That's gotta be hard to deal with, though--your job dragging you into the limelight like that, if you personally hate having people's attention on you.

I've read that shy actors (and there are quite a few of them around) don't find it a problem because they're playing a particular role and, so, have everything scripted already or, at least, I assume that's part of the logic. I get the impression that a lot of actors don't feel comfortable in their own skins (which could account for the shyness), but love becoming other people. Maybe it's similar to the security you might feel in adopting a cyber pseudonym and not revealing your real identity. It's certainly an interesting phenomenon whatever the reasoning is behind it. As you said before, I think it often is a kind of outlet. For example, John Simm can do and say all of these outrageous things he would never normally do himself when he plays the Master. Of course, I can't think of anyone who would say or do the kinds of things the Master does! *g*