How Does a Celebrity Personal Assistant Spend a Workday?

The Basics

The primary responsibility of a celebrity's personal assistant is to know the work schedule of a particular day and make sure the star or celebrity follows it to the letter. If the celebrity is a movie or television actor, the personal assistant has to know that day's shooting schedule and ensure the actor is where he is supposed to be at each point during the day. Understanding the schedule is one thing, getting the actor to be in a position to perform his best is quite another. A personal assistant must make sure the actor understands the schedule and is primed to give an excellent performance.

Personal Details

When the average person goes to work every day, she has to do her own grocery shopping, pick prescriptions up at the pharmacy and take the time to return videos at the video store and books to the library, and drop off the dry cleaning. All these are the responsibilities of the personal assistant. It can be difficult, and at times thankless, to keep up with all the responsibilities, but a personal assistant has to get the little things done as well as the big things.

Be a Friend

In addition to knowing the details of the celebrity's personal life and the responsibilities on the professional level, a personal assistant has to be available to talk to the star. That person may not have a chance to talk regularly with friends or family members when she is in a movie, play or television show and her assistant may become a de facto psychologist, friend, confessor or adviser. Nobody expects the assistant to know everything. The key is listening and speaking from the heart. If a personal assistant has a strong feeling, she should let the celebrity know. If she doesn't, she should let the star know that she is not the best person for that particular issue.