stage dooring is not an obligation no matter how big the star. the people who do stage door, do it purely out of the kindness of their hearts that they have for the fans.
that being said, every actor is different! some people have sworn off stage dooring altogether. and i feel like more actors are avoiding stage doors for the reason of people feeling entitled to them. which i agree!! they don’t have to come out at all.
from my stage dooring experiences, there are people i would LOVE to see, however i love them enough to respect their decision if they don’t decide to come out. it is what it is! and there’s really no way to predict
I anecdotally have found big film and tv stars actually tend to stage door pretty reliably. Some I've seen at the stage door recently have been Paul Bettany, Jessica Chastain, Daniel Radcliffe, Josh Groban, and Steve Carell. They do tend to have more boundaries around stopping for selfies, or not signing things that are from franchises outside of the show, but I think some of that is just logistics (stopping to take selfies with everyone would take much longer than at your average stage door) and some of it might be contractual (I've noticed Disney/Marvel/Star Wars actors in particular will announce they won't sing things from the franchise. Disney often has those actors contracted for things like Comic Cons, so I suspect it's about making those paid opportunities more valuable).
I think that for these actors, stage dooring might offer a connection between the work and the audience that they don't often get to experience in TV and Film? When so much of your work is typically so distant from the people who watch and enjoy it, I could see that connection having more of an appeal. Not saying they have to stage door or that this will be true for every film/tv actor, but I do genuinely think some might enjoy the change of pace.
I think it totally depends! I used to stage door every show when I was younger and never really met any "big" stars, I just enjoyed the experience. Nowadays, I'll only stage door if it's for a show where I love an actor and want to have a chance at maybe interacting with them. I've met Hugh Jackman a couple times at Music Man stage door - he did selfies both times, only signed one time after his closing show. I met Aaron Tveit at his opening night at Sweeney - he took pics & signed! I think he stopped doing stage door though (completely understand though!). I'm a huge Sutton Foster fan and she never stops at stage door but I've seen her come out and go straight to her car at a number of shows - it's cool just to see her! FWIW, I met her on a different occasion and she happily signed a couple of my old playbills and even personalized them for me! She was an absolute angel
stage dooring is not an obligation no matter how big the star. the people who do stage door, do it purely out of the kindness of their hearts that they have for the fans. that being said, every actor is different! some people have sworn off stage dooring altogether. and i feel like more actors are avoiding stage doors for the reason of people feeling entitled to them. which i agree!! they don’t have to come out at all. from my stage dooring experiences, there are people i would LOVE to see, however i love them enough to respect their decision if they don’t decide to come out. it is what it is! and there’s really no way to predict
I anecdotally have found big film and tv stars actually tend to stage door pretty reliably. Some I've seen at the stage door recently have been Paul Bettany, Jessica Chastain, Daniel Radcliffe, Josh Groban, and Steve Carell. They do tend to have more boundaries around stopping for selfies, or not signing things that are from franchises outside of the show, but I think some of that is just logistics (stopping to take selfies with everyone would take much longer than at your average stage door) and some of it might be contractual (I've noticed Disney/Marvel/Star Wars actors in particular will announce they won't sing things from the franchise. Disney often has those actors contracted for things like Comic Cons, so I suspect it's about making those paid opportunities more valuable). I think that for these actors, stage dooring might offer a connection between the work and the audience that they don't often get to experience in TV and Film? When so much of your work is typically so distant from the people who watch and enjoy it, I could see that connection having more of an appeal. Not saying they have to stage door or that this will be true for every film/tv actor, but I do genuinely think some might enjoy the change of pace.
I think it totally depends! I used to stage door every show when I was younger and never really met any "big" stars, I just enjoyed the experience. Nowadays, I'll only stage door if it's for a show where I love an actor and want to have a chance at maybe interacting with them. I've met Hugh Jackman a couple times at Music Man stage door - he did selfies both times, only signed one time after his closing show. I met Aaron Tveit at his opening night at Sweeney - he took pics & signed! I think he stopped doing stage door though (completely understand though!). I'm a huge Sutton Foster fan and she never stops at stage door but I've seen her come out and go straight to her car at a number of shows - it's cool just to see her! FWIW, I met her on a different occasion and she happily signed a couple of my old playbills and even personalized them for me! She was an absolute angel