In the new teen movie Youth In Revolt, Michael Cera, plays the role of Nick Twisp – a dorky, sex-obsessed teen who, while on holiday at a trailer park, falls hopelessly in love with the beautiful, free-spirited Sheeni Saunders (played by Portia Doubleday).
It’s a hilarious, uproarious comedy that tracks Nick’s desperate attempts to win Sheeni’s heart by whatever mean possible.
Upon realising that Sheeni isn’t interested in his geeky personality, Nick develops the rebellious alter-ego Francois Dillinger, a French-speaking, moustache sporting, cigarette smoker, who, complete with his bad boy attitude, will stop at nothing to be with Sheeni.
What follows leads Nick on a path of destruction that sees him become a wanted criminal and ultimately results in his life spinning out of control.
Youth In Revolt’s key theme of having an alter ego is one that has long maintained a spot in the media headlines. Take David Bowie for example. Back in the 1970s he re-invented himself as the androgynous half-alien-half-rockstar persona, Ziggy Stardust, to boost his ailing career.
What followed were a feature film, a concept album, and even a best-selling soundtrack to support the film. While the Ziggy persona was relatively short-lived, it propelled him to new levels and set up a career often marked by musical innovation, reinvention and striking visual presentation.
Would Bowie have achieved the same success without inventing a striking alter-ego? I guess we’ll never know. But Ziggy Stardust did appear to strike a chord, both with the public, and with the celebrity A-list.
From Beyonce re-inventing herself as Sasha Fierce, the sub-division of the singer who dominates her new album “I am.... Sasha Fierce”, to Sasha Baron Cohen’s infamous Ali G, Borat and Bruno characters, it seems the alter-ego is something that really works.
But why do A-list celebrities feel the need to publicise and promote a bizarre alter ego? Do they think it will snag them double the fame and double the paycheck? Is it because they aren’t comfortable in their own existence?
Or do they simply do it because, like Nick in Youth in Revolt, they need to get away with actions they normally wouldn’t? Here, we look at a selection of famous celebrity alter-egos, and ask the question: Why can’t everyone just be themselves?
One career to make a success of the alter-ego is that of Miley Cyrus – AKA Hannah Montana. Both are nothing short of a teenage sensation, and both have brought the actress/singer/songwriter stunning commercial success.
While Hannah continues to wear a blonde wig and rock out on the TV show, Cyrus’ 2008 album “See You Again” was her first album independent of the Hannah Montana franchise – and went straight in at Number one on the US Billboard chart.
Beyonce Knowles meanwhile, someone at the very top of the Hollywood A-list, felt the need to introduce us to her ‘alter-ego’ when launching her third solo album last year. Beyonce had often spoken about a persona that comes out when she’s in performance mode, so it was no surprise when this took centre stage to bring us ‘I Am... Sasha Fierce’.
“Sasha Fierce is the fun, more sensual, more aggressive, more outspoken and more glamorous side that comes out when I’m working and when I’m on the stage,” said Knowles in a well-timed statement to the media.
For many, the alter-ego has worked in the opposite direction, while for others, it has turned full circle.
Eminem, for example, has been through more alter-egos than your average schizophrenic, arriving on the scene as the young, obnoxious ‘Slim Shady’, before settling into the roles of Eminem and Marshall Mathers.
Following a stint in rehab for drug abuse, the world’s most (in)famous white rapper appears to be on the verge of a return, settling this time for the brand he has become most famous for – Eminem.
“As an artist, you wanna keep a certain mystique,” says Mathers, who came up with the idea of his ‘Slim Shady’ alter ego while he was on the toilet.
More recently, Jennifer Lopez unveiled her alter-ego ‘Lola’ - a curvy temptress with razor-cut blonde locks, blood-red lips and Christian Louboutin rocker boots – for her new single ‘Fresh Out The Oven’. And then there’s Christina Aguilera AKA’ Xtina’; ‘Lady GaGa’ (born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta); Mariah Carey’s ‘Mimi, who is, according to the singer “more the true person as opposed to the celebrity”; and, perhaps the most famous of all, the fictional Clark Kent AKA ‘Superman’- the list goes on and on.
But what are the benefits of these A-listers giving us a new persona to consider? In today’s world of free information and a growing list of “celebrities”, isn’t it just going to further confuse an already puzzled general public?
Yet it is difficult to argue against the success an alter-ego appears to have for people under the media spotlight. It’s clear that Beyonce’s business over the past year, for example, is booming thanks to the avant-garde Sasha, while the Hannah Montana franchise continues to line Miley Cyrus’ pockets alongside the billboard-topping music career she now sells under her own name.
And then there’s Sacha Baron Cohen. While his commercial success on the back of the likes of Ali G, Borat and Bruno, answers the money question, there is another reason behind his on-screen characters – to tackle prejudice and, like in Youth In Revolt, get away with things he couldn’t if he was himself.
Commenting on the media frenzy that followed the 2006 release of Borat, Baron Cohen said: “I always had faith in the audience that they would realize that the Kazakhstan I created was a fictitious country and the mere purpose of it was to allow people to bring out their own prejudices,” while acknowledging that “It's always risky when you don't go down the normal route."
So while Borat and, more recently, Bruno, further highlighted why an alter-ego is a must for celebrities looking to behave differently in pursuit of commercial success, Nick Twisp’s decision to re-invent himself as Francois Dillinger in Youth In Revolt- in which he makes in an attempt to succeed where his persona had failed and win over the love of his life – may not seem so daft, especially given the success the alter-ego has had for the celebrity A-list.
It’s a clever, funny take on a teenagers desire to re-invent himself as someone else – something that we’re sure will continue to dominate the media headlines for years to come.
Youth In Revolt is released 5th February.
In the new teen movie Youth In Revolt, Michael Cera, plays the role of Nick Twisp – a dorky, sex-obsessed teen who, while on holiday at a trailer park, falls hopelessly in love with the beautiful, free-spirited Sheeni Saunders (played by Portia Doubleday).
It’s a hilarious, uproarious comedy that tracks Nick’s desperate attempts to win Sheeni’s heart by whatever mean possible.
Upon realising that Sheeni isn’t interested in his geeky personality, Nick develops the rebellious alter-ego Francois Dillinger, a French-speaking, moustache sporting, cigarette smoker, who, complete with his bad boy attitude, will stop at nothing to be with Sheeni.
What follows leads Nick on a path of destruction that sees him become a wanted criminal and ultimately results in his life spinning out of control.
Youth In Revolt’s key theme of having an alter ego is one that has long maintained a spot in the media headlines. Take David Bowie for example. Back in the 1970s he re-invented himself as the androgynous half-alien-half-rockstar persona, Ziggy Stardust, to boost his ailing career.
What followed were a feature film, a concept album, and even a best-selling soundtrack to support the film. While the Ziggy persona was relatively short-lived, it propelled him to new levels and set up a career often marked by musical innovation, reinvention and striking visual presentation.
Would Bowie have achieved the same success without inventing a striking alter-ego? I guess we’ll never know. But Ziggy Stardust did appear to strike a chord, both with the public, and with the celebrity A-list.
From Beyonce re-inventing herself as Sasha Fierce, the sub-division of the singer who dominates her new album “I am.... Sasha Fierce”, to Sasha Baron Cohen’s infamous Ali G, Borat and Bruno characters, it seems the alter-ego is something that really works.
But why do A-list celebrities feel the need to publicise and promote a bizarre alter ego? Do they think it will snag them double the fame and double the paycheck? Is it because they aren’t comfortable in their own existence?
Or do they simply do it because, like Nick in Youth in Revolt, they need to get away with actions they normally wouldn’t? Here, we look at a selection of famous celebrity alter-egos, and ask the question: Why can’t everyone just be themselves?
One career to make a success of the alter-ego is that of Miley Cyrus – AKA Hannah Montana. Both are nothing short of a teenage sensation, and both have brought the actress/singer/songwriter stunning commercial success.
While Hannah continues to wear a blonde wig and rock out on the TV show, Cyrus’ 2008 album “See You Again” was her first album independent of the Hannah Montana franchise – and went straight in at Number one on the US Billboard chart.
Beyonce Knowles meanwhile, someone at the very top of the Hollywood A-list, felt the need to introduce us to her ‘alter-ego’ when launching her third solo album last year. Beyonce had often spoken about a persona that comes out when she’s in performance mode, so it was no surprise when this took centre stage to bring us ‘I Am... Sasha Fierce’.
“Sasha Fierce is the fun, more sensual, more aggressive, more outspoken and more glamorous side that comes out when I’m working and when I’m on the stage,” said Knowles in a well-timed statement to the media.
For many, the alter-ego has worked in the opposite direction, while for others, it has turned full circle.
Tagged in Michael Cera