Actors who you thought would have much better careers than they did

I love Jennifer Coolidge and would be thrilled for her to have had a bigger career, but she's a pretty one-note actor.

Hilarious and delightful, of course, but she has a limited and specific range, which could make her a bit tiresome if she were used too frequently in big projects.

As it is, she's in a lot of fun little jewels and always makes whatever piece she's in more fun.

John Wilkes Booth.

Loren Dean

Tim Roth

Second that motion for Jennifer Coolidge. Thanks for including her. She's hilarious.

Jennifer Coolidge has had a stand-up act for a little while now and she talks about how fucked-up Hollywood is. She's really funny.

Carrie Snodgress

Christopher Jones

Rod Taylor

Susan Anspach

Michael Nouri

Jennifer Beals

Alicia Silverstone

Winona Ryder- I really thought she would have a long-lasting career....

I am also suprised about the disappearance of Lori Singer.

And Chloe Sevigny?

I wish Cherry Jones had a bigger career outside of the stage. It is wrong of me to think that, but she is just always so good, that I wish she popped up on films and the like more often is all it is.

Zasu Pitts?

Matt Keeslar

Belinda Montgomery

Pamela Hensley

Judy Landers

Audrey Landers

William Moses

Justin Lazard

Claire Forlani

Craig Scheffer

Jason Biggs

Chris Evans

Hope Davis owns this thread

Some more:

Julia Ormond

Kerry Fox

Brad Rowe

Wanda De Jesus

Bill Bellamy

Larenz Tate

Bokeem Woodbine

Joanna Going

Ethan Embry

Rena Sofer

I know Jennifer in passing. She's a gem, a real sweetheart. I love to see her working.

Josh Lucas

Clive Owen

Sam Rockwell

R15, I think Clive Owen has a bigger career than I ever expected him to have. I think the other two are doing okay for themselves, never had much hyped for them.

So true about Julia Ormond, I thought after A River Runs Through it and then Sabrina she was the it girl, then she disappeared. SHe was fucking gorgeous. Has been in some stuff lately but she's not the ingenue anymore.

Jared Leto

I don't even know most of the name in R11's post.

Agree about Sam Rockwell-I thought he was a George clooney friend...

*AHEM*

John Shea.

Thandie Newton.

Chloe Sevigney has been doing quality film and tv work since '95. Id say thats a pretty good run.

Catherine O'Hara deserved to be a bigger star.

Mena Suvari & Wes Bently from "American Beauty"

Of course Hollywood would have no idea what to do with Jennifer Coolidge. She's smart, talented and funny but her looks play off the dumb blonde floozy stereotype which straight men don't get. Hope she made a fortune off the "American Pie" and "Legally Blonde" movies (all of which really wasted her talents, IMO.)

Totally agree with r10. Keeslar is gorgeous and seemed on the verge of stardom but it just never happened. Was he just not interested?

Ed Burns

Jonny Lee Miller

John Savage

Eric Schaeffer

Gordon John Sinclair

Stacy Galina

Jennifer Coolidge and Jane Lynch as the lesbian couple in the movie, "Best in Show" were hilarious. "Best in Show" was the funniest movie ever except for a toss-up with Woody Allen's "Bullets Over Broadway.

Thora Birch

Sally Kellerman

Veronica Cartwright

Leelee Sobieski

Paul Walker

Bailey from Party of Five

Neve Campbell

Who.e cast from PO5

"Brad Rowe"

WEHT him? I used to have a big crush on him.

William Atherton

While Bette Midler has had a great singing career, after "The Rose" I thought she would become a much bigger movie star.

But after "Jinxed," not many studios wanted to touch her. Then "The First Wives Club" came along.

r23, Wes Bentley has talked about it. He went down a drug path and is trying to make a comeback, clean and sober.

I've seen Sam Rockwell in several independent films in the last few years and he has been excellent in each. Perhaps he is chosing roles based on the work and not to cash in on the dollar.

Matthew McConaghey, Chris Evans, Gretchen Mol, Angela Bassett,

I was in love with Matt Keeslar back in the late 90s, and I thought he'd be a bigger star than he turned out to be. He was so fucking cute I just wanted to eat him.

Brad Davis Laura Dern James Franciscus Michael Schoeffling

Bette Midler?

R33, if your idea of Midler's movie career jumped from 'Jinxed' to 'First Wives Club' you missed a lot:

1986 Down and Out in Beverly Hills Ruthless People

1987 Outrageous Fortune

1988 Big Business Beaches

1990 Stella

1991 Scenes from a Mall For the Boys

1993 Hocus Pocus Gypsy (on TV)

and then she kind of hit the Hollywood age limit for women

and even though some of these were flops, they were damned entertaining and will be still watched when a lot of bigger hits will be forgotten.

mena suvari kind of walked away from her career it seemed like.

Michael Biehn

Fred Savage

Amy Sedaris

James Duval

Macaulay Culkin

Tom Berenger

Paula Prentiss

Even though he's had a relatively decent career, I thought Matthew Broderick in his early years was the most promising young actor around. I have always thought his car accident in the 80's had a lot to do with him not elevating his talent.

Gabriel Byrne

David Dukes -- the actor, not the KKK guy

Richard Jordan

Tom Courtenay -- he disappeared for about two decades

Ditto Terence Stamp. He was hot as hell, disappeared and came back as a distinguished senior citizen actor.

Peter McEnerey

Hywell Bennett

David Hemmings

Jenny Agutter

Bette Midler?

For Acura?

billy crudup, nick stahl, chloe webb, eddie murphy (certainly successful but seemed destined for greatness), Marco Hofschneider, Mary Stuart Masterson, Dan Futterman...

Ving Rhames. Remember when he gave away his Golden Globe? I bet he thought there would be more.

I forget the actress' name, but the bitchy blond chick from those gay 'Eating Out' movies has always cracked me up and I thought she'd have gotten more opportunity by now. Not *superstar* potential, but funny, character actor bits in bigger projects.

Tom Berenger was ridiculously hot-- much sexier and better looking than his contemporary Kevin Costner-- and should have been a much bigger deal as a leading man. I don't understand what happened. The only thing I've heard about Berenger was some gossip here on the DataLounge that he had/has a severe drinking problem.

R44, I believe David Hemmings went into producing and directing instead of acting in other people's movies. I was majorly bummed by his appearance in [italic]Gladiator[/italic]-- he was so lovely in [italic]Blow-Up[/italic], and he aged so horribly. I did not even recognise him until my partner who was sitting next to me in the cinema hissed in my ear, "Good lord, that's [italic]DAVID HEMMINGS[/italic]!"

Adrian Paul was great in the Highlander television series, and then he faded away.

Some actors seemed destined for big and prestigious film careers based on early film roles, but for one reason or another it just didn't happen. They may still work all the time, but in most cases they're in forgettable or unimportant roles.

Eric Roberts; "Star 80" and "The Pope of Greenwich Village"

Treat Williams; "Prince of the City"

Andy Garcia; "Black Rain" and "Internal Affairs"

Ed Norton; "Primal Fear"

Timothy Hutton; "Ordinary People"

Tom Berenger; "The Big Chill" and "Platoon"

Ann Archer; "Fatal Attraction"

LOVED Peter Mcenery, r44! "The Moon-Spinners" with Eli Wallach and Hayley Mills, her first "grown-up" role, was magical!

Jenny Wright Dennis Christopher

R44, Death has a way of SERIOUSLY stalling one's career.

James Franco.

Mary Steenburgen!

For sure R41

She was great.

Sadie Frost. She was great in Dracula, then zip.

[quote]And Chloe Sevigny?

I think she's tired of being this indie movie girl. Also, she's only doing TV for money and is not all too happy about giving it so much of her career time (or so I hear). It pays the bills, though.

She gave some pretty snarky comments about working with Olivier Assayas on Demonlover (they're included in the special features).

She and her then boyfriend, Korine, made fun of Kimberly Peirce in an interview post Boys don't cry (Peirce wanted a big orgasm in one scene and Sevigny thought that was stupid). They trashed Swank, calling her Hilary Skank. This was a printed interview, so I can't provide a link.

It wouldn't surprise me if she talked shit about other directors.

Sadie Frost is now mostly known for all the drama and nasty stories that came up when she split with Jude Law.

Eric Roberts's star burned really bright around the time when "King of the Gypsies" came out (1978). I remember a half-hour special about the movie being show on tv (like an infomercial) and featured Eric at a party for the film's premiere.

Other names:

Tia Carrere

Rinko Kikuchi

Adolfo "Shabba Doo" Quinones

Veronica Cartwright

Michael Shanks

John Glover--he's worked a lot, but he really deserved a higher profile.

David Straithairn--ditto. Thought the Oscar nom would take him to a higher sphere.

Lori Petty--loved her. Wha' happen?

Joan Cusack

Ellen Barkin

Mimi Rogers

[quote]Mary Steenburgen!

Love her.

If we're going to go by the actual talent, I'd say someone like CCH Pounder.

Justin Lazard? Where did u pull him from? I miss cpw!

Miranda Richardson

Shawnee Smith

Simon O'Brien

Morris Chestnut

Mekhi Phifer

Andrew Keegan

Agim Kaba

[quote]Miranda Richardson

No one has any gossip on her. Ever.

R70 She is a Lesbian who lives a rather quiet and low key life. Would not go so far as to say closeted, just truly low key.

Fred Savage has a very successful career directing tv shows now.

When Wes was in his druggie period, he was horrible to work with- he's been doing small roles for a few years now- always the heavy- he's in Hunger Games now.

I'm glad that Rena Sofer didn't blow up- she's a total bitch to work with.

Ah- Eric Roberts- absolutely GORGEOUS and riveting when he was young. Loved, loved him in Star 80- much more talented than his hammy sister Julia.

Kip Pardue

Tom Everett Scott

Johnathon Schaech

Maya Stange

Shannyn Sossamon

Shane Klingensmith

Johnathon Schaech was hot as hell at his peak. One of the handsomest men ever, in my opinion. Too bad he was a lousy actor with no charisma.

Emma Thompson.

She has the chops to be one of the truly great ones, but hasn't found material to match her talent in a very long time.

[][R44], Death has a way of SERIOUSLY stalling one's career.

by: David Dukes.

You're telling' me

[quote]Loved, loved him in Star 80- much more talented than his hammy sister Julia.

Creepy Eric is the very definition of a ham!

[quote]She and her then boyfriend, Korine, made fun of Kimberly Peirce in an interview post Boys don't cry (Peirce wanted a big orgasm in one scene and Sevigny thought that was stupid). They trashed Swank, calling her Hilary Skank. This was a printed interview, so I can't provide a link.

That must have been a fun set. I wouldn't want to spend more than 5 seconds in the same room with Sevigny she seems very immature and mean; however, I agree about that creepy bitch Peirce. Peirce was looking for masturbatory material and as for "Hilary Skank" well that is right out of 4th grade.

Michael Ontkean

Angela Bassett.

Andrea Marcovicci

Some of these people didn't have bigger careers because they were assholes. Chloe Webb, Eric Roberts and Bette Midler come to mind. Not that there aren't plenty of assholes getting plenty of work in Hollywood, but unless you're raking in big bucks--and I mean BIG--people are not going to put up with that shit.

And sometimes it's just plain homophbobia: Dennis Christopher, Matt Keeslar, etc.

BTW, Dennis Christopher does a ton of cartoon voice work.

Diana Ross, Ron Eldard, Lauren Tewes, Molly Ringwald, Josh Hartnett, Dinah Manoff

Diana Ross??

R85 Diana Ross just never amounted to crap after leaving "The Supremes" now did she? Gosh. Whatever happened to her?

I feel Zachary Quinto should be bigger than he is now.

Josh Lucas Maxwell Caulfield Lindsay Lohan Orlando Bloom Luke Mably Jennifer Garner Desmond Harrington Wes Bentley

And then there are actors that Hollywood keeps betting on but just aren't going to happen:

Gretchen Mol Kate Hudson Matthew McConaughey Katherine Heigl Julia Ormand

Is Michael Ontkean one of the assholes? He had a decent career going in the 70s and then did "Making Love" which I suppose might have hurt his career. But then he had a comeback with "Twin Peaks" and a string of TV movies in the 90s. Now he's disappeared again.

I remember reading when "The Celluloid Closet" came out that he refused to discuss "Making Love" so I kind of lost some respect for him then. In his TV movies he usually played abusive assholes so I guess I can imagine he might be one in real life. Anyone know his story?

River Phoenix

Heath Ledger

Brittany Murphy

Josh Hartnett

Pia Zadora

WEHT Michael Keaton? He was hot in the 80's.

James Franco

Samantha Mathis

Skeet Ulrich

Gretchen Mol

Morris Chestnut

Lucy Liu

Jennifer Coolidge will recur on 2 Broke Girls, which will probably run a bunch of years. Good on her.

Veronica Cartwright

Andrea Martin

Irene Cara

Karen Valentine

Valerie Harper

Daniel Christopher Barnes

Sara Rue

The Laugh In stars - Arte Johnson, Ruth Buzzi, Henry Gibson, JoAnne Worley, Judy Carne

Charlotte Rampling

Josh Hartnett?

Answer: can't act.

Alfre Woodard

William McNamara

Constance McCashin.

Trish Stewart

Amber Heard. Why is Scarjo A list and she isn't?

Loren Dean

D.B. Sweeney

Treat Williams

Ken Wahl.

So gorgeous. So fucked in the head.

Ken Wahl is a racist and a homophobe, according to Bette Midler.

JoBeth Williams

Hart Bochner

Michael Pare.

So handsome in Eddie and The Cruisers. But I guess the world needs only one Ray Liotta.

I did a movie with Steve Railsback (post "Helter Skelter" and "Stunt Man") and he was a great great guy and one of the best actors ever. NEVER understood why he wasn't huge. Ready and deserving of a comeback.

As for Michael Ontkean, yeah, he had major rep for being an asshole -- contrary to his sweet soft-edged movie persona. Remember some rumor of him peeing on a co-star's shoes?

Patsy Pease

George Clooney

Stella Stevens

Quinn Cummings

Robert Wuhl

Leonard Whiting

Beth Howland

Larry David

Kres Mersky

Duncan Nutter

Hope Davis does not own this thread; Alison Eliott does.

R102. It does feel like Amber can't quite break through. Do you think it's because they keep teaming her up with 'leading men' like Nic Cage and Johnny Depp who are on the decline? Feels like the movie star is dead and the starlets (Blake Lively, Olivia Wild) get 5 minutes before people are bored with them. Not a great time to be aiming for the A-list.

[quote]Alison Eliott does.

Alison Elliot! Wow I forgot her. From Wings of the Dove to nothing. What happened?

Cynthia Stevenson

Oliver Tobias

Paul Nicholas

Michael Des Barres

David Essex

Michael Colby

Valerie Perrine......

George Clooney???

I knew Hart in LA -- he was without doubt the handsomest man I had ever seen. Straight, but very gay friendly. Once went to a bar with him just out of college and the entire weight of the bar shifted in his direction, as though all the women on board a ship had moved starboard. He was surprisingly cool about it all. But he didn't great roles. He was just too pretty. And he didn't quite care enough.

R109 -- Railsback kind of fascinates me because he was such a good actor, but his career went nowhere. What happened to him?

I also met Ken Wahl a few times. A self-absorbed asshole. Thought he was God's gift to the entire world. Wondered if he had drug problems or if he was just all screwed up.

Michael Pare was also beautiful but had trouble counting past six.

Karen Sillas

Rene Russo

Daniel Letterle from "Camp." Not the greatest actor but completely adorable - he should have at least gotten a steady gig on the CW or something.

I think he must have been overwhelmed by Hollywood, though. He actually went to jail for a time before giving up and going back to Ohio. Not sure what he did to land in jail but it sounds like he couldn't handle the spotlight.

r122

Spotlight? Torchlight, more like

Josh Lucas

Hart wanted to be a director, and then went back into acting. The screen loved him. Apartment Zero is one of my all time favorite movies.

Ron Eldard, especially after "Deep Impact." Saw him a few months ago in a medium-sized guest part in "In Plain Sight": he's gained like 60 pounds; wouldn't have recognized him except for credits. Still an excellent actor.

Alan Boyce

Adrian Zmed

Chad Christ

Maxwell Caulfield (Why???? He was so fucking hot! What happened??!)

Kip Pardue (Why in the hell hasn't he become a star??)

Steven Mackintosh

Alessandro Nivola (?????)

Peter Fonda

It seems like there are so many agents, so many stars...no one breaks out for more than two or three years, then they are gone. Do you think the Twistars will be around for long? Have any of them got real talent?

Totally agree with Josh Lucas. Poseidon really hurt him.

Eric Roberts just starred in Dark Knight one of the best movies of the past decade. His career is fine.

Daniel Sunjata

[quote]Ken Wahl is a racist and a homophobe, according to Bette Midler.

She's one to talk about homophobes with her "gays shouldn't be able to get married because they're too promiscuous" rant. Fuck that old bitch.

Yes, Alison Eliott; what DID ever happen to her? Also, Carla Gugino who is absolutely gorgeous AND can really act.

Gugino showed up in [italic]Sucker Punch[/italic] playing a Russian psychiatrist. I realize the movie is a straight guy's fantasy designed to fill the screen with heavily armed and scantily clad, hot young woman, but I still liked it. Some of the effects were quite effective.

I believe Julia Ormond was nominated for or won an Emmy for playing the mother in the excellent HBO film, "Temple Grandon." Laura Dern was just nominated for a Golden Globe for her starring role in "Enlightened."

And r111, Kres Merskey -- I know Kres. She wrote a one-woman play about Einstein's secretary, then adopted a very old cat from the humane society.

R136 Julia ormond WON the emmy. Also michael ontkean was in the descendants in the scene at the end with clooney and beau bridges at the table.

Mariel Hemingway.....Oscar nominee for "Manhattan", starred in several well thought of films like "Personal Best" and "Star 80"....then nothing

Gugino will be featured in the new season of "Justified" that starts in January. I've seen a couple of TV Reviewers tweet that the show is great this year.

r110, you are one of the stupidest posters ever.

Are you talking about people becoming stars because some of these folks work consistently they just don't headline movies and have their names scattered in the papers 24/7?

[quote]Oliver Tobias

Funny you mention him. I looked him up the other day because for some reason I thought of the show Arthur of the Britains I caught on PBS as a wee tot and developed quite a crush on Oliver. He's been quite active just not stateside. Lives in Switzerland and was acting and directing. Last movie as 2005 so maybe he decided to take it easy.

Julia Ormond is kind of crap so I'm not that surprised she's disappeared from public consciousness. She ruined Smilla's Sense of Snow for me, having liked the book.

Quentin Tarantino is giving Dennis Christopher his big movie comeback in "Django Unchained" next year.

Julia Ormond is pretty good in "My Week With Marilyn." She was also wonderful in "Sabrina" and "River Runs Through It" and on the last season of Criminal Intent.

But she has aged majorly. I wonder if she's a smoker?

[quote]I feel Zachary Quinto should be bigger than he is now.

That's funny, I was just saying that very same thing.

Well, there are not enough good parts for women to pass around. And... beauty tramps talent in Hollywood and, frankly, even in indie films. I am not surprised that so many good actresses fall through the cracks.

Ione Sky

I thought Charlotee Rampling had a great career.

I wonder if SVU has typecast Chris Meloni. He did a few movies before Oz. I think he's a good actor. I'd like to see him on the big screen again. He certainly is a better actor than Clooney.

Martin Henderson, the guy with the really good hair from The Ring.

Julia Ormand was absolutely terrible in "My Week With Marilyn" ... she had such a fascinating role to play and was about as interesting as watching paint dry.

[quote]Julia Ormond is pretty good in "My Week With Marilyn." She was also wonderful in "Sabrina" and "River Runs Through It" and on the last season of Criminal Intent.

But she has aged majorly. I wonder if she's a smoker?

she was quite good as DL fave Cheyenne Jackson's lesbian attorney in 'the green'. Too bad the script wasn't better!

[quote]Ron Eldard, especially after "Deep Impact." Saw him a few months ago in a medium-sized guest part in "In Plain Sight": he's gained like 60 pounds; wouldn't have recognized him except for credits. Still an excellent actor.

The massive lantern jaw and butt chin were too problematic.

Wiley Wiggins. I thought he'd have a fun career after 'Dazed and Confused' - lots of indie stuff and some good roles - but the most attention he gets nowadays seems to be for his (former) resemblance to Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum. Wiggins seems to be a game designer now, too ...

"In his TV movies he usually played abusive assholes so I guess I can imagine he might be one in real life."

It's called ACTING.

Kate Nelligan

My gosh. She was all sorts of good on stage as well as in cinema.

What happened?

Kathie Bates.

Aidan Quinn. Hes a pretty good actor and was all over the place in the 80s. He still works, but never got the mega stardom I thought was due to him.

Lisa Bonet

Sorry to sort of hijack the thread for soaps but two really come to mind. Taylor Miller who played Nina Cortland on AMC. Gorgeous and exuded class. Sarah Felder who played the original Siobhan on Ryan's Hope. A wonderfully natural presence. She achieved the unthinkable in that she made a member of the saintly Ryans lovable. Ironically, the talented Marg Helgenberger went on to a great career after playing the same role.

Both of these actresses played alongside other performers who had much better careers in the long run.

Mackenzie Astin son of Patty Duke.

bump

Jake Busey.

I always hoped the two Coreys (especially Haim) would make a comeback.

Lacey Chabert

Chloe Webb

Marcus d'Amico

Parker Posey

Lauren Ambrose

J P Pitock

Mitch Gaylord

Yes, why hasn't Lauren Ambrose had a big career?

The answer to 50% of these is drugs. No talent for the other 40%. 10% bad luck.

I thought Danny Pino would of had a much bigger career. Apparently he spends a lot of time alone in his trailer with hole-expanding device's and lacks the necessary ambition to progress.

The late great Susan Tyrrell owns this one.

R168 - I think there's a fairly large proportion who could have had large careers but (A) don't have the drive or (B) don't want the fame.

Kathleen Quinlan - what happened?

Trish Van Devere owns this thread.

R171 Yes, I should have included that as well. Take 10% away from drugs and no talent. Put 20% lack of drive.

And some people overlap categories.

Alyssa milano Christina applegate Lindsay lohan

To the Tom Berenger post upthread:

When I was 20 or so, I was a waiter at a very posh hotel in LA. Tom would *eat* there whenever he was shooting (this was around 2000) in town. Every night he would come down to the lobby bar after filming and drink the better part of a bottle of Tanqueray. Then go have dinner with his wife at the upscale restaurant where they'd drink a bottle or two of wine, then come back down to the lobby bar and finish off the Tanqueray, then have a Sambuca or four.

It was awe inspiring. I have never, ever seen anyone drink that much. And I'm now a recovering alkie myself. And he never got sloppy. Again, it was amazing how much that man could drink. The only person I've ever seen almost match was Chris Penn. But Chris would get super sloppy and we'd have to kick him out.

Michael Pare'. He was so beautiful and had a James Dean-like intensity.

R175 - I think Alyssa never wanted the big celebrity life. She seems very down to Earth, curious, and intelligent from what I read on her twitter. Christina was slowed by cancer. Lindsay is the one fuck up of the three.

R177 - Yes, and Faye Grant.

actually shabba-doo does still have great career hes still in the entertainment industry hes a top choregrapher and i still widely respected and revered in dance circles he is currenty creating his own dance instructors programme and undertook a sucessful dance tour if the uk and europe early this year he is due to star in another film called the hotel which will be relasied i belive in the usa in sept nor sure bout the dates

Powers Booth

Pia Zadora

Pat Robertson

Marcus Bachmann

Nicholas Clay.

RE 183 - Guess it won't happen now ..............I'm dead

Paula Prentiss

Angela Lansbury

Lesley Ann Warren

I would think Angela Lansbury has had a great career. Unlike me.

Hello. I'm Shelley Duvall.

Any of the Brady Bunch or Gilligan's Island people.

Ted Colunga

Angela Lansbury's film career pales compared to her stage one. Brilliant at both, maybe being known as the one who plays eveyone's mom is what stopped her getting big roles.

Shelley Long was great in Outrageous Fortune, but she was basically playing a variation of Diane on cheers. I.e. a cunt.

From the recent male starlet category:

Andrew Walker (window has probably closed for him even for TV stardom)

Also, maybe because of the name, but I'm shocked no one even gave Travis Van Winkle a shot at a pilot.

Jennifer Coolidge is awesome, but I wish she played an American on 2 Broke Girls. Her Polish accent is unbelievable and makes her lines corny.

Faith Prince -- great on Broadway, not so much on TV.

Megan Mullally

Cynthia Ribisi

Annabeth Gish

Joey Lauren Adams

R65, Ellen Barkin won a Tony last year for her performance in "The Normal Heart". She was absolutely transcendent, especially in her 11th hour monologue.

So, it's not like she's disappeared off the face of the Earth.

Danny Pino is doing fine for himself. The last season of SVU was much better than many expected and he has just been nominated for Favorite TV Actor in the 2012 NCLR ALMA Awards.

[quote]Danny Pino is doing fine for himself. The last season of SVU was much better than many expected and he has just been nominated for Favorite TV Actor in the 2012 NCLR ALMA Awards.

He should also have been nominated for Favorite Pass-Around Party Pig.

Stephanie Zimbalist.

She had a nice little resume going by the time she got to Remington Steele (ADORED her on Steele) and I envisioned her moving on to the big screen....or at least getting another series, down the road.

Notably, she was originally cast as the female lead in Robocop. However, she had to back out of the film when NBC (to whom she was still under contract) decided to revive Remington Steele, three months after cancelling it, for an abbreviated 5th season. The role then went to Nancy Allen. I've wondered how her career would have played out, if she'd been in Robocop (and it's sequels).

Stephanie Zimbalist is such a pass around party pig.

Sarah Paulson

Kate Nelligan almost owns this thread. Anyone who saw her in "Spoils of War" might agree with me on that.

I am assuming she retired? Anyone know anything?

I first thought of Chloe Webb. Forbidden Broadway, Sid and Nancy, China Beach, Tales of the City then....what? She should be a multi-awarded superstar of both stage and screen. Love to see her make some sort of 'comeback'.

Hey - I could be a party pig. Really, I could.

Zac Efron. I don't think he's terribly talented or anything, but he seemed like he had a very savvy team circa 2008 and that he'd use the momentum he had going at the time wisely. I guess his ego got in the way and he's only done a bunch of serious and seriously shitty indies.

R196 - Stephanie probably would have helped Robocop too, as well as her career.

Right, [203]? She was a little slice of awesome! Beautiful in an unconventional, freckeled way......and projected a great deal of intellegence.

R1, I agree with you, but that's so many actors -- including the ones who've made it.

All that Jennifer C. needs is one hit sitcom.

Adding Stephanie Zimbalist photo simply because I can

Matthew Keeslar is gay?

IMDB says he's married, FWIW.

In 2007 Jennifer Coolidge made a pilot for a sitcom entitled "If You Lived Here, You'd be Home by Now" with post-High School Musical star Zac Efron playing her son. Just a little trivia. Zac wouldn't have the stellar movie career he has now if that had been picked up.

Stephanie circa 2006

I saw Zimbalist as Tracy Lord in Philadelphia Story in cleveland back in the '90's. She got mixed reviews, but I loved her. I'd be happy to see her onstage again.

R208, you're right; so much of it is timing.

Michael J. Fox was up for the role of Slap or Flip or somebody on Happy Days. He didn't get it.

Soon after, he got Family Ties, which he might not have if he'd landed Happy Days.

Jason Patric

William Ragsdale

Skeet Ulrich

William MacNamara

Aidan Quinn

One to watch : Colton Haynes! Now that he's straight and starring on TV, he'll have a lot more roles to choose from.

[quote]I first thought of Chloe Webb. Forbidden Broadway, Sid and Nancy, China Beach, Tales of the City then....what? She should be a multi-awarded superstar of both stage and screen. Love to see her make some sort of 'comeback'.

Crotch, Crotch, Crotch, Crotch, Crotch, Crotch, Crotch.

She did this to herself!

Christina Applegate has worked constantly over the years, despite her health crises. She has a pretty solid TV career (3 series, throughout the years) and made it to Broadway.

BTW, I met Chloe Webb when she was doing a play at the Vineyard almost 20 years ago and she was lovely and sweet to everyone.

Wow R212 - that would have been the start of my list. Always thought William Ragsdale was adorable and should have had more of a career, although that cute young guy persona isn't long lasting. I'd add Cary Elwes - breathtakingly beautiful and skilled in Lady Jane and Princess Bride and one of the acceptable performances in Bram Stoker's Dracula. But even before he began the battle with his weight, he already had pretty much fallen off the radar. I'd also add Leonard Whiting and - for which I know I'll catch shit - Jason Lewis. Jason projected a deep sincereness in SATC, particularly during Samantha's cancer.

The heartthrob in 16 Candles, Michael Schoeffling. Should have been a big star on looks alone, but he just vanished.

Ian Zeiring. I thought he'd be huge.

Seann William Scott may not own this thread, but he's renting a major chunk of it.

I hope Michael Pitt doesn't end up on this list.

Diane McBain

Angela Bassett

Khalil Kain

Sanaa Lathan

Lynn Whitfield

Zhang Ziyi (sp?)

Rena Sofer

I thought Helen Slater was going to be HUGE after Legend of Billie Jean. I don't know what happened to her.

Matt Keeslar

Loren Dean

Daniel Markel

Jason Shane Scott

Brad Rowe

Kip Pardue

Topher Grace

William McNamara

Hart Bochner

Michael Schoeffling

Kim Raver - I believe she is tired of being thought of as Audrey Raines from 24. She is like a one note actress. She has done plenty of stuff. Kim doesn't exude sex appeal. My two cents.

Elisabeth Shue

I love Elisabeth Shue. Should be getting the roles Kidman, et al are getting

Treat Williams - my understanding is that his ego got in the way.

Angela Bassett - although I understand she's super-picky about the roles that she chooses. She even turned down Monster's Ball. She'd have been so much better than Halle in the part.

Sofia Milos - CSI: Miami

Talia Balsam

Tisa Farrow

Kay Lenz

Morgan Brittany

Morgan Fairchild (an even BIGGER one)

Emily Proctor - CSI: Miami

Cote De Pablo - NCIS

Jill Hennessy - Crossing Jordan

Cara Buono

Bianca Lawson - Pretty Little Liars

Deanna Casaluce - Degrassi: The Next Generation

Oliver Tobias - He should have had a better career after the movie called The Stud in 1978. He had done stuff before that movie but it should have taken him onto international status.

Emily Proctor is annoying and a bad actress - no surprise that she didn't have a bigger career

R225, I used to love Brad Rowe. Handsome guy.

Lois Chiles might have gone further on looks alone, but she had family responsibilities which kept her off the screen. Ellen Barkin, an article in the '90s Movieline magazine said she could be one of our better character actresses if she's choose her parts carefully. She's done some good work since, but when you own Duchess of Windsor jewelry, maybe you are too rich to care.