History Main / NiceCharacterMeanActor

* Wayne Brady's infamous sketch on ''Series/ChappellesShow'' had him making fun of himself and his likable, good-natured reputation as a complete mask for his true self, a violent, murderous pimp.

** Done with Wade Collins. [[spoiler:Turns out that he made up that whole 'my mother needs surgery' thing to gain sympathy from the audience.]] He's really an insensitive, nasty hobknocker. He's also a bigot.

* In ''Manga/BlendS'', Mafuyu plays the role of an cheerful and adorable LittleSisterHeroine when waiting tables at the CosplayCafe Stile, but she's really a DeadpanSnarker who tends to be [[BrutalHonesty brutally honest]] and isn't above hitting people for various slights. However, it's downplayed since she's not a bad person and just isn't as cheery as she pretends to be for her job.
* ''Anime/BubblegumCrisis'': Vision may appear to be a calm, softhearted IdolSinger, but offstage, she is a ruthless mecha driving terrorist on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge!

* Akira Kogami in ''Manga/LuckyStar'', but only in the anime. She's an IdolSinger who acts like an adorable GenkiGirl and at first seems very enthusiastic about hosting the "Lucky Channel" segments, but in reality she's a {{Jerkass}} who's [[HatesTheJobLovesTheLimelight very cynical about her job]]. While she usually tries to maintain her cute facade for the camera, she'll quickly reveal her true colors whenever something annoys or angers her.

** Downplayed as they are not an actor, but ''Naruto Shippuden'' has [[spoiler:Tobi, who was constantly shown to be a [[PluckyComicRelief wacky goof ball]] and one of the less-threatening members of the Akatsuki. But after the deaths of Deidara and Itachi, he begins to show his true sinister personality and is revealed to be the one who released Kurama to destroy Konoha in the past, which forced Minato to seal the fox demon into an infant Naruto. At first, he reveals himself to be [[BigBad Madara]], but it's later revealed that he is actually Obito Uchiha, an [[EvilFormerFriend old friend of Kakashi who wanted revenge for Rin's death]]]].

* Pop idol Glitter in ''Anime/{{Hamtaro}}''. On the stage, she's a nice, bubbly GenkiGirl. Off the stage, she's a nasty, possessive bitch. Glitter's hamster Sparkle is the same way, though unlike Glitter, Sparkle eventually gets better.

* Raymond Spume of the ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' manga plays the heroic Sparklestar for Sparkle Land, but makes snide comments about his fellow employees and yells at his assistant Julie for biting her nails. [[spoiler:It turns out that he's quite attached to the role and doesn't want anyone else ruining Sparklestar, so he kills Flip Chambers when Flip is set to replace him]].
** In the ''Ace Attorney Investigations'' manga, Emi St. Cloud follows in this tradition, yelling at her assistant Kara when she only did what she was told and generally acting selfish and petty when she isn't putting on a good face for the press and as her role in the movie Othello Detectives. She ends up being murdered, and is an AssholeVictim, [[spoiler:but it isn't over anything she did; the killer simply wanted to stop the film from being released]].

* Mitsuki Yano in ''Manga/YuriIsMyJob'', a manga that involves high schoolers working at a salon, where they roleplay as students at a prestigious all-girls school. While Mitsuki plays the kind senpai to Hime Shiraki, who's both a newcomer to the salon and Mitsuki's character's kohai, Mitsuki actually loathes Hime, as she's bitter over a past incident that ended their friendship. That said, she seems to get along at least reasonably well with her coworkers, even if she isn't exactly friends with them. It turns out to bea bit more complicated than originally thought, since she thinks of "Mitsuki Ayanokouji" as her "kindre self," and [[BecomingTheMask hopes to become that person.]]

* ''The Two Sides of Seiyuu Radio'' stars two voice actresses who take part in a radio show together, but while they act like best friends on the show, [[HostilityOnTheSet they can't stand each other in real life]]. The series focuses on their real life relationship, and how it gradually changes over time.
* ''My Favorite Idol Became My Little Sister'' is about Ichika, who is a fan of the underground IdolSinger Kanon. Ichika is thrilled when her new stepsister Akane turns out to be Kanon, but is horrified when Akane reveals that the "Kanon" persona was a facade and that she's OnlyInItForTheMoney.

* Frank and Leslie Dean from ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'' appear to be the typical left-leaning acting couple, whose daughter remarks of them to be "the only happy couple in California". In reality, they're HumanAliens and members of a supervillain team known as the Pride that regularly engages in HumanSacrifice. [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes While the Pride do this so their children will be safe after]] TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, the Deans are initially unwilling to give up their safety in return, or even ''have'' children. [[spoiler: They even plot to betray the other members of the Pride so they'll be assured salvation with their daughter and another Pride family, [[WouldHurtAChild thereby dooming the other children]].]]

** Professor Godolkin (the Professor X {{Expy}}) is a pedophile, and a lot of the supers' hedonism can be traced back to his abuse. He and his G-Men gets taken out by Vought when his UnderlingWithAnFInPR tendencies outweigh his usefulness.
** [[spoiler:The Homelander]] started out as a genuinely nice person. Unfortunately, [[spoiler:the super assigned to take him down in case of a BewareTheSuperman event so desperately wanted to fulfill his purpose that he]] started taking pictures of [[spoiler:the Homelander (actually himself, since they're clones)]] committing atrocities like eating babies alive or [[spoiler:raping Billy's wife]]. [[spoiler:Homelander,]] unable to account for the pictures, fell into ThenLetMeBeEvil very fast until [[spoiler:Black Noir could finally be ordered to take him down.]]

* Darla Dimple, the villain of ''WesternAnimation/CatsDontDance''. On screen and to the general public, she's a sweet and adorable child actress who loves animals (and is an obvious parody of Shirley Temple), but the real Darla is an EnfanteTerrible and self-centered prima donna who can't stand being upstaged, ''especially'' by animals.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Robots}}'', Bigweld Industries' gate guard Tim is a cheerful-sounding puppet-like robot on Bigweld's TV show, but in reality he's a massive {{jerkass}} who repeatedly slams the gate in Rodney's face and calls him a "loser" and a "freak" for his passion for inventing and dream of working with Bigweld.

* Ernesto de la Cruz in ''WesternAnimation/{{Coco}}''. He acts nice and cheerful in his movies and performing for crowds, but in reality, he murdered Miguel’s great-great grandfather Héctor and stole the credit for his music.

** The Nicelanders act like helpless and InnocentBystanders during game-play. When the arcade is closed, they are completely disrespectful towards Ralph by rendering him homeless; all the while completely ignoring the fact that wrecking their building ''[[PunchClockVillain is his job]]''. They don't even invite him to ''Fix-It Felix Jr.'''s 30th anniversary party, even though he's still technically their co-worker. Gene easily stands out as the worst of them due to being the most downright rude and disrespectful towards Ralph, which actually causes Ralph to leave the game due to the mistreatment he receives from them. They get better by the end of the film and realize he's important to the game.

** Pretty much everyone in ''Sugar Rush'' save for Vanellope. ''Sugar Rush'' is a candy go-kart racing game starring adorable little children and their benevolent king. But when the arcade closes, they're all prejudiced jerkasses who treat outsiders like garbage and bully Vanellope for being a "glitch". Ralph even calls the game a "candy-coated heart of darkness". Though it later turns out that the reason they were behaving this way is because their memories and personalities were being manipulated by the villain in order to fulfill his own selfish needs.

* ''Film/AmericasSweethearts'' was built around this trope. Gwen and Eddie always played sweethearts in the movies (see the film's title). In real life, Gwen left Eddie for another man, treated her sister / assistant like garbage, and was a general bitch to most people she met.

** She ''could'' be considered a JerkassWoobie if you remember that she's been treated condescendingly by the studio for years, forbidden to even ''speak'' in public because of her screechy voice. It's also pretty clear that [[GiftedlyBad she doesn't think she has such a hideous voice]]. In the end it's her treatment of [[TheIngenue Kathy Seldon]] and her attempt at destroying her career by forcing Kathy into a contract as Lina's dubbed voice both on screen and off that ultimately cements her as the BitchInSheepsClothing and the film's antagonist.

* Neville Sinclair in ''Film/TheRocketeer'', an Errol-Flynn-style '30s action hero actor who turns out to be a jerkass primadonna who "accidentally" ''stabs'' one of his costars for upstaging him. Even worse, he turns out to be a Nazi spy, kills multiple people (enemy and ally alike) in his quest to steal the jetpack for his Nazi superiors so they can take over the world. This is based on real world accusations, but never confirmed, that Errol Flynn was himself a Nazi sympathizer.
* In ''Film/WhatEverHappenedToBabyJane'', Jane was a cutesy Shirley Temple-esque child star who became a horrible spoiled brat offstage. Her career was [[RoleEndingMisdemeanor ended]] when her fans witnessed her throwing a tantrum outside the theatre.

* In ''Film/SharpaysFabulousAdventure'', Amber Lee Adams at first seems like she's quite a nice person. However, as the movie goes on, it turns out that Amber is planning to have the 'best friend' written out of the show. In doing so, she hires Sharpay as (unknown to Sharpay) her maid by making her do Amber's dirty work, so that she'll 'help' Sharpay's dog, Boi, get the role as the 'best friend' in the show. Of course, [[spoiler:Amber's karma catches up with her when she is exposed as a {{jerkass}} onstage at dress rehearsal, and right in front of her own fanclub, too!]]
* Floop from ''Film/SpyKids,'' though it's played with. His heart ultimately isn't in evil, and his softness allows his [[TheDragon Dragon,]] Minion, to usurp him and become the BigBad instead.

** Alexander Dane barely hides his contempt for his role as Dr. Lazarus, as shown when he rudely yanks photos out of the hands of fans and begrudgingly signs them. Even when he actually finds himself in the presence of Quellek - the one Thermian who idolizes Lazarus instead of Taggart - Dane reacts with barely-restrained annoyance, and only warms up to the guy when he proves genuinely helpful. Becoming a hero alongside the rest of the cast [[spoiler: and avenging Quellek's death]] gradually gives him a new outlook on his role, however...
** Jason Nesmith; in the show's canon, Commander Taggart was a brave and compassionate Captain Kirk {{Expy}}, but behind the scenes, Nesmith was a smug, egotistical {{Manchild}} who constantly shoved his costars out of the the spotlight, gaining the hatred of every single member of the original cast as a result - including Dane. Even with his career in the toilet, he's still being a narcissistic jackass by the start of the film, and actually seems genuinely surprised when the rest of the cast blow up at him. It takes an overheard insult and an unexpected encounter with ''real'' aliens to get him to [[TookALevelInKindness finally pull his head]] [[TookALevelInBadass out of his ass]].

* In ''High Society'' by Ben Elton, a drug-addled rock star who became famous via an ''Series/AmericanIdol''-style reality show confesses to an affair with a fellow contestant, who had projected a cutesy family-friendly image on the show but was really a coke-snorting nymphomaniac off screen.

** Jeremy Jason [=McCole=] in "The Reaction". The girls were fangirling all over the place for him and then they found out he was a jerk for real, and a voluntary [[PuppeteerParasite Yeerk]] host.
** One book has a NewAgeRetroHippie-type recruiting for the Sharing. He (or rather his Yeerk) is nearly batshit insane at being forced into the role of AllLovingHero. The team exploits this by morphing a SmallAnnoyingCreature (a MisterMuffykins poodle belonging to Marco's stepmother) that attacks the guru in public where he can't fight back, until he finally snaps on-camera.

* On ''Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir'', Will ends up in a fist fight with a Barney-esque mascot when the actor inside assaults him, and is subsequently called out on it since no one knows the actor was a jerk and attacked Will first.

* Aaron Echolls in ''Series/VeronicaMars'' is an actor playing action heroes, and family men. In reality he's an abusive parent ([[FreudianExcuse though in his defense, his own father was way worse than he was and made him into the man he became]]), philandering husband, [[spoiler: and he murdered Lilly Kane.]]

* There was an episode of ''Series/SpecialUnit2'' where they were investigating a Barney {{Expy}} and his TV Show. The Barney expy was great with kids and very nice, but turned out to be a brainwashing demon that fed on fear. It ended similarly to the Fresh Prince example above.

* An episode of ''Series/DrakeAndJosh'' had Josh act as a caretaker for a child star. While on screen she's a sweet little girl, she's really a demanding brat in real life.

** In one episode, Cybill's car gets towed away when she parked on Creator/BettyWhite's parking place. Reason: "In real life, Betty White actually isn't such a nice person."

* ''Series/{{Extras}}'' revolved around this trope, with virtually every well-known actor being portrayed, behind the scenes, as either racist, deluded, self-obsessed, drug addicted or sex-crazed.

* DJ Sagara of ''Series/KamenRiderGaim'' seems like a nice LargeHam on his show, but is secretly one of the villains who acts condescending to his boss and spreads propaganda. This gets played with later on when his attitude seems to depend on who he's talking to, such as being a lot nicer to the protagonist and even providing some help. [[spoiler:In the end Sagara is a subversion: he's actually the avatar of Helheim Forest, the AlienKudzu currently attacking Earth, and therefore isn't allied with the villains at all. Helheim is a essentially a "test" that travels the universe and sees if the races it encounters are worthy; it's a very strict test to be sure, but Sagara does everything he can to ensure that those tested have a fair chance at winning. He takes a particular shine to protagonist Kouta Kazuraba, giving the young man both his MidSeasonUpgrade and SuperMode, and at the end of the series when Kouta [[TakeAThirdOption Takes a Third Option]] that spares the Earth, Sagara praises his cleverness and wishes him well before departing to find the next race to test.]]

* One episode of ''Series/TheBeverlyHillbillies'' featured a wrestling match with such an actress playing a poor country girl against a brutish woman (who incidentally, was a MeanCharacterNiceActor). Not knowing that the performance was staged, when Granny saw the country girl lose, she jumped in the ring and whooped her opponent.

* A ''Series/CaliforniaDreams'' episode has Jake helping his idol, a washed-up singer-songwriter, writing a hit song to reclaim his past glory. It does, but he [[StealingTheCredit takes all the credit of Jake's song for himself.]] Then when the gang tried to get him to wise up to what he did, he refuses to believe them until he confronts the man at a press conference where he learns that he's done the same thing before and that Jake should just get over it.
* In ''Somos tú y yo: Un nuevo día'', there's Hendrick, who presents himself as the charismatic host of "The Hendrick Show", very famous and popular. Off work, he's a manipulative rich boy who treats his staff like trash, and is not above using his connections to get what he wants, especially if it involves revenge for any perceived slight.

* In a rare robot example, ''Videogame/FiveNightsAtFreddys'' features animatronics of beloved characters Freddy Fazbear, Bonnie and Chica (and Foxy, who may or may not be intended as a foe to the other three). At night, all four have one thing on their minds - killing the security guard. However, [[Videogame/FiveNightsAtFreddys2 the second game]] says that during the day the four new animatronics are just fine around children, but stare aggressively at adults.
* ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoViceCity'' has radio host Amy from K-Chat who is happy to interview an actor known for his postive and upliting role as a sitcom dad struggling to control an adopted, unruly child who claims to be an adult with a growth disorder. However, Amy who is a big fan of the show, is [[BrokenPedestal shocked to discover]] that the actor is a rude, self-centered douch who doesn't even like his sitcom role and is on K-Chat to promote his new career in theater acting.

* In ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', the ''Citadel DLC'' reveals that the hanar actor who plays Blasto is a major [[ThePrimaDonna primma donna]] in real life, compared to the smooth action hero he plays on the silver screen. Not only does he refuse to share top-billing with Shepard or Javik - who've been conned into appearing in the film - but he's rude and dismissive towards both of them, despite the former being the hero responsible for most of the real events that "Blasto" is [[VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory fictionally credited for]]. His rudeness is also rather jarring considering that that one of the hanar's most famous [[PlanetOfHats hats]] is their unfailing politeness, especially towards Javik, since the hanar revere the Protheans as their ''[[LikeAGodToMe Gods]]''.

* ''WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd'': In his TV commercials and video game, VideoGame/{{Pepsiman}} is a goofy, bumbling superhero who is constantly on the recieving end of slapstick comedy. When the cameras aren't rolling, however, he is a sadistic HumanoidAbomination who tortured the "[[OnlyKnownByHisNickname TV-Game Guy]]" from the game's live-action cutscenes and ruined his life.

** The other [[WhiteDwarfStarlet former Doctors]] see Creator/TomBaker as this, are all completely terrified of him and argue over who has to be the person to call him up (playing off his reputation for being [[WagTheDirector miserable to work with]] towards the end of his tenure as the Doctor). When they eventually do try to call him up, though, his answering message suggests he [[LostInCharacter actually is the Doctor, for real]].

* A downplayed version; in ''WebVideo/EmpiresSMP'' Season 2, Gem [=LARPs=] as the pacifistic Princess of Dawn, but her regular persona on Season 9 of ''WebVideo/{{Hermitcraft}}'' is more than happy to decapitate her server-members for a severed head collection. That being said, this ''is'' survival Minecraft and all the Hermits are friends with each other, though, so DeathIsCheap and consensual.

** Despite being a talented actress, Mary couldn't move on because no one could look past her looks and became a WhiteDwarfStarlet. She starts the plot in kidnapping everyone because the show was the only time she was happy. Her psychological troubles are really seen when she is switching between her adult self and the persona she had on the show. However some things she does tend to cause sympathy levels to teeter totter. One of her co-stars that she kidnapped mentioned she was difficult to work with on the set, always making extreme demands and throwing tantrums if she didn't get her way. [[FridgeBrilliance However, this may have been foreshadowing of what would happen to Mary.]] After all, she looked like and had the body of a child and acted like one in her star role for most of her life. Ergo, whenever she sunk into tantrums and demands... ''[[TheMindIsAPlaythingOfTheBody she acted like an actual child would]]'' and probably had stunted development along with her psychological problems or at least made her very prone to mental regression.
* PlayedWith in ''WesternAnimation/BojackHorseman'', Bojack's character in the ShowWithinAShow, "''Horsin' Around''", is a bumbling father figure who means well for his children. Initially, when starting out, he was a HumbleHero and pretty nice guy though with some problems. At the present, he is a bitter alcoholic with '''a lot''' of serious issues that were his old problems, but amplified as a result of age and cynical experience. Furthermore, he tries to become a better person, but it does not come easy to him due to the psychological issues and substance abuse.

* ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'' has its own jerk actor in the form of Jim Starling, who played the titular character in the ShowWithinAShow version of Darkwing Duck. He was idolized by Launchpad and [[spoiler: Drake Mallard]], who was to take over for him in an in-universe Darkwing Duck reboot. It turned out Jim Starling is a narcissist who only cares about reclaiming his former glory, even if it means violently attacking some security guards, the director, and the replacement that looked up to him so much. Launchpad tried his hardest to remind Jim of what his character represents while [[spoiler: Drake Mallard]] tried to say how Launchpad is Jim's biggest fan and only wants what's right, but Jim Starling's NeverMyFault attitude not only gave him an overwhelming hatred for the new Darkwing Duck, but [[spoiler:he went insane and became this universe's version of [[CanonCharacterAllAlong Negaduck]].]]
* The ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' episode "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS3E20RoadToEurope Road to Europe]]" involved Stewie's desire to move to Britain so he could live with the angelic Mother Maggie, the host of his favourite show "Jolly Farm Revue". But once he arrives at the BBC studio he discovers that Jolly Farm is only a set and Mother Maggie herself is a foul-mouthed fishwife who hates children.

* ''WesternAnimation/KappaMikey'': In the ShowWithinAShow ''Lilymu!'', female lead Lily is to act as a warm, caring, ImpliedLoveInterest to our titular Mikey. When the cameras stop rolling, she goes back to being her {{Jerkass}} AttentionWhore who hates the main character for stealing her thunder as Japan's most famous anime star. By the same token, Mikey Simon plays the heroic and totally competent Kappa Mikey, but is in fact a total well-meaning but inept CloudCuckoolander who's inability to effectively meld into Japanese society drives most of the show's plot.

* ''WesternAnimation/RocketPower'' also did this in the episode "The Wrath of Don." Otto Rocket idolizes the 12-year-old skateboarding "Skate Wars" movie star, Donnie Lightning. Donnie appears to be an excellent skater on screen and rather friendly, but once they come to film a "Skate Wars" movie in Ocean Shores, Otto is dismayed to learn that Donnie is a major jerk that doesn't even do his own stunts.

** Krusty himself is often this, often going from goofy and energetic to grouchy, selfish and cynical as soon as the camera stops rolling.

** "Who Bopped Bugs Bunny?" has Stanley the Elephant, a parody of the Creator/{{Terrytoons}} character WesternAnimation/SidneyTheElephant. On-stage, he was a clumsy, happy-go-lucky ditz who had to deal with [[CoconutMeetsCranium coconut-throwing chimpanzees]]. Off-stage, he was a grumpy PrimaDonnaDirector who turns out to have never got over Bugs Bunny's "Knighty Knight Bugs" [[AwardSnub beating him]] at the [[BlandNameProduct Schloscars]] and is the real culprit behind Bugs' kidnapping.

* In ''[[Film/HighSchoolMusical Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure]]'', Amber Lee Adams at first seems like she's quite a nice person. However, as the movie goes on, it turns out that Amber is planning to have the 'best friend' written out of the show. In doing so, she hires Sharpay as (unknown to Sharpay) her maid by making her do Amber's dirty work, so that she'll 'help' Sharpay's dog, Boi, get the role as the 'best friend' in the show. Of course, [[spoiler:Amber's karma catches up with her when she is exposed as a {{jerkass}} onstage at dress rehearsal, and right in front of her own fanclub, too!]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheProudFamily'': the episode "Hooray for Iesha" features Sunny Stevens, who portrays the lead in the in-universe sitcom ''Iesha'' which was cancelled but renewed after Penny protests, earning her a guest role on the show. Sunny is rude and insulting to Penny and her friends, but it's because [[IJustWantToBeNormal she's tired of the stress of being a TV star and wants to be a normal kid]]. Penny convinces her to quit the show and she does.

* Akira Kogami in ''Manga/LuckyStar'', but only in the anime. She's an IdolSinger who acts like an adorable GenkiGirl and at first seems very enthusiastic about hosting the "Lucky Channel" segments, but in reality she's a {{Jerkass}} who's [[HatesTheJobLovesTheLimelight very cynical about her job]].

** [[spoiler:Shuichi Saihara is the main protagonist who's quite nice, albeit shy, and is the one who solved all the murders. However, his pre-mindwipe self personally asked to be made into an Ultimate Detective just because no Ultimate Detective in the series so far had killed anybody and he wanted to be the first.]]

* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'': In "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS3E85ShowdownWithRanceMcGrew Showdown with Rance McGrew]]", whereas the fictional Marshal Rance [=McGrew=] is extremely courageous and never hesitates in the face of danger, [[TheDanza the actor of the same name]] turns up late for work, snaps at the director and other members of the crew at every opportunity and demands that a stuntman be used for even the simplest scenes.

* In ''Film/KangarooJack: G'Day U.S.A.!'', "Outback Ollie", the star of a children's zoology show, is actually a ChildHater and a smuggler of exotic animals. Furthermore, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking he actually has a New York State accent.]]

* The final three episodes of ''Anime/BloodC'' took the trope to downright depraved levels. [[spoiler: The lead's "friends" were all actors hired by the BigBad for the purpose of an experiment to see if a latent hunger for humans would be jolted awake. Every last actor turns out to be a pretty despicable person, especially the guy pretending to be a boy who had feelings for the lead.]]

* A downplayed version; in ''WebVideo/EmpiresSMP'' Season 2, Gem [=LARPs=] as the pacifistic Princess of Dawn, but her regular persona on Season 9 of the WebVideo/HermitcraftServer is more than happy to decapitate her server-members for a severed head collection. That being said, this ''is'' survival Minecraft and all the Hermits are friends with each other, though, so DeathIsCheap and consensual.

* A downplayed version; in ''LetsPlay/EmpiresSMP'' Season 2, Gem [=LARPs=] as the pacifistic Princess of Dawn, but her regular persona on Season 9 of the LetsPlay/HermitcraftServer is more than happy to decapitate her server-members for a severed head collection. That being said, this ''is'' survival Minecraft and all the Hermits are friends with each other, though, so DeathIsCheap and consensual.

* ''Film/AmericasSweethearts'' was built around this trope. Gwen and Eddie always played sweethearts in the movies (see the film's title). In real life, Gwen left Eddie for another man, treated her sister / assistant like garbage, and was a general bitch to most people she met. Gwen also expresses a similar sentiment about her sister.

* In episode 10 of ''LightNovel/{{Oreimo}}'', Kanako is quite upset that Ayase and Kyousuke tricked her into a cosplay contest. However, during the event, she gives it her all, and does such an outstanding job at playing an adorably cutesy MagicalGirl that she wins the contest, and her friend in the audience, Kirino, didn't even realize it was her. Afterward, backstage, she gives off a very vicious attitude which causes one of the younger cosplay contestants to run out of the room crying.

** Krusty himself is often this, often going from goofy and energetic to annoyed and cynical as soon as the camera stops rolling.

* Stinky Pete the Prospector from ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory2''. He is actually based on the loyal friend to Sheriff Woody in an old children's show called ''Woody's Roundup'', but the toy version of him is ''very'' evil. He hates other toys because he is constantly sealed within a cardboard box, and as a result he wants to remain in the box forever, and therefore he also wants ''other'' toys to be contained within their boxes as well.

* ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3KillingHarmony'' has [[spoiler:''every cast member'' (except the {{Token Evil Teammate}}s and [[ManchurianAgent Keebo]]). Before the events, [[ShowWithinAShow the group willingly and enthusiastically threw there identities away to participate in the killing game]]. Only three of these students were shown with their original personalities.]]

* A downplayed version; in ''LetsPlay/EmpiresSMP'' Season 2, Gem [=LARPs=] as the pacifistic Princess of Dawn, but her regular persona on Season 9 of the LetsPlay/HermitcraftServer is more than happy to decapitate her server-members for a severed head collection. This ''is'' survival Minecraft and all the Hermits are friends with each other, though, so DeathIsCheap and consensual.

** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS20E19WaverlyHills9021Doh Waverly Hills 0921D'oh]]", Lisa's onetime idol Alaska Nebraska, a parody of Series/HannahMontana (and possibly Creator/MileyCyrus) voiced by Creator/ElliotPage. A wholesome teen idol on television and in their music, Alaska Nebraska is dismissive and vain when Lisa finally gets to meet them.

* A downplayed version; in ''LetsPlay/EmpiresSMP'' Season 2, Gem [=LARPs=] as the pacifistic Princess of Dawn, but her regular persona on Season 9 of the LetsPlay/HermitcraftServer is more than happy to decapitate her server-members for a severed head collection.

* In an alternate universe version of ''Roleplay/SurvivalOfTheFittest'', with the premise that it really ''was'' just a TV show, the actor portraying Adam Dodd, arguably TheHero (AntiHero, at least) is depicted out of character as arrogant, selfish, womanising jackass - starkly contrasting with the character himself.
* ''Recap/TheFiveishDoctorsReboot''
** The other [[WhiteDwarfStarlet former Doctors]] see Creator/TomBaker as this, are all completely terrified of him and argue over who has to be the person to call him up (playing off his reputation for being [[WagTheDirector miserable to work with]] towards the end of his tenure as the Doctor). When they eventually do try to call him up, though, his answering message suggests he [[LostInCharacter actually is the Doctor, for real]].
** This short as well as Creator/PeterDavison's other shorts portray Creator/DavidTennant as this, as someone who finds his father-in-law to be very annoying and is rude to him, and he even skips over the birth of his child to play his role in the [[Recap/DoctorWho50thASTheDayOfTheDoctor 50th Anniversary special]].

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}''
** One episode featured a children's show hostess who absolutely hated her target audience. Angelica overheard her swearing, which led to Angelica repeating it on the show and getting the hostess fired.[[note]]Or more specifically, shocked the hostess, then goaded her into saying it and publicly revealing her distaste for her audience.[[/note]]
** Another episode features [[OnIce an Ice Show focused on Reptar]] (The main cast's iconic hero,) with the guy portraying Reptar stating to his boss:
---> '''Leo''': (...) I don't know why I took this job. I can't skate. '''I don't like kids.''' And if you want to know the actual fact, lizards give me the creeps. And that goes for your amphibians, too.

* ''Westernanimation/TheMask'' has a Barney knockoff, Barnaby the Dinosaur, whose portrayer is local mobster Lonnie the Shark.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''
** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS4E22KrustyGetsKancelled Krusty Gets Kancelled]]", Gabbo says that his audience are "all [=SOBs=]." Made more amusing since he's a ''puppet'' and the ventriloquist operating him repeatedly begs him to stop, apparently having become LostInCharacter ([[WildMassGuessing else Gabbo is himself]] a [[DemonicDummy very dark case of the trope]]). The incident was based on an UrbanLegend wherein some certain host of some certain children's show is supposed to have said something running along the lines of "That ought to hold the little bastards for another week" without realizing that the camera was still rolling.
** Krusty himself is often this, often going from goofy and energetic to annoyed and cynical as soon as the camera stops rolling.
** Sideshow Bob, in his debut episode "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS1E12KrustyGetsBusted Krusty Gets Busted]]", starts off as a silent stooge to Krusty, then once he takes over the show he is a beautifully eloquent and gracious host who actually wants to produce educational programming for children (though his ultra-highbrow style is less child-friendly than Krusty's slapstick). But of course Bart and Lisa uncover his framing of Krusty and reveal his true colors live on air. In all his subsequent appearances he has become a murderous criminal mastermind.
** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS20E19WaverlyHills9021Doh Waverly Hills 0921D'oh]]", Lisa's onetime idol Alaska Nebraska, a parody of Series/HannahMontana (and possibly Creator/MileyCyrus) voiced by Creator/ElliotPage. A wholesome teen idol on television and in their music, Alaska Nebraska is dismissive and vain when Lisa finally gets to meet them.
* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/SushiPack'' featured Sugar Jimmy, the host of a ''Series/RomperRoom''-like kids' show. On-screen he was a [[ChildrenAreInnocent sugary sweet nine-year-old]], but off he [[SpoiledBrat threw tantrums about everything]], hated the chocolate bar he was hocking, and [[DawsonCasting happened to]] [[OlderThanTheyLook be 22]].
* In the ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987'' episode "[[Recap/DuckTalesS1E4WhereNoDuckHasGoneBefore Where No Duck Has Gone Before]]", Huey, Dewey, and Louie idol worship Captain Courage, hero of the TV show "Courage of the Cosmos." Uncle Scrooge owns the show and has Gyro redo it to make it more realistic. The boys go on the show and are blind to the fact that their hero is just a vain, egotistical actor. They also don't realize that Gyro [[LiteralMinded made their set an actual spaceship]] and it launches into outer space. [[AndYouThoughtItWasAGame When they realize where they are and real aliens have captured them]], Courage panics, and [[BrokenPedestal the boys see what a coward he really is]] ("real heroes just do their jobs!"). He not only panics, [[DirtyCoward Courage abandons and strands]] ''[[DirtyCoward a bunch of kids]]'' [[DirtyCoward in space just to save his own hide]].
* ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'' has its own jerk actor in the form of Jim Starling, who played the titular character in the ShowWithinAShow version of Darkwing Duck. He was idolized by Launchpad and [[spoiler: Drake Mallard]], who was to take over for him in an in-universe Darkwing Duck reboot. It turned out Jim Starling is a narcissist who only cares about reclaiming his former glory, even if it means violently attacking some security guards, the director, and the replacement that looked up to him so much. Launchpad tried his hardest to remind Jim of what his character represents while [[spoiler: Drake Mallard]] tried to say how Launchpad is Jim's biggest fan and only wants what's right, but Jim Starling's NeverMyFault attitude not only gave him an overwhelming hatred for the new Darkwing Duck, but [[spoiler:he went insane and became this universe's version of [[CanonCharacterAllAlong Negaduck]].]]
* On an episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Cyberchase}}'', Digit gets to be on his favorite show the Fearless Chef, a cross between ''Series/IronChef'' and ''Series/TheAmazingRace''. The host of the show, the fearless chef, is kidnapped by Hacker. When Jackie and Inez go to rescue him they realize that the so-called Fearless Chef is really a complete coward.

* Subverted in the ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'' episode "Eugene Goes Bad." Eugene is obsessed with TV superhero The Abdicator, but things go sour when he visits the set and sees the actor acting like a spoiled diva [[TheAhnold ("Where is mah ahpreecot joose?").]] After calling the guy out, Eugene decides there's no reason to be good anymore and starts to misbehave. Meanwhile, Maurice, the actor, has his own personal crisis as he can't stop feeling guilty about the incident and letting his fans down. Eventually, he helps snap Eugene out of his rebellious phase.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLittles'' featured a variation of this in the VerySpecialEpisode "A Little Drunk," but the movie star Kurt Corwin would only be like this because he is an alcoholic.
* Baby Doll teeter-totters between this and MeanCharacterNiceActor in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries''--unlike most actors, whose excuses were drugs and scandals, she was a very sympathetic character. In her debut episode, Batman claims that Mary Louise Dahl (which is Baby-Doll's real name) suffers from an extremely rare medical condition called "severe systematic hypoplasia" (basically a form of dwarfism), which caused her body to stop physically aging--in Mary's case, she stopped growing past the age of 5, so even by the time of the events of her debut episode (where she'd be around 30-years-old), she still had the looks and body of a little kid.
** Despite being a talented actress, Mary couldn't move on because no one could look past her looks and became a WhiteDwarfStarlet. She starts the plot in kidnapping everyone because the show was the only time she was happy. Her psychological troubles are really seen when she is switching between her adult self and the persona she had on the show. However some things she does tend to cause sympathy levels to teeter totter. One of her co-stars that she kidnapped mentioned she was difficult to work with on the set, always making extreme demands and throwing tantrums if she didn't get her way. [[FridgeBrilliance However, this may have been foreshadowing of what would happen to Mary.]] After all, she looked like and had the body of a child and acted like one in her star role for most of her life. Ergo, whenever she sunk into tantrums and demands... ''[[TheMindIsAPlaythingOfTheBody she acted like an actual child would]]'' and probably had stunted development along with her psychological problems or at least made her very prone to mental regression.

* In ''WesternAnimation/BarbieInAChristmasCarol'', Eden acts nice and cheerful on stage, and as soon as the curtain closes, she throws some flowers and declares she hates Christmas.
* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'': Mickey Mouse is a CorruptCorporateExecutive nothing like the NiceGuy he's portrayed as in his cartoons. [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext Also he's a giant fire-breathing Kaiju from Valhalla.]]
* Twinkles Sunshine, the child actress in ''WesternAnimation/TheHairBearBunch'' episode "Whatever Happened To Goldilocks And The Three Bears?", is built up in the press as "ever-lovable." Tell her co-stars that. She's an absolute bitchy prima donna.
* Arnold Hugh from ''WesternAnimation/StageFright''. He is the beloved star of a series of silent films, but off the camera, he blackmails and abuses his costars.
* Subverted in the ''WesternAnimation/PoundPuppies1980s'' episode "Ghost Hounders" as, when seemingly haunted incidents plague the pound, Whopper calls his idol, TV star Biff Barker, for help. One look at the "ghosts" and Barker runs off with Whopper crushed. However, when Barker finds out the "hauntings" are all a scam to trick the Puppies into being captured, he becomes a true hero to rescue them.

* PlayedWith in ''WesternAnimation/BojackHorseman'', Bojack's character in the ShowWithinAShow, "''Horsin' Around''," is a bumbling father figure who means well for his children. Initially, when starting out, he was a HumbleHero and pretty nice guy though with some problems. At the present, he is a bitter alcoholic with '''a lot''' of serious issues that were his old problems, but amplified as a result of age and cynical experience. Furthermore, he tries to become a better person, but it does not come easy to him due to the psychological issues and substance abuse.

* ''WesternAnimation/TransformersRescueBots'' features Maven Danger, a CaptainErsatz of Film/JamesBond. When Murray Dorfhauser (who responds to "Maven" in an attempt to stay in character) shows up in Griffin Rock, he proves to be a jerk.
* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Jem}}'' episode "One Jem Too Many" has the Misfits and Eric Raymond conspiring with Clash to have the latter disguise as Jem and portray her as being a rude, tantrum-throwing diva in the hopes of derailing her career. It was working rather well until she appeared at a big make-or-break concert to yell at and belittle the audience and was ultimately caught when it was discovered that [[spoiler: unlike the ''real'' Jem, [[SpottingTheThread she couldn't carry a tune.]]]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TheProudFamily'': the episode "Hooray for Iesha" features Sunny Stevens, who portrays the lead in the in-universe sitcom ''Iesha'' which was cancelled but renewed after Penny protests, earning her a guest role on the show. Sunny is rude and insulting to Penny and her friends, but it's because [[IJustWantToBeNormal she's tired of the stress of being a TV star and wants to be a normal kid]]. Penny convinces her to quit the show and she does.
* ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2012'': Chris Bradford is a martial arts superstar with a slew of movies and a cartoon series where he plays the hero. In real life, however, he's one of the Shredder's star pupils and serves him loyally.
* ''WesternAnimation/BoyGirlDogCatMouseCheese'': In "Monster Butt", Girl is excited to meet the actress who plays her favorite TV superhero, Captain Calisto, but realizes she's a jerk when she hears the actress insulting Boy.

** One of the stories featured William sneaking into a hotel so he could meet the actress playing "Princess Goldilocks" in the pantomime currently running at the local theatre. He discovers that she's grumpy, rude and much older than she looks on stage.

** One episode involves a charity (an obvious parody of the Make-a-Wish Foundation) sending a famous pop star to visit a terminally ill child on her birthday. He seems genial and charming, and is kind to the dying girl, yet doesn't bother to remember her name. After he [[spoiler: dies suddenly from an aneurysm while blowing up a balloon for her]], his assistant reveals that the guy was actually horrible to work for: rude, demanding, and complained about being asked to visit a sick child.
** Another episode was based around ''Scaredy-Cam'', a hidden camera prank show. Terry, the host, seems friendly on camera but is abusive towards the backstage staff and rude to the participants, as well as deliberately endangering their safety. One participant explicitly says that Terry seemed much nicer on TV than he is in real life.
** In the episode "Hurry Up and Wait", actor Adrian Dunbar plays [[AdamWesting a version of himself]] who's known for his heroic TV roles but is selfish and vain off-screen. He remembers all his past roles by what hairstyle he had for them, and rewrites James's only scene for Adrian's benefit, leaving James as an extra with no lines.

* Neil Patrick Harris portrayed himself in the ''Film/HaroldAndKumar'' movies as an insane lunatic with an insatiable appetite for drugs and hookers when off-screen. To be fair, he's a much more reasonable person when the drugs wear off.

* Megumi, ''Anime/MagicalAngelCreamyMami'''s rival. Though she too [[DefrostingIceQueen gets better]] by the end of the series.

** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS20E19WaverlyHills9021Doh Waverly Hills 0921D'oh]]", Lisa's onetime idol Alaska Nebraska, a parody of Series/HannahMontana (and possibly Creator/MileyCyrus herself) voiced by Creator/ElliotPage. A wholesome teen idol on television and in her music, Alaska Nebraska is dismissive and vain when Lisa finally gets to meet her.

** Downplayed as they are not an actor, but ''Naruto Shippuden'' has [[spoiler:Tobi, who was constantly shown to be a [[PluckyComicRelief wacky goof ball]] and one of the less-threatening members of the Akatsuki. But after the deaths of Deidara and Itachi, he reveals himself to be much more sinister and is revealed to be the one who released Kurama to destroy Konoha before the series' story began, causing Minato to seal the fox demon into Naruto. At first, he reveals himself to be [[BigBad Madara]], but it's later revealed he is actually Obito Uchiha, an [[EvilFormerFriend old friend of Kakashi who wanted revenge for Rin's death]]]].

* Arguably, [[spoiler:[[PluckyComicRelief Tobi]] / [[BigBad Madara]]]] in ''[[Manga/{{Naruto}} Naruto Shippuuden]]'' are this in-universe.
** Yukie Fujikaze from the first movie is a straighter example, actually being a movie star. She gives a powerful and moving performance while on film, but is cold and bitchy everywhere else, to the point that she can only pretend to cry. [[DefrostingIceQueen She got better]].

* Akira Kogami in ''Manga/LuckyStar'', but only in the anime. She acts like an adorable GenkiGirl who's very enthusiastic about hosting the "Lucky Channel" segments, but in reality she's a {{Jerkass}} who's [[HatesTheJobLovesTheLimelight very cynical about her job]].

** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS4E22KrustyGetsKancelled Krusty Gets Kancelled]]", Gabbo says that his audience are "all [=SOBs=]." Made more amusing since he's a ''puppet'' and the ventriloquist operating him repeatedly begs him to stop, apparently having become LostInCharacter ([[WildMassGuessing else Gabbo is himself]] a [[DemonicDummy very dark case of the trope]]). The incident was based on an UrbanLegend (well, technically, there’s no direct strong evidence either way as to whether this truly occurred, but a situation like this is unimaginable to not have generated signifiant outrage, so this is a case where absence of evidence actually IS evidence of absence) wherein some certain host of some certain children's show is supposed to have said something running along the lines of "That ought to hold the little bastards for another week" without realizing that the camera was still rolling.

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/SushiPack'' featured Sugar Jimmy, the host of a ''Series/RomperRoom''-like kids' show. On screen he was a [[ChildrenAreInnocent sugary sweet nine-year-old]], but off he [[SpoiledBrat threw tantrums about everything]], hated the chocolate bar he was hocking, and [[DawsonCasting happened to]] [[OlderThanTheyLook be 22]].

** One episode featured a children's show hostess who absolutely hated her target audience. Angelica overheard her swearing, which led to Angelica repeating it on the show and getting the hostess fired.[[note]]Or more specifically, shocked the hostess then goaded her into saying it and publicly revealing her distaste for her audience.[[/note]]

* ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3KillingHarmony'' has [[spoiler:''[[UpToEleven every cast member]]'' (except the {{Token Evil Teammate}}s and [[ManchurianAgent Keebo]]). Before the events, [[ShowWithinAShow the group willingly and enthusiastically threw there identities away to participate in the killing game]]. Only three of these students were shown with their original personalities.]]