credits read like an encyclopedia of popular film and movies since the 1990's, but typically he plays character roles or bit parts. At this point, we have to ask the question of how and why stars are chosen.

I think Dyer would argue that certain people are predisposed to stardom because of their physical characteristics, and because of how they fit into contemporary ideology. As we were discussing on Monday, race is a main factor in what options are available to actors and to the public. Because Guzman doesn't fit the physical type of a leading man, and because of his race, he is able to fit into a number of parts, but of limited scope. Simply by taking a look at the many projects he has worked on, it is easy to tell that we tend to overlook him, and others that lack star recognition.