question of the day: Are there “new rules” for movie stars?

There are no film stars any more. There are celebrities who happen to act, and there are actors, but I don't think there's anyone who fits the classical definition. (The star system was really dependent on the studio system anyway...)

'Tis a fair point RogerBW makes. We just know too much about actors these days for them to be stars. So with that in mind:

• Don't ever leave your house unless you're going to the studio. And when you do, drive a big swoopy 1930s car with the roof down and your scarf billowing behind you in the wind. Driving a Toyota Prius doesn't fool anyone.

Sassi has a point and this discussion reminds me of a post I read on Jezebel a few days ago. It referenced this Newsweek piece about Julia Roberts and how her box office reign "may be over." (I find it interesting that her new film hasn't even opened yet and people are already doing a postmortem on her career, but I digress.) Anyway, she is an interesting case because despite the Oscar, she has always been more Movie Star than Actor. One of the points made in the Newsweek piece is that we never see Julia Roberts on TMZ with her kids in tow, and that makes her old-fashioned. And as we all know, old-fashioned=death in Hollywood. It all seems to suggest that stars must be seen on TMZ and the like if they want to matter.

Of course with Julia Roberts there is a host of other issues; double standards relating to her gender and age, and the decline of the Romantic Comedy are some of the big ones.