Hollywood Icons

This article is an analysis of how Hollywood stars are represented in three central celebrity genres – the fashion magazine interview, the endorsement advertisement and the appearance of the red carpet live broadcast. In contrast to recent research in celebrity culture this is an investigation of how specific media texts articulate key concepts central to an understanding of contemporary celebrity culture such as the star as both ordinary and extraordinary, the star as resource and the notion of intimacy at a distance. Thus the article offers a useful framework for analysis of traditional celebrity genres and how Hollywood icons - in this context exemplified by Benedict Cumberbatch and Lupita Nyong’o - are represented.