The contemporary market for the consumption of real lives has led to an increasing demand for actors to play or impersonate real people.

Actors and actresses have been assigned significant and particular cultural value in modern western democracies and are integral to our understanding of constructions of fame and cultural identity.

In her paper Staging Fame: Celebrity Actors Playing Real-life Celebrities, Professor Mary Luckhurst reflects on leading female actresses who have played eminent real-life women, including Judi Dench, Helen Mirren, Eileen Atkins and Nicole Kidman. What are the risks and gains of playing a monarch? How does playing a real-life celebrity impact on a well-known actor’s career? Is it a strategy that works every time? Are the complex stagings of dual celebrity identities and celebrity branding effective strategies in the construction of forging star identity?

Mary Luckhurst is Associate Director of Research and Professor of Artistic Research and Creative Practice at the University of Melbourne.