"We'll make you a STAR!": American media saturation campaigns that failed, and why

Inspired by the Che;sea Handler thread. Dane Cook: Hollywood got excited because he was popular with college girls because he's handsome and has a great body. But no one could hide the fact that he's unfunny, and other comedians hate him for not only being unfunny but for stealing material. Gretchen Mol: Not untalented, and genuinely beautiful. But her publicists got greedy by selling her on the cover of Vanity fair before she was genuinely a star, and everyone thought it was a PR stunt. Josh Hartnett: Being on the cover of Vanity Fair before he was genuinely a star also ruined his career; also, unlike Mol, he can't act

• [quote]Dane Cook: Hollywood got excited because he was popular with college girls because he's handsome and has a great body. Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha *gasps for air* hahahahahaahhahahahahahahahhahahahahahhahahhhahahhhahhahhahahahhhahhahahahahaha! *whew*

• Whitney Cummings: The entertainment industry collectively gasped when her show was renewed. American Idol winners: The winner is never the most talented (except in Carrie Underwood's case).

• Robbie Williams: They tried to make him a star in the US since he's one in the UK, but there timing was lousy--they exported his work over when he was complaining about his celebrity, and since no one in the USA had heard of him, people were baffled. Also, he didn't work out enough to be hot in the USA, and no one here remembers him when he was young and cute in Take That! Russell Brand: "Taking the piss out" of people just doesn't play as well in the US, so he comes across here as obnoxious rather than as refreshing Johnny Weir: Never won a gold or silver Olympics medal. Also, he took too long to come out to make him a favorite of the gays (a la Rudy Galindo, who was out from the get-go), plus he's skinny and so is no one's heartthrob

• Kelly Osbourne: Fundamentally has no talent, which never stopped the Kardashians; however, Kelly is unattractive and (unlike her mother) isn't even likeable. The entertainment industry keeps trying to put her over, but no one likes her.

• Ryan Reynolds - Sexist Man Alive cover, endless amounts of hype for Green Lantern, showmance with Blake Lively, and yet both his movies bombed big time.

• [quote]American Idol winners: The winner is never the most talented (except in Carrie Underwood's case). Don't forget Kelly Clarkson. She won the first competition and is as big a star as Carrie Underwood.

• Taylor Lautner - was supposed to become the next big action star with Abduction, but his acting skills and gay voice convinced nobody.

• Armie Hammer - They said he was the greatest thing since sliced bread, but now he seems to have cooled after that drug bust.

• But Ryan Reynolds already had some very big hits, like The Proposal, r5, so he doesn't fit into this category at all.

• Colin Farrell - was THE Hollywood IT boy of 2003 but it turns out he's more character actor material than leading man. Blake Lively - they are STILL trying to make her happen, including Anna Wintour, who has put her on the cover of Vogue 3 times already. Most of the public still doesn't know who she is.

• The Proposal was Sandra Bullock's movie, not Ryan's. He was being positioned for A list movie stardom in 2011 but the public simply wasn't interested.

• I would put Nicole Kidman in this category. Yes she is technically a star, but all of her movies bomb, her last movie went straight to DVD, and yet they still shove her down our throats every chance they get.

• Despite a full decade of trying, David Beckham has yet to be put over in the US. He's a giant star in the rest of the world, but he could walk down the street in any city in the US and no one would have any idea who he is.

• OMG, Jessica Alba owns this thread. Buxom ingenue but came off as dumb as a sack of hair, and, oh, she can't act her way out of the paper sack with the hair that's smarter than she is. Casting her as a "scientist" in Fantastic Four...huge mistake.

• R3, Robbie Williams didn't make it here in the US because he has the face of a ferret. He might be considered cute in the UK but not here.

• Pink Lady. It's hard to put over two Japanese women as stars of their own comedy/variety show when neither of them speak English.

  Jeff

• Great thread, OP. A few comments: The OP is right that Dane Cook has (or had) a good body. See the photo at the link. I don't understand Whitney Cummings either. I had seen her a few times on the Chelsea Lately roundtable, where she was always just average. Then she started showing up at the Comedy Central roasts, and then got her own show. Something is weird there. American Idol wise, Jordin Sparks was the last winner who had a modicum of success. David Cook and whoever else came after him didn't fare so well. Please spare me the "But Scotty McCreery was #1 on the country charts". Kelly Clarkson and Carrie had crossover appeal. The show is American Idol, not Nashville Superstar. I agree about Robbie Williams. They tried to make him a star here without giving any context. Robbie Williams the singer is very different from Robbie the tabloid star/celebrity. Also, they tried to make him successful when the only thing that sounded on US radio was rap and R&B. Ryan Reynolds' campaign worked beautifully. He has been around for ages and continues to be considered one of Hollywood's "hottest actors". I agree about Blake Lively. As far as mainstream recognition goes, most people won't have any idea who you're talking about. The people who come to mind when I think failed media campaigns are: Nicole Scherzinger (her solo career has been a bust despite having millions invested into it) Perez Hilton (blog aside, every other venture of his has been a complete flop, and even as a celebrity or pop culture "journalist" he already had his 15 minutes) Justin Timberlake (only as far as movies go. His music and work on SNL have been well received, but his film career has been a bust)

  http://cdn03.cdn.socialitelife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/dane-cook-shirtless-beach-09032011-lead.jpg

• What else has Perez Hilton attempted? I only know of him by reputation of the blog.

• Liv Tyler... what was THAT about?

• Sean William Scott?

• Re: Robbie Williams Don't forget that no one in the US knew Take That. Their one US hit was after Williams left the group, not that it would have made a difference. Except for Timberlake no one made it out of a boy band with their own name.

• Dane Cook showing ass.

  http://www.omgblog.com/2008/01/omg_hes_naked_dane_cook.php

• Jessica Simpson has always attracted tons of publicity, yet her careers as a singer and an actress died quickl and quietly. I hope she likes selling shoes, because she seems to be better at it than show biz.

• What's Kate Beckinsale up to these days?

• Alicia Silvertone - was one of the biggest stars in 1995 after Clueless, huge teen girl following, was supposed to go on to mega stardom, but bad script choices and weight gain (remember how they said she wouldn't fit into her Bat Girl suit?) derailed her career forever.

• Ricky Gervais Russell Brand ..We just don't like them.

  The%20entire%20planet%2C%20except%20for%20the%20clueless%20poor%20Brits

• Americans have been shoving their "stars" down everyone elses throat for decades. Stop moaning about a couple of gits you fatass.

  not British!

• R4, correct. She's incredibly unattractive and not witty or clever. She's a female version of the Pillsbury doughboy. Kids, brought up in LA by rich entertainers, who have no talent or beauty are too lazy and/or stupid to get educated and actually work in some real career. Their role model should be Mayim Bialik, not Kim Kardashian.

• [quote]Casting her as a "scientist" in Fantastic Four...huge mistake. I couldn't make it through that movie because of her. She's cute but a big zero on the on-screen charisma scale. She was so miscast for that part. I think the whole cast was too young with the exception of Michael Chiklis.

• I can't believe someone wasted space to mention Nicole Kidman. She's A list and always will be. No campaign needed. Liv Tyler is another one who doesn't belong in this thread. She can act and has an interesting back story with her famous father,whom she didn't know about, and groupie mom. Plus, she doesn't have the desperation quotient of some of these people, which is an essential element.

• [quote]What's Kate Beckinsale up to these days? She'll attend the opening of an envelop and stars in one of those stupid vampire movies every few years. She's friends with Victoria Beckham, that's about it.

• Liv Tyler can act? She always has her mouth half open. I've said it before but she looks "special". I think her mom must have done a lot of drugs while pregnant with her.

• Nicole Kidman is one of those 'celebrity' movie stars, rather than an 'actor' movie star (taken from the Jennifer Aniston thread). The media tells us she's interesting and beautiful and wonderful, but nobody goes to see her movies. They haven't for years. Why is she still considered A list? Because she married Tom Cruise? Because she has an Oscar?

• Kate Beckinsale has been completely rebuilt or something. Compare her from today to Cold Comfort Farm or Emma. She was much more appealing then.

• Julia Ormond. At the peak of his power, Michael Ovitz was her agent. In anticipation of her starring debut in the inexcusably awful,ill advised remake of "Sabrina," she was on the cover of every major mainstream magazine, including the cover of the Sunday NY Times Magazine, which, in retrospect, was probably the media nail-in-the-coffin. And then Sabrina opened.

  Della

• Julia Ormond: Another case of not having "it" whatever it is.

• Julia Ormond was also horribly miscast in Legends of the Fall. There was no reason why 3 very hot brothers would fall all over themselves and go to the ends of the earth for one very boring, average lady. Lana Del Ray already owns this thread and her album has been out for like 2 weeks. Alex Pettyfer was supposed to be the next hot British import (and that douche bought his own hype). But casting him in two big movies before audiences knew who he was was a big mistake. Most people still don't know who the fuck he is.

• Mitt Romney. This dog won't fly.

• [quote]Alex Pettyfer was supposed to be the next hot British import I see this guy's name thrown around here a lot but I still have no clue what he's been in or ever seen him mentioned anywhere else.

• Various spouses, mistresses and children of A-listers or powerful people in Hwood fit this description. They just don't have "it", but someone who can pull strings tries to make it happen anyway.

  Rumor

• Jessica Chastain.

• The Twilight actors - all have had a string of flops even though you can't escape seeing their ugly mugs everywhere.

• Dane Cook showing ass.

  http://www.topsocialite.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/dane-cook.jpg

  Seriously%2C%20white%20boy%3F%20Gang%20signs%3F

• "Julia Ormond was also horribly miscast in Legends of the Fall. There was no reason why 3 very hot brothers would fall all over themselves and go to the ends of the earth for one very boring, average lady." r36 and r37. You've both captured exactly the whole Ormond non-phenomenon. She lacks that undefinable "it" that compels your eyes to watch her when she's on screen. About 45 minutes in "Legaends of the Fall" it took all my self control not to scream at Dad, "Kick her out. She's ot only brought heartache and trouble to your sons, worse yet, she's boring as all get-out." Poor Ormand, it ain't her fault the "experts" so misjudged her potential. Otoh, love her, hate her, or be indifferent, there is no denying that Angelina Jolie has whatever "it" is in ah-bundance; really almost too much. I can't wait to see what she'll be wearing to the AAs tonight.

  Della

• Beckinsale (with bleached blonde hair) played Mark Wahlberg's wife in the recent "Contraband." Any actress in her age range could have played that role, just a generic "action hero's wife."

• Sean Stewart (Rod's son) was thrust upon us back in the late aughts. First is was a...ahem...music career. That tanked. Then he and his manager realized they should capitalize on his bad boy image so they tried a reality TV show called Sons of Hollywood that simply showcased what a total douche he is. Around that time he did all of the requisite things to try and make himself look like a bad boy including going nude on a beach and starting fights at parties. Then he went on Celeb Rehab. Jesus, you can't get a more tired, overused story arc for a PR-contrived "celeb".

• I totally missed that guy R46. Back in the Hollywood's heyday the children of movie stars were rarely seen or pushed onto the public. Most did their own thing when they grew up. Now we have their spawn trying to ride their parents coattails or the parents foisting them onto the public like the Smiths, Cruises, Willis' and Jolie-Pitts. Most do not and will never have the star quality of their parents. I don't think most of their parents are that talented either but they got lucky.

• r44, I could not believe that they picked her for that [italic]Sabrina[/italic]remake. She was really bad in that - they should have picked someone a little more unique.

• r38 nailed it. Thread closed.

• Armie Hammer is old news, now they seemed to have moved onto that Benedict Arnold Cucumbersnatch guy.

• Ormond seemed very odd at last night's Spirit Awards. And her joke totally fell flat. Beckinsale was Ormond 2.0. I read somewhere that she was extremely bright and went to Oxford for a while. I think she regrets staying an actress. She's too old to become a major star and will only get scraps.

• Did Beckinsale get all that plastic surgery for better roles? Because it only made her look like a bimbo and all the intelligent, brainy roles she was playing before the over haul went to others. I really liked her in The Last Days of Disco.

• [quote]Johnny Weir: Never won a gold or silver Olympics medal. Also, he took too long to come out to make him a favorite of the gays (a la Rudy Galindo, who was out from the get-go), plus he's skinny and so is no one's heartthrob[/quote] Had he won a medal, I could have accepted his trash-talk and even his famewhoring a little bit; male skaters, even Olympic gold medal winners, don't always get the props that they deserve. But he said shocking things just for the sake of shocking people; there was nothing profound to anything he said or says.

• I remember when Ormond first came on the scene, she reminded me so much of Juliette Binoche, who was nearing the peak of her U.S. fame. I thought they were trying to make Ormond into a more Anglo-friendly Binoche, when really they should've just hired Binoche for most of the roles Ormond was getting. Ormond was neither as mysterious or talented as Juliette. Just saw Ormond in "My Week with Marilyn" and didn't know it was her, thought it was some old lady, she looked much older than Kenneth Branagh and I think she's younger than him.

• [quote]Don't forget Kelly Clarkson. Republican.

• Brandon Routh: career kryptonite

• Julia Ormond had done some interesting work. She was in Peter Greenaway's The Baby of Mâcon, Nikita Mikhalkov's Сибирский цирюльник (The Barber of Seville), and Bille August's Smilla's Sense of Snow. In My Week With Marilyn she was playing an older, bipolar VIvien Leigh and deliberately made up to look so rough. I thought she was very effective.

• Please stop talking about Julia Ormond. She is killing this thread.

• Before there were any of the people mentioned so far, there was “Flashdancer” and eighties fashion trend-setter Jennifer Beals.

  What A Feeling ... Disapeeearing!

• Alex Pettyfer owns this thread. He was supposed to be the next big thing, but his movies keep bombing big time. Remember "I Am Number Four?" Exactly. It was supposed to be the first in a series of blockbusters, and it went absolutely nowhere.

• Sean Stewart *and* his sister Kimberly were hurled into the media spotlight, mainly due to their association with even bigger famewhores like the Hiltons. Kim herself managed to get back under said spotlight with the arrival of her new child, whose father was (for about a nanosecond) the subject of some speculation. They do not have the talent of their famous sire and thus no one their inevitable fall back into obscurity has gone unnoticed, except on some rare message boards and blog mentions.

• Kristen Bell. She can play snotty and condescending but Hollywood keeps putting her in Romantic leading roles.

• Big things were expected from Wes Bentley after "American Beauty". But he got sidetracked with a drug problem. He seems to be on his way back now, but how do you stay away from dope in Gollywood?

  http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004747/

• *eyeroll* Many of the people mentioned here have perfectly good careers.

  another%20dumb%20thread%20full%20of%20dumb%20ill%20informed%20people

• Your contributions to this thread are so valuable, r64.

• I'm pretty sure Liv Tyler decided to step away from the spotlight after Lord of the Rings. She is still hugely popular with young girls her age and considered very beautiful. The Aerosmith videos and Stealing Beauty made her famous - not a compaign by Hollywood. Nicole Kidman sucks but enough of the public/media ate up the campaign to make her a star. She's hardly a fail. You could probably add any of todays young stars to the list. The days of the movie star are over.

• R59 She eventually earned a sold career. The other case that pops to mind is that "Weakest Link" bitch Anne Robinson. So much fuss made (in the US, at least) for six months solid over someone I bet most people couldn't even name or identify.

  http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2011/apr/22/anne-robinson-out-weakest-link

• r64, they may have perfectly good careers, but they did not become the major stars that the studies and their agents were trying to make them.

• [quote]Robbie Williams didn't make it here in the US because he has the face of a ferret. Yet someone with the face of an albino ferret is the #1 topic at DL.

• More about "stars" getting shoved down the public's throats.

• Susan Boyle.

• In the mid-80's, Charlie Sexton was supposed to be the next Elvis, Mick Jagger, and Springsteen all rolled up into one 15-year-old package. The truth was, the only special thing about him was that he was 15; he was a better-than-average guitarist, for his age, but there really wasn't any "there" there. At least Bob Dylan has faith--Sexton's been his touring/studio guitarist off-and-on for the past 20 years.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DuCRtHVEroQ0%26ob%3Dav2e

  Anonymous

• [quote]Yet someone with the face of an albino ferret is the #1 topic at DL. Only among the obsessed; the rest of us know enough not to even click on the threads anymore.

  Anonymous

• skeet ulrich gerard butler? hugh dancy?

• r41, Jessica Chastain's career could end up going nowhere, but she hasn't headlined a movie yet. She's hot this year because she had the luck of being in some very solid supporting parts in awards bait movies. The jury is still out on Tom Hardy, but I think he'll eventually go down the Colin Farrell road. Good character actor, not leading man/movie star stud.

• Bridget Fonda. I remember her being in so many films in the 1990s, but I don't think she was ever really a STAR.

• >>>I don't understand Whitney Cummings either. I had seen her a few times on the Chelsea Lately round table, where she was always just average. Then she started showing up at the Comedy Central roasts, and then got her own show. Something is weird there. I know. Who is she sleeping with? She actually has two shows. She's one of the creators and writers of 2 Broke Girls R45, Kate Beckinsale didn't deserve that either. The only reason she's in those vampire movies is because her husband is the producer/director

• Ginnifer Goodwin

• too lazy to write anymore.

• [quote]X nailed it. Thread closed. The only thing more tiresome than the "Thread closed" Troll is the Helen Lawson Troll. Maybe it's the same boring person. How many more years will they think they're being clever?

• [quote]She is still hugely popular with young girls her age Hey gramps @ R66, Liv Tyler is 34 years old--hardly a young girl.

• Terrence Trent D'Arby

• Actress James King. Eventually changed her name to Jaime. Came out of nowhere and pushed down America's throats with a bunch of feature roles in early 2000s. Nothing hit. Transitioned to TV.

• UK rapper Ms. Dynamite Mandy Moore (in her 1999-2000 Britney dopplganger stage) Anyone on the cast of "Heroes", except for Zach Quinto

• Hayden Christensen. The Star Wars movies were supposed to propel him to the A list. Didn't happen.

• No she isn't, R6

• [quote]Hayden Christensen. The Star Wars movies were supposed to propel him to the A list. Didn't happen. This is an excellent relatively recent example.

• Too early to count out Chastain. She has a big upcoming role on Broadway that could raise her up to the level of . . . Cherry Jones.

• Liv Tyler has never had a massive media presence, and has worked steadily. She always plays the girlfriend, she never tries to carry a film, and stays on the B-list both as an actress and as a publicity subject. She doesn't really belong on this thread. I think the entire cast of "Twilight" does, especially the supporting players. Ashley Green, Kellan Lutz, etc. have about three lines in each film, but are all over the media. I don't blame them, getting work when the "Twilight" farce ends is going to be an uphill battle.

• Taylor Lautner is hot enough that I want to fuck him regardless of how talented he is, same as Tim Tebow.

• 91 posts before anybody mentioned me. My career really IS over.

  Sienna%20Miller

• I'M NOT A WHORE!!! (But I'm not a star either, or anything close to one.)

  Elizabeth Berkley

• Michelle Williams OWNS this thread.

• R91 wins.

• I think the one strategy that's absolutely guaranteed to fail - that fails every damn time - is when the powers that be try to sell a look-alike to an already established star as the next big thing. In the 90s, they tried to sell Brad Rowe as the next Brad Pitt. They tried to sell Monica Potter as the next Julia Roberts. The only reason is because of a physical resemblance. But you already have Pitt and Roberts, so why do you need a clone? Predictably, these star-making campaigns got nowhere. Paul Bettany's handlers even briefly tried to sell him as the next Jude Law, even though Jude Law was never that popular to begin with.

• They tried to sell Josh Lucas as the next McBongo. Now he's doing television. Speaking - McBongo keeps on churning out crap nobody sees. Kate Hudson was an Oscar nominee 10 years ago, she still has a career, but it's certainly not particularly good one.

• Of celebrity lookalikes, I think Brandon Routh-Christopher Reeve were the closest, and I think you have a good point, R95.

• The thing is, r95, stuff like that HAS worked in the past (but I concede that it fares better in the music industry): Elvis - Fabian, Ricky Nelson et al Tom Jones - Engelbert Humperdinck The Supremes - every Motown act afterwards got re-glammed and all the Philly groups had lead singers that sounded like Diana. The Beatles - need we even list them? (OK some - The Monkees, Dave Clark Five, Dino Desi & Blah Blah, Herman's Hermits, etc) Elizabeth Taylor - Joan Collins had a decent career being "the poor man's Elizabeth Taylor" Marilyn - Jayne M Sophia - Gina Lollobrigida Others who went to have stardoms of their own but who started as clones of someone else - Tony Danza (Stallone), Paul Newman (Brando), Richard Chamberlain/Ryan O'Neal (Redford), The Rock (Schwarzenegger), etc

• I agree with R100 -- Mrs. Potter looks nothing like Julia Roberts.

• Gina Lollobrigida was a star before Sophia, r98. Oh, and r57, Julia Ormond playing Vivian Leigh was just as ludicrous as her playing "Audrey Hepburn" in Sabrina.

• Uma Thurman Freddie Prinze, Jr.

• Helen Lawson.

• Uma Thurman and Freddie Prinze, Jr.

• Freddie Prinze, Jr. & Uma Thurman

• Jake Gyllenhaal owns this thread

• Cuba Gooding Jr.

• I thought Gyllenhall looked very appealing in "Brokeback Mountain."

  http://www.ablazingly.com/posters/brokeback-mountain-1731795/brokeback-mountain.jpg

• Luke Wilson

• Uma Thurman doesn't belong on this thread. She had an interesting career in the late eighties and nineties, although of course now, she's more famous for being famous than for current work. Gyllenhall probably does belong on this thread. He's probably better known for his famous "girlfriends" than his work.

• Maggie Gyllenhall owns this thread.

• r110: No she doesn't. Read the thread title again. No one ever had a media saturation campaign for Maggie Gyllenhaal.

• Jude Law is a star but but he was supposed to become a superstar the winter he came out with something like six movies, but all that accomplished was a market flooded with Jude Law flops. Ben Affleck got promoted to the genuine detriment of his career in the days of Bennifer and GIGLI.

• Yahoo Serious. In 1988 Australia was trying to sell this idiot hard. But America wasn't buying.

• [quote]Actress James King. Eventually changed her name to Jaime. Came out of nowhere and pushed down America's throats with a bunch of feature roles in early 2000s. Nothing hit. Transitioned to TV. Her real name *is* Jamie. During her teen modeling years, her agency changed it to James because they had another hot model at the time named Jamie (Rishar, I believe) and didn't want them confused with one another.

• I think "Harry Loves Lisa" was a horrible concept and so poorly promoted. Like many scripted reality tv shows, I don't think anyone was buying that the show was really the day to day life of Harry Hamlin and Lisa Rinna. They were EVERYWHERE shamelessly trying to drum up buzz for their show. The most cringeworthy was their appearance on some morning talk show. One of them gets a call on their cell while they are live. It's someone involved in some shop they own letting them know the shop has been robbed. They tried to act so in disbelief but then quickly turned it in to, "this is what our lives are like...something is always happening...". It was such an obvious attempt to make their lives (read: their show) interesting and exciting.

• Crystal Pepsi

• Did you forget me?

  Skeet%20Ulrich

• You were mentioned at R74, R117, and we still don't remember you, except for being grungy and smelly-looking.

• Ashley Judd owns this thread.

• Matthew Goode for a quick minute. Then he started to open his cocky mouth and he pissed off audience members left and right. Michael Fassbender has his career. Sam Worthington. Blech. Black Hole of acting.

• [R66 The days of the movie star are over.] Not really. But the days if a long, sustained career may be.

• .

• [quote]Matthew Goode for a quick minute. Then he started to open his cocky mouth and he pissed off audience members left and right. Michael Fassbender has his career. Fassbender is more talented and versatile than Matthew. I kind of think Tom Hardy walked away with Goode's career (the rakish English lad thing).

• Kate Beckinsale was fantastic in Last Days of Disco but then she was playing a self absorbed cunt, so hardly a stretch. Quite funny that when she and Michael Sheen were a couple she was the bigger star. He's hardly a household name but mixture of tv, film and theatre has proven him to be one of the actors of his generation while Kate's a has been movie star.

• Living Colour. Even as a teenager I had my suspicions that MTV was receiving some kind of payola for their heavy rotation.

• What is the WORLD is r125 talking about? I can't make sense of her post.

• I'm pretty sure Beckensale is a cunt. Perfect for cunty roles. Same with Rachel Weitz.

• They have forced Ewan McGregore and Jude Law on us for years, I guess we just have to accept them

• R126: Living Colour was an Africa American hard rock group who were pretty big in 1999-2000> Here's one of their top 40 hits:

  http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3De7FX6sAL0Zw

• Is pug-faced actor Mark Wahlberg considered a star?

• OMG r130 yes, you can't even pretend Wahlberg belongs in this thread. Even as Marky Mark, he was enough of a star, not a product of PR. Even his older brother Donny became famous because loads of fangirls wanted him, not because some publicity machine was trying to make him happen.

• I think Jake Gyllenhaal is the best recent example. He was very blatant about his desire for A-list status--dressed better, courted the press, starring roles in movies-- and it didn't pan out. The movies bombed and the public gave a collective yawn to him in general.

• Presidential candidate Jon Huntsman

• Well, r125 needs to update her reference points and quit bearing a grudge against some band nobody remembers. It's been almost 25 years, toots.

• Cheyenne Jackson.

• Cheyenne (the Puerto Rican one) - 12 years ago Those guys from The Hills Deborah Norville - 20 years ago The Corys - 25 years ago Leif Garret - 35 years ago Kristy McNichol's brother - 35 years ago Chris Atkins - 30 years ago William Katt - 36 years ago

  Watching r134's head explode

• [quote]They have forced Ewan McGregore and Jude Law on us for years, I guess we just have to accept them Both Ewan and Jude are solid actors. Maybe not movie star leading men, but both do really well in character roles. And that can sometimes give you longevity when the leading men parts run out. I remember in the mid 90's when Claire Danes was going to be the next big actress. 1996 was huge for her, she was coming off her GG for My So-Called Life and had a huge hit with Romeo and Juliet. But then she made a few bad choices, seemed to have an attitude problem and pretty much disppeared. A few small roles like The Shop Girl came around every so often and she has an OK career doing cable TV but her transition to movies never really worked out.

• Sadly, the Coreys had a second go-around just about 4 years ago but this was their "comeback". Their show, The Two Coreys, was mercilessly pushed by E! In fact, now that I think about it, E! Is one of the worst offenders of huge PR campaigns trying to make some nobody or has-been relevant.

• Hi, my name is David Beckham and I am here to tell you about this great sport you faintly know as soccer. Yes, that's my real voice. I just sound like your big idol Mickey Mouse, don't I?

  David%20Beckham

• "Except for Timberlake no one made it out of a boy band with their own name." Que?!

  R. Martin

• The Coreys were hot for a period in the 80s. So I wouldn't say their fame never materialized, it was just short lived. Anyone GQ features as the ingenue of the moment is someone you don't ever have to remember seeing again. It's akin to having a DOA career.

• Just look at all of those annual Vanity Fair "Hollywood Issue" covers of the past 15 years. Almost all their Next Big Star picks have gone nowhwere.

• R137, one of Danes' biggest mistakes was to turn down "Titanic." Cameron offered her the part of Rose and she refused, saying she'd just worked on a romantic epic film with Leo and wanted to try something else. So Kate was hired and got an Oscar nomination. Of course, Dane now says she is happy with her decision, but I wonder if she secretly regrets it and resents Kate's success?

• Yeah, now Clare is a spokesperson for chemically induced eyelashes. You know bitch has some regrets in her pocketbook.

• [quote]In fact, now that I think about it, E! Is one of the worst offenders of huge PR campaigns trying to make some nobody or has-been relevant. I'd say they're THE worst offender. They were responsible for the Kuntrashians, have tried to push countless other nobody wannabes on us by giving them their own show for no reason (usually with much less success, thankfully) and have done the attempted come back thing with many people other than just the Coreys. Weren't they the ones who gave Scott fucking Baio a show a few years back?

• [quote]Cameron offered her the part of Rose and she refused, saying she'd just worked on a romantic epic film with Leo and wanted to try something else. Didn't Leo treat her like absolute shit on the set?

• [quote]I'm pretty sure Beckensale is a cunt.... Same with Rachel Weitz. Um, based on what?

• I heard Beckinsale does not like other women at all.

• BRYCE DALLAS HOWARD.... She was cast in "perfect-on-paper" roles from a Clint Eastwood drama to Spider-man 3, but each one has bombed. Jessica chatwin stole her thunder

• Beckinsale and Danes hated each other on the BROKEDOWN PALACE movie and alledgedly it was all Beckinsale's fault.

• [quote]Just look at all of those annual Vanity Fair "Hollywood Issue" covers of the past 15 years. Well, Vanity Fair hasn't been relevant in 15 years, so that make sense.

  Anna

• Danes is in Homeland, gr8 show. Nuff said! Paltrow also turned the role down in Titanic. They pushed Jennifer Love H, Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillipe Freddie Prinze Neve Campbell, hard during the early 2000's.

• Jessia Alba is STILL trying to make herself happen. I see paparazzi pictures of this bitch all the time on gossip blogs, she's on the cover of magazines, she was at the GGs this year, appearances on GMA, and yet I could not tell you the last movie she made.

• I forgot about Brokedown Palace! Loved that movie. I think Claire Danes is a great actress but she seems high maintenance in real life. Any stories about her? R152. To be fair to SMG she had a hit TV show for many years and was great in Cruel Intentions. She's just not a leading lady and should have stuck to TV.

• Danes went into Brokedown Palace a big fan of Beckinsale's and she was really excited to work with her. Discovered she was a giant snotty bitch, so that was a letdown. I doubt Danes regrets anything. She baled on her career for about 3 years at one point to follow her musician b/f around the world.

• We're going to see more and more of this in the coming years. Hollywood has indeed forgotten how to make movie stars, the kind with real pull at the box office. That doesn't stop Hollywood from trying again and again, giving unknown mass amounts of publicity and some plumb roles, and then dropping them when the fail to develop box-office appeal. They aren't even starlets, they're flavors of the month. And their popularity with the studio suits ends so fast, they hardly have a hance to get popular with the public.

  Whither Megan Fox

• I predict the sullen goth twins, Kristen Stewart and Rooney Mara will disappear quickly. What other burgeoning stars of today will wither on the vine?

• They pushed Jennifer Love H, Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillipe Freddie Prinze Neve Campbell, hard during the early 2000's. I'd add to that list: The entire cast of American Pie Rachel Lee Cook (anybody remember her?) Leelee Sobieski Julia Stiles Paul Walker James Van Der Beek Joshua Jackson Everybody from Scream Man, that was a weird time for movies

• Bryce D. Howard is a terrible actress, which doesn't help.

• Yes she is, R85. Kelly Clarkson was THE first big breakout star from Idol, and remains the biggest one, despite Carrie Underwood's country popularity.

• Kristen Stewart can't disappear quickly enough for me.

• I mean, R86

  R160

• I hear that, R161. What a fucking wretch of an actress.

• Emma stone. overrated and overexposed.i see her featured on all the gossip sites and she's so boring.!!

• r164, you can't be serious. Regardless of how overrated you may deem Emma Stone, you can't possibly argue that she's a failed PR project. She has starred in over 5 successful movies and is currently on every producer's short list for any project - a true A-lister. I mean, I feel the same way about Jennifer Aniston, John Belushi, Gloria Estefan (lucky for her there was a MSM) and Sarah J Parker, but I would never list them in this thread.

  http://boxofficemojo.com/people/chart/?id=emmastone.htm

• R158 I agree, strange time for movies the late 90's, but a lot of them were the actors who were big on teen TV at the time. It's sort of happening /going to happen again I think with High School Musical and Glee people. We'll have to rehash this thread in 10rs and see which of those have floundered!

• Emma Stone isn't A list yet. And think what R164 means is that Emma Stone's media campaign won't work and she'll flame out in a few years. I think she's talented and so far she's been smart in how she's conducted her career but anything could happen.

• Duh: KATHARINE MCPHEE.

• Lots of bullshit in this thread! Kinda makes me wonder if Lainey is posting in it.

• Oh, please, R169, share some of your wisdom with us.

• Hi Lainey. Go change your tampon, hon.

• Another vote for Kristen Bell. They are STILL trying to make her happen even though her last film role was suppoeting Drew Barrymore and John Krasinski. In a film about whales.

• Considering Lainey gets wet by half the names in this thread (including her "girl crushes" Emma Stone and Kristen Stewart), your point makes no sense, R169/171. But, by all means, I love love love hearing your tired come backs! Change my tampon? Yes, I'm sure I've never heard that on DL before.

• r166 yes i am serious.her covers for vanity fair and teen vogue were the worst selling issues of the year.obviously she's not as popular as gossip sites like lainey,ted casablancas and just jared would make you believe.and r67 she has a very smart agent choosing these roles for her but in a couple of years when the hype has died down.a new "it"girl will come along and fill her place.

• R174, that's what an IT girl is. They're the flavor of the month and another one will replace them. If any girl stays IT for a couple of years, that's a tremendous record.

• Orlando Bloom.

• Remember Rachel Leigh Cook? Exactly.

• Fast forward a year or two and this thread will be fiercely owned by Rooney Mara.

• Ahem!

  The Cast Of Saved By The Bell

• Circa 1970s: Peter Frampton Bay City Rollers Sha Na-Na Bruce Jenner

• Some of the names in this thread are actually quite big, but the studios pushed them just a little too far into the public eye. For me you can toss Amy Smart and Mena Suvari into that pile, btw.

• Claire Forlani....even was the face for L'Oreal at one point.

• Eonline used to do an annual feature called the "Sizzling Sixteen" about 8 actors and 8 actresses whom they thought were ones to watch. I can't find some of the later years, but this link will show you 1997-2001. It's hysterical to look now and see who was being pushed as the "next big thing" at the time. Some of the picks were quite good (Matt Damon, Catherine Zeta-Jones) and others are a major WTF? (Katharine Towne? Colin Mortensen from the Real World?)

  http://web.archive.org/web/20010806105022/http://www.eonline.com/Features/Features/Sizzlin2001/index.html

• Here's a better link with E!'s '97-'03 picks. I swear half of these names have been mentioned in this thread.

  http://web.archive.org/web/20030814214248/http://www.eonline.com/Features/Features/Sizzlin2003/Past/index.html

• The 2005 list. (And now I am officially done.)

  http://web.archive.org/web/20050828164647/http://www.eonline.com/Features/Features/Sizzlin2005/Past/index.html

• Those lists are an example of how fleeting almost-stardom is. There are some names on that list that I've never even heard before and I'm in the business.

• Never heard of these people: Katherine Towne Mia Kirshner Clayne Crawford Matthew Davis Maris Pitillo Paula Marshall Some of the others made it to B list and name recognition but are generally forgotten (James Van Der Beek), and even the more famous ones - Jake Gyllenhaal and Renee Zellweger, have certainly seen better days. But it does serve as a cautionary tale that most of today's stars will be forgotten in a few years and a new crop will come up to replace them.

• The cautionary tale is even greater when you realize how pertinent those lists are to this thread. The Media attempted to make these kids and in many cases, failed. Think of all those other almost young stars who didn't get the benefit of this campaign.

• Chad Michael Murray

• Every name in hollywood will eventually end up in this thread. Should change the thread title to: Who I hate.

• Christina Ricci

• Michael Cera

• I thought Michael Cera and Jesse Eisenberg were one person until very recently.

• Huh? Armie Hammer and a drug bust.

• Olivia Wilde. No idea why she's considered famous. They cast in a bunch of movies as the "girlfriend," a role literally anyone can play, and those movies flopped anyway. And yet I see pictures of her all the time and there's always blurbs about which actor she's currently dating. Somebody obviously is trying to make her a star very badly.

• If you weren't already sick of (or mystified by) the Andrew Garfield worship on DL, wait until the SPIDERMAN press machine starts rolling. I predict that Garfield will be the next Hayden Christiansen. Or Brandon Routh.

• [quote]I don't understand Whitney Cummings either. I had seen her a few times on the Chelsea Lately roundtable, where she was always just average. Then she started showing up at the Comedy Central roasts, and then got her own show. Something is weird there. From what I heard, she brought finished scripts to the table and made a lot of her own material, something almost no "stars" of a show are willing to spend time doing before a deal is inked. Most of them wait for someone else to just hand them a show. Meanwhile, the ones who actually go out and start their own small projects and perform and write spec scripts have a much better chance of being handed opportunities, even if their work is merely competent but not great. You can say Whitney's not that funny and I'll agree, but don't say she doesn't work prolifically and show up with TV-appropriate material prepared. Few aspiring showrunners can handle the fast pace of creating material for TV, so someone who shows up with a polished spec script or a large well of safe-for-TV material to draw from may get hired before someone else who's much funnier but hasn't proven they can produce TV-ready material quickly. If what I heard was correct, Whitney was the safe bet for TV execs.

• [r195] Olivia is very determined to be a star...I worked with her about 7 years ago and we were told "She's going to be huge". She knows exactly who to cosy up to and schmooze. Very smart cookie. [r197] I worked with Whitney briefly back in 2007 (guest spot on a show)- very statuesque in person, very smart as well, self deprecating and is good with spontaneous one-offs.

• DEVON SAWA! Or how ever you spells it!

• Eddie Cibrian - ratings poison

• Brett Butler, something like that. She had a TV comedy for a few seasons, but I wouldn't say she really launched into big stardom despite her network's efforts. I'd Google to find out where she is now, but that would imply I gave a shit about her.

• Katherine McPhee

• Ewan McGregor is losing his looks and Jude Law is losing his hair, so their Hollywood matinee idol days can be considered over. However I think Jude is well positioned to start taking over the sinister Brit roles that Alan Rickman and Jeremy Irons are getting a little long in the tooth for. He has that incredible saturnine face and he knows how to work it.

• [R187] Mia Kirshner is in fact a very able actress, I have always wondered why she isn't as popular. She's a prettier Zooey Deschanel, but more tolerable and less smarmy.

• Crap, I remember The Year of Jude Law. WTF was that??? But hey, we can see it happening now with Channing Tatum. Oh here is a good one: David Chokachi.

• Natasha Gregson Wagner. Her career sank faster than...errr, maybe it's too soon for this analogy.

• Everybody on 90210. Let the Twilight cast pay attention.

• bump

• LENA DUNHAM.

  Mike%20Ovitz

• What? Armie Hammer and a drug bust? I don't believe it. He is pretty damn cute and he plays the Lone Ranger!

• Ewan McGregor and Jude Law have made a blue million films but can they sell a movie? No. Neither one is a real star and Kiera Knightly? Who even knows what she looks like, or cares.

• Jessica Biel. Now she has to settle for being Mrs. Timberlake

• Utada Hikaru and BoA both failed miserably in their multiple attempts to break the U.S. music market. Tens of millions of dollars in promotion but failed to sell records or get any attention for their English releases.

• Anita Hill.

  Anonymous

• "Mitt Romney. This dog won't fly." Wow, r38 called it.

• Zoe Saldana

• Julianne Hough

• I disagree that the Corys "didnt happen". Cory Haim and Cory Feldman were huge for a while. Cory Haim was actually the most famous teenager in the world in the late 80s. And based on his performance in Lucas, was considered a pretty good actor. But he developed a drug habit early and it destroyed his career. By the early 90s he could barely remember his lines and his movies were going straight to video. He was still very good looking though and may have been able to resurrect his career during the 1990s if he'd gotten off the drugs, but he didn't and that was the end of that. Cory Feldman on the other hand was also huge for a while, but he didn't have Haims looks, had a weird Michael Jackson obsession and seemed like a bit of a tool. His drug problem was only brief so that wasn't what derailed his career, I suspect it was his annoying personality.

• R216 way too early to put Saldana on the list. She has many more guaranteed hits (Star Trek and Avatar sequels) to propel her career forward. They'll keep trying to make her happen. Plus, it's not even like she's overexposed.

• The Beckhams did not happen in this country. He's likable. she's miserable, but she did push him out there so she deserves some money and cock.

• Brad Johnson was in Spielberg's "Always" but then went on to a lot of B-level stuff. Wasn't he in an adaptation of that silly Left Behind book? It's work, I guess.

• Those 2 little British girls, Sophia Grace and Rosie, that Ellen trots out on a regular basis on her talk show. Sophia, the dark haired one, is adorable but is also a bit of a 'one trick pony' in that her rapping and singing schtick has gotten stale. Yet Ellen continues to fly them over from the UK and give us yet another episode of 'tea time with Sophia and (insert celebrity name)'.

• Yeah, Devon Sawa was supposed to be the next "big thing" after the Final Destination films, but nothing came of it. I also agree with Nicole Scherzinger. I remember when she was on "Popstars" on The WB, and that was damn near 15 years ago. Her move to The Pussycat Dolls was an obviously calculating way to propel her to a solo career that never happened. Bad song choices, coming off like a bitch on wheels on The X Factor, no career direction in spite of [allegedly] sleeping with Jimmy Iovine, and age (mid-30's, so she's 'old' by pop music standards)are all factors that hinder her. She's too ethnic-looking for red-state flyover people to go full pop music and too exotic looking to win over female R&B fans who'd rather just listen to Beyonce instead. Jessica Simpson simply doesn't have the stage presence and charisma that Britney Spears had in her prime nor does she have Xtina's vocal prowess. If it wasn't for that Newlyweds show, Jessica would still be known as the dumb bitch who flubbed her Mickey Mouse Club audition back in the 1990's. Arguably, Kylie Minogue fits this, at least in North America. She can hold her own in Europe and Australia, but in spite of her early 2000's and late 80's pushes, she hasn't been able to replicate her success as much on American/Canadian airwaves. Tucker Max - I liked his book "I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell" a lot more than I should. But his stories of fratboy douchebaggery wore thin (he's in his late 30's now, well past his prime for such foolishness) and the movie based on his book flopped in the box office. Jessica Alba was supposed to be the heir-apparent to Jennifer Lopez as the next Latina It-girl, but she lacked J-Lo's charisma and ambition. Say what you want about J-Lo, but she definitely had that "It" factor and she milked it for all it's worth. Sophia Vegara has the career that Jessica Alba was supposed to have. James Franco has had some success, but he comes off like a douchebag and a stoner and Joseph Gordon Levitt has his career at the moment. Paul Walker had some hype and press, but he comes off wooden and boring. Bradley Cooper has his career now.

• Jessalyn Gilsig - she was the next Calista Flockhart.... Jessica Biel Penelope Ann Miller Skeet Ulrich Anton Yelchin Jesse Metcalfe Famke Janssen

• Chelsea Clinton as a "journalist."

• [quote]Chelsea Clinton as a "journalist." Jenna Bush as a "journalist".

  CC

• Angelina Jolie. That was an endless pr campaign.

• Freddie Stroma. The supposed breakout star who was hyped to death from his bit part in one of the Harry Potter films. He followed his movie buzz with an appearance in a racy underwear ad. Has been in nothing since which is really surprising. Was he really nothing more than a pretty face or is there more to the story?

  Anonymous