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No-one mentions Rose Tyler looks like the girl who married Chris Evans; it gets in the way of the story and doesn't help it along.
Doctor Who: A History by Lance Parkin

Celebrity Paradox is the fact that celebrities and fictional characters/works don't exist as media within works about or related to them. So, in The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Arnold Schwarzenegger doesn't exist and is not the governor of California. There's no Governor Terminator. Or, in the world of Batman Begins, the Batman comics never existed, and neither did Christian Bale. In modern updates of a work, the original may be unheard of. This is an Omnipresent Trope, and there are notable Lampshade Hanging and subversions on part of a handful of cheeky writers who get a li'l kick out of toying around with the concept, such as having the character meet the actor/actress playing them somehow or giving out a Shout Out to the original source.

This avoids such awkward issues as why the plucky hero isn't constantly asked for autographs. It can become extremely awkward when the show is set amongst the showbiz industry, and the stars and writers become famous enough to be on the scene where the show finds itself. Also, if a larger-than-life celebrity was chosen to play a nerd, a geek, or a loser (for example, Hilary Duff in A Cinderella Story) — that would also be extremely awkward.

To what extent this is done is a subject for discussions amongst fans. Do the actors themselves not exist? Do other works the actors have appeared in exist? If they do, who starred in them? It's probably best not to overthink these, but some impulsive connections are bound to occur. If taken far enough, such speculation can overlap with the Literary Agent Hypothesis. (In fact the Literary Agent Hypothesis may be the best way out of the paradox: the Tenth Doctor doesn't actually look like David Tennant any more than Erin Brockovich really looks like Julia Roberts.)

If the actors or their works do not exist, this implies an In Spite Of A Nail Alternate Universe. In a recent and amusing example, actress Jeri Ryan divorced her husband to play Seven of Nine on Star Trek Voyager (he refused to move to Hollywood with her). The divorce was contentious, and a lot of salacious dirt was spilled. When Jack Ryan ran for the U.S. Senate in 2004, the release of the documents forced him to withdraw, allowing his challenger to win in a landslide against a last-ditch replacement. The landslide victory propelled the challenger, Barack Obama, to a position from which he could then launch a campaign for President, and... well, you know the rest. But it probably goes differently in Voyager's historical database.

Many a show or movie trying to be hyper-realistic do their best to distill this concept to an extent by refusing to cast a Celebrity Star because he or she is not obscure enough and would be too recognisable, as it strains Willing Suspension Of Disbelief.

Note that, in Animated Series and Anime, the Celebrity Paradox wouldn't be as big of an issue. After all, in this type of medium, the characters wouldn't necessarily resemble the actors who do the voices of them. Additionally, the paradox may be avoided if the work is a Period Piece set before the actors were famous. So, for example, no one in Raiders Of The Lost Ark can wonder why Indy looks exactly like Harrison Ford because the film is set before Harrison Ford was even born. Perhaps, the paradox may also be avoided in works that take place in the far future — when the actors are likely to be forgotten.

Playing with this is a form of Post Modernism. Actor Allusion can be a form of playing with this. Contrast Your Costume Needs Work.

Examples:

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  • In Glee, Kristen Chenoweth guests stars as April Rhodes, leaving at the end of the episode and making a comment about trying to get into Broadway. A few episodes later, Rachel and Kurt audition for the solo part of Defying Gravity. If there is not a Kristen Chenoweth, who played Glinda?

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