I have to disagree. Of course we don’t know who they are in private, and we can just assume, but it doesn’t mean their image is filtered by the press either. At least, not for fans as we are here. Ask anybody, a regular person who haven’t heard about David or Gillian since the original series, they will probably tell you that David did that show where he kept fucking and drinking and that he’s a sex addict. They’ll tell you that Gillian did this other show they barely heard about and will ask if she’s British or Irish or American? Also, they’ll ask if they’re married and how many kids they have together.
That’s their image how it is filtered by the press. Try it, you’ll see, it never fails.
Fans know a lot more than that, we know that David is not Hank Moody, we know about him through his songs or his books, through social media, we met him in person, so the image of him we have built in our mind isn’t properly filtered by the press or by his publicists. It’s probably far from who he really is in private, but still closer than what you can read and what regular people think they know about him. Same goes with Gillian. Even if it’s always very controlled, she shares a lot about who she really is on social media or during panels or events that fans only attend. Regular people don’t know she’s a feminist and an activist, a theater actress, that she can write and direct and that she laughs. Still, her image in the fandom is also probably far from the real everyday Gillian, most of all here where she stands on such a high pedestal that some people don’t even see her flaws anymore, but press and publicists actually play a small part to filter their image for their fandoms.
I think it’s the case for big celebrities who can’t put one foot on the street without being harassed by a crowd and so have to be in total control of their image, but it’s not the case with David and Gillian. Most of the time, they don’t have much to filter and they’re just being themselves.
Just Holding Hands 