The Prima Donna/Playing With

Basic Trope: An overbearing actor/actress who expects everyone to bow to their whims and that they will always be the star of the show.
 * Straight: The diva Belladonna insists on having a list of demands met by the producer and his crew: they simply must provide her with her own dressing room, well-stocked with her favorite brands and shades of makeup, and an Unlimited Wardrobe tailored to her very particular tastes.
 * Exaggerated: Belladonna treats everyone around her like her personal servants, expecting them to drop everything and wait on her hand and foot, tending to her every last whim. And she's able to enforce this by expelling anyone who doesn't obey from the production -- including the producer.
 * Justified: All of Belladonna's demands are spelled out clearly in her contract, so she expects that the director knows exactly what they signed up for when they hired her.
 * Inverted: Belladonna makes one big request, then never makes another one again.
 * Subverted: Onstage and backstage, Belladonna is a kind, thoughtful actress who doesn't make any unreasonable requests and treats her coworkers like equals.
 * Double Subverted: Unfortunately, this is all an act, and behind her smiling mask lurks a Manipulative Bitch who gleefully engineers the downfall of anyone who doesn't treat her with the respect she believes she deserves.
 * Parodied: Belladonna is a Large Ham who doesn't realize it; her coworkers put up with her strange demands because her over-the-top antics are just too amusing.
 * Deconstructed: Belladonna builds a notorious reputation as a demanding diva, making it harder for her to get hired. She refuses to compromise for fear of being devalued -- if she caves even once, then others will expect her to make even more sacrifices. This threat is made far worse by her past behavior, as plenty of old coworkers would love to see her humbled. Eventually, she faces the difficult choice of making sacrifices to further her career or sticking to her prima donna ways at the cost of finding less work.
 * Reconstructed: Belladonna realizes that acting like a diva makes people resent her and drives people away...people that could help her get ahead. To salvage her career, Belladonna starts treating everyone better and stops making unreasonable requests.
 * Zig Zagged: Belladonna only acts like a diva from time to time, depending on the situation. If there's a role she really wants, she'll gladly put up with a lower salary or fewer perks, even if it's not the lead role. On the other hand, if she dislikes a role or production, she'll go full-on Prima Donna mode to try and make herself more comfortable in the process.
 * Averted: The director refuses to hire anyone who might act this way.
 * Enforced: The writers want to ensure that their audience root for the Naive Newcomer rather than the experienced actress, so they make the latter a grandstanding diva.
 * Lampshaded: ???
 * Invoked: Belladonna was coached to act this way by her mother, who told her that "Nice Girls Finish Last" and that everyone around her would do their best to undermine and sell her short if she let them.
 * Defied: Belladonna is a Yamato Nadeshiko who always does what she's told and never asks anything of anyone.
 * Discussed: ???
 * Conversed: ???
 * Plotted A Good Waste: ???
 * Played For Laughs: Belladonna makes completely off-the-wall and unusual demands, like insisting that everyone should wear a pink ribbon in their hair while filming a scene, whether they're male or female, cast or crew.
 * The casting department hires two such persons who absolutely can't stand each other, and allows a hidden camera show to record their antics. Hilarity Ensues.
 * Played For Drama: Natalie is trying to make a name for herself as an actress, but is challenged at every turn by Belladonna, who refuses to let this classless twit share her spotlight--!

Back to The Prima Donna.