Actors/Actresses You Thought Would Become Big

Molly WAS big.

Kathleen Turner / Body Heat

Mena Suvari

Wes Bentley.

Mary Stuart Masterson: gorgeous and talented. Career didn't take off...she's married and had a few kids, and directing things. Does some stage acting...I'd love to see her come back strong.

r2, Kathleen Turner was one of the biggest stars of the 1980s.

Gary Oldman, Guy Pearce, Cathy Moriarty, Angela Bassett, Jude Law, Lena Olin, Thandie Newton. So many more I can't think of right now.

Abe Vigoda

Sanaa Lathan

Hill Harper

Anton Yelchin

Adrian Paul, from the Highlander television show. I thought he would be huge by now.

Grieco was smoking hot!

Grieco is the show runner on Showtime's Gigolos. So he's doing okay.

[quote]Molly WAS big.

I AM big!

It's the teenpics that got small...

r7, Gary Oldman and Jude Law admittedly aren't as fuckable as they once were but they're not exactly has-beens. Oldman got a Best Actor nomination for "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" in 2012. Jude got a slew of nominations and awards for his Hamlet in 2010 and was nominated for an Olivier Award in 2012 for his performance in a very well-received production of "Anna Christie."

OP, Molly WAS big. She partly defines the '80s. She covered Time magazine, and her films with John Hughes are part of pop culture history.

I thought Jennifer Lawrence was very big but people on DL got mad when I said that.

R14, OP asked who we thought would become big, and although Oldman and Law have had successful, rewarding, and important careers, I thought early on, with all the hoopla surrounding their earlier US film sucess, I thought that they'd be where Daniel Day-Lewis or Matt Damon are today. Instead they're frequently the secondary lead or character actors in films.

r17, Jude Law was recently the lead in Side Effects. He's still very much A list.

Amy Jo Johnson

Jeff Fahey. I am shocked he didn't have a bigger career.

Antonio Banderas.

( I know he was big with Almodovar, but he did not become as big as he should have in Hollywood.)

I thought Madonna might have a movie career after Evita...

Jake G.

Christine Lahti. Always loved her and thought she would at least have a Susan Sarandon type career.

Billy Zane

Richard Dreyfus. He seemed to max out early, but a lot of actors do. Seeing Streep and Cruise survive for decades makes you realize that it's not easy.

Christine Lahti has never given a bad performance in her life. I love her. Housekeeping, Running on Empty, Leaving Normal, Chicago Hope, Law and Order....

She must have lost a lot of film roles to others like Sarandon because she is a very good actress and great looking, a real woman, never the ingenue.

Nice choice r24.

Thomas Jane Amy Smart Russell Wong (Eurasian and so hot!) Catherine Keener

Buggers! Here it is more legibly: Thomas Jane, Amy Smart, Russell Wong, Catherine Keener

Campbell Scott

Absolutely Russell Wong! I still stop to watch him in that stupid IKEA ad every time it's on. He should have been a *stah*.

Julia Duffy who played 'Stephanie' on the '80s TV sitcom, "Newhart." She was so funny on that show.

But then she became one of the "Designing Women." Not so funny; and then she faded away.

I can't believe Armey Hammer isn't huge already. Maybe Lone Ranger will secure his superstardom. He stole the Facebook movie away from all the ugly boys.

Brittany Snow

Mia Kirshner

Evangeline Lily

Ditto Brittany Snow. Put her and Meryl in Gypsy and let Barbra rest.

Terence Knox ("Tour of Duty").

Ken Wahl.

Joe Piscopo. There really isn't much difference between him and Bruce Willis. So why did his career tank so fast?

Jennifer Lawrence - She hasn't been in anything since her Oscar win. I know people like her and all but after all the hype of her in I expected big things. But nothing.

Chris O'Donnell. Launched with a lot of hype, relatively handsome, a couple of big profile projects and then almost disappeared until NCIS:LA.

[quote]Jude Law was recently the lead in Side Effects. He's still very much A list.

Jude Law has is now, at best, B list teetering on C list. He's never recovered from that mauling by Chris Rock at the Oscars.

Mariette Hartley

So many of the people here were quite "big" and taking starring roles in major productions at various times. As others have noted on the thread.

Kathleen Turner, Richard Dreyfuss, Jude Law, Antonio Banderas, Molly Ringwald - it's like the learning disabled responding here. The issue isn't people who didn't last at the top forever. It's who never made it the way you thought.

And as for me, I really thought Lara Flynn Boyle was going to be a major star. I thought she was brilliant in "Threesome," but her personal issues and who knows what else caught her up. And, no, being abused for years by Jack Nicholson and being a joke character on a TV show do not represent an apotheosis.

Pam Dawber

[quote]Molly Ringwald - it's like the learning disabled responding here. The issue isn't people who didn't last at the top forever. It's who never made it the way you thought.

No, it's who would become big, and Molly Ringwald was certainly big in the '80s.

I just as Molly Ringwalds cd. Anyone heard it?

Gretchen Mol

Samanatha Mathis

Skeet Ulrich

Josh Hartnett

Shia Lebeof

Edward Norton

Edward Burns

Linda Fiorentino

Benicio Del Toro

Barry Pepper

Noah Wyle

Dermot Mulroney

All of Hollywood was pulling for Jason Patric. Got big starring parts but never really happened.

Michael Pare and Gretchen Mol were on the cover of Vanity Fair but they never really happened either. Billy Crudup also fell by the wayside.

Linda Fiorentino was notoriously difficult to work with which basically put the kibosh on her career.

Poor Gretchen Mol was whored out for work. Reese did the same thing, but she caught fire in Legally Blonde.

Dermot Mulroney is in the film adaptation of August: Osage County.

I'm happy to see Shia LaDouche on r46s list, lets hope it stays.

Julia Ormond. I remember when she and Gretchen Mol were labeled as Hollywood's next big stars

Goran Visnjic Jesse Spencer Ryan Philippe - he started out with huge momentum from his teen films but has failed to carry a movie as an adult. He only seems to get cast in ensemble films today like Crash or Gosford Park these days.

40 years ago, I thought both Valerie Harper and Sally Struthers were headed towards superstardom.

Aaron Eckhart

Evan Rachel Wood. One of the top 3 actresses in her age group in terms of acting chops. She gets relatively steady work but not the accolades and the resume she deserves.

(R32) I think Julia Duffy had another hit sitcom in her, but her priority has been raiser an autistic child. Now her husband Jerry Lacey!!!! I thought he'd be a huge star after his stage and screen success with Play It Again Sam, but nada.

Ann Jillian. David Marshall Grant whose movie, "American Flyers," also featured former movie star Kevin Costner.

Evan Rachel Wood had some weird plastic surgery to her face--I think she had a chin implant. She has looked totally different after that IMO. She looked very butch in her appearances in True Blood. She was a pretty girl as a teenager and seemed talented.

Would rather see Evan in more films then Jennifer L.

DEBRA WINGER

I had a crush on Ryan Phillipe but he is so wooden as an actor.

Evan Rachel Wood is very talented. She does not seem interested in a big career.

the casr of thirtysomething

r42

I am not learning disabled and I agree that Kathleen Turner and Molly Ringwald don't exactly qualify. Ditto Jude Law and Dreyfus.

I was the one who said Antonio Banderas and I am not interested in arguing. He never made it as big as I thought he would. He was over 30 when he came to attention, had some major films but only a couple of starring roles. I thought he would be a big star. He was not. Shrek earnings don't factor.

If you want to discuss TV actresses who made some films but did not have a BIG and prolonged career, then I would add Farrah Fawcett, who was at least as good an actress as Laura Flynn Boyle and one who did better work.

As for the Gretchen Moll, Josh Hartnett and Skeet Ulrich, they were people that the press hyped as a BIG thing, but their work did not suggest this or produce success with the public.

Even with Woody Allen, Mia Farrow is a good example of someone who should have been a bigger star. Without him, she is one film.

One of the problems with Julia Duffy's character on Designing Women, is that by the time she joined the show, Julia had to be right about everything. Duffy's character was written to be the anti-Julia, and to show how great and enlightened Julia was.

Molly Ringwald was really big for a couple of years, but I was surprised how fast she faded away I would have thought with how big her first few movies were, she would have survived a couple of bad movies, but she completely fell off the map almost instantly. In retrospect, her talents were perhaps limited in range and did not go beyond the teen queen.

I would say Kathleen Turner was a little similar, although her rise and fall was a little more gradual (and she was a better actress).

I agree with Antonio banderaz. I've enjoyed him in everything he's been in. Completely charming.

Debra Winger was at or near the top and then left. One year, the People's Choice for favorite dramatic actress was Debra Winger, Barbra Streisand and Meryl Streep.

Greta Scacchi has had a good career, but about the time of White Mischief I thought she was headed for the very top. In fact, I fell in love with her when I saw her in Coca-Cola Kid.

Angelyne. What talent!

Kirstie Alley!

[quote]Christine Lahti. Always loved her and thought she would at least have a Susan Sarandon type career.

Chritine Lahti IS an excellent actress but also a huge cunty pain in the ass. She was told in no uncertain terms that her castmate Mandy Patinkin's firing from Chicago Hope was a reminder that she was next, because as everyone in show business has now discovered, life is too short to have to spend time working with horrible bitches like her. Now she's old, so it's pretty much over for her. She screwed herself over. I used to wait on her in the late 80s early 90s. What a jerk she was.

Paul Walker - gorgeous. Why did he not become a sex symbol along the same lines as george and brad?

r71, I've always wondered about Paul Walker as well. The man is not only very handsome but quite the talented actor.

I'm suprised Dina Meyer didn't have a bigger career. She was in a ton of either "big" movies or at least hyped movies (Starship Troopers, Saw, Dragonheart, Johnny Mnemonic) but alas it all fizzled out. Hollywood needs more female action stars.

Paul Walker has the Fast and Furious franchise. He is also another wooden actor. Brad Pitt is not the greatest actor, but he has been smart about his career by marrying famous women (but the new zombie movie looks craptastic).

Kathleen Wilhoite

Diana Scarwid

Bobbie Eakes

Jimmy Baio

the late Susan Tyrell

the late Edward Albert

Jeanne Berlin

Elliot Gould (as a leading man, not as a character actor)

Bruce Dern

When I first saw Sherilyn Fenn in a movie called Two Moon Junction (1989), I thought she'd be huge based on her beauty alone. She never really took off like I thought she would. Yeah she made movies and did Twin Peaks, but I thought she'd be much bigger.

I never thought Paul Walker was a good actor until I saw "Eight Below". (Which was the saddest movie I've ever seen.)

r40, what did Chris Rock do to Jude Law??

Julian Sands--he was supposed to be the breakout male star from "A Room With A View", not Daniel Day Lewis.

r79, Chris Rock's opening monologue at the Oscars included a rant about how Jude Law was in everything that year and yet nobody knew who he was. When Sean Penn came out to present Best Actress, he chided Rock for dissing Law.

Good one r80

I love Chris Rock but he was an awful host; one of the worst. Oprah called him out right. She told him he wasn't himself and it wasn't just about the lack of profanity. Profanity or no profanity, Chris just wasn't himself and going after Jude the way he did just seemed like a desperate move.

Not too long ago, particularly around the time of The Talented Mr. Ripley, Jude was considered A list. I believe he can get back there. Not only is the man still gorgeous but he's more talented acting wise than people give him credit for. I thought he was awesome in Side Effects.

Adrien Brody: from the youngest leading male Oscar winner ever to razor commercials.

Judy Davis. She's an excellent actress, and was quite good-looking when she was young, and did leads in big Hollywood films. She seemed to have all the ingredients to become a major star, yet she never did.

She's been doing excellent character roles forever, maybe she wanted a long career rather than a big rise and fall.

Kate Beckinsale. A promising start before she went to Hollywood, and had a higher profile than Blanchett and Winslet, but has become annoying and bland.

Patrick Wilson

Ellen Page

Waiting for Saoirse Ronan and Juno Temple to become the next Bette and Joan.

With R4 here. After American Beauty, I really expected Wes Bently to skyrocket to fame.

He did a few other things and then vanished into obscurity.

Re: OP's totally clueless choices: Mary Stuart Masterson was a fugly, charmless and overrated little mouse. She never, ever had the least little bit of a chance making it "big".

Molly Ringwald had zero talent. She lucked with John Hughes, who had a creepy thing for her.

And Richard Grieco - that is hilarious. Truly hilarious. He was an ugly, smug little troll who also had zero acting talent.

None of them even deserved the fame they had. Terrible actors.

Fuck, so many of you have awful taste. You haven't the slightest idea of what it takes for a person to be star in Hollywood, or what constitutes good acting. I was going to address all the terrible choices, but there are far too many. Terrible taste.

[quote]Kathleen Turner, Richard Dreyfuss, Jude Law, Antonio Banderas, Molly Ringwald - it's like the learning disabled responding here. The issue isn't people who didn't last at the top forever. It's who never made it the way you thought.

THANK YOU, R42.

God, some of you are fucking retarded.

Julie Haggerty from Airplane. She was so brilliant in that! And yet all I remember her doing afterwards was one Woody Allen movie.

Evan Rachel Wood is talented, hard-working, chooses her projects well in terms of roles and content and will continue to do well IMO. She is in there for the long haul.

Who cares whether she becomes a "star" or not. She was a child actress working on fairly good hits. I don't think she wants it. She's doing very well.

I never understood if Greta Scacchi was a star or not (in the 80s). She certainly had the looks.

God, what a gorgeous woman.

R80, did Julian Sands want it though? It seems wanting it is a big part of the process. And I found him really good in Room with a view, and a good casting choice - OTOH, it's the only film I don't like seeing DDL in.

I actually thought Diana Ross would've had a big acting career since she was a pretty good actress. I'm guessing that her career didn't take off because of her ego being to big to play supporting roles and always wanting to be the lead.

[quote] did Julian Sands want it though? It seems wanting it is a big part of the process

Why would he not want it? He tried for a long time and made a lot of bad movies in the process.

Alexander Skarsgard

I erally thought John Wayne had a chance to make it big ...but then he showed that he could not act, and he was always hitting on the cute young guys in the crew. Oh, and he had a beard family on the side....

Sandy Duncan

I remember when she was an ingenue. Last time I heard of her, she was playing Amanda in THE GLASS MENAGERIE

Um, any black actors or actresses mentioned on this thread? Lol what happened to their career is they're black. A good friend said this to me during a conversation on this topic after a few glasses of wine and I almost did a spit-take.

I'd like to add Linda Fiorentino. Last Seduction is one of the best performances by an actress I've ever seen. I just don't understand how *that* doesn't become a major, major career. But apparently she's a huge bitch, no?

Also, I know I'll sound like a crazy Showgirls Stan (which is slightly true) but Elizabeth Berkeley had a really focused and intense energy that is kind of riveting. I always wondered what would've happened if she'd ever gotten another shot with something interesting.

I thought Steve Sandvoss, the cute Mormon from "Latter Days" would have a bigger career. He was so hot, and not a bad actor.

Going way back to 1992, there was a cute B movie called "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me" starring a hunky, good actor named Max Parrsh. I really thought he had something. He only had a handful of roles after that, and his last imdb credit is from 2002.

Viola Davis.

[quote]All of Hollywood was pulling for Jason Patric.

Especially his dealers. Huge drug problem.

I'd nominate:

Billy Campbell

Rick Rossovich

Joan Cusack

Michael Schoeffling

Matthew Fox

Jeffrey Wright

Justin Kirk

Hank Azaria

Christina Ricci

Pretty much anyone from the cast of The Anniversary Party

Laura Linney is big but she should have been in Meryl territory with her talent

Same with Patricia Clarkson

Henry Thomas

Lori Singer

Steven Bauer

[quote]Billy Zane

[quote]WHET??

Male pattern baldness

R88: After my comment, I googled WEHT Wes Bentley--the answer was explicitly drugs, which he now admits to. He says he was deeply affected by the death of Heath Ledger as well--they were friends. Too bad. I thought he was a beautiful kid and very charismatic. He's not that old though--maybe he has a chance to restart his career.

Wasn't Wes Bentley in the Twilight movies or something like that recently?

I second Dina Meyer.

Amy Jo Johnson shares the same space in my mind with Hillary Swank.

Marisa Tomei and Mira Sorvino had their Oscar wins and then fell off the face of the Earth. Marisa is a bit of a shocker for me since she has a type and really hasn't been replaced as that type. If they wanted to I feel like they could be quite successful on the small screen.

Every young actor that was in American Beauty owns this thread. At least I've seen Mena Suvari pop up on television. Thora Birch and Wes Bentley should have been way bigger than they were. The second could have had an amazing career.

Molly Ringwald was pretty huge in the 80s. She's still working but when I think back to that time, in my mind, there were few stars around besides her that teens related to. I don't think it was the casting directors that stopped calling, I do recall her saying that she just wanted something different for a while.

R101, there are far less black actors that have been on television and in movies than there are white actors. The ones that pop up are the ones that have been doing it for years. I will say that after remembering how Janet Jackson was a child actress, appeared on television shows as a regular and still pops up in a movies every few years - I thought she would have really given it a much better go than she has. I know she doesn't have to. I would like it if she would. When she's not whisper singing she possesses a vulnerability you don't normally see on screen.

Wes Bentley screwed up his own career with heroin abuse. He's clean now, and trying to come back, but it may be too late for him (like it was for Jason Patric when he got clean).

The guy who played Jake in "Sixteen Candles" and then was gay in "Longtime Companion" and I never saw him again. I think he builds custom furniture in PA now.

It's funny that two of the actors OP mentioned were in John Hughes movies too.

I thought Sarah Michelle Gellar could have been the next Sally Field, but she sure made some bad film choices after THE GRUDGE.

David Bowie put in some great performances in what can only be called cult films and on Broadway replacing in the Elephant Man. I've alway thought he should have been an artist who bridges the gaps between drama and musical, acting and rock and roll. Should have been an EGOT by now.

Claire Florani

Laura Linney and Patricia Clarkson are fantastic actresses, it seems to me they have the career that they want. I like that they only do projects that are actually interesting although not necessarily money-makers. They are actresses, not businesswomen.

Hank Azaria has a very good career as a character actor. I like him very much. Always good news when I know he's on a movie. He also does the Simpsons, that must be keeping him busy too.

Joan Cusack got the wrong end of the deal. It's too bad we don't see more of her.

Michael Schoeffling was cute, doesn't seem like he was cut out for fame.

Lori Singer... Star material, including what probably made her stop.

You have already forgotten her name! It is Claire Forlani.

I kinda agree with you though.

Josh Holloway who played Sawyer on Lost. He had so much charisma on that show I figured he would have a career. I remember seeing pictures online a few years back of scenes of him shooting a movie where he looked like Kid Rock but I don't even know what that movie was.

Claire Forlani is beautiful, but where was that going?

Marisa Tomei hasn't been replaced, that much is true. Many black types aren't represented either (same goes for many, many minorities).

Yummy Yummy

And that's the first time I've said that about a man in my entire DL tenure!

I'm a sex-negative puritan!

swf I love you but you mean this thread!

Keep posting, your stories and your writing are great

See you on Amazon some time?

R118 I thought she meant this one.

[quote]After American Beauty, I really expected Wes Bently to skyrocket to fame. He did a few other things and then vanished into obscurity.

He's part of the Hunger Games franchise now. Grown into a nice-looking man.

[R118] You are a tonic babe. A guy in another thread(Janice Dickinson Goes Broke)just called me a pain in the ass! I was saying yummy yummy about Josh Holloway. I don't know why, but that semi-scruffy Kid Rock thing makes me all atwitter.

[quote]Laura Linney and Patricia Clarkson are fantastic actresses, it seems to me they have the career that they want.

No doubt, but they never made it big.

There are other actresses (Julianne Moore, seriously), Annette Bening and, arguably, Joan Allen) who moved more freely from big commercial to indie films.

I've seen more movies with Laura Linney, and even more with Patricia Clarkson, than I ever did with Annette Bening or Joan Allen. Linney and Clarkson (and, yes, Julianne Moore even more so) make the films that I like and that I want to see. That's all I need.

Josh Lucas: trying for years to become a leading man superstar, but his films are all flops.

R124 It's the hair (lack thereof). We already have a Jude Law. Plus he's good-looking but not exactly personable. He's better off playing villains (which he does most of the time). I doubt anyone here has ever gone to see a movie solely based on his presence.

Will Estes. He can't escape boring television it seems.

I *am* big. It's the pictures that got small!

Chris Isaacs. I thought for sure he would have a big career in movies. Never happened.

Cathy Moriarty.

Alcohol, R129?

there are a number of reasons actors don't reach stardom or a list open a movie status.

One of those reasons is that the machine isn't really working to create stars the way it used to. New Media has much to do with this.

However, if you look at it historically. Stars are stars for a while and then, for whatever reason aren't.

For every Kate Hepburn there were several who didn't keep their A list status as they aged. Streep [whose acting I am not a fan of] is at the top of her game at 63. That woman knows how to ride the highs and lows of a career.

Many get sidetracked with drugs, bad choices that most often come from the most common disease in this business "thinking you are bigger and more important than you are and your current level will last forever"

Many of the best actors never want to be stars. Look at Margo Martindale, actor first, career second. Lots of great people are like that. They just don't care about stardom, they care about acting. They are also people [usually] who have too narrow an appeal to create mass global interest.

Most people are too dumb to like the best actors. It is that simple. Tits and bulge rule the day. Strep and Hanks are the exceptions and both clever with their careers. I don't think either would be able to rise to their current levels if they started today or even 20 instead of 30 years ago.

Jamie Bell

Margo Martindale is fantastic.

Diana Rigg

R40

Jude Law hasn't recovered from starring in one flop after the other. Chris Rock just stated the obvious.

I don't think flop films is Jude Law's problem. He has leading man's looks (or had, at least), but he's not likeable. It's no coincidence that his greatest acting success has been Dickie Greenleaf in The Talented Mr Ripley.

Wentworth Miller.

He was gorgeous and had tons of charisma in the first half of the first season of Prison Break, but then he got fat.

Here's a list of awards that Laura Linney has won or been nominated for, including three Oscar noms and six Golden Globe noms (two of which she has won). On what planet is this not considered a big, successful career? You can't say that just because her career is not Meryl Streep level, it is somewhat disappointing. Linney is as successful as a 49-year-old Hollywood actress can be!

The same for Debra Winger - three Oscar nominations, scored two huge box-office hits (An Officer and a Gentleman, Terms of Endearment), foolishly turned down some big starring roles, and now at the age of 57 is still doing respectable mid-level work on big and small screen. Again that's about as good as it gets unless you're Meryl.

Details r136! I'm intrigued. Is he an asshole?

R139 he certainly looks and acts like an asshole. Main reason why I couldn't buy for one second that grieving widower part he did opposite Diaz (and Winslet) on that fudgily enjoyable movie The Holiday.

Jack Black has a good singing voice.

Paul Rudd (the actor from Beacon Hill)

Brecken Meyer

Zachary Levi

Paul Regina

Karen Valentine

Nancy Travis should have had a great sitcom career.

[quote] Elliot Gould (as a leading man, not as a character actor)

Elliot Gould made it very big. He was one of the first people to be called a "superstar."

He made too many similar offbeat films in a short period of time and got overexposed. And like a lot of Hollywood at the time, he did too many drugs when he needed to be on the set working soberly.

Carrie Snodgress was hot for a year and then she took off with Neil Young in a cloud of pot smoke. She had already walked away from her career when her disabled son was born.

Powers Booth

David Axelrod

Barry Brown (suicide)

David Duke (not David Dukes)

Richard Jordan

I've always found Nancy Travis to be super cute. I've never understood her career (Married to the Mob, The Vanishing... and then nothing that I've ever seen).

Care to explain, R142?

Perhaps she is slightly more exposed in America than she is in Europe, where she is virtually a nobody. I like her though.

Laura Linney is big but should be bigger. Love her.

Ed Harris.

I'm glad Laura linney isn't bigger. Doesn't seem to want to be a megastar. The only way she could be bigger would be if she turned into a younger Julianne Moore for example, but I don't think she wants that either. She's more theatre and quality television than radical indie it seems. Plus she doesn't have the gay vibe.

BTW have I ever mentioned that I ADORE Julianne Moore.

Sean Young.

Brian Backer (won a Tony, did "Fast Times")

Tea Leoni. For a while, there was a real push for her to "happen" but then she sort of disappeared.

The same can probably be said about Rene Russo.

Richard Grieco ruined his nose with awful plastic surgery, his nose was perfectly fine. His nose now looks too small for his other features.

His nose reminds me of Bruce Jenner's disfiguring plastic surgery, there was nothing wrong with Bruce Jenner's original face, I wonder what he'd look like now if he hadn't messed up his face.

These people needed to be in therapy before getting any type of major feature changing plastic surgery, it's not as if they had huge noses or severe facial scars due to a horrible accident.

What's with wealthy people not being able to find decent plastic surgeons?

Rene DID get very big.

Tea not so much- she was on a sit com that I thought was adorable- that was cancelled after a season. But she got to marry David D - and he is quite a hunk.

R152- I know - why does Barbara Walters face looks fine and Joan Rivers is getting worse w/each surgery?

I used to HATE Molly Ringwald. Her goddamned face annoyed me so much. Go figure!

Anyway, I nominate Casper Von Dien and Patrick Muldoon from Starship Troopers. I was sure either one of them or both would become big, but no.

British actress Sammi Davis who was in several high profile films in the late 80s. She was everywhere then, boom, she was gone.

Sean Young was hated by the male-dominated industry. She didn't do herself any favors while working on that Oliver Stone set with young Charlie Sheen.

Perhaps Casper Van Dien didn't happen because he can't act (nor speak English? That I'm not sure of, would need to check again).

Sadly, talent isn't a requirement for becoming big in Hollywood, r158.

John Krasinski, but then I realized he has zero range.

John Krasinski has zero anything. He's not good or bad-looking, just terribly bland. Perhaps decent-looking in person, but that doesn't translate to the screen. The only film I saw him in was the excellent Anna Faris vehicle Smiley Face and I had no idea what he was doing there.

Saw him later being interviewed by Diablo Cody (the red trailer, I believe), and he came across as pretty douchey.

"Rene DID get very big."

Rene Russo was already big in another field, she was a top model in the 1970s.

Casper Van Dien is American, born in Florida, he is married to "Dynasty" actress Catherine Oxenberg.

Both Sean Young and Sammi Davis have severe mental issues.

Bottom line, there are many factors why certain actors and actresses never go beyond a certain level. Personally, I am shocked that Lindsey Lohan has been given so many chances to redeem her career, she should have been blown off by Hollywood many years ago! She clearly has a relentless publicist and agent!

Vera Farmiga

Emmy Rossum. Was surprised she scurried off to TV so soon, seemed poised as an up and comer to be the next big thing. Guess you have to have that X Factor.

Another thing, why the concern why so many have not made it "big"?

Many listed here are WORKING actors and actresses. They have steady careers, even if they don't make blockbuster films, are not in hit TV shows or aren't on the same fame level as Tom Cruise, most of the actors and actresses listed here are consistently working.

Do you realize that in itself is a major accomplishment? Do you realize how many men and women are trying to break into show business as actors, actresses, writers, directors etc?

Years ago, I worked with a 40+ year old woman, she was a freelance illustrator at the ad agency where I'd worked, she was also an actress,. This woman worked mostly Off and Off Off Broadway, she did manage to get two commercials. She was always worried about her body and her looks in general.

She looked terrific for her age, but then finally realized she was never going to ever break into show business fully, she then quit acting altogether, she went back to illustrating.

What the hell happened to Serah D'Laine? I'll be honest, i found her totally gorgeous only in Wild Things 3. I didn't find her noticeable at all in the other mediocre/bad movies she happened to play. In Wild Things 3, she shined and the movie was pretty campy and hilarious. She seemed to enjoy the sex scenes as well. Unfortunately, this is the only movie she totally convinced me.

She has to make a film since 2010. What happened to her? She got married?

Does this work?

Brad Dourif

John Savage

[quote]Many listed here are WORKING actors and actresses. They have steady careers, even if they don't make blockbuster films, are not in hit TV shows or aren't on the same fame level as Tom Cruise, most of the actors and actresses listed here are consistently working.

Do you realize that in itself is a major accomplishment? Do you realize how many men and women are trying to break into show business as actors, actresses, writers, directors etc? [quote]

Exactly. An actors level of fame in no way is a reflection of their talent. Tom Cruise for example is a movie star, but a limited actor.

Tom Hanks is a good actor who is also a movie star.

The publicist/fantasy driven People Magazine machine tells its readers that success is mass appeal.

Think of it, this is a bit like saying Campbell makes the best tomato soup in the world because its the most famous and most popular and sells the most.

Julia Roberts is an inferior actress to say, Jennifer Ehle [ I know.. who???] but Roberts has mass appeal and a record of consistent global numbers that make her bankable and this makes her a superior commodity to a stage actor who could act rings around her.

It is also simply not the ambition of every actor to be famous, some just want to work.

Most NY and Chicago stage actors fit that description, they do guest spots on Television when they can and give performances on and off Broadway that someone like Cruise or Roberts would never be capable of.

Julia Roberts did a play on Broadway in which she barely even registered. You couldn't hear her in the third row, she was stiff and uncomfortable. Everything that worked on screen worked against her in live theater.

Not to take anything away from Roberts and Cruise who are both great movie stars, but the People magazine mentality [driven by publicists] is "the better the actor, the more famous and rich the actor" and that is far from the truth.

What you are really talking about is mass appeal and some actors who have mass appeal also happen to be very good actors and some can't act their way across the street.

Getting a job, any job as an actor is an accomplishment. There are literally thousands of people who want ever single job in the NY and LA markets.

I think DL used to be smarter that is, before it gained mass appeal and attracted a larger number posters. If DL would alow anyone to start a thread when primetime is off, this would be a very interesting site again.

Matt Bomer.

The topic, R169, is people whom one expected to become big stars. No one is denying that simply making a living as an actor can be an accomplishment.

Timothy Hutton, no movie career after Ordinary People. Michael Paré

"I thought Sarah Michelle Gellar could have been the next Sally Field, but she sure made some bad film choices after THE GRUDGE."

Is this supposed to be a joke? SMG is horrible.

Jennifer Lopez had what seemed like a serious acting career early on, but then switched to her focus to her shitty music.

The various new face/no-name space marines in "Aliens". They were a cool bunch and I expected to see them in action movies, more sci-fi and various romps of the 80s and 90s.

Julia Stiles. She was so appealing in "Mona Lisa Smile." Her face seemed fat as she aged, however, and she lost her charm.

Robert Wuhl. Really sexy in the first "Batman." Surprised he didn't do better than "Arli$$."

Sandra Oh. If ever an Asian-American (or in her case, -Canadian) actor should have made it big, it should have been her. Just watch "Double Happiness" and see how much talent she has and how beautiful she was when she was young. I'm glad she had a great character role career, but she should have been playing leads.

Wendy Hughes. Great and beautiful Australian actress (who just died this year). Should have made it big in the US, but came over too late.

Lightning McQueen, but Mater ran away with the movie and the sequel.

Eric Stoltz.

Alicia Silverstone

Sarah Michelle Gellar

Many of the cast of LOST

Eric Roberts

Mercedes Ruehl

Brian Bloom

Olympia Dukakis

I also love Laura Linney, Catherine Keener & Patricia Clarkson...I think they have chosen the careers they wanted, by picking the projects they wanted. Quality over quantity.

Michael Biehn

After his roles in Terminator & Aliens, he was touted to become the next Tom Cruise.

I think he developed substance abuse probs & was alleged to be very difficult to work with, so his career was cut short.

Like R168, I am going with Brad Dourif. He stayed busy, but he could have been much bigger.

The one thing I love about this guy, he keeps doing the Child's Play movies. Sure, he probably needs the money. It's nice to see he's not uppity about it, by trashing the films.

There was a time when I thought Ryan Phillipe would be a big star. He sort of fell off the map after marrying Witherspoon.

Anthony Mackie

He needs to have a much bigger career than that asshole Spike Lee can give him

Terrific actor & damned good looking too.

[quote]Jennifer Lopez had what seemed like a serious acting career early on, but then switched to her focus to her shitty music.

I don't think she switched her focus. Rather her once promising acting career fizzled. She then reverted to singing. She knows how to fall back, that one. Look at American Idol. She got her start on television and fell back on it.

"Rather her once promising acting career fizzled. She then reverted to singing."

No, she started singing circa 1999 while her movie career was still "hot"

Ray Liotta

Resse Witherspoon- I thought she was goosing to be the "It" even when she was in "The Man in The Moon".

Molly Ringwald

Chad Allen-even with the gay thing

Brian Bloom

Russell Wong - he was and is so hot. America wasn't ready for an Asian actor that hot.

[quote]Mary Stuart Masterson - her acting chops

Huh? What acting chops?

Boring as sin, that's why she had no real lasting career!

R187, Molly Ringwald WAS big. She epitomizes '80s teen angst. She was the queen of the teen films of that era. Had she taken the lead in PRETTY WOMAN, she may have been able to carry her iconic status over into the '90s.

r188, watch Fried Green Tomatoes. She's a good actress.

Joan Allen - probably the most talented American actress working today. I expected her to Streep but she never did.

Sean Young

She was a big deal with lots of buzz, but it sort of fizzled for many reasons, mainly Sean Young.

Amy Jo Johnson

[quote]Resse Witherspoon- I thought she was goosing to be the "It" even when she was in "The Man in The Moon".

But she did become big. Maybe not anymore, but she was.

Freddie Prinz, Jr.

David Chokachi

I always thought he was so good-looking and would rise above Baywatch and be a fairly big star. Plus, he was born on my birthday, so I was always aware of him.

The cast of the original Melrose Place.

Sade

I know she has a big following, but it's always been sort of under the radar. I at least thought she would have had a few more monster hits in her besides just "Smooth Operator."

Sade? Pretty much all their studio albums are platinum or multiplatinum. Yeah, they didn't have a ton of radio hits but they are among those rare artists who can sell based on word of mouth alone, without 8 million hours of radio play.

R199. She's not really a star. She's a recording artist albeit successful. I just thought she'd be bigger, perhaps more of a household name the way some of the popular "singers" of today are, who are far less talented than Sade.

[quote]Michael Biehn

[quote]After his roles in Terminator & Aliens, he was touted to become the next Tom Cruise.

Don't forget he had also starred in the incredible Lauren Bacall film "The Fan"! Practically a ticket to superstardom in anyone's book!

[quote] Sandra Oh. If ever an Asian-American (or in her case, -Canadian) actor should have made it big, it should have been her. Just watch "Double Happiness" and see how much talent she has and how beautiful she was when she was young. I'm glad she had a great character role career, but she should have been playing leads.

I love you R176! All your choices but especially Sandra.

Sade was huge sometime in mid 80s. She definitely 'made it.'

You could say the same thing about Sinead O'Connor, who hit it big with her first album. She had too many emotional problems and was unable to continue in the same commercial sphere.

I thought Brooke Smith was going to be a major character actress. If ask me, she out-acted Julianne Moore in Vanya on 42nd Street.

Ellen Page's career has been a bit of a damp squib.

[all posts by tedious, racist idiot removed.]

[quote] I at least thought she would have had a few more monster hits in her besides just "Smooth Operator."

Sade has way more hits than just Smooth Operator.

Paradise

Your Love Is King

No Ordinary Love (from "Indecent Proposal)

Kiss Of Life

Cherish The Day

Never As Good As The First Time

Sweetest Taboo

Thora Birch

I had no idea Sade was an actor/actress!

[quote]I had no idea Sade was an actor/actress!

She appeared in Julien Temple's "Absolute Beginners".

Mindy Cohn

Vera Hruba Ralston

R202 i hope you guys are feeling gratified years later

I never thought Glenn would become big and she didn't.