Fame is exhausting: Fry
Broadcaster and writer Stephen Fry has revealed he finds the trappings of fame “exhausting” – and would love to withdraw completely for a lengthy period of time.
The star admitted he felt overexposed and would like to disappear to “the country making pork pies and chutneys”.
In an interview for Sky Arts also talked about his well-documented struggles with mental health issues and discussed suicide, saying he did not rule out a further attempt in the future.
Fry – who has bipolar disorder – made one failed attempt in 1995 after famously walking out of a West End play.
Speaking of his illness, he said: “The fact that I am lucky enough not to have it so seriously doesn’t mean that I won’t one day kill myself, I may well.”
Fry, 53, told how he faced constant demands due to the pressure of being in the public eye.
In the interview for the Sky Arts programme In Confidence, to be broadcast tomorrow, he said: “It is exhausting knowing that most of the time the phone rings, most of the time there’s an email, most of the time there’s a letter, someone wants something of you.
“It’s not of you personally but it’s what that rind on you that is the fame layer can give. I feel I would love to close down for a number of years in some way and just be in the country making pork pies and chutneys and never have to poke my head out of the parapet.”
Despite feeling overexposed, Fry said he did not do anything to increase his “level of fame”.
And he defended the amount of voice-over work he does, saying it was not simply because they were financially lucrative, but because he enjoys them.
“I will continue to do commercials because they are so enjoyable, not because of the money because I don’t need the money, but because it is really wonderful,” he said.
:: The interview is screened at 10pm on Sky Arts 1 HD tomorrow.
