The Queer actor, 56, praised the “Hot to Go” singer in a recent interview for setting boundaries with fans and being vocal about the pressures of fame. The singer has shot to superstardom over the last year following the release of her debut album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess.
“I really admire the guts to say those things,” Craig said in an interview with The New York Times published on Wednesday, November 20. “Celebrity kills you. Really, it’s a terrible, terrible thing that can happen and I think you’ve got to really fight against all of the things that it throws in your face because it’s so easy to be tempted.”
Craig added that celebrity nowadays is more about branding than art. “Generating and maintaining that brand is about how much exposure you have,” he said.
Asked if he has ever felt pressure to be more of a brand, Craig responded, “Am I a brand? You have to do social media, and I can’t do that. I even regret emails I send.”
In August, Roan, 26, called out fans who think they’re entitled to a photograph or a hug from her when they meet her. She has also been vocal about fans’ “predatory” behavior and harassment.
“I don’t care that abuse and harassment, stalking, whatever, is a normal thing to do to people who are famous or a little famous,” the “Good Luck, Babe!” singer said in a TikTok video in August. “I don’t care that it’s normal. I don’t care that this crazy type of behavior comes along with the job, the career field I’ve chosen. That does not make it OK. That doesn’t make it normal. It doesn’t mean I want it. It doesn’t mean that I like it.”
“I don’t want whatever the f–k you think you’re supposed to be entitled to whenever you see a celebrity. I don’t give a f–k if you think it’s selfish of me to say no for a photo, or for your time, or for a hug,” she continued. “It’s weird how people think that you know a person just because you see them online or you listen to the art they make.”
In an Instagram statement shared later that month, Roan said that she chose to pursue a career in music because she loves art, but that doesn’t give fans the right to all of her time.
“I do not accept harassment of any kind because I chose this path, nor do I deserve it,” the singer wrote. “While I’m on stage, when I’m performing, when I’m in drag, when I’m at a work event, when I’m doing press … I am at work. Any other circumstances, I am not in work mode. I am clocked out.”
“I am specifically talking about predatory behavior (disguised as ‘superfan’ behavior) that has become normalized because of the way women are well-known have been treated in the past,” she added. “Please do not assume you know a lot about someone’s life, personality and boundaries because you are familiar with them or their work online.”
