The rise of the sham actors

We’re all wise to those phoney rotters who hold ‘luxury beliefs’ – the excellent phrase coined by the social commentator Rob Henderson in 2019 to describe ‘the modern trend among affluent Americans to use their beliefs as a way to display their social status… a belief held or espoused in order to signal that a person belongs to an elite class’. I’ve recently noticed a new side-effect of extreme privilege; luxury self-deprecation, as seen principally in actors who diss their own vehicles (if old) or express dismay at becoming famous (if young). I call them the Slamming Hams – Shams for short. These star-turncoats are headed by Hugh Grant, who recently said ‘I slightly hate [making films], but I have lots of children and need money’ at a press conference to promote his latest film Wonka, in which he plays an ‘Oompa Loompa’. He went on to compare wearing a costume to ‘a crown of thorns’ but no one will ever mistake this miserable old git – who appears to have been in a bad mood ever since he was discovered getting noshed off in a car way back in the 20th century – for Jesus.

I’d have reckoned that young actors might be more appreciative of fame and fortune, but 27-year-old Paul Mescal has recently said that he would be ‘profoundly depressed’ if his leading role in the upcoming Gladiator 2 makes him globally famous.