5 Celebrities Speak on Dealing With Rejection

Dealing with constant rejection in their professional lives, these 5 stars have opened up on how they cope with it all. Some say that it makes their lives extremely difficult and they’ve often missed out on major parts which left them feeling rejected and hurt. One star admits that they spent days in bed pigging out on junk food getting over one big rejection, while another celeb believes rejection is even tougher when you haven’t made it yet because people look down on you more. It’s just one negative part of being a huge star, but dealing with harsh rejection constantly can grind you down and these 5 celebrities have all said that it can be difficult.

Daniel Day-Lewis

Daniel says that at the beginning of his career, rejection was horrible: “Most dancers, actors and singers get treated like filth at auditions. You never forget that do you? I mean every now and then I bump into some of the directors that treated me that way when I was a kid and they’re all over me like a rash and you can’t forget it because you’re so vulnerable.”

Minnie Driver

Minnie says her job is often all about rejection: ”My job is 90 per cent rejection. It just is. Unless you’re Angelina Jolie or maybe one of a handful of actors working amongst the millions you are going to be not getting stuff more than you’re getting stuff. But life is so much bigger than work.”

Patrick Dempsey

Patrick believes his job is made difficult by the rejection he faces: “It’s a very difficult profession – you have to deal with rejection constantly. You have to learn not to take things personally and to keep improving yourself, but you need constructive criticism to grow. lso, I never qualified in anything else. At this point, I just don’t know what I would do.”

Rose Byrne

Rose missed out on a big part and found it hard to deal with: “When I found out, I got really blue, got into bed for three days, ate bad food and watched TV – all the usual cliches. And that’s the funny thing about acting. It asks two totally opposing things of you, to be vulnerable and expose yourself, and yet to have a thick skin and be really tough because you’re constantly being rejected.”

Rufus Sewell

Rufus reveals that she’s been rejected countless times for big roles after initially landing them: “People talk about opportunity knocking, but the gate was always swinging in the breeze before I got to the door. I was the lead in ‘Interview With the Vampire’, until Tom Cruise decided he was interested. I was in ‘The Wings of the Dove’ with Uma Thurman, until that got cancelled. So I’ve
been close lots of times, but I think it’s been the making of me as an actor. Yes, years of compromise and disappointment have added depth to me acting. Well, I have to think something, don’t I?”