ABSTRACT
The principal paradox of stardom is its combination of the ordinary and the extraordinary. As John Ellis explains, a star shares the simple desires of the common citizen, such as love and home, while impersonating the possession of extraordinary qualities such as success, talent and charisma (1991: 313). Ellis acknowledges that a star’s presence in films brings the star close to their audience, but emphasizes that a star’s charisma comes from their absence from ordinary people’s daily life. Using the extraordinary-ordinary as a framework for identifying stardom, Ellis claims that cinematic narrative is essential for an actor to be considered as a star, since it simultaneously connects and disconnects stars with their audience. Understanding television as a medium whose power and significance come from its strong link with everyday life, Ellis (1991: 314) argues that television performers ‘bear a fairly minimal relationship to the desire of the spectator’ because the audience knows TV actors through familiarity rather than remoteness.
