The 39-year-old—call him ‘Mack’—has been liberated longer than you realize.

Children film themselves chewing, whispering and tapping to give their adult audience an ASMR buzz. But at what cost?

A profile of Justin Timberlake:

This need to succeed, to become his generation’s multi-talented Sammy Davis Jr., is part of what makes him appealing to filmmakers. “I needed someone who could be a Frank Sinatra figure, someone who could walk into the room and command all the attention,” says David Fincher, of casting Timberlake as Sean Parker, the Facebook investor and rogue, in The Social Network. “I didn’t want someone who would just say, ‘I know how to play groovy.’ You can’t fake that stuff. That’s the problem with making movies about a rock star—actors have spent their lives auditioning and getting rejected, and rock stars haven’t.”

In 2003, Gary Coleman ran for governor of California. But what he really wanted was to have never come to Hollywood in the first place.