LOS ANGELES – It’s something celebrities face every day, but Average Joes and Average Janes do not.

Every time celebs leave the house, there’s a chance people will recognize them.

So they must ask themselves: How much do they care about how they look at any particular time?

“This is not what I look like every day,” said Morena Baccarin, the fetching Brazilian-American actress who plays the leader of the aliens in V. Baccarin, of course, looked like a gazillion alien bucks while meeting with a small group of reporters, which is just how she looks in V playing Anna.

“I tend to wear flats and jeans and no makeup and walk around, go to the grocery store and do whatever I have to do,” continued Baccarin, 30. “Suddenly, to have people look at you, as a woman, it’s a very different experience to realize, ‘Am I ashamed to be who I really am in the public eye?’”

It’s easy for those of us who don’t have to deal with this stuff to get all philosophical and say, “Oh, Morena, just be yourself.” But when you’re a celeb – especially a female celeb – that attitude invites consequences.

“You see those magazines, ‘Oh, look at so-and-so without makeup, Halle Berry without makeup,’” Baccarin said. “It’s so crazy to wake up in the morning and have that thought – ‘Do I need to put makeup on, do I need to do something, because I know people are going to know who I am?’

“I’m choosing to disregard it right now, and I’m just having fun with the show. Overall, it’s a wonderful thing. But it’s a new experience.”

Just to be clear, Baccarin was not being “faux modest.” She had been asked a direct question about her recognizability factor since V debuted, and she gave a very thoughtful answer.

V – a rookie sci-fi series that re-imagines the iconic 1980s mini-series – aired only four episodes last November. It has eight episodes remaining in its first season, the first of which airs Tuesday, March 30 on ABC and A.

Baccarin never has been a sci-fi geek, but she feels V has found the right mix of sci-fi and character-based drama.

“A lot of sci-fi has that sacrifice made for some reason, I guess because people are really interested in the effects, ” Baccarin said. “That’s part of the reason I wasn’t a sci-fi fan growing up. I liked sci-fi things, but I found them limiting.

“I feel this show embraces all people, actually, all kinds of genres.”

The makers of V say the first four episodes served as a prologue, but now things get much more intense and personal for both the aliens and the resistance.

“Every episode has a lot of huge things happening in it,” Baccarin said. “You never get a break.”

Hmmm, just like recognizable celebrities leaving the house.

But as long as Morena Baccarin finds a non-alien way to handle it, she knows it’s a nice problem to have.

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