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You thought they would be major stars after watching them one role. You were wrong.

There are actors where the first time I saw them in roles of significance, I ran to IMDb to check their names. Some people are simply talented.

However.

There are many, many, more I thought would go on to get great roles but didn’t. Sure, many have enviable careers that 99% of actors would kill for. But I expected more. That they would have more buzz surrounding them. Maybe that they would be more be bigger stars, or work consistently with world class or be competing with A-Listers for the highest quality shows or movies. Certainly, that they would have good roles in stuff that I like.

Harry Lloyd from Great Expectations.

Jason Dohring from Veronica Mars.

Natalie Dormer from The Tudors.

Matthew Lillard in Serial Mom.

Michael Biehn in The Terminator

Mischa Barton in Lawn Dogs.

Romola Garai from I Capture The Castle.

Shailene Woodley in The Descendants

by Anonymousreply 349April 6, 2025 11:43 AM

[quote] Harry Lloyd from Great Expectations.

I first saw him on a Doctor Who episode. I thought the same thing.

Mischa Barton is simply crazy.

by Anonymousreply 1October 12, 2024 5:16 PM

Amanda Peterson

by Anonymousreply 2October 12, 2024 5:20 PM

The gorgeous Taylor Kitsch

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by Anonymousreply 3October 12, 2024 5:22 PM

Linda Fiorentino - The Last Seduction

Elizabeth Perkins - About Last Night

Josh Harnett - Pearl Harbor

by Anonymousreply 4October 12, 2024 5:34 PM

I thought the same thing about Natalie Dormer, especially after how fine she was also in "Game of Thrones." So surprised she did not do better. She was beautiful and she's a good actress.

One of the weirdest things about the younger, more visible "Game of Thrones" stars was what a crapshoot it wound up being with them and stardom. Kit Harington disappeared for a few years, but is at least now doing better. Emilia Clarke and Sophie Turner pretty much disappeared. Richard Madden did great with "The Bodyguard" but then has flopped again. Maisie Williams has not done much (although she was always going to be a hard one to put over because of her odd looks).

The only ones who really made it big were Jason Momoa and Pedro Pascal.

by Anonymousreply 5October 12, 2024 5:40 PM

Gretchen Mol in Rounders.

by Anonymousreply 6October 12, 2024 5:41 PM

Loren Dean in Gattaca or Billy Bathgate.

by Anonymousreply 7October 12, 2024 5:55 PM

Shannyn Sossoman in any of her early roles. Gorgeous face.

by Anonymousreply 8October 12, 2024 5:56 PM

Dana Wheeler-Nicholson

by Anonymousreply 9October 12, 2024 5:56 PM

Agree with the Natalie Dormer comments. Quirkily beautiful and a very good actress.

by Anonymousreply 10October 12, 2024 6:32 PM

Don't forget Harry Llyod was also in Game of Thrones, and his performance was so good that I felt more sympathy for Viserys than Daenerys. I really enjoy him in everything.

by Anonymousreply 11October 12, 2024 7:04 PM

That proves the point, Harry Lloyd was in Game Of Thrones 13 years ago.

by Anonymousreply 12October 12, 2024 7:05 PM

Taylor Miller who played Nina on All My Children.

by Anonymousreply 13October 12, 2024 7:08 PM

Danielle Harris in Wish Upon A Star. She acted circles around Katherine Heigl.

by Anonymousreply 14October 12, 2024 7:10 PM

Another for for Natalie Dormer - pretty, good actor. Is she "gay men pretty" and not straight guy hot? Like Linda Evangelista - gay men thought she was so gorgeous, but straight men didn't really seem to find her all that hot.

Dormer works just enough in a variety of roles to disabuse me of the idea that she's difficult which derailed her career.

Is it that she's seemly viewed as too old? She's 42 now, so would have been in her mid-30s during GoT.

by Anonymousreply 15October 12, 2024 7:12 PM

Sarah Michelle Gellar when she was on All My Children. She obviously went on to be big with Buffy but hasn’t done much of note since. It turns out she’s great at playing bitchy or sarcastic characters but not much else.

by Anonymousreply 16October 12, 2024 7:13 PM

Michael Angarano

by Anonymousreply 17October 12, 2024 7:16 PM

[quote]Linda Fiorentino - The Last Seduction

That's the prime example. Like Kathleen Turner in "Body Heat."

by Anonymousreply 18October 12, 2024 7:18 PM

I never understood why Shari Hadley from Coming to America never became as big as Halle Berry.

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by Anonymousreply 19October 12, 2024 7:20 PM

Because you're an asshole, Teacake.

by Anonymousreply 20October 12, 2024 7:26 PM

Richard Madden - Game of Thrones, Bodyguard

by Anonymousreply 21October 12, 2024 7:29 PM

Craig Bierko in Long Kiss Goodnight - he was sexy, and played evil really well - although he has aged horribly since.

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by Anonymousreply 22October 12, 2024 7:33 PM

I always thought it was too bad The Tudors was so trashy overall, because Dormer really gave a fine performance in it as Anne Boleyn, which I think many more discerning critics missed because by that time they had givnen up on the show. By the time she's sentenced to death, she's kind of purified by her previous fear to be no longer afraid of her situation, and I found that very moving.

That being said, Claire Foy was an even better Anne Boleyn in Wolf Hall, but she had the better script (and though I think Natalie Dormer is quite fine, I do think Foy is even stronger).

by Anonymousreply 23October 12, 2024 7:38 PM

Thread Closed

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by Anonymousreply 24October 12, 2024 7:54 PM

r24 I'm actually surprised he was as big a star as he is/was.

by Anonymousreply 25October 12, 2024 7:57 PM

Joanna Going

Alison Elliott

by Anonymousreply 26October 12, 2024 7:58 PM

R23, I have not seen Wolf Hall and I do think Claire Foy was terrific in The Crown. Looks wise, Natalie Dormer seems more "bewitching" and sexy than Claire Foy, but again I have not seen Wolf Hall.

by Anonymousreply 27October 12, 2024 8:01 PM

R26 Elliot really did deserve accolades for Wings of the Dove. It was a Weinstein production. Wonder if something happened to prevent her career from really taking off after that film.

by Anonymousreply 28October 12, 2024 8:07 PM

Laura Elena Harring in MULHOLLAND DRIVE.

by Anonymousreply 29October 12, 2024 8:11 PM

R4 Elizabeth Perkins didn't become an A-list movie star, but she's had a pretty decent career. She's been nominated for a few Emmys, and never stops working.

I knew her slightly way back in the mid-80s. I was interning at a small talent agency in NY that had just signed her as a client based on her stage work. The agent who signed her really believed in her, but the rest of the agents had no clue. She wasn't going out on many appointments.

Then this big studio movie gets greenlit and starts the casting process. It's called Sexual Perversity in Chicago. They quickly cast 3 of the 4 leads. They can't seem to make up their minds who they want as the female buddy. They see EVERYBODY. My agency submits just about every client they have, except one! I had become very friendly with her by this point as no one else paid much attention. I liked her very much I clearly understood why she had been signed to begin with. I asked they agents why she wasn't being submitted.

"Liz Perkins? She's not funny."

Very soon after, I took EP aside and strongly suggested she might want to look elsewhere.

She left the agency. Her new agent immediately set her up to meet the casting people of that movie, now titled About Last Night.

I never had the opportunity to speak with her again, but I SO LOVE telling that story!

by Anonymousreply 30October 12, 2024 8:23 PM

Linda Fiorentino had a rep for being a major diva bitch based on reporting from the sets of JADE and especially DOGMA.

Dormer has done some good work, but she was not good in that PENNY DREADFUL: CITY OF ANGELS series. To be fair, the show wasn't good anyway, but she was part of the problem.

I got the impression that Loren Dean wasn't interested in stardom.

by Anonymousreply 31October 12, 2024 8:24 PM

I was surprised by Lauren Ambrose's lack of success following Six Feet Under. The other Fisher family actors went on to work steadily in high-visibility projects but not her.

by Anonymousreply 32October 12, 2024 8:24 PM

r31 Weird, I've heard the complete opposite about Linda Fiorentino. I heard that she would not at all let Weinstein do anything, and hated him, so he had her blacklisted.

by Anonymousreply 33October 12, 2024 8:33 PM

Alicia Silverstone in Clueless

by Anonymousreply 34October 12, 2024 8:37 PM

R26 they were both absolutely beautiful in the 90s.

Possibly still are, but we’ll never know because of their movies.

by Anonymousreply 35October 12, 2024 8:38 PM

r32, I felt the same way about Lauren Ambrose, given her comic talent (she's hilarious in Psycho Beach Party) and her great singing voice. But because she'a a freckled redhead, she's been hard to cast.

by Anonymousreply 36October 12, 2024 8:38 PM

After I saw Romola Garai in [italic]Daniel Deronda[/italic], I, too, thought she'd be a big star.

by Anonymousreply 37October 12, 2024 8:41 PM

Lauren Ambrose just spent several seasons on the Apple series Servant. I liked her on SFU but her performance on Servant was mannered as hell.

by Anonymousreply 38October 12, 2024 8:42 PM

Lauren Ambrose is wry, ironic, and mildly butch albeit not unappealing on screen. For that kind woman the main line of work is usually sitcoms, ans maybe she considered those beneath her. Or she never got in with Judd Apatow or Diablo Cody or other comic writers for roles.

by Anonymousreply 39October 12, 2024 8:44 PM

[quote]Craig Bierko in Long Kiss Goodnight - he was sexy, and played evil really well - although he has aged horribly since.

Craig Bierko had the very bad luck of being slightly older than Brendan Frasier and hitting at about the same time.

Everyone viewed him as the poor man's Brendan Frasier. By the time all of Frasier's injuries and issues caught up with him, Bierko's window for those types of roles had closed.

by Anonymousreply 40October 12, 2024 9:01 PM

I thought Paul Le Mat as John Milner was the true standout of American Graffiti.

Just about every actor in that movie - Ron Howard, Cindy Williams, Richard Dreyfuss, Harrison Ford... Hell, even Suzanne Somers! - went on to bigger and better things. But not Le Mat.

Oh, well.

by Anonymousreply 41October 12, 2024 9:05 PM

Another vote for Dormer, but I wouldn’t dismiss her yet, she is quite pretty but also very talented, so maybe she is stuck in that transition from young woman to older roles.

by Anonymousreply 42October 12, 2024 9:06 PM

Lauren Ambrose on Six Feet Under. I really thought she'd have a big career, she was so excellent on that show.

by Anonymousreply 43October 12, 2024 9:15 PM

John Stockwell in Christine. He was so hot when he was young.

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by Anonymousreply 44October 12, 2024 9:16 PM

None of you would make it in Hollywood,, as a studio executive.

by Anonymousreply 45October 12, 2024 9:19 PM

Jennifer alive Hewitt.

by Anonymousreply 46October 12, 2024 9:21 PM

Two women who were super-popular for a blazing minute, if that:

Ileana Douglas

Jeanine Garafalo

by Anonymousreply 47October 12, 2024 9:24 PM

The gorgeous Freddie Prinze Jr. should have had Ryan Reynolds' career.

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by Anonymousreply 48October 12, 2024 9:28 PM

I thought Sherilynn Fenn was destined for something very early in Twin Peaks, but it was all looks, not a lot of talent.

by Anonymousreply 49October 12, 2024 9:33 PM

Speaking of Twin Peaks: I also thought Sheryl Lee (Laura Palmer/Maddie Ferguson) would do better than she did.

It surprised me that, of the beautiful women from that show, Lara Flynn Boyle had the best career. Though of course her problems with mental illness scotched that when she and Jack Nicholson started dating. Madchen Amick had a decent acting career after the show, but hardly set the world ablaze.

None of the young men on that show did very well, although few of them were that talented other than Kyle MacLachlan (who did have a career after the show). I did think James Hurley would do better than he did because he was so stunning, though.

by Anonymousreply 50October 12, 2024 9:41 PM

[quote]Jason Dohring from Veronica Mars.

I used to have a thing for him but then I just saw that he's a $cientologist. Ugh.

by Anonymousreply 51October 12, 2024 9:41 PM

Didn't expect massive stardom but thought they'd do better: James Marsters (Spike on Buffy the Vampire Slayer). Never really went anywhere after that. Evan David Boreanaz (who is no great shakes as an actor) got the long-running Bones series.

by Anonymousreply 52October 12, 2024 9:44 PM

Jenna Ortega (Wednesday) may be headed in this direction.

by Anonymousreply 53October 12, 2024 9:46 PM

Breckin Meyer in Clueless. He was so hot back then.

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by Anonymousreply 54October 12, 2024 9:48 PM

Schlitzie was a more appealing actor than Ryan Reynolds

by Anonymousreply 55October 12, 2024 9:49 PM

[quote] The gorgeous Freddie Prinze Jr. should have had Ryan Reynolds' career.

Prinze has zero charisma.

by Anonymousreply 56October 12, 2024 10:11 PM

I thought Ally Sheedy would have a much better career than she wound up having, same with Nastassia Kinski.

by Anonymousreply 57October 12, 2024 10:13 PM

Natalie Dormer is really good. She should be so much bigger. I loved her in Picnic at Hanging Rock series.

by Anonymousreply 58October 12, 2024 10:21 PM

R57 she fucked my ex-sister-in-law’s brother, so there’s that.

by Anonymousreply 59October 12, 2024 10:23 PM

Ally or Nastassia? Because I think back in the day, 'Nasty' as they called her, would do it with doorknobs if nothing else was available...

by Anonymousreply 60October 12, 2024 10:28 PM

She

by Anonymousreply 61October 12, 2024 10:35 PM

Joshua Miller in River's Edge

by Anonymousreply 62October 12, 2024 10:39 PM

Evan Peters in the first season of AHS

by Anonymousreply 63October 12, 2024 10:43 PM

Besides Netflix none of those Stranger Things kids is any good. They will soon be forgotten.

by Anonymousreply 64October 12, 2024 10:50 PM

Haley Joel Osment in Sixth Sense

by Anonymousreply 65October 12, 2024 10:51 PM

I see dead careers.

by Anonymousreply 66October 12, 2024 10:52 PM

What about Ansel Elgort? Nobody asked for him and he was heavily promoted and then flopped.

by Anonymousreply 67October 12, 2024 10:56 PM

Rachel Zegler 🤞

by Anonymousreply 68October 12, 2024 10:57 PM

Kitsch was excellent as David Koresh.

by Anonymousreply 69October 12, 2024 11:01 PM

Kitsch was good looking but generic at three time and not a great actor. He also lacked charisma.

by Anonymousreply 70October 12, 2024 11:03 PM

At the time

by Anonymousreply 71October 12, 2024 11:07 PM

[quote] Another for for Natalie Dormer - pretty, good actor. Is she "gay men pretty" and not straight guy hot? Like Linda Evangelista - gay men thought she was so gorgeous, but straight men didn't really seem to find her all that hot.

Bingo. I don't think straight men find her as attractive. Linda Evangelista is a good comparison.

I watched The Tudors a long, long time ago. IIRC, she was good in that. The production values were high. Henry Cavill began his wooden-block acting career.

by Anonymousreply 72October 12, 2024 11:11 PM

R50, spot on, Twin Peaks younger cast applies to this, specially the guys. Lara Flynn Boyle was the one who had the better, if shorter, career. Kyle was already known from Blue Velvet. Maybe they were all traumatized.

by Anonymousreply 73October 12, 2024 11:12 PM

R72, there are may successful actresses that straight men dont find hot…

by Anonymousreply 74October 12, 2024 11:13 PM

Sylvia Hoeks played such an amazing villainess in Bladerunner 2049 I was sure she’d get a name for herself. But.. nothing

by Anonymousreply 75October 12, 2024 11:14 PM

R75, there was no love for her.

by Anonymousreply 76October 12, 2024 11:16 PM

I think Janeane Garofalo is so neurotic she self-sabotages. Is there anything she’s done that she hasn’t bad-mouthed at the time or soon after? It’s annoying to hear her shit on things I’ve enjoyed watching her in

by Anonymousreply 77October 12, 2024 11:40 PM

I remember seeing Lauren Ambrose on Seth Meyers’ show promoting her run in My Fair Lady on Broadway. She was so off-putting I lost any interest in seeing her in anything ever again. A shame because I loved her in Six Feet Under, Psycho Beach Party and Can’t Hardly Wait

by Anonymousreply 78October 12, 2024 11:57 PM

100%, r77.

by Anonymousreply 79October 13, 2024 12:07 AM

Paul Rudd. 4O year old virgin. He is now doing crappy Marvel movies and reboots.

by Anonymousreply 80October 13, 2024 12:11 AM

Not everyone wants to be a “major star,” some people have the career they want.

[quote]Natalie Dormer from The Tudors.

[quote]Mischa Barton in Lawn Dogs.

[quote]Jenna Ortega (Wednesday) may be headed in this direction.

[quote]Amanda Peterson

Drugs and other off-screen behavior

[quote]Josh Harnett - Pearl Harbor

[quote]Jeanine Garafalo

Both have shunned stardom

[quote]Linda Fiorentino - The Last Seduction

Retired. She didn’t get along with Tommy Lee Jones, but her reputation wasn’t great before Men In Black.

[quote]Sarah Michelle Gellar when she was on All My Children. She obviously went on to be big with Buffy but hasn’t done much of note since.

Semi-retired when she had kids.

[quote]Haley Joel Osment

He isn’t a cute kid anymore, he looks like JD Vance.

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by Anonymousreply 81October 13, 2024 12:11 AM

r80 the Marvel actors make so much money their great-grandchildren won't need to work for a living.

by Anonymousreply 82October 13, 2024 12:18 AM

Maybe Natalie Dormer does a lot of stage work. That would explain her dearth of tv/movie roles.

by Anonymousreply 83October 13, 2024 12:21 AM

Donna Pescow

by Anonymousreply 84October 13, 2024 12:29 AM

Dominique Fischback, and it may still happen.

by Anonymousreply 85October 13, 2024 12:39 AM

Romola Garai but I read it was because she turned Harvey down.

by Anonymousreply 86October 13, 2024 12:48 AM

I loved Taylor Kitsch in the extremely underrated second season of True Detective.

by Anonymousreply 87October 13, 2024 12:52 AM

[quote][R72], there are may successful actresses that straight men dont find hot…

Not r72, but I made the comparison to Linda Evangelista earlier in the thread to which he was responding.

The point I was making was that most people citing Dormer mention that she's attractive, but gay men have a different notion of that than straight men. If she is actually straight guy average looking, then competition for roles is a lot tougher - all else being equal. She's not "quirky" enough looking for character roles so would be in competition with the likes of a ScarJo and other who straight men find exceptionally hot for some reason which eludes my homo sensibilities.

by Anonymousreply 88October 13, 2024 12:57 AM

[quote] Jason Dohring from Veronica Mars.

[quote] I used to have a thing for him but then I just saw that he's a $cientologist. Ugh.

Dohring's parents are Scienos and raised their kids in the cult. To a small extent, I do see the second gen Scienos as victims of the cult because they have been brainwashed since childhood.

by Anonymousreply 89October 13, 2024 1:30 AM

Romola Garai said Harvey creeped on her when she was still a teen, I think she said it put her off wanting to work in Hollywood

by Anonymousreply 90October 13, 2024 1:39 AM

R47, I love, LOVE Ileana Douglas and couldn’t agree with you more.

by Anonymousreply 91October 13, 2024 2:33 AM

Jeanine Garofalo seems one-note, like a slightly more animated Sara Gilbert.

by Anonymousreply 92October 13, 2024 2:35 AM

I really thought Jamie Luner would be her generation's Heather Locklear, but no.

by Anonymousreply 93October 13, 2024 2:51 AM

Illeana Douglas had a podcast for a few years. You should check it out if you've never heard it, r91

by Anonymousreply 94October 13, 2024 3:50 AM

Haley Joel Osment's JD Vance impersonation is much better than Bowen Yang's impersonation on SNL.

by Anonymousreply 95October 13, 2024 3:55 AM

Elizabeth Perkins from Ordinary People ( is she daughter of that old fart rocker whose name escapes me).

Agree about Ileana Douglas — as ex wife of Michael Douglas — maybe that hurt her, didn’t help her career

by Anonymousreply 96October 13, 2024 3:57 AM

Two who I thought would do better than they've done are Oliver Hudson and Tyler Hoechlin. Neither has had bad careers, but I thought they would both be as big as Glenn Powell is now.

by Anonymousreply 97October 13, 2024 4:02 AM

[quote]Agree about Ileana Douglas — as ex wife of Michael Douglas — maybe that hurt her, didn’t help her career

Ileana Douglas was never married to Michael Douglas, and is not related to him by blood or by marriage.

She is the granddaughter of classic Hollywood actor Melvyn Douglas. Michael is the son of classic Hollywood actor Kirk Douglas.

by Anonymousreply 98October 13, 2024 4:04 AM

Ileana was married to Martin Scorsese.

by Anonymousreply 99October 13, 2024 4:22 AM

Ileana was in Goodfellas and in Scorcese's Cape Fear. She was in that really horrible scene, too (Cape Fear).

by Anonymousreply 100October 13, 2024 4:30 AM

Ileana and Scorsese were in a relationship, but never married.

by Anonymousreply 101October 13, 2024 4:32 AM

[quote] Sarah Michelle Gellar - Semi-retired when she had kids.

It’s not like she has been in anything watchable since Buffy.

by Anonymousreply 102October 13, 2024 4:58 AM

[quote] Romola Garai said Harvey creeped on her when she was still a teen, I think she said it put her off wanting to work in Hollywood

She doesn’t make top quality British TV of movies either.

by Anonymousreply 103October 13, 2024 5:00 AM

R98 thanks for correcting me about Ileana Douglas . Thus is why I love datalounge. I don’t know where the fuck I got the idea she was married to Michael .

by Anonymousreply 104October 13, 2024 5:01 AM

R26 I remember Joanna Going in a 90s miniseries called Children of the Dust. I thought she and her costar Billy Wirth would make it big. Both incredibly hot and not bad actors to boot. It really is all a crapshoot.

by Anonymousreply 105October 13, 2024 5:15 AM

R96

I think you mean Elizabeth McGovern, who was in Downton Abbey. Elizabeth Perkins was in Big and About Last Night.

by Anonymousreply 106October 13, 2024 5:28 AM

Ashley Judd. She was beautiful, charming, and had a killer rack in the late 90s and early 2000s. Then she just kind of disappeared just like one of the bullets that exited her mother’s head….

by Anonymousreply 107October 13, 2024 6:12 AM

Most of these women disappeared because they turned 30.

by Anonymousreply 108October 13, 2024 6:20 AM

I saw Ashley Judd in Double Jeopardy, the movie. Horrible. No acting talent.

Very good-looking, though.

by Anonymousreply 109October 13, 2024 6:26 AM

I thought Hunter Parrish from Weeds had the potential to become very famous.

Mira Sorvino is in this class as well. Huge success early on and then she dropped off the face of the Earth.

by Anonymousreply 110October 13, 2024 6:30 AM

You never hear about Tom Cruise or Julia Roberts. It's always the D Listers who can't afford to shut themselves away.

by Anonymousreply 111October 13, 2024 6:39 AM

r110 Mira Sorvino was another one that wouldn't fuck Weinstein and he made her acting career stop.

by Anonymousreply 112October 13, 2024 6:47 AM

Claire Forlani was probably meant for a bigger career after starring opposite Brad Pitt. The film was rubbish though.

by Anonymousreply 113October 13, 2024 7:12 AM

I wonder with the women how much of it is just having other priorities like starting a family…

by Anonymousreply 114October 13, 2024 7:13 AM

Mena Suvari from American Beauty role.

by Anonymousreply 115October 13, 2024 8:04 AM

William Petersen from Manhunter. Really hot back then, too.

by Anonymousreply 116October 13, 2024 8:05 AM

Please. Mira Sorvino was a minimally talented actress who was a massive cunt to deal with. That's why her career went into the shitter.

by Anonymousreply 117October 13, 2024 8:33 AM

If the Dormer fans haven't seen Elementary, you're in for a treat. The first relevant episode is S1, Ep 21, "A Landmark Story". I'm not sure whether she appears in it but it's necessary to follow the developing plotline to which she belongs.

by Anonymousreply 118October 13, 2024 10:43 AM

Mike Doyle. He was so hot on stage and in Oz. Thought he would have a major career but he was out from the very beginning. Great integrity. But that does not make for great success, Still he has had a good career and I believe has made a good living from it. He would have been a good rom com star who young girls and middle aged women would have had a crush on. But then finding out he was gay would have been a reel downer and the photos would have come down from the poster boards and office cubicles He's probably fine with it. On the short side but so was Alan Ladd. And Cruise.

by Anonymousreply 119October 13, 2024 11:12 AM

Craig Stott in HOLDING THE MAN.

by Anonymousreply 120October 13, 2024 11:20 AM

Sorvino was a nepo baby. I don't know what her father was like to work with, but he had a quite a career, although he was best taken in small doses (annoying in "Law & Order", just about perfect in "Goodfellas").

Breckin Meyer worked pretty continuously until he reached the age for Dad parts

by Anonymousreply 121October 13, 2024 11:26 AM

Tatiana Maslany

Orphan Black was mind blowing and proved she could act with a capital A. Ok yes the last season or two the writing went off the rails, it always does, but she was still excellent and she got an Emmy.

by Anonymousreply 122October 13, 2024 11:30 AM

Adrian Paul from the old Highlander series.

by Anonymousreply 123October 13, 2024 11:30 AM

I too want more Romola Garai.

by Anonymousreply 124October 13, 2024 12:05 PM

Definitely these 2:

Jason Dohring from Veronica Mars.

Natalie Dormer from The Tudors.

I thought they would both be mega stars given how well they performed. Sad neither ever really broke out.

by Anonymousreply 125October 13, 2024 12:06 PM

With regard to Jason Dohring, Adam Brody and Penn Badgeley did similar schtick in shows that more people watched, and their characters were hipster nerds and had a bigger fanbase among teen girls.

by Anonymousreply 126October 13, 2024 12:45 PM

There's only room for one Alpha Blonde r16.

by Anonymousreply 127October 13, 2024 12:47 PM

Christopher Atkins - Blue Lagoon

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by Anonymousreply 128October 13, 2024 1:11 PM

Natalie Dormer married her very hot fellow period drama actor David Oakes and they had a kid during lockdown.

by Anonymousreply 129October 13, 2024 1:20 PM

William Peterson was on CSI for about 100 years, and it was one of the most popular shows when it was on. He was also executive producer, so he made a ton of money in addition. He doesn’t need to work.

by Anonymousreply 130October 13, 2024 1:29 PM

I agree with Tatiana Maslany, I fear she's going to be pigeonhold/held? in quirky roles like Natasha Lyonne's. I really thought Adian Turner would blow up after Being Human.

by Anonymousreply 131October 13, 2024 1:47 PM

Mira Sorvino has been in Christian films a certain indicator of career decline.

by Anonymousreply 132October 13, 2024 2:19 PM

Yes but Petersen should have been a bigger movie star after Manhunter.

by Anonymousreply 133October 13, 2024 3:27 PM

He was great in Manhunter, but I always thought he didn’t quite have the looks. He’s handsome for sure, but he’s kind of chubby and his face is kind of round. But he’s probably as rich as anyone in Hollywood, so there’s that.

by Anonymousreply 134October 13, 2024 3:33 PM

R13 And then Miller bombed so bad as Sally Frame on Another World the writers ended up killing off one of their most popular heroines.

by Anonymousreply 135October 13, 2024 3:36 PM

Courtney Love was wonderful in The People Vs. Larry Flint, and won some awards for her performance, but never had an acting career.

by Anonymousreply 136October 13, 2024 3:45 PM

I liked Peterson in Manhunter and To Live and Die in LA but let's not pretend he's some incredible actor.

by Anonymousreply 137October 13, 2024 4:07 PM

I was disappointed to discover that whatever made Tatiana Maslany so appealing on ORPHAN BLACK vanished totally onstage. (I saw her Off-Broadway in MARY PAGE MARLOWE and on Broadway in NETWORK.) Perfectly competent, but absolutely no electricity whatsoever.

by Anonymousreply 138October 13, 2024 4:16 PM

When I saw John Hawkes as Sol Star on "Deadwood," I thought for sure this would be the beginning of a really interesting Viggo Mortensen-type indie-film career for him.

by Anonymousreply 139October 13, 2024 5:01 PM

John Hawkes was excellent in Winter’s Bone.

by Anonymousreply 140October 13, 2024 5:30 PM

I remember reading years ago Ambrose was going to be in the revival of funny girl, then again at one point so was Taylor Dayne.

Sorvino was great at comedy and character parts something she didn’t lean into too much after winning the Oscar other than Romy and Michelle. She took leading lady roles that she wasn’t cut out for.

Prinze like most of the early aughts actors had a short shelf life. I think he likes being with his kids and doing small projects. Plus he’s got a popular podcast on professional wrestling.

by Anonymousreply 141October 13, 2024 5:56 PM

I remember when Julia Ormond was pushed on us really forcefully 30+ years ago.

I've never had any sympathy for older actresses who complain about not getting the same roles. They weren't complaining when they were young and beautiful, were they?

It's like they can't make the connection that their youth and beauty opened the doors for them - they think it was their overwhelming talent - even though there were tens of thousands of more competent actresses they could have chosen.

It's a tough business.

by Anonymousreply 142October 13, 2024 6:17 PM

Ryan Phillippe had a hot ass but he couldn't stay on top forever.

by Anonymousreply 143October 13, 2024 6:29 PM

Australian actor Noah Taylor after "Almost Famous" (and he had also turned in a great performance as the younger version of Geoffrey Rush's character in "Shine"). I don't know about "major star," but I thought he'd have been a steadily working character actor--the kind you're always surprised and pleased to see in a film.

by Anonymousreply 144October 13, 2024 9:21 PM

Ray Liotta in Goodfellas. He played the role he was born for and never did much else. Dumbo Drop didn’t help.

Bridget Fonda. I loved her in Scandal (I really like that movie period) and Jackie Brown.

The twins from Spandau Ballet in The Krays. Seems like one or the other could keep acting.

Also the Fine Young Cannibals singer in Scandal.

by Anonymousreply 145October 13, 2024 11:27 PM

Umm, Ray Liotta worked steadily in high profile roles in film and TV until he died.

by Anonymousreply 146October 13, 2024 11:46 PM

Poor Gretchen Mol. She really was tossed aside after that unfortunate VANITY FAIR cover story.

by Anonymousreply 147October 14, 2024 12:30 AM

R124

Have you watched “The Hour”? It’s excellent!

by Anonymousreply 148October 14, 2024 1:57 AM

r147 Please explain

by Anonymousreply 149October 14, 2024 2:56 AM

Trudie Styler. Not because she’s talented but because she’s married to Sting. Evidently he wasn’t able to buy her a career.

by Anonymousreply 150October 14, 2024 3:35 AM

Joel Kinnaman

by Anonymousreply 151October 14, 2024 3:44 AM

Juliet Stevenson from Truly, Madly, Deeply.

by Anonymousreply 152October 14, 2024 3:51 AM

Two that that comes to mind were on the HBO show IN TREATMENT starring Gabriel Byrne. Each played troubled teens who were patients of Dr. Weston (Byrne) on each of the two seasons:

Mia Wasikowska and Dane DeHaan

After their appearances, they appeared in several films, then absolutely nothing, which is a shame because they were excellent on that show.

by Anonymousreply 153October 14, 2024 3:53 AM

Dr. Harry Weston?

(fans self dramatically)

by Anonymousreply 154October 14, 2024 3:57 AM

Tatiana Maslany has stirred up a hornet's nest by claiming all sorts of crap about DL fav Ryan Reynolds being a misogynist after being cut from Deadpool III.

There is some talk that she's suing Marvel because they've canned future She Hulk projects.

It couldn't be that the character is uninteresting and unappealing? Nah - has to be misogyny.

Too bad because she is good in Orphan Black type roles which would translate well into genre movies like the superhero or other franchises like Star Wars, Star Trek, and the like.

by Anonymousreply 155October 14, 2024 3:59 AM

[quote]Dormer has done some good work, but she was not good in that PENNY DREADFUL: CITY OF ANGELS series. To be fair, the show wasn't good anyway, but she was part of the problem.

R31, I loved Dormer in that show. In fact she was the only thing I liked about it.

by Anonymousreply 156October 14, 2024 4:45 AM

Mia Wasikowska is a well-known actor who still works, r153. She's the only person who launched a career from In Treatment. She's more than several movies.

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by Anonymousreply 157October 14, 2024 5:08 AM

Ron Eldard and Jason Patric were both excellent in Sleepers. They were also hot back then.

It seems like they both disappeared.

by Anonymousreply 158October 14, 2024 5:58 AM

[quote]r113 Claire Forlani was probably meant for a bigger career after starring opposite Brad Pitt.

She really is great looking in that. She looks like a beautiful piece of sculpture.

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by Anonymousreply 159October 14, 2024 6:01 AM

[quote]r142 I remember when Julia Ormond was pushed on us really forcefully 30+ years ago.

PLEASE SEE: “Why did Julia Ormond’s career go straight down the shitter?”

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by Anonymousreply 160October 14, 2024 6:06 AM

Brendad Ickson

by Anonymousreply 161October 14, 2024 6:51 AM

Andie MacDowell. When I saw her in four weddings and a funeral, I thought she had so much charisma and style and beauty that she was going to be a major player. I guess not.

by Anonymousreply 162October 14, 2024 6:54 AM

In a lot of these cases there was substance abuse of one kind or another, mental illness, or just being dumb as a box of rocks and unable to make shrewd choices. It wasn't always the fickleness of Hollywood and/or audiences.

by Anonymousreply 163October 14, 2024 7:00 AM

R153 Dane Dehaan didn't become a leading man, but he hasn't completely vanished. He was just in Oppenheimer.

by Anonymousreply 164October 14, 2024 10:17 AM

Jonathan Taylor Thomas is one. He's a few years older than me, and I was in love with him as a kid. For a short while, he was such a 'teen idol' type, I thought he'd turn that into something. I guess he had no interest, or drive, etc.

by Anonymousreply 165October 14, 2024 11:06 AM

[quote]the likes of a ScarJo and other who straight men find exceptionally hot for some reason which eludes my homo sensibilities.

They're called boobs.

by Anonymousreply 166October 14, 2024 11:44 AM

R157 -

Never heard of any of her films after 'The Double' in 2013. I'm sure many people listed are constantly making small films that hardly anyone has seen. She's obviously one of them.

by Anonymousreply 167October 14, 2024 1:38 PM

R157 with some of the ex-teen actors, it’s a lack of glamour. Haley Joel Osment is a little bear. And Mia Wasikowska looks like an intelligent Polish history professor.

They don’t even have character actor faces.

by Anonymousreply 168October 14, 2024 2:35 PM

I thought the same thing about Natalie Dormant in The Tumors, but her career never metastasized.

by Anonymousreply 169October 14, 2024 2:41 PM

Jake, the 16 Candles guy.

by Anonymousreply 170October 14, 2024 3:28 PM

r153, Dane blew up after Chronicle, but then sort of killed his career with Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, but he seems to be working steadily now- he was in Oppenheimer and has 2 projects in pre-pro, 2 in post-pro.

by Anonymousreply 171October 14, 2024 3:48 PM

I thought Grand Goodeve would break out after Eight is Enough.

by Anonymousreply 172October 14, 2024 3:56 PM

Re: Tatiana Maslany. There is still plenty of time!

by Anonymousreply 173October 14, 2024 4:01 PM

Claire Forlani has the same vibe as Angelina Jolie, cool, beautiful dark brunette with high cheekbones and plumped up lips. Just not nuts, as far as I know.

by Anonymousreply 174October 14, 2024 4:03 PM

Dane Cook

by Anonymousreply 175October 14, 2024 4:09 PM

Whew. I'm safe.

by Anonymousreply 176October 14, 2024 6:35 PM

Audrey Tautou after "Amelie." Ditto Marion Cotillard after [winning the Academy Award for] "La Vie En Rose."

by Anonymousreply 177October 14, 2024 10:42 PM

R177, Most of the French stars tried a few English speaking films (Da Vinci Code, Public Enemies, Inception, Dark Knight) , then went back to making European films. I think Lea Seydoux is probably only French woman in English films (Dune II) right now. I don't think Jean Dujardin even tried after The Artist.

by Anonymousreply 178October 15, 2024 12:02 AM

Jake Weber. He was in a few movies and tv shows, seems like he’s disappeared.

by Anonymousreply 179October 15, 2024 12:17 AM

He always worked but never really became A list, Ben Chaplin. After I saw him in Death by Numbers I thought he was going to be huge.

by Anonymousreply 180October 15, 2024 12:33 AM

R180, I just Googled Ben Chaplin. I didn’t realize he’s 55. I thought he was significantly younger.

by Anonymousreply 181October 15, 2024 1:02 AM

I remember going to see THE TRUTH ABOUT CATS AND DOGS. The film was a starring role for Janeane Garofalo and Uma Thurman, but articles on the film spoke of the new British heartthrob who was co-starring in his first American film. Ben Chaplin was very cute but a bit bland. He was in a few other films (Birthday Girl w/Nicole Kidman, Washinton Square with Jennifer Jason Leigh, Murder by Numbers with Sandra Bullock) and then he sort of disappeared. Went back to the UK. Did some stage there and on Broadway. If you have Brit Box, you'll now see him on shows as an evil boss, or and evil priest, or an evil husband on some UK murder mystery show.

by Anonymousreply 182October 15, 2024 3:39 AM

Garofalo was really terrific in Cats and Dogs. Her career should have taken off after it became a hit.

It's been my understanding, however, that she had a problem handling her own success and self-destructed.

by Anonymousreply 183October 15, 2024 7:59 PM

I liked Ben Chaplin in Washington Square

by Anonymousreply 184October 15, 2024 9:25 PM

Josh Dallas

by Anonymousreply 185October 15, 2024 11:48 PM

Kristy McNichol should have been a huge star. She was a fantastic actress, with a charming personality. It's too bad her mental health struggles got in her way.

by Anonymousreply 186October 16, 2024 1:40 AM

It's true, R186. I just watched the new 4K disc of Little Darlings and Kristy was amazing in it. Her instincts were spot on. She nad Matt Dillon pretty much conveyed an entire page of dialogue just looking at (and looking away from) each other.

I do also think, though, that if she didn't have the mental struggles she did, she still might have struggled. Look at some of the roles she took before it all got to be too much. I would say that the only other ones that worked for her were Only When I Laugh and White Dog. She never seemed to find the right part for her, and I don't think it was because she was a closeted lesbian, I think it was because Hollywood was trying to make her into a romantic ingenue and Kristy was just a little too offbeat for that. She definitely had chemistry with some men, Dillon, Michael Ontkean, so again, the lesbianism wasn't the issue. She was just too take charge to follow a man.

I do wish she'd dip a toe back into acting again.

by Anonymousreply 187October 16, 2024 1:59 AM

Marion Cotillard is a French actress...she's still a major star. In France.

I think Dormer's career stalled because she was touted as the next big thing and got the juicy lead villain role in the 2nd Penny Dreadful series but it bombed then Covid happened and she turned 40 and...it's all about timing. If too many negative things happen, it derails or slows down a star's career.

by Anonymousreply 188October 16, 2024 2:34 AM

It's really about timing and charisma and whether you can fill a need in the entertainment spectrum. Every year, there's a couple dozen exciting new talents to come along and MAYBE one or two of them will end up with a long career as a major star. If they get attention, then they have to KEEP that attention by being interesting and managing to get cast in things that showcase their talent/look and that's harder than it sounds.

It helps to have another name promoting you...especially if it's a hotter bigger name. A co-star or director who will put you in more than one prestige project.

And, some people are just not meant to be longterm names. I think both Barry Keoghan and Jacob Elordi will flame out soon. And, Glen Powell is so generically boring. Like a JC Penney mannequin.

by Anonymousreply 189October 16, 2024 2:42 AM

R178 most French actors “struggle” with accents in English, even when their actual knowledge of the language is excellent. I think it’s something to do with the run on sounds in French. I applied to English, it can make them appear to speak too fast in English, or sound slightly hysterical.

by Anonymousreply 190October 16, 2024 3:36 AM

Claire Forlani has sort of watery eyes. Throughout Meet Joe Black, I thought she was about to weep several times, including during the sex scene.

by Anonymousreply 191October 16, 2024 3:38 AM

191 posts and no one has mentioned Alicia Vikander?

by Anonymousreply 192October 16, 2024 3:43 AM

R190 you've hit on one of my pet peeves. While learning French all my instructors were belligerent about getting the pronunciation right, yet I never had a single French teach who didn't speak English with a strong French accent,

I really think they believe that English with a strong French accent is better English.

They're really that creepy, the French,

by Anonymousreply 193October 16, 2024 4:06 AM

Tyrone Power Jr. He was so good-looking in the 80s I thought for sure he'd become a star even if just on a TV soap or something. Maybe Tyrone Power was already too forgotten in the 80s to create a nepo success. Or maybe it was the curse of that Stars of Tomorrow number at the Academy Awards

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by Anonymousreply 194October 16, 2024 4:16 AM

Kate Hudson after "Almost Famous"- as a bunch of sh*tty rom-coms and brand endorsements don't count as real stardom.

Billy Crudup- again after "Almost Famous." - he'd have had a better career if he hadn't left his pregnant wife 5 minutes before she was due, it hurt him.

Wes Bentley- After "American Beauty". Thought he would be HUGE. His reasons for not making it (drugs) have been widely discussed on DL- there are many threads.

Adrien Brody after "The Pianist"

And finally Allison Elliot- (I know she's been mentioned already) in "The Wings of the Dove". She gave a *luminous*, haunting performance in that... and was even featured on one of the Vanity Fair 'New Stars to Watch' covershoots they used to do.

I have NO idea what happened there.....but had she hung in, today she would be giving people like Cate Blanchett a run for their money.

by Anonymousreply 195October 16, 2024 5:11 AM

Crispin glover - river’s edge

by Anonymousreply 196October 16, 2024 5:31 AM

Nia Long

by Anonymousreply 197October 16, 2024 5:39 AM

Emily Lloyd wowed everyone in WISH YOU WERE HERE, but then descended into real mental illness. Like, to the point where there’s whole stretches of her life she doesn’t remember.

She was fired from some big films like Woody Allen’s HUSBANDS AND WIVES due to her strangely reclusive behavior, and the follow up films she did make lacked impact. (I believe A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT was a hit.)

At any rate, a fantastic young actress who didn’t fulfill her remarkable promise.

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by Anonymousreply 198October 16, 2024 6:01 AM

Uh, Allison Elliot is still acting; she apparently did 'hang in there' but she didn't have that certain It factor you need to become a star.

by Anonymousreply 199October 16, 2024 6:10 AM

Cher had Emily Lloyd fired from the role of her daughter in MERMAIDS, saying, ‘You don’t look genetically like me.’

Lloyd answered, ‘Well you don’t look genetically like you, either.’

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by Anonymousreply 200October 16, 2024 6:17 AM

r179 I agree with you...I thought Jake Weber was the best part of Medium and thought he really carried the show.

Surprised he hasn't popped up anywhere else.

by Anonymousreply 201October 16, 2024 6:32 AM

R159 she always looked like she was squinting.

by Anonymousreply 202October 16, 2024 6:48 AM

James Marsters = Buffy T. V. S.

Joyce DeWitt = 3's Co.

by Anonymousreply 203October 16, 2024 7:37 AM

[quote]Joyce DeWitt = 3's Co.

Judith Light got the career critics foretold for Joyce

[bold]: (

by Anonymousreply 204October 16, 2024 12:27 PM

r193 you have a good point. I speak French, but I have the thickest American accent you've ever hear. When I try to speak French with a native French speaker, they immediately switch to English because they cannot bear to hear me murder their language.

by Anonymousreply 205October 16, 2024 4:35 PM

[quote]Cher had Emily Lloyd fired from the role of her daughter in MERMAIDS, saying, ‘You don’t look genetically like me.’

[quote]Lloyd answered, ‘Well you don’t look genetically like you, either.’

Emily Lloyd is an honorary Datalounger for that alone.

Funnily enough, Cher's biological son looks like he's not genetically related to her. He is the spitting image of his father Gregg Allman.

You'd think those Armenian genes would've been stronger.

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by Anonymousreply 206October 16, 2024 4:38 PM

Chaz doesn't look like either of his parents.

by Anonymousreply 207October 16, 2024 4:57 PM

R198 love Emily Lloyd. Speaking of her, her stage school friend Gabrielle Anwar also showed signs she might be a big name after making a splash in Scent of a Woman.

by Anonymousreply 208October 16, 2024 6:35 PM

Emilio Estevez.

by Anonymousreply 209October 16, 2024 6:58 PM

I thought Gabrielle Anwar would be bigger than she was

by Anonymousreply 210October 16, 2024 7:12 PM

Jamie Dornan

by Anonymousreply 211October 16, 2024 7:40 PM

A lot of English actresses seem to just come and go in Hollywood. Often the flavour of the month and then either end up on TV like Minnie Driver or Natascha McElhone or go back to the UK.

Speaking of, WHET Rosamund Pike

by Anonymousreply 212October 16, 2024 7:42 PM

R212 uh, she was in Saltburn last year, a very popular film that got huge buzz and she was on many longlists for an Oscar nomination.

She's also in the next Guy Ritchie movie out in January. She's doing fine.

by Anonymousreply 213October 16, 2024 7:47 PM

I think Natalie Dormer is butt-ugly.

by Anonymousreply 214October 16, 2024 7:53 PM

R213 that’s right I forgot about saltburn. She was the best thing in that silly movie.

by Anonymousreply 215October 16, 2024 7:54 PM

I thought Gabrielle Anwar would be bigger after seeing her on Press Gang. I was obsessed with that show!

by Anonymousreply 216October 16, 2024 11:08 PM

Vineca Fox

by Anonymousreply 217October 17, 2024 2:20 AM

R212, I don't know if it's still the case but performing on TV for UK performers didn't have the stigma it did for Americans.

by Anonymousreply 218October 17, 2024 2:22 AM

R218 Much smaller pool in the UK....and smaller salaries. Everyone realized that work was work and didn't look down on it. Well, depending on what it was you were doing. Prestigious adaptations of great works...fine. Guest starring on Benny Hill....not so fine.

And, at least back in the day, it was all centered on the greater London metro area so it was easy to film during the day and do theater at night. Now they film a lot in Cardiff so not so easily done.

by Anonymousreply 219October 17, 2024 3:24 AM

Oh, I've got one, thanks to R219. Miranda Hart. I believe her UK series is what got her the role in the film "Spy" and she nearly wiped Melissa McCarthy off the screen in their scenes together (not an easy feat). I would have thought the role would have been her entry into Hollywood, and she would have her pick of supporting roles and start building a career here. Instead she just disappeared. It's possible she just didn't like it here and ran back to the UK. I just adore her and wish I could see more of her.

by Anonymousreply 220October 17, 2024 3:55 AM

Deborah Rush.

Every role she has is amazing, and I'm constantly surprised she isn't cast more. However, her IMDB credits are surprisingly sparse.

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by Anonymousreply 221October 17, 2024 4:03 AM

R220 There was a recent Daily Fail article about Miranda Hart suffering from Lyme (?) disease for the past decade (?). I can't find it in my history right now, but she said it severely curtailed her acting career due to the physical effects.

by Anonymousreply 222October 17, 2024 4:15 AM

I thought Victoria Justice would be a big star

by Anonymousreply 223October 17, 2024 4:18 AM

Alison Lohman

by Anonymousreply 224October 17, 2024 4:31 AM

Thanks, R222. I will look that up. That's awful for her.

by Anonymousreply 225October 17, 2024 4:33 AM

Matt Keeslar

by Anonymousreply 226October 17, 2024 4:37 AM

Matt voluntarily left the business and became a physical therapist.

by Anonymousreply 227October 17, 2024 4:49 AM

Even after she won that Emmy, Valerie Cherish never broke out of doing TV stuff.

A lot of people expected her to transition into movies.

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by Anonymousreply 228October 17, 2024 4:53 AM

Here's a People story about Miranda Hart's disease issues.

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by Anonymousreply 229October 17, 2024 4:54 AM

[quote] She's also in the next Guy Ritchie movie out in January. She's doing fine.

… a Guy Ritchie movie. A dream come true, I’m sure.

by Anonymousreply 230October 17, 2024 8:49 AM

Gabrielle Carteris in The Jazz Singer.

by Anonymousreply 231October 17, 2024 3:06 PM

R231 she was already past her starlet phase by that point.

by Anonymousreply 232October 17, 2024 5:10 PM

r203 Did you really think Joyce DeWitt would be a major star?

by Anonymousreply 233October 17, 2024 9:26 PM

A good friend of mine was a grad student at UCLA decades ago and reports that at a faculty meeting, one professor was heard to say that they needed to do better than just churning out "a bunch of no-talent Joyce DeWitts" -- only to have another one point out that she was in fact one of their most successful recent grads.+

by Anonymousreply 234October 17, 2024 10:30 PM

[quote]When I saw John Hawkes as Sol Star on "Deadwood," I thought for sure this would be the beginning of a really interesting Viggo Mortensen-type indie-film career for him.

I agree, r139 (and r140). He's a fine actor and I've enjoyed him in anything I've ever seen him in.

A Broadway actor that I always thought ought to have done better is Tom Hewitt. He does seem to have worked quite a bit, at least.

He's a really nice guy, too.

by Anonymousreply 235October 18, 2024 9:43 AM

Michael Biehn.

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by Anonymousreply 236October 21, 2024 8:08 PM

Chad Faust when I saw him in The 4400

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by Anonymousreply 237October 21, 2024 8:15 PM

Aaron Eckhart - still plugging away but never got off the B-List in terms of mainstream features.

Justine Waddell - after her 90s costume dramas and even the Natalie Wood biopic, I found her exquisite.

by Anonymousreply 238October 27, 2024 10:14 AM

Michael Biehn was derailed by a drinking problem, IIRC.

by Anonymousreply 239October 27, 2024 6:01 PM

The drug problems and being difficult make total sense for why some of these folks didn't hit bigger.

The most unusual one is James Marsters - he was in his late 30s during buffy and early 40s on Angel. He didn't hit big when he was younger and was too old when he finally hit.

It is a bit creepy that he was 40-ish when he was making out with mid-20s SMG on the final seasons of Buffy.

by Anonymousreply 240October 27, 2024 7:11 PM

Ursa Minor

by Anonymousreply 241October 27, 2024 9:44 PM

What a deliciously bitchy comment by Emily Lloyd

by Anonymousreply 242October 27, 2024 10:03 PM

Monica Keena- I thought she would have been a breakout star after her Dawson's Creek stint as bad girl Abby.

by Anonymousreply 243October 27, 2024 10:30 PM

Thora Birch- Ghost World

by Anonymousreply 244October 27, 2024 10:40 PM

Carter Oosterhouse. A major star of what I don't know but my god he's just about the most beautiful man ever

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by Anonymousreply 245October 27, 2024 10:46 PM

Blonde, bubbly Christina Crawford (Wild in the Country, The Secret Storm, Faces) was touted for major stardom until her [italic]goddamn cunt mother[/italic] had her blackballed from the industry.

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by Anonymousreply 246October 28, 2024 3:44 AM

Tom Hulce as Mozart in Amadeus.

by Anonymousreply 247October 28, 2024 4:37 AM

I thought Tom Everett Scott would be the next Tom Hanks. Hanks even cued it up for him in ‘That Thing You Do’. But he’s stuck in the middle somewhere with a ton of others.

by Anonymousreply 248October 28, 2024 5:27 AM

I thought Benjamin Walker would break out. Tall and handsome and a good actor, but he never really got there and unfortunately he isn’t aging well. Maybe being married to M’s spawn sucked the vitality of him.

by Anonymousreply 249October 28, 2024 10:47 PM

Robert Tyler.

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by Anonymousreply 250October 28, 2024 10:48 PM

[quote]Tall and handsome and a good actor, but he never really got there and unfortunately he isn’t aging well.

Point of DL order -

Can you say that someone "isn't aging well" if they can still be cleaned up and look good?

Granted, he looks awful as Gil-galad. But, he still looks good when styled correctly and not left to his own devices.

by Anonymousreply 251October 29, 2024 9:56 PM

R198 is right, Emily Lloyd is the epitome of this syndrome.

by Anonymousreply 252October 29, 2024 11:02 PM

I wonder what would have become of Lloyd if she’d managed to keep on acting. I can see her in Bridget Jones’s diary. Maybe some period dramas - the Wings of the dove…

by Anonymousreply 253October 29, 2024 11:04 PM

They tried so hard to make him happen R249 with film and Broadway, but no one seemed to care. Curse of the hideous Gummer girls I guess.

by Anonymousreply 254October 30, 2024 2:24 AM

I thought most of the cast of LOST would be bigger

by Anonymousreply 255October 30, 2024 3:18 AM

I think they all realized that getting high in Hawaii was more fun than Hollywood. If they saved enough from the show, they’re set

by Anonymousreply 256October 30, 2024 4:40 AM

Dennis Franz in NYPD Blue

Kyle Secor in Homicide Life on the Street

by Anonymousreply 257October 30, 2024 5:06 AM

Ernie Hudson in Ghostbusters

by Anonymousreply 258October 30, 2024 5:15 AM

Michael Chiklis. He was great in The Shield.

by Anonymousreply 259October 30, 2024 5:18 AM

Franz was filthy rich when NYPD Blue ended and has pretty much retired.

by Anonymousreply 260October 30, 2024 5:25 AM

Glenn Close, Oscar-free over 45 years later

by Anonymousreply 261October 30, 2024 5:28 AM

R260 So was Lucy but it didn't stop her...

by Anonymousreply 262October 30, 2024 5:32 AM

r244: Apparently, Thora Birch's problem were her parents, specifically her father. He was onset all the time and overbearing, directing her from the sidelines.

Both her parents were ex-pornographic actors and her father was creepily fixated on her. It was off-putting and directors no longer wanted her in their films because of it.

by Anonymousreply 263October 30, 2024 5:46 AM

This article references the problems that her father caused her on set. There is another article linked there about a job she actually lost because of her father:

[quote] But what about the porn star dad who got his famous daughter fired from an off-Broadway production for allegedly harassing her co-star?

[quote] In what could be a case of fatherly love gone too far, Thora Birch had her stage dreams dashed after she was axed from an off-Broadway revival of "Dracula" a few weeks before its Jan. 5, 2011 opening. Why? According to Paul Alexander, "Dracula's" director, he removed her from the production after her father/manager, Jack Birch, threatened another actor.

[quote] Alexander told ABCNews.com that Jack Birch objected to another actor rubbing Thora Birch's back during a scene. When the actor (who Alexander declined to name) tried to explain that he had been directed to rub Thora Birch's back by Alexander, her father said, "Listen, man, I'm trying to make this easier on you – don't touch her."

[quote] Alexander interpreted that as a threat.

[quote] "Have you seen this guy? He looks a little bit like Freddy Krueger with sunglasses -- which he never takes off, by the way," Alexander said. "So you've got this dude who looks like a body builder standing there on stage saying 'I'm trying to make this easy on you' – how else do you interpret that?"

[quote] After meeting with "Dracula's" producers on Friday, Alexander decided to remove Thora Birch from the show and replace her with an understudy.

[quote] "I had to let her go for the safety of my cast and crew," he said. "It's unfortunate because Thora's performance would have been an extremely interesting and innovative performance to watch – that's why I hired her in the first place."

Incidentally, it appears she was on the show "Wednesday" and - surprise, surprise - left the production in 2021 permanently (filming in Romania) to take "to handle a family illness."

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by Anonymousreply 264October 30, 2024 6:07 AM

Ghost World is one of my favorite movies, and when I saw it the first time I thought Thora would be a huge star. I did not think the same about her costar, Scarlett Johansson.

by Anonymousreply 265October 30, 2024 10:32 AM

[quote] I wonder what would have become of Lloyd if she’d managed to keep on acting. I can see her in Bridget Jones’s diary. Maybe some period dramas - the Wings of the dove…

Unlikely. She didn’t have the looks.

by Anonymousreply 266October 30, 2024 4:30 PM

Christina Hendricks, Joan from Mad Men, Monroe-level gorgeous but destined for cable TV and small films, not superstardom, sadly.

by Anonymousreply 267October 30, 2024 5:03 PM

Jonathan Rhys Meyers in Gormenghast

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by Anonymousreply 268October 30, 2024 5:09 PM

Booze destroyed Jonathan Rhys-Meyers.

by Anonymousreply 269October 30, 2024 5:16 PM

I think some actors don't want to be superstars, they're happy working and making lots of money but don't want all the bullshit that comes with being a Brad Pitt or a Jennifer Aniston.

by Anonymousreply 270October 30, 2024 5:27 PM

[quote]Christina Hendricks, Joan from Mad Men

I didn't watch Mad Men but really liked her on Good Girls. But I noticed she always wore terrible wigs. Is she bald? Also her huge breasts are distracting

by Anonymousreply 271October 30, 2024 6:19 PM

R266 what are you talking about? Emily Lloyd totally had the looks to play Bridget Jones. Aside from this her quirky personality would have been good for the part. I really do imagine she would have got that role had she still been a big deal. Most English actresses seem to have been considered for it.

by Anonymousreply 272October 30, 2024 6:23 PM

She looks every one of her 54 years.

And then some.

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by Anonymousreply 273October 30, 2024 6:32 PM

[quote]Unlikely. She didn’t have the looks.

Please, Emily Lloyd was beautiful! Not to mention incredibly talented and charming.

She's had serious mental health issues, which I'm sure include meds. Hardcore psych meds can do a number on your weight. Don't be like the Daily Mail and pick on a middle-aged woman for looking middle-aged.

by Anonymousreply 274October 30, 2024 8:14 PM

Ione Skye another 80s dream girl should have been bigger. She missed auditions for Mystic Pizza and Heathers. I think she was more what they had in mind for Veronica than Winona Ryder in terms of looks although Winona went ahead and made the part her own it’s hard to see either Ione or Jennifer Connelly as Veronica.

by Anonymousreply 275October 30, 2024 9:16 PM

Speaking of Connelly, why wasn’t she a bigger star after her Oscar win, since then most of her films have been rather disappointing with the exception of House of Sand and Fog and she had a tiny bit relatively important role in Little Children.

by Anonymousreply 276October 30, 2024 9:18 PM

r263, I worked with Thora's younger brother, who was maybe 10? 11? at the time, and he was horrific to work with.

by Anonymousreply 277October 30, 2024 9:36 PM

Jennifer Connelly had a great run in the 00s. The house of sand and fog, dark water, Blood Diamonds, and many more in addition to A Beautiful Mind.

by Anonymousreply 278October 30, 2024 10:13 PM

R278 I barely remember her in blood diamonds and she only had supporting parts in most films since A Beautiful Mind. Dark Water wasn’t very good. I just think she could have attracted better projects but they’ve alluded her.

by Anonymousreply 279October 30, 2024 10:19 PM

Eluded *

by Anonymousreply 280October 30, 2024 10:20 PM

Connelly is beautiful but I always found her a bit dull on screen. She also got a nose job that made her look kind of generic and then starved herself out of her voluptuous curves so now she just looks like Demi Moore by way of Allison Williams. Still pretty but like Jennifer Grey she changed what made her stand out

by Anonymousreply 281October 30, 2024 10:50 PM

Big boobs do not win Oscars.

by Anonymousreply 282October 30, 2024 11:22 PM

After burning up the screen in Apartment Zero he did dreck.

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by Anonymousreply 283October 30, 2024 11:43 PM

R281 When did Jennifer get the nose job?

by Anonymousreply 284October 31, 2024 12:07 AM

Connelly had quite enormous breasts in THE ROCKETEER. Did she diet them away or did she have a breast reduction??

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by Anonymousreply 285October 31, 2024 3:21 AM

They were on display in MULHOLLAND FALLS, too.

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by Anonymousreply 286October 31, 2024 3:24 AM

She lost weight over the years.

by Anonymousreply 287October 31, 2024 3:32 AM

Yes. But that doesn’t usually make Double Ds shrink down to nothing.

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by Anonymousreply 288October 31, 2024 5:27 AM

What a bunch of nepos at R194

by Anonymousreply 289October 31, 2024 7:25 AM

Vera Farmiga was really good in Bates Motel as Norman’s mother. Since then, crickets.

by Anonymousreply 290October 31, 2024 11:56 AM

Vera is odd looking

by Anonymousreply 291October 31, 2024 1:57 PM

[R162]: Andie McDowell co-starred with great fanfare in “Greystoke,” but her line readings were disappointing enough to have her voice dubbed by Glenn Close.

She made a very creditable comeback in “Sex, Lies, and Videotape,” then “Groundhog Day,” but she never matched her earlier expectations.

by Anonymousreply 292October 31, 2024 4:10 PM

r290, there is the whole Conjuring franchise, and she was up for an Emmy and and Oscar. .She loses out to Cate Blanchett a lot (they do resemble each other)

by Anonymousreply 293October 31, 2024 4:31 PM

Ione Skye married a Beastie Boy they were a 90s "it couple"

by Anonymousreply 294October 31, 2024 4:34 PM

All the choice roles used to go to Winona Ryder in the 90s after Emily Lloyd didn’t pan out. Jennifer, ione, Martha plimpton… all were scrabbling for Winona’s scraps probably.

by Anonymousreply 295October 31, 2024 5:41 PM

Although Ione was terrific in Gas Food Lodging

by Anonymousreply 296October 31, 2024 5:42 PM

I was doing my Army Reserve weekend commitment at the St. Louis VA. A drunk raving guy was in the ER yelling “I’m Tyrone Power’s grandson!” over and over. I’m sure I was the only person within 5 miles who knew who TP was. But it was 1982 or 83 and I knew Ty had kids late in life so unless this guys father was some illegitimate son no way could he be a grandson. He eventually threw up and laid down on a gurney.

by Anonymousreply 297November 1, 2024 4:40 AM

Tyrone did have an illegitimate son, born to some bumfuck hick when he was filming "Jesse James"

by Anonymousreply 298November 1, 2024 5:24 AM

His nepo baby spawn Taryn died in 2020, I notice.

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by Anonymousreply 299November 1, 2024 5:34 AM

^^ oh my goodness - I just read that nepo baby spawn Taryn married the nepo baby spawn of Soupy Sales…. Tony.

Together they spawned two more nepo babies.

by Anonymousreply 300November 1, 2024 5:40 AM

Another granddaughter of Tyrone Power has been missing for 30 years, probably murdered.

by Anonymousreply 301November 1, 2024 5:43 AM

Missing Person cases are so sad - I understand why families just want the closure of knowing what happened, or at least locating some remains to bury.

A friend of mine has a brother who hasn’t been heard from since the 1970s and it drives her crazy that NO ONE else in the family seems to care.

by Anonymousreply 302November 1, 2024 5:50 AM

[quote]r301 Another granddaughter of Tyrone Power has been missing for 30 years, probably murdered.

[italic]”Ylenia had traveled to the French Quarter during a previous summer and often hung out with the street musicians and homeless people while chronicling her encounters in her journal…” [/italic]

Great.

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by Anonymousreply 303November 1, 2024 5:58 AM

She was extremely beautiful. Someone became obsessed with her. I don't buy that she went for a drugged-out swim.

by Anonymousreply 304November 1, 2024 6:01 AM

I'm acquaintances with his granddaughter (via my trust fund cousin), who is named Tai. She was very pretty when she was young, but now is refreshingly aged, especially since she came from a privileged Beverly Hills background.

by Anonymousreply 305November 1, 2024 7:57 AM

When the was stationed in San Diego on shore duty, the manager of the local convenience store was a Mexican American who was the spitting image of Tyrone Power. It was uncanny. I didn’t want to ask him, but if you saw him you’d swear that they were related. This was in 1986-88.

by Anonymousreply 306November 1, 2024 4:01 PM

Selling everything you own to backpack across the world doesn't scream Stable Mable to begin with. Not that she deserved to be disappeared but people like that put themselves in harm's way.

by Anonymousreply 307November 1, 2024 8:41 PM

r307 who are you speaking of?

by Anonymousreply 308November 1, 2024 8:56 PM

[quote]r308 who are you speaking of?

It sounds in reference to Tyrone Powers’ granddaughter, Ylenia Carrisi, linked to article in R303

by Anonymousreply 309November 1, 2024 9:10 PM

Jessica Lange, Addison DeWitt, and Tyrone Power in SON OF FURY

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by Anonymousreply 310November 1, 2024 9:17 PM

When I saw Taron Egerton in "Kingsman: The Secret Service", I knew he had *it". And he's a steady jobbing actor and I thought the accolades and Golden Globes win for "Rocketman" would be a boon for his career, but since then he dropped out of a play, dropped out of Claire Denis' film (Joe Alwyn replaced him), quit his voice-over role in the cartoon "Moominvalley" and has been doing back-to-back projects for streamers.

by Anonymousreply 311November 1, 2024 9:23 PM

Pia Zadora.

by Anonymousreply 312November 1, 2024 9:24 PM

R311 last I heard was that he was on steroids and that his skin had broken out as a result. I hope he stopped taking steroids.

by Anonymousreply 313November 1, 2024 9:54 PM

After seeing Latter Days, I thought Steve Sandvoss would go on to have a big acting career. Now he's a farmer.

by Anonymousreply 314November 2, 2024 12:24 AM

Agreed, R314! Same deal for the equally ravishing Matt Keeslar.

by Anonymousreply 315November 2, 2024 2:11 PM

A lot of actresses mentioned here are homely if not outright ugly.

You can't see why Ileana Douglas and Miranda Hart didn't make it big? Really???

by Anonymousreply 316November 2, 2024 2:55 PM

Tammy Blanchard

by Anonymousreply 317November 2, 2024 3:07 PM

(R271) I know someone who worked on Good Girls with her. She wears wigs.

by Anonymousreply 318November 2, 2024 3:25 PM

r309, no it's Tai Power Seeff, daughter of Taryn Power.

by Anonymousreply 319November 2, 2024 5:16 PM

Ahh I wish DL had an edit. Forget what I said r309

by Anonymousreply 320November 2, 2024 5:17 PM

Too bad about her Christian sensibilities, but whatever floats your boat, I would have LOVED to have seen Lisa Welchel have a bigger career. She got offered a lot of good shit, immediately following FOL, too. I think she could have turned into a very good dramatic actress too. Even in a sitcom like Facts she showed she had some good timing.

by Anonymousreply 321November 3, 2024 2:55 PM

Gil Bellows made a big splash with his small role in The Shawshank Redemption and then joined the cast of Ally McBeal. IMDb shows him frequently working, but I haven’t recognized him if I’ve seen his work over the years, since he left McBeal.

by Anonymousreply 322November 4, 2024 10:45 PM

Michelle Monaghan after Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.

Turns out it was the role of a lifetime and not her.

by Anonymousreply 323November 10, 2024 10:41 AM

Lainie Kazan when a sick with the flu Streisand had to surrender her part in Funny Girl for a matinee and evening performance. Audience and press loved her, a star was launched. What could go wrong?

Laines Mum

(proudly clutching her sheyneh meydelehs cum stained 7 year movie contract with Ray Stark & a list of members of the press to alert when Babs finally stays home)

by Anonymousreply 324November 10, 2024 11:10 AM

I have to agree with Linda Florentino in The Last Seduction. She was so deliciously evil.

by Anonymousreply 325November 10, 2024 11:19 AM

[quote]191 posts and no one has mentioned Alicia Vikander?

That's because NO ONE thought she would be a star. And they were right.

by Anonymousreply 326November 10, 2024 12:06 PM

Elle Fanning in Super 8

by Anonymousreply 327November 10, 2024 12:10 PM

r323, a director friend of mine wanted her for a project circa 2007, and Miss Thang thought she was hot shit- she demanded more points and backend They went with Kelly Preston.

by Anonymousreply 328November 10, 2024 4:59 PM

Hayden Panettiere, from the tv series Heroes. I thought of her after seeing the thread about Zac Efron and yacht parties. She supposedly was no stranger to that culture.

by Anonymousreply 329November 11, 2024 4:22 PM

Billy Jayne/Jacoby - Buddy in Just One of the Guys (1985). Not so much surprised that he didn't become huge as him only doing D-grade movies and sitcoms afterwards.

Demian Slade - Bobby in Back to the Beach (1987)

by Anonymousreply 330November 22, 2024 1:53 AM

Ryan Kwanten

I see he's had roles since True Blood but mostly lower budget, direct-to-streaming type stuff. Maybe he wasn't interested in playing the Hollywood game. Thought he'd go on to much higher profile projects

by Anonymousreply 331November 22, 2024 2:05 AM

All Australian actors are interested in playing the Hollywood game.

by Anonymousreply 332December 1, 2024 3:07 AM

Jonathan Rhys-Meyers in Match Point.

by Anonymousreply 333December 1, 2024 3:13 AM

Craig Bierko has indeed aged very badly, and before the worst of that started to happen, he made some really terrible career choices.

I would say that Michael Biehn has has a very respectable career, even if he never became quite as big a star as one might have thought he would have, considering how freaking hot he was in THE TERMINATOR.

by Anonymousreply 334December 1, 2024 3:28 AM

Mena Suvari

by Anonymousreply 335December 1, 2024 3:51 AM

I looked up what Craig Bierko looks like now. WTF, is it a facelift gone wrong or something? He went from cute to freaky looking.

by Anonymousreply 336December 1, 2024 5:00 AM

Brendad Ickson

by Anonymousreply 337December 1, 2024 8:51 AM

This is going way back but Michael Pare. When I first saw him in “Eddie and the Cruisers” and “The Philadelphia Experiment,” I thought for sure he was headed for stardom. He’s had a decent career, working consistently throughout the years, but never quite made it big.

by Anonymousreply 338December 1, 2024 11:18 AM

I thought George MacKay's performance in "1917" was just incredible -- like, an all-time great performance -- but the faux-single shot cinematography got all the attention and he hasn't had another high-profile project since.

by Anonymousreply 339December 1, 2024 12:10 PM

Michael Pare was scorching hot, but do you really think he had much/any talent beyond that, R338? Or do you think his body, face, and sex appeal should have been enough to make him a star?

by Anonymousreply 340December 1, 2024 1:33 PM

Logan Lehrman, not in The Perks Of Being A Wallflower (I had that gormless teen boy shit) and all those leading man’s son roles he had as a kid. But in Indignation he gave such a good performance, he should be on a Nicholas Hoult level.

by Anonymousreply 341February 11, 2025 10:31 AM

Do we have "Major stars" anymore OR do we now have actors who consistently work? Many people listed here are not major, but they're still working after their biggest projects were over. I feel like the days of huge stars like Tom, Brad, and Will Smith are practically over because people don't go to movies anymore.

Who would you consider a RECENT major star?

by Anonymousreply 342February 11, 2025 11:37 AM

It’s A-Listers, r342. People who get the juiciest roles in the best franchises and work with the Oscar-bait/Cannes-regular/A24 directors and the prestigious book-to-streaming adaptations.

T Chalamet, Barry Keoghan, Tom Holland, Zendaya, Anya Taylor-Joy, Florence Pugh, Michael B Jordan, Jenna Ortega, Margot Robbie, Jacob Elordi. Even Sydney Sweeney.

by Anonymousreply 343February 11, 2025 3:37 PM

R343: Just look at that list. Why does Hollywood like anything that's ugly, mediocre, and bad?

by Anonymousreply 344February 12, 2025 8:35 AM

[quote]Romola Garai but I read it was because she turned Harvey down.

Every low appeal didn’t make it actress now blames it on Harvey.

by Anonymousreply 345February 12, 2025 10:59 AM

SYDNEY SWEENE? Oh, Lord. THAT's our A-list?

by Anonymousreply 346February 12, 2025 12:08 PM

I've only seen Linda Fiorentino in Dogma. She was the weak link in an otherwise stellar cast. Her murmury delivery is inauthentic and hard to follow. She brought nothing to the role.

by Anonymousreply 347February 12, 2025 5:47 PM

[quote] Shannyn Sossoman in any of her early roles. Gorgeous face.

She was so cool and elfin.

by Anonymousreply 348April 6, 2025 11:28 AM

Anne Heche. Given her mental health and her sexuality (especially during the 90s) she had a great run of it; but she was genuinely gifted.

by Anonymousreply 349April 6, 2025 11:43 AM
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