Manhattan and Fame
Jun 8th, 2010 by sophie smith
New York City offers thrills that few cities can even hint at. With the millions of people scrambling every moment for a piece of the pie, and there are lots of pies in the city, it’s a very exciting place to live. It’s much easier on the nerves, however, to visit there, since one can simply enjoy all that the city offers, including the luxurious five star hotels. Manhattan also offers an extended glimpse into a level of high society that is legendary for a reason.
It’s a constant rush, and for tourists, the energy is a wonderful thing, and can even be relaxing. For anyone with any pretenses to fame in the city, it is extremely inviting, and often tempting to see if one’s talent might rise to the top in this crucible.
But it’s also very challenging, and perhaps it’s especially challenging for those who have more to lose. That might sound like a justification to feel sorry for the rich and famous, but for talents like Alec Baldwin, it’s a tough business. He makes Manhattan his home, having grown up in Amityville, a sleepy beach town where dreams of making a big splash were a big part of his youth.
He is, by all accounts, extremely successful, having nurtured his enormous talent to rise with his good looks to become a very desirable actor on film, television, and on stage. During the rise, he married actress Kim Basinger, and they had a daughter, Ireland. After the couple split, the relationship became one of the most difficult tests of his life.
Basinger fought so he would have limited access to his daughter’s life, an action that he calls “parental alienation,” and something he’s tried very hard to overcome. The phone call in 2007 made it to all the headlines, and last year he accompanied her to the Screen Actor’s Guild Awards where he won for 30 Rock for the third year in a row. It seemed to be settled, but more events this past February suggest that it’s still a relationship that will haunt him.
It’s one of the biggest challenges of being a star, where your personal life sometimes becomes fodder for sensational stories, but learning to live with complicated relationships can be a lesson for everyone.
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