WENLEI MA: The best celebrity is the one who sends themselves up

Despite our parasocial relationships with celebrities, in our heart of hearts, we know we don’t actually know them.

Whether it’s in an interview, on a talk show couch, on the red carpet or in an campaign, the version of famous people we see, even now with social media where many post directly to their fans, is at least curated, if not airbrushed.

We see what they want us to see. The few times it isn’t are those unfortunate enough to be captured in a mugshot.

Which is why the “famous person playing an exaggerated version of themselves” genre is such a delight. Not because we genuinely think we’re being let in on a secret, but because it’s a little looser than the polished personas that are usually presented.

In reality, it’s as edited and considered as any other “public” interaction, but at least it’s a little bit different. It also suggests that particular person has a sense of humour about themselves, although that doesn’t negate the possibility they’re maybe just a narcissist.

Still, it’s always a fun time when celebrities play a fictionalised version of themselves, particularly when that interpretation is so wildly different from their usual reputation.

Like, the nice guy behaving like a total arsehole, which is something Entourage made a meal out of. Real-life lovely man Seth Green appeared three times as himself, each time more obnoxious than the last. He was joined by the likes of Snoop Dogg, James Cameron, Mandy Moore and Anna Faris.

There are a bunch of projects that relied on actors playing themselves such as Curb Your Enthusiasm (poor Ted Danson, always putting up with Larry’s shenanigans), Call My Agent (special shoutout to Isabelle Huppert and Juliette Binoche) and Extras (Kate Winslet, be still my heart) to sell the “authenticity” of the fictional world.

The Studios was able to call on some very famous colleagues to sell its Hollywood story, including a very intense Olivia Wilde, a fed-up Sarah Polley and a distraught Martin Scorsese (by the by, Scorsese is a surprisingly good actor whenever he’s turned up onscreen in something).

In the upcoming second season, we already know the Seth Rogen-led show will feature Madonna in an episode set in Venice, alongside Julia Garner who had, in real-life, been tapped to play Madonna in a now-cancelled biopic. That’s so many layers of meta there.

The Studio wasn’t even the first time Rogen has done something which featured his famous friends as themselves. He and Evan Goldberg had in 2013 released the comedy film This is the End about the onset of the apocalypse during a Hollywood party.

Among those playing themselves include Jonah Hill, Jay Baruchel, Michael Cera, Emma Watson, Mindy Kaling, Paul Rudd and Channing Tatum. James Franco gets eaten alive by Danny McBride, it’s a sight.

The more impressive turns are when the actor in question has to really commit to being a heightened version of themselves for more than just a cameo.

James Marsden even scored an Emmy nomination for playing a self-obsessed version of himself on Jury Duty, the kind-of-prank show in which a real-life guy, Ronald Gladden, joined a fake jury which was all documented for the cameras.

In the series, Marsden had to be nimble to react in real-time to Gladden, which included the fact Gladden barely knew who he was. Then there was the toilet bowl incident, which a more precious actor would never have consented to. God bless James Marsden.

Nicolas Cage did it in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, playing “Nick Cage”, an actor on the downslide of his career who takes a job to entertain a mysterious rich dude (Pedro Pascal, not as himself), and ends up in a buddy action comedy. It’s fantastic.

The late James Van Der Beek played himself across two seasons of the sitcom Don’t Trust the B in Apartment 23, where he was a vain, single actor still leveraging his Dawson’s Creek fame when in real life, he was a married family man with a brood of kids.

Yours, mine and everyone’s favourite star, Keanu Reeves, played a total weirdo on Always Be My Maybe, who cries at the sound of the cow he’s just eaten and then getting into a punch-on with Randall Park’s character.

Whether it’s Bill Murray playing a fake undead version of himself in Zombieland, Matt Le Blanc being neurotic in Episodes, or John Malkovich whose mind becomes a portal in Being John Malkovich, the celebrities sending themselves up will never get old.