they were on the cusp of the big time but never quite made it

Folks like Noah Wylie, dude was hot shit when ER broke.
Dean Cain never figured out how he never transfered to anythinger higher then B level stuff.
Anyone in Star Wars whose name is not Harrison Ford.

riv1 wrote:Folks like Noah Wylie, dude was hot shit when ER broke.
Dean Cain never figured out how he never transfered to anythinger higher then B level stuff.
Anyone in Star Wars whose name is not Harrison Ford.

Noah's been working he made several movies for tnt.

^ Exactly what riv meant...

Heath Ledger became a big star after his death and penultimate role which I don't have to explain further more. Prior to that, he never really became the star people expected him to be in the late '90s.

Sarah Michelle Gellar. It always seemed bizarre to me that the star of one of the most popular shows ever never really made it outside that role. There was Cruel Intentions and then... what? Scooby Doo?

Tomer Soiker wrote:
Sarah Michelle Gellar. It always seemed bizarre to me that the star of one of the most popular shows ever never really made it outside that role. There was Cruel Intentions and then... what? Scooby Doo?

But was it really one of the most popular shows ever? It's very popular in certain quarters but I don't know that it was a huge ratings winner and mainstream popular. I sort of think she's like Kyle McLachlan - hugely popular in a sort of niche or cult area but couldn't translate it into more mainstream success.

^ Ya, but RIV means a high fame status. Household name is subjective.

I'd also like to throw in:

Laura Dern

You'd think after Blue Velvet, Mask, and then Spielberg's Jurassic Park, she'd have been high-flying, but nope.

Billy Zane

Guy has been in a good few cult-classics. Been in movies that some were bad, and some were good to the point of achieving him a prestigous award. But alas, he's gone nowhere it seems.

Crispin Glover

Despite his success with the ladies, he has always fallen short with the films. Not that he makes bad ones. He always peaks back and forth.

John Leguizamo

Guys not a bad actor, he's just been in some bad movies at times that kept sinking his boat.

blueMaxx, great points with a few there. Laura Dern had a huge start but then sort of faded, the others I agree except for John Leguizamo. The guy is who he is but he has made a bunch of movies that have done well, he was also in a few tv shows that were high in ratings.

and lets be honest not many tv stars make the big jump to better choices in life....

billy zane is going to be thar new lawyer show on abc.

Lara Dern is nominated for some sort of big award about every other year, I think she's doing just fine.

^ Ask someone who Laura Dern is. If they know who she is, then ask said person what movies she's been in other than Jurassic Park(s). If they can say more than Mask, then you just have a person who is good at trivia.

BlueMaxx wrote:^ Ask someone who Laura Dern is. If they know who she is, then ask said person what movies she's been in other than Jurassic Park(s). If they can say more than Mask, then you just have a person who is good at trivia.

She was in Wild at Heart

Gretchen Moll I remember when Rounders came out and everyone was going crazy over her and then nothing.

^ Had to look her up. I keep saying this, but I want to see The Notorious Bettie Page. *sigh*

Just thought of someone. Ronald Reagan.

He totally screwed up his acting career by becoming president. What a doofus.

Those are some great choices on everyone's part.

How about Hayden Christenson? Star Wars then....Jumper?

BlueMaxx wrote:^ Ask someone who Laura Dern is. If they know who she is, then ask said person what movies she's been in other than Jurassic Park(s). If they can say more than Mask, then you just have a person who is good at trivia.

I remember Laura Dern being in the "Coming Out" episode of Ellen as the lesbian therapist.

Whatever happened to River Phoenix? He was great in Sneakers, I thought he was going to make it big...

Heytherejeffro wrote:Whatever happened to River Phoenix? He was great in Sneakers, I thought he was going to make it big...

ummm...he died.

riv1 wrote:Anyone in Star Wars whose name is not Harrison Ford.

The interesting thing about the "Star Wars Curse" is that a few people from the franchise found relative affluence in other avenues of entertainment.
-Isn't Mark Hammill one of the highest-paid and most sought after voice-over guys in the business?
-Carrie Fisher is a NY Times best selling novelist.
I'm certainly not the type to vehemently defend something just because I like it, nor would I refute that much of the franchise didn't work out for many actors, but of the "faces" (Han, Luke, Leia), they all did alright for themselves in certain respects.
Also, James Earl Jones, Alec Guiness, and Peter Cushing were already pretty established, and J.E.J was in the Sandlot, so he wins.

I do like that, as far as movies go, Warwick Davis seemed to have really hit the jackpot as far as "little person actor #1".

Combo Mo wrote:

Heytherejeffro wrote:Whatever happened to River Phoenix? He was great in Sneakers, I thought he was going to make it big...

ummm...he died.

(is joke)

riv1 wrote:Those are some great choices on everyone's part.

How about Hayden Christenson? Star Wars then....Jumper?

Eh...I don't know about him. You'd think so, but I think the curse of the Star Wars films may have seeped into him as well. Just like Sir Alec Guiness said that no one would hire him because he was too identified as Obi-Wan and producers/directors didn't want that taking away from their movie.

Heytherejeffro wrote:

riv1 wrote:Anyone in Star Wars whose name is not Harrison Ford.

The interesting thing about the "Star Wars Curse" is that a few people from the franchise found relative affluence in other avenues of entertainment.
-Isn't Mark Hammill one of the highest-paid and most sought after voice-over guys in the business?
-Carrie Fisher is a NY Times best selling novelist.
I'm certainly not the type to vehemently defend something just because I like it, nor would I refute that much of the franchise didn't work out for many actors, but of the "faces" (Han, Luke, Leia), they all did alright for themselves in certain respects.
Also, James Earl Jones, Alec Guiness, and Peter Cushing were already pretty established, and J.E.J was in the Sandlot, so he wins.

I do like that, as far as movies go, Warwick Davis seemed to have really hit the jackpot as far as "little person actor #1".

That is true. Hamill is pretty well know as The Joker in Batman: TAS.
Carrie Fisher was in a few good ones, but nothing stuck as far as movies.
James Earl Jones is a good one. Although, he was in the first two, not the third. He left before the curse took him down. Lion King, Coming to America (Eddie Murphy's and, possibly, John Landis's most popular films.)
I didn't know Peter Cushing was in anything else, to be honest.

BlueMaxx wrote:

riv1 wrote:Those are some great choices on everyone's part.

How about Hayden Christenson? Star Wars then....Jumper?

Eh...I don't know about him. You'd think so, but I think the curse of the Star Wars films may have seeped into him as well. Just like Sir Alec Guiness said that no one would hire him because he was too identified as Obi-Wan and producers/directors didn't want that taking away from their movie.

Heytherejeffro wrote:

riv1 wrote:Anyone in Star Wars whose name is not Harrison Ford.

The interesting thing about the "Star Wars Curse" is that a few people from the franchise found relative affluence in other avenues of entertainment.
-Isn't Mark Hammill one of the highest-paid and most sought after voice-over guys in the business?
-Carrie Fisher is a NY Times best selling novelist.
I'm certainly not the type to vehemently defend something just because I like it, nor would I refute that much of the franchise didn't work out for many actors, but of the "faces" (Han, Luke, Leia), they all did alright for themselves in certain respects.
Also, James Earl Jones, Alec Guiness, and Peter Cushing were already pretty established, and J.E.J was in the Sandlot, so he wins.

I do like that, as far as movies go, Warwick Davis seemed to have really hit the jackpot as far as "little person actor #1".

That is true. Hamill is pretty well know as The Joker in Batman: TAS.
Carrie Fisher was in a few good ones, but nothing stuck as far as movies.
James Earl Jones is a good one. Although, he was in the first two, not the third. He left before the curse took him down. Lion King, Coming to America (Eddie Murphy's and, possibly, John Landis's most popular films.)
I didn't know Peter Cushing was in anything else, to be honest.

He was pretty big BEFORE Star Wars

Alicia Silverstone...I was never really a big fan because she talked out of the side of her mouth like Katie Holmes does...it's annoying

I could also tell you a few stuff about Laura Dern if I'm asked about it, but I know a lot about movies (and most of us here do) more than the average movie goer. Most people just go to the movies without caring much about the people behind them unless they're already big stars.

kidspider2099 wrote:billy zane is going to be thar new lawyer show on abc.

You totally miss the point of this thread.

riv1 wrote:How about Hayden Christenson? Star Wars then....Jumper?

He was in other movies between the SW trilogy films, but yeah - nothing ever really stood out. Jumper seemed like an attempted box office hit, but it didn't deliver (in any front).

Scott Wolfe. I remember he was talked about a lot during the peak days of Party of Five, but he never made a big career after the show went off the air and only recently returned (at least AFAIK) with V. Surprisingly, his co-star Matthew Fox made an excellent career decision couple of years ago with Lost.

two actors I think are on the cusp but have yet to make it: Joe Pantoliano and Guy Pearce....

Joey Pants had one of the most talked about roles on what is arguably the best television show of all time. It seems to me alot of the people mentioned are people who are very respected by their peers, but have chosen not to be Vin Diesel. If I'm remembering correctly, I think Lara Dern turned down quite a few roles after JP because she didn't want to be someone famous, she wanted to be an actor and do roles that challenged her.

thunder I meant as a movie actor not a small screen actor. Since we have all talked about people who showed some sort of ability on the silver screen, but just didnt make it. I understand Joey P was brilliant on the tv. But I also did say they are on the cusp but just not made it yet. Not "there careers are over"

The dude is like fifty. He's a bit actor, a "oh hey, it's that dude! He's always wearing hats!" and I'm sure he'll stay that way.