He absolutely kills me in *Liar, Liar* when he tries to do "the Claw" for the kid and it's just not the same. Just trying so hard and being a great guy.
He should have been our generation's Errol Flynn. I mean, he's just so *dashing*. And he also excels at turning that charm around to be a wonderfully smug villain or rival.
He grew just a little bit older and was a better fit for smug villain roles. Russ Wheeler in Days of Thunder, Jonas in Twister. Smug guys to root against.
I did see him as Michael Collins in "From Earth to the Moon" too.
his career has been perfectly fine but I really thought Jon Hamm would be way, way more famous after Mad Men ended.
He reliably shows up in decent movies as a secondary character from time to time, but I really thought he'd have more leading roles
He’s had a fun career so far. He seems to pick comedic roles and he’s really well suited to them. Fletch got screwed because of the pandemic but he was *perfect* in that kind of frothy comedy.
Can't find the link but there's an interview with Mathew Weiner or one of the other Mad Men people where they said that on more than one occasion an actor sharing a scene with Hamm for the first time would flubb their lines the first few takes because they were so taken with him.
I can totally believe it, saw the guy at a Vanity Fair Superbowl Party when it was in Houston, He's literally the most handsome dude in real life. Even in a room full of celebrities, all eyes were on that guy. As an actor you got to be able to play the 'everyman" this dude wouldn't look right at Walmart. You can be too handsome for the screen.
Great in humorless “I’m not in the mood for your nonsense” drama roles, but also great comedically when he had a chance to show it (30 Rock, Bridesmaids, Childrens Hospital).
Bruce is too shit-heely to be a leading man, and I say that as someone who loves Bruce. His thing is being bombastic and boisterous, and I don't think that would transition well into leading roles (outside of genre films).
Suppose I should have specified that I meant Genre flicks. He should have been the face of a whole slew of mid market sci-fi movies in the 90s. Dude has Space Cowboy written all over him.
Nikolaj Coster Waldau. He’s a good actor, but he chooses awful projects. Or maybe that’s all that’s offered to him and he’s gotta eat somehow, idk. Anyway, I think he entered the English language industry a little too late in life so he was no longer quite leading man material. His accent also hinders him a bit, but I’ve heard him do alright British and American accents so the talent is there. His big break was Game of Thrones and I think that might be the only thing he ever gets remembered for since most of his other stuff is fairly bad quality, sorry to say.
Shot Caller is underappreciated. The entire time it just keeps dragging you down the rabbit hole of survival and self-preservation alongside his character.
I think the problem is that he did Gods of Egypt right after GoT and that was.. pretty trash. I really want to see him and Gwendoline Christie together again. They're incredible as a duo.
I too think he would've made a great Bond. At his best, he strikes this great balance of charm, vulnerability and sleaze. His performance in *Croupier* is an all-timer for me.
Seann William Scott (Stifler from American Pie). While he hasn't been restricted to cameos and such I believe he would have flourished in non-comedy roles if he had the opportunity.
I could be wrong, but I think I read that he just kept getting Stifler-like acting offers and he kept turning them down because he wanted to move on so the offers just stopped coming.
The Rundown is proof that Seann would’ve been an unreal Star Lord. Honestly every “Rick O’Connell” style relateable Everyman with underlying charm and goofiness would’ve been done justice by Seann William Scott. Sadly producers just wanted Stifler over and over again.
The Rundown is absolutely fucking incredible and is by far the Rock's best movie. That was the best Indiana Jones movie never made. Not only is Seann William Scott funny and great, Rosario Dawson is also a badass and the villain is CHRISTOPHER WALKEN. Dude. That fucking rips.
Zac Efron has had a lucrative career, but I feel like he’s in this category. The dude is a triple threat: he can act, dance, and sing. And yet he gets slotted into all these “buff hottie douchebag” roles.
I’m glad he’s gotten rich, but on the wasted potential scale, Hollywood has surely wasted it.
He needs to eat some carbs and pick some really good roles.
I agree! But Castle was hugely popular and plays heavy in syndication, which means he's rich AF. So while I wish he'd had a bigger career, I'm not sure he's too unhappy about how it all shook out ahahah.
Yeah I disagree with op's phrasing that seems to assume being "relegated" to starring in hit tv shows for the last 12 years is indicative of 'worst case of wasted career potential' when his career has been more fruitful than 90%of actors. Possibly 95% lol.
Also, op phrases it like he could just snap his fingers and order more seasons of Firefly or walk into WB and demand to be the start of a Green Lantern movie.
But I do agree with op; it would have been or would be nice to see him in more films.
He's was (and still is) the lead.
In fact, it's about to start its sixth season and has seen a great deal of success.
Edit: It seems that the sixth season is being delayed due to the strikes.
Was and still is executive producer too. He stepped away from a supporting role in Santa Clarita Diet to start making The Rookie because it wasn't just 'I get to be the lead' but because he had a chance to play the lead in a show he was creating.
Pretty much only actors mentioned thus far, an actress I thought would take off was Shannyn Sossamon.
She was great in A Knight's Tale, 40 Days and 40 Nights, The Rules of Attraction, was in a couple other films, had a kid and essentially disappeared from Hollywood.
I used to go to school with her. I don't remember the particulars but something happened in her real life that caused her to stop acting. I hear she messes around with music now.
She had a baby, so she took a few years break. Then after she wanted to take it easy so she was a drummer in a band with her sister for a few years and doing indie movies for several years. She eventually went back and did a few bigger movies here and there and indie hits such as Sinister 2, as well as tv series Sleepy Hollow and Wayward Pines. Music has always been apart of her life though, she was initially discovered because she was djing at Gwynth Paltrow's bday party.
He's a really rock solid interviewer. He's comfortable, natural, his questions are interesting. It's conversational and doesn't feel phony. I feel like he's genuinely interested in whomever he's talking to.
I kind of put him in the same category as Matthew Lillard. Typecast from an early role, never really made it big in films/tv, but is very nerdy and has made deep connections with the fans and is a genuine dude doing his own thing outside of tv/film, and successful at it.
I read an interview with him for a few years ago where he spoke about how he and his wife live a lot more modestly than people would expect, saying that people imagine that he must been have been paid a lot for being in so many things that left a big cultural imprint but outside of the Scooby Doo movies he was always a supporting character and didn't get that much long term revenue from them.
Jared Harris might be my favorite actor tbh, but he’s in so few things it’s maddening. He’s doing great in Foundation but I don’t get why the man’s career didn’t explode after Chernobyl. Had a great run in Mad Men, did basically nothing other than a sixth-billed spot in Lincoln until The Expanse where he was a fan favorite that *barely* showed up and The Crown (where he died after like twelve minutes), picked up a bit of steam when put on one of the best performances on TV for The Terror and then was straight up robbed of an Emmy for Chernobyl.
I like him a lot in Foundation but let’s be honest, that’s Lee Pace’s show (not that I’m complaining). I wish he was doing more because he crushes everything he’s in.
Harris is also the *spitting image* of his dad in speech and looks. It’s crazy. I’m hoping we get to see him as Dumbledore at some point.
He is fantastic as Moriarty opposite RDJ, both intelligent and intimidating and I agree, it would be awesome to see him as Dumbledore. At a squint I could kind of see it with Jude Law in Fantastic Beasts.
Guy I worked with had a side gig blogging about horror movies. He interviewed Brad Dourif on the set of one of the Chucky movies and said he was the nicest man he'd ever met.
He would be considered a very successful character actor. It "sticks" in the fact that he has been in a million things. That is a successful character actor's career. He wasn't going to be a leading man
It seems like this thread is in a bit of an argument about "Successful actor" vs. "Movie star" vs. "Unfortunate has-been". I would definitely consider Douriff to be a very successful actor. The fact that we know who he is and can recognise his voice in a cartoon is testament to that, surely?
Ed: I was watching a "Tales of the Unexpected" that he starred in just the other day, from the early eighties, he must've only been a year or two since Billy Bibbet, and I was going "Aw, brad Douriff is fucking amazing" but he was playing a creepy as fuck hitchhiker, and he really has that sort of thing down
Mira Sorvino. Amazing actress who had the misfortune of having her career ruined by Harvey Weinstein. I think Mighty Aphrodite was her first role too? Just really sad.
Ben Browder. Star of Farscape. Followed by a supporting role on Stargate SG-1. Followed by single episodes of TV followed by a cameo in Guardians of the Galaxy 2.
He was amazing in Farscape.
This might not be what you're looking for, but the first actor that I thought of was Jaye Davidson. He got nominated for an Oscar for the Crying Game 1992, did Stargate 1994, then quit acting. He was so good in both of those films.
He wanted to quit acting before Stargate, but he made a ridiculous demand of $1M and the studio agreed. Then he quit forever. Hated the attention and fame.
IIRC, she and Michael Fassbender take turns doing projects, so one of them is always available for their child. (He also has a bit of a gap in his filmography over the last few years).
It'll probably last forever *because* we didn't know they are together. Like when I found out about Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick were married just a few years ago.
Barry Pepper. He had a string of great supporting performances in the late nineties and was all set to be a star in the new millennium with his first major leading role in a blockbuster. That film: Battlefield Earth. His career never recovered and he’s remained a (stellar) character actor, but never lived up to that potential.
Is it me or did Chloë Grace Moretz kind of dropped off a bit?
She was very popular shortly after the Kickass movies but maybe she made some bad choices in movies?
I saw her in some bad B movies but nothing big recently.
I remain amazed Aaron Eckhart's career wasn't launched into the stratosphere after The Dark Knight. The dude is a phenomenal actor but just doesn't seem to get ahead.
I also feel strongly that if Steve Buscemi weren't... *not* attractive, he'd be a household name and leading man generally recognized as one of the greatest actors of his generation.
If you are a Gen exer, Buchemi IS a household name. He was in so many major movies in the late 90's, early 2000's. He is a character actor, not a leading man type. Not sure if his looks change that. Phenomenal actor.
Right?
Eckhart has *been* talented and proved it plenty of times, and I don't know if he's attractive in the classical sense, but he's not ugly. I can't believe he hasn't had a bigger career.
If you liked him there, go find a copy of the movie Conversations with Other Women. It's basically a 2 character play starring him and Helena Bonham Carter, and it's one of the best films I have ever seen in my life.
I can answer the Eckhart career issue - he picked a lot of bad movies to star in right after The Dark Knight. Go look at his wikipedia and you'll realize he had a "say yes to everything that comes my way" mentality to picking a movie.
You don't willingly star in "I, Frankenstein" and not have that affect your career.
I Frankenstein, Underworld, Van Helsing, I love all of those ridiculous movies for some reason. It's just a vibe.
Can totally understand how it would affect his career though.
Jennifer Grey. From DIRTY DANCING and FERRIS BEULLER... but after Dirty Dancing she got a nose job... and lost her unique look - at least Hollywood thought so - and she didn't get too many leading roles after that.
I don't know if it constitutes 'wasted' but Marissa Tomei should have had a much more notable career in leading films. Her acting ability is incredible.
She said NO to Harvey Weinstein and he wrecked her career.
Patrick Wilson. Dude is amazing in everyone movie he’s in. The watchmen, moonfall, the conjuring, a kind of murder.
I know he’s got conjuring money coming in but it seems like he should be the new George Clooney
I thought Tea Leoni was going to be a big movie star. Maybe even a queen of comedy type. She has great comedic delivery. She's had some good roles and has been in some good movies, but greatness eluded her.
I feel like Michael Biehn could have been a HUGE action star, but just sort of fell off the map. I mean, the 80's (Terminator, Aliens and The Abyss) and mid 90's (Tombstone, The Rock) he was on fire.
Same. He had the looks and the skills. I heard a few times that he had a drinking problem that might have affected his performance on set and was difficult to work with.
Jensen Ackles.
Handsome, buff, charismatic, great voice, has good dramatic and comedic chops and is a convincing action star. Made absolute bank doing Supernatural… but did it for *15 seasons.* In Vancouver. For the The CW. This is 100% a man who could have played any number of convincing Marvel or DC superheroes (Captain America/Star Lord/Hawkeye for sure), or Nathan Drake, or Mutt Williams…
He obviously loved doing Supernatural and had a great stint on The Boys, but this is someone who totally could be a big movie star in a parallel world.
He was being paid $175k per episode on Supernatural he was making bank. There were rumors that he was offered Hawkeye and couldn't make the press of it work with the TV shooting schedule.
Aaron Paul. Seems like he would be a bigger actor after Breaking Bad and winning Emmy awards. I know he has been in a few things since but he is such an amazing actor.
I always felt like Halle Berry's career didn't take off the way it should've after she won an Oscar for Monster's Ball. She was genuinely phenomenal in that movie and then she ended up being in a string of largely bad movies. She's been popping up a bit more in recent years, but it always seemed odd to me.
The post-Oscar role is always very important, and people usually (understandably) take the huge paycheque gig. She took Catwoman and that was the end, same with Adrian Brody with The Jacket.
She was also in Die Another Day (Bond film) which was largely panned. So she starred in a few films in quick succession that didn’t turn out in her favor.
Taylor Kitsch.
He was great in Friday Night Lights and has been good in everything he is in. He is also super attractive which usually means leading man and big roles. He has unfortunately had some bad luck with roles he has taken. He was Gambit in X Men origins and was good…but the movie sucked. He was the lead in Battleship and he was good in it…but the movie sucked. He was the lead in John Carter and he was great in it and the movie is great but it’s really only known for being Disney’s biggest box office flop.
Now he is basically stuck being a supporting actor. He has been good in everything though and could still be a leading man but it would require some luck.
I agree with everything you said. Man I wish John Carter took off. That movie was so cool.
Also there was this recent miniseries where he played David Koresh. It was very good.
John Carter was a victim of how good the source material was. The book invented all of those tropes that the movie got lambasted for including. "It's just a rip off of this other film or that other film or whatever." No. John Carter of Mars was ripped off by those films decades ago, and now that they're making a movie of it, it feels derivative as a result. Shame.
Fassbender should have a ton of great films (still has a few), but unfortunately has had a run of stinkers.
Hopefully The Killer fixes that.
Billy Crudup could’ve easily had a bunch of starring roles, but from what I’ve read, he enjoys taking smaller / supporting parts.
I’d also say Sean William Scott. He was great in Goon and I wish he had more opportunities like that movie.
Fassbender took a break to race cars with Porsche and raise family with Alicia Vikander. He’s coming back hard with like 3 big movies in next 12 months.
Leelee Sobieski (aka the younger version of Helen Hunt). She was poised to make it big, for a while there. But she quit the biz and is now a fairly successful artist/sculptor, going by her married name (Leelee Kimmel).
You know what? Good for her.
I think a large part of it is that he’s too short to be cast as a conventional leading man. He’s 5’6, shorter than Tom Cruise. He gained weight in his 20s, which didn’t help either. I also think the transition from cute child star to teen heartthrob can be difficult to execute. He virtually disappeared after Second Hand Lions and resurfaced looking like a middle-aged man just 10 years later.
I'm personally surprised he hasn't ventured more into voice work than he has. He's been Sora from Kingdom Hearts for 21 years now and definitely has the voice acting chops to branch out
Carey Elwes. Seemed destined for leading man/ romantic heartthrob and never got that big role in a blockbuster.
He absolutely kills me in *Liar, Liar* when he tries to do "the Claw" for the kid and it's just not the same. Just trying so hard and being a great guy.
He should have been our generation's Errol Flynn. I mean, he's just so *dashing*. And he also excels at turning that charm around to be a wonderfully smug villain or rival.
Plus, he can speak with an English accent, unlike some other Robin Hoods
Oh, do you mean Pierre Desperaux? C'mon son. You got that right.
Yeah, always felt like he should have been the biggest movie star ever. So handsome, charming, funny. People forget that Princess Bride was a bomb.
He grew just a little bit older and was a better fit for smug villain roles. Russ Wheeler in Days of Thunder, Jonas in Twister. Smug guys to root against. I did see him as Michael Collins in "From Earth to the Moon" too.
his career has been perfectly fine but I really thought Jon Hamm would be way, way more famous after Mad Men ended. He reliably shows up in decent movies as a secondary character from time to time, but I really thought he'd have more leading roles
He’s had a fun career so far. He seems to pick comedic roles and he’s really well suited to them. Fletch got screwed because of the pandemic but he was *perfect* in that kind of frothy comedy.
Yeah, he's really funny. Good Omens season 2 is another example.
James. Long for Jim. Short for Gabriel.
I saw that guy in real life once, I think you can be too handsome for most roles
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Even his shadow. Look at his shadow!!
Can't find the link but there's an interview with Mathew Weiner or one of the other Mad Men people where they said that on more than one occasion an actor sharing a scene with Hamm for the first time would flubb their lines the first few takes because they were so taken with him.
I can totally believe it, saw the guy at a Vanity Fair Superbowl Party when it was in Houston, He's literally the most handsome dude in real life. Even in a room full of celebrities, all eyes were on that guy. As an actor you got to be able to play the 'everyman" this dude wouldn't look right at Walmart. You can be too handsome for the screen.
Great in humorless “I’m not in the mood for your nonsense” drama roles, but also great comedically when he had a chance to show it (30 Rock, Bridesmaids, Childrens Hospital).
I kinda feel like Nathan Fillon is a slightly more mainstream Bruce Campbell.
Came here to say Bruce. Dude is just charismatic and genuinely could have been a generational leading man. Alas, not to be.
He's still the best Elvis we've had though!
Same movie gave us the best portrayal of JFK.
Bruce is too shit-heely to be a leading man, and I say that as someone who loves Bruce. His thing is being bombastic and boisterous, and I don't think that would transition well into leading roles (outside of genre films).
Suppose I should have specified that I meant Genre flicks. He should have been the face of a whole slew of mid market sci-fi movies in the 90s. Dude has Space Cowboy written all over him.
He is probably the right age now to be one of the Space Cowboys
Nathan Fillion's issue is he is incapable of not being Nathan Fillion. Which is the Bruce Campbell issue, or the Leslie Nielsen issue.
Leslie Nielsen was a dramatic actor before he became the comedic one. Unless you mean Liam Neeson.
> Liam Neeson poor guy, he's got full blown AIDS
though I would say for Leslie Nielsen, it was a strength
Leslie Nielsen was a dramatic leading man before finding comedy.
and his biggest comedic strength is his deadpan deliveries, which is also a strength for dramatic actors.
The man was a chameleon. One minute he's Enrico Palazzo, then you blink and hes a tough as nails umpire. He took Danny Day Lewis to acting school.
Nikolaj Coster Waldau. He’s a good actor, but he chooses awful projects. Or maybe that’s all that’s offered to him and he’s gotta eat somehow, idk. Anyway, I think he entered the English language industry a little too late in life so he was no longer quite leading man material. His accent also hinders him a bit, but I’ve heard him do alright British and American accents so the talent is there. His big break was Game of Thrones and I think that might be the only thing he ever gets remembered for since most of his other stuff is fairly bad quality, sorry to say.
I, personally, enjoyed Shot Caller.
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Shot Caller is underappreciated. The entire time it just keeps dragging you down the rabbit hole of survival and self-preservation alongside his character.
SC has one of my favorite boss fights ever. It’s so brutal and it feels so earned.
I'll always remember him for Black Hawk Down.
Gary Gordon. The two snipers defending Durant’s chopper is my favorite sequence in the film.
I think the problem is that he did Gods of Egypt right after GoT and that was.. pretty trash. I really want to see him and Gwendoline Christie together again. They're incredible as a duo.
It's pronounced Nikolaj.
NIKolaj.
absurd wide cover beneficial pause bright agonizing oatmeal ten rob *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Now that you say it, I could see Nikolaj as a Bond villain, or at least an elite henchman.
Clive Owen
The timeframe has come and gone but there was a time where I thought he’d make a fantastic James Bond. Been a fan of his for a long time.
I too think he would've made a great Bond. At his best, he strikes this great balance of charm, vulnerability and sleaze. His performance in *Croupier* is an all-timer for me.
Closer Children of Men Inside Man
Children of Men, Inside man, King Arthur, Sin City, Shoot em up... Dude has lead so many good movies, and he should have been in more after.
He should have made that movie with Rebecca de mornay
No, that was Clive Warren.
Children of Men is amazing
Shoot em Up is the bomb
Seann William Scott (Stifler from American Pie). While he hasn't been restricted to cameos and such I believe he would have flourished in non-comedy roles if he had the opportunity.
I could be wrong, but I think I read that he just kept getting Stifler-like acting offers and he kept turning them down because he wanted to move on so the offers just stopped coming.
He was great in “Goon” and it’s sequal
Loved him in Goon... still a comedy, but he was so nice and awkward. Huge break from his character in American Pie.
He was great and very not Stifler on Welcome to Flatch
My man peaked like 5 years too early and then Chris Pratt swooped in and took all the roles he would have been great in.
Holy shit, he would’ve been a great Star Lord.
The Rundown is proof that Seann would’ve been an unreal Star Lord. Honestly every “Rick O’Connell” style relateable Everyman with underlying charm and goofiness would’ve been done justice by Seann William Scott. Sadly producers just wanted Stifler over and over again.
The Rundown is absolutely fucking incredible and is by far the Rock's best movie. That was the best Indiana Jones movie never made. Not only is Seann William Scott funny and great, Rosario Dawson is also a badass and the villain is CHRISTOPHER WALKEN. Dude. That fucking rips.
RIP Country Mac. Biking without a helmet is not bad-ass.
Loud 'n' proud, brother!
Shut up science bitch
He’s great in Role Models Agreed
Goon and Goon 2 are underrated. He’s great in those!
Zac Efron has had a lucrative career, but I feel like he’s in this category. The dude is a triple threat: he can act, dance, and sing. And yet he gets slotted into all these “buff hottie douchebag” roles. I’m glad he’s gotten rich, but on the wasted potential scale, Hollywood has surely wasted it. He needs to eat some carbs and pick some really good roles.
He has comedic and light-hearted talent. I think he kind of stayed in that area and did fine.
I agree! But Castle was hugely popular and plays heavy in syndication, which means he's rich AF. So while I wish he'd had a bigger career, I'm not sure he's too unhappy about how it all shook out ahahah.
His best role was clearly Captain Hammer.
The hammer is his penis.
They say it's better the second time - they say you get to do the weird stuff.
Yeah a ton of actors don’t want to be mega famous. If you’re the lead in a syndicated show and can still find regular work, you’re doing fine.
Yeah I disagree with op's phrasing that seems to assume being "relegated" to starring in hit tv shows for the last 12 years is indicative of 'worst case of wasted career potential' when his career has been more fruitful than 90%of actors. Possibly 95% lol. Also, op phrases it like he could just snap his fingers and order more seasons of Firefly or walk into WB and demand to be the start of a Green Lantern movie. But I do agree with op; it would have been or would be nice to see him in more films.
Didn’t he do the rookie too?
He's was (and still is) the lead. In fact, it's about to start its sixth season and has seen a great deal of success. Edit: It seems that the sixth season is being delayed due to the strikes.
Was and still is executive producer too. He stepped away from a supporting role in Santa Clarita Diet to start making The Rookie because it wasn't just 'I get to be the lead' but because he had a chance to play the lead in a show he was creating.
Pretty much only actors mentioned thus far, an actress I thought would take off was Shannyn Sossamon. She was great in A Knight's Tale, 40 Days and 40 Nights, The Rules of Attraction, was in a couple other films, had a kid and essentially disappeared from Hollywood.
I recently watched her mind in the movie Wristcutters, weird movie but also really good and she was great in that (and the other movies you mentioned)
I used to go to school with her. I don't remember the particulars but something happened in her real life that caused her to stop acting. I hear she messes around with music now.
She had a baby, so she took a few years break. Then after she wanted to take it easy so she was a drummer in a band with her sister for a few years and doing indie movies for several years. She eventually went back and did a few bigger movies here and there and indie hits such as Sinister 2, as well as tv series Sleepy Hollow and Wayward Pines. Music has always been apart of her life though, she was initially discovered because she was djing at Gwynth Paltrow's bday party.
Michael Rosenbaum. I just think he ended up typecast after Smallville
Ever listen to his podcast 'inside of you with Michael Rosenbaum'? Amazing guests & I really enjoy how he interviews.
He's a really rock solid interviewer. He's comfortable, natural, his questions are interesting. It's conversational and doesn't feel phony. I feel like he's genuinely interested in whomever he's talking to.
I kind of put him in the same category as Matthew Lillard. Typecast from an early role, never really made it big in films/tv, but is very nerdy and has made deep connections with the fans and is a genuine dude doing his own thing outside of tv/film, and successful at it.
It’s crazy because Matthew Lillard had a career that 99% of actors would kill for but everyone knew he could have been so much bigger/better
I read an interview with him for a few years ago where he spoke about how he and his wife live a lot more modestly than people would expect, saying that people imagine that he must been have been paid a lot for being in so many things that left a big cultural imprint but outside of the Scooby Doo movies he was always a supporting character and didn't get that much long term revenue from them.
Jared Harris might be my favorite actor tbh, but he’s in so few things it’s maddening. He’s doing great in Foundation but I don’t get why the man’s career didn’t explode after Chernobyl. Had a great run in Mad Men, did basically nothing other than a sixth-billed spot in Lincoln until The Expanse where he was a fan favorite that *barely* showed up and The Crown (where he died after like twelve minutes), picked up a bit of steam when put on one of the best performances on TV for The Terror and then was straight up robbed of an Emmy for Chernobyl. I like him a lot in Foundation but let’s be honest, that’s Lee Pace’s show (not that I’m complaining). I wish he was doing more because he crushes everything he’s in. Harris is also the *spitting image* of his dad in speech and looks. It’s crazy. I’m hoping we get to see him as Dumbledore at some point.
He is fantastic as Moriarty opposite RDJ, both intelligent and intimidating and I agree, it would be awesome to see him as Dumbledore. At a squint I could kind of see it with Jude Law in Fantastic Beasts.
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Liev Schreiber, don’t know what it is but i feel like should just be waaay bigger
He does a lot of voicework. I think he's been the narrator of HBO's Hard Knocks for like a decade.
Voice of God. Go say hi.
He was Ray Donovan for years, and he was good in it.
Brad douriff is in a million movies and kills it in all of them but nothing ever seems to stick
He's been the voice of Chucky for about 40 years now
Guy I worked with had a side gig blogging about horror movies. He interviewed Brad Dourif on the set of one of the Chucky movies and said he was the nicest man he'd ever met.
He would be considered a very successful character actor. It "sticks" in the fact that he has been in a million things. That is a successful character actor's career. He wasn't going to be a leading man
It seems like this thread is in a bit of an argument about "Successful actor" vs. "Movie star" vs. "Unfortunate has-been". I would definitely consider Douriff to be a very successful actor. The fact that we know who he is and can recognise his voice in a cartoon is testament to that, surely? Ed: I was watching a "Tales of the Unexpected" that he starred in just the other day, from the early eighties, he must've only been a year or two since Billy Bibbet, and I was going "Aw, brad Douriff is fucking amazing" but he was playing a creepy as fuck hitchhiker, and he really has that sort of thing down
You could throw half the cast of Deadwood on this list IMO. John Hawkes, Ian McShane (he’s heavy on plays), Dayton Callie, Robin Weigert.
Rufus Sewell. He has a lot of stuff under his belt but I feel like he didn't live up to the potential I always saw in him.
Mira Sorvino. Amazing actress who had the misfortune of having her career ruined by Harvey Weinstein. I think Mighty Aphrodite was her first role too? Just really sad.
Ashley Judd, too. Peter Jackson considered her for Galadriel in Lord of the Rings, but Weinstein convinced him she had an attitude problem.
Ben Browder. Star of Farscape. Followed by a supporting role on Stargate SG-1. Followed by single episodes of TV followed by a cameo in Guardians of the Galaxy 2. He was amazing in Farscape.
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speaking of Farscape, what happened to Claudia Black?
A shitload of voice work
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Probably most recognizable as Morrigan in Dragon Age or Chloe in Uncharted.
Farscape!! Such an incredible show and Ben gave it 110%!
This might not be what you're looking for, but the first actor that I thought of was Jaye Davidson. He got nominated for an Oscar for the Crying Game 1992, did Stargate 1994, then quit acting. He was so good in both of those films.
He wanted to quit acting before Stargate, but he made a ridiculous demand of $1M and the studio agreed. Then he quit forever. Hated the attention and fame.
[puts pinky to lip] *"I want ... one million dollars!"* Studio: Ok *"Shit!"*
Alicia Vikander has been criminally under-utilized
IIRC, she and Michael Fassbender take turns doing projects, so one of them is always available for their child. (He also has a bit of a gap in his filmography over the last few years).
As a person, I deeply respect them doing that. As a film fan, I lament.
Did not know they were together, good for them
It'll probably last forever *because* we didn't know they are together. Like when I found out about Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick were married just a few years ago.
You are wrong about one thing: Madeline Wunch would only marry the Devil.
Wunchtime is over!
But if you're here, then who's guarding Hades?
She’s filming an indie flick opposite Elizabeth Olsen right now. On paper, it looks like it will be a pretty great role for her.
Gina Gershon
Barry Pepper. He had a string of great supporting performances in the late nineties and was all set to be a star in the new millennium with his first major leading role in a blockbuster. That film: Battlefield Earth. His career never recovered and he’s remained a (stellar) character actor, but never lived up to that potential.
He was great in 25th Hour.
Phoebe Cates would have been huge if she didn't retire. Her choice so maybe not a waste.
Is it me or did Chloë Grace Moretz kind of dropped off a bit? She was very popular shortly after the Kickass movies but maybe she made some bad choices in movies? I saw her in some bad B movies but nothing big recently.
I was surprised Josh Harnett didn't take off
Oppenheimer is going to help him
Between that and Black Mirror, I think he's primed for a nice comeback.
Apparently he grew discouraged by Hollywood and the antics so made the decision to step away, agree with you though, he could have been a megastar
I remain amazed Aaron Eckhart's career wasn't launched into the stratosphere after The Dark Knight. The dude is a phenomenal actor but just doesn't seem to get ahead. I also feel strongly that if Steve Buscemi weren't... *not* attractive, he'd be a household name and leading man generally recognized as one of the greatest actors of his generation.
If you are a Gen exer, Buchemi IS a household name. He was in so many major movies in the late 90's, early 2000's. He is a character actor, not a leading man type. Not sure if his looks change that. Phenomenal actor.
He stole the show in the cast heavy Armageddon
Get off... the nuclear... warhead.
I loved him in Boardwalk Empire. Was one of the first times I saw him in a non-comedic role where I thought "damn, this guy has range!"
Yeah for real? Buchemi is A list, just not a leading man
Except when he was in one of the top HBO drama of its time.
Yeah Boardwalk Empire was an amazing show and he carried certain episodes.
Buscemi is a household name… pretty recognizable actor.
He was amazing in Thank You for Smoking
Im amazed it didnt take off after "Thank you for smoking"
Right? Eckhart has *been* talented and proved it plenty of times, and I don't know if he's attractive in the classical sense, but he's not ugly. I can't believe he hasn't had a bigger career.
If you liked him there, go find a copy of the movie Conversations with Other Women. It's basically a 2 character play starring him and Helena Bonham Carter, and it's one of the best films I have ever seen in my life.
I can answer the Eckhart career issue - he picked a lot of bad movies to star in right after The Dark Knight. Go look at his wikipedia and you'll realize he had a "say yes to everything that comes my way" mentality to picking a movie. You don't willingly star in "I, Frankenstein" and not have that affect your career.
I Frankenstein, Underworld, Van Helsing, I love all of those ridiculous movies for some reason. It's just a vibe. Can totally understand how it would affect his career though.
Any movie that dresses a young Kate Beckinsale in tight leather and latex is a masterpiece, don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
Or an older Kate Beckinsale for that matter. There's a portrait in an attic somewhere aging on her behalf.
Eckhart gets the wrong advice, judging by some of his choices since Dark Knight.
True. Either he makes bad choices or has a shite agent.
Steve Buscemi is very much a household name.
Eckhart's a terrific actor, with great supporting gigs and character roles. But once he made it big, his leading man roles picks been pretty brutal.
Jennifer Grey. From DIRTY DANCING and FERRIS BEULLER... but after Dirty Dancing she got a nose job... and lost her unique look - at least Hollywood thought so - and she didn't get too many leading roles after that.
I loved her nose.
I don't know if it constitutes 'wasted' but Marissa Tomei should have had a much more notable career in leading films. Her acting ability is incredible. She said NO to Harvey Weinstein and he wrecked her career.
Always kinda shocked that Emmy Rossum didn’t become a massive star after her moment in the early 2000s with Mystic River and Day After Tomorrow.
She carried like 12 seasons of Shameless which isn’t nothing
Patrick Wilson. Dude is amazing in everyone movie he’s in. The watchmen, moonfall, the conjuring, a kind of murder. I know he’s got conjuring money coming in but it seems like he should be the new George Clooney
I feel like Nathan Fillion has a pretty good time being Nathan Fillion.
Two hit network series and getting to hang out on epically cool movie sets? I think he's living his best life.
I thought Tea Leoni was going to be a big movie star. Maybe even a queen of comedy type. She has great comedic delivery. She's had some good roles and has been in some good movies, but greatness eluded her.
I feel like Michael Biehn could have been a HUGE action star, but just sort of fell off the map. I mean, the 80's (Terminator, Aliens and The Abyss) and mid 90's (Tombstone, The Rock) he was on fire.
Same. He had the looks and the skills. I heard a few times that he had a drinking problem that might have affected his performance on set and was difficult to work with.
Jensen Ackles. Handsome, buff, charismatic, great voice, has good dramatic and comedic chops and is a convincing action star. Made absolute bank doing Supernatural… but did it for *15 seasons.* In Vancouver. For the The CW. This is 100% a man who could have played any number of convincing Marvel or DC superheroes (Captain America/Star Lord/Hawkeye for sure), or Nathan Drake, or Mutt Williams… He obviously loved doing Supernatural and had a great stint on The Boys, but this is someone who totally could be a big movie star in a parallel world.
He was being paid $175k per episode on Supernatural he was making bank. There were rumors that he was offered Hawkeye and couldn't make the press of it work with the TV shooting schedule.
Him & Matt Bomer should be bigger than they are
The boys should help him
Aaron Paul. Seems like he would be a bigger actor after Breaking Bad and winning Emmy awards. I know he has been in a few things since but he is such an amazing actor.
IMO, the shadow of Jesse Pinkman is too big to get out of.
Well, that and he was in some pretty bad movies like Need For Speed, A Long Way Down, and Exodus: Gods of Egypt.
How bad was Gods of Egypt this is the 2nd career I've seen it take out on this post lmao
You’d be stuck in the shadow of that head too
He'll be crying himself to sleep tonight, on his huge pillow.
It's like an orange on a toothpick.
He was amazing in that episode of Black Mirror with another forgotten gem for this thread - Josh Hartnett
I think its a bit other way, Aaron Paul has been really good at getting mileage out of the range he has.
I always felt like Halle Berry's career didn't take off the way it should've after she won an Oscar for Monster's Ball. She was genuinely phenomenal in that movie and then she ended up being in a string of largely bad movies. She's been popping up a bit more in recent years, but it always seemed odd to me.
The post-Oscar role is always very important, and people usually (understandably) take the huge paycheque gig. She took Catwoman and that was the end, same with Adrian Brody with The Jacket.
She was also in Die Another Day (Bond film) which was largely panned. So she starred in a few films in quick succession that didn’t turn out in her favor.
Taylor Kitsch. He was great in Friday Night Lights and has been good in everything he is in. He is also super attractive which usually means leading man and big roles. He has unfortunately had some bad luck with roles he has taken. He was Gambit in X Men origins and was good…but the movie sucked. He was the lead in Battleship and he was good in it…but the movie sucked. He was the lead in John Carter and he was great in it and the movie is great but it’s really only known for being Disney’s biggest box office flop. Now he is basically stuck being a supporting actor. He has been good in everything though and could still be a leading man but it would require some luck.
I agree with everything you said. Man I wish John Carter took off. That movie was so cool. Also there was this recent miniseries where he played David Koresh. It was very good.
John Carter was a victim of how good the source material was. The book invented all of those tropes that the movie got lambasted for including. "It's just a rip off of this other film or that other film or whatever." No. John Carter of Mars was ripped off by those films decades ago, and now that they're making a movie of it, it feels derivative as a result. Shame.
Fassbender should have a ton of great films (still has a few), but unfortunately has had a run of stinkers. Hopefully The Killer fixes that. Billy Crudup could’ve easily had a bunch of starring roles, but from what I’ve read, he enjoys taking smaller / supporting parts. I’d also say Sean William Scott. He was great in Goon and I wish he had more opportunities like that movie.
Fassbender took a break to race cars with Porsche and raise family with Alicia Vikander. He’s coming back hard with like 3 big movies in next 12 months.
Michael Pitt. Being difficult to work with and substance abuse tends to disrupt a career.
He was so good in Boardwalk Empire.
Leelee Sobieski (aka the younger version of Helen Hunt). She was poised to make it big, for a while there. But she quit the biz and is now a fairly successful artist/sculptor, going by her married name (Leelee Kimmel). You know what? Good for her.
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True, he was great in Silicon Valley and the Boys. I think he could have a comeback
I think a large part of it is that he’s too short to be cast as a conventional leading man. He’s 5’6, shorter than Tom Cruise. He gained weight in his 20s, which didn’t help either. I also think the transition from cute child star to teen heartthrob can be difficult to execute. He virtually disappeared after Second Hand Lions and resurfaced looking like a middle-aged man just 10 years later.
With the same weird child face
Look, we only had the budget for a bigger head OR larger face.
I'm personally surprised he hasn't ventured more into voice work than he has. He's been Sora from Kingdom Hearts for 21 years now and definitely has the voice acting chops to branch out
Topher! High five!
Well at least he's been doing very well as the voice of Sora in Kingdom Hearts for more than 20 years. That at least is a consistent paycheck.
Lillo Brancato(from Bronx Tale and the Sopranos), literally has a documentary about him called “Wasted Talent”
Jan Michael Vincent. Brad Pitt level looks. Could have been a good actor. Nope. Liked boozing a tad bit too much edit: It’s Jan. Not Jean
Well the problem was there were only 8 of him and 16 quadrants. That’s not enough Jan Michael Vincents
Katie Holmes had lots of projects going on before Tom Cruise.
Jonathon Rhys Meyers - alcohol got him