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Actors who failed to live up to their potential (1 Viewer)

Michael Reuben

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Michael Reuben

Character actors rarely become stars, but Pounder has remained employed and highly visible. Her character is still one of the more interesting on The Shield, and she showed up again just recently as one of the "guest star" defense attorneys on L&O: SVU.

M.
 

MarcusUdeh

Supporting Actor
Joined
Sep 23, 2003
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785


Thank God you know who she is! Psycho 4 and Robocop 3 don’t lead to a casting director’s A-list set of choice actors.

However what about Michael Clark Duncan?
 

Ernest Rister

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"No, Mark Hamill's car accident was on January 11, 1977, which was after he had shot his scenes for the original Star Wars, but 4 months before its release. This accident is the reason the Wampa scene was written and why so much attention is drawn to his healing from the attack, with shots of his scarred face.

Thanks, Don.

Have I already mentioned, Jim Dale? I'm gonna get rapped for this, but he was one of the "Carry On" actors who earned a solid reputation on the stage in musical theater. After his British films and a failed TV series, he made his way to Hollywood just as screen musicals were starting to die. He contributed great work to Hot Lead and Cold Feet (in three roles) and, for my money, was more fun to watch than Elliott in Pete's Dragon. I always thought he was great as a kid, never could understand what happened, why his American film career never took off. Of course, if I was cast in a piece of junk like Unidentified Flying Oddball, I'd quit the movies, too.
 

Brian W.

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Oh. I just remember him talking about it in Rolling Stone at the time Star Wars was released, and that the accident was responsible for his being released from Eight is Enough. I assumed the whole thing had happened before Star Wars was shot.
 

Angelo.M

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She's fantastic on the Shield. I hope that they continue to develop the rift between her and Mackey. Good stuff.

chris: Some of your points are well-taken. I enjoy L&O, probably in part because it's relatively formulaic (dead body discovered, Lenny one-liner, the 2nd person interviewed is the one whodunit, arrest made, Lenny one-liner, motion to exclude crucial evidence is granted, Waterston wins trial anyway, cynical closing observation) and dispenses with some of the muckety-muck of primetime drama. But, I think CI and SVU have surprised me in a positive way when they've revealed important, interesting bits about the characters. Sounds like, in general, we're both fans of the shows.

And I've enjoyed C.C.H. when she's guested on SVU. Beverly D'Angelo not so much. :D
 

Michael Reuben

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Michael Reuben

Developing a promising stage career. She acquitted herself nicely in the original off-Broadway production of Neil Labute's The Shape of Things (which was vastly superior to the movie), and she just finished a stint as Roxie in the long-running Broadway revival of Chicago.

M.
 

Lew Crippen

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I think that any actor who manages to make a decent living and to be employed—TV, stage, movies, whatever is pretty successful.
 

chung_sotheby

Supporting Actor
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Apr 8, 2002
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857
Here is my list, which is continually changing

-Gretchen Mol
Was basically laid out as THE reason why Rounders (which I really liked) was a failure, considering that she was the "IT" girl of that movie. Has had a couple of small roles since then, mostly works on plays now. Career highlight may be The Shape of Things, lowlight has to be Girls Club (aka Eye Candy). I think that she might get into the "too pretty to be intelligent" crux that hurt the early careers of Michelle Pfeiffer, Halle Berry, and Cameron Diaz. Too bad, as I think that she is a really good acress

-Ray Liotta
Maybe just a little too scary to be a huge hollywood success. But I thought he could follow a career path kind of like Christopher Walken. Was great in NARC, though.

-William Peterson
The guy was the NUTS in Manhunter and To Live and Die in LA. Really vanished off the map for over a decade, but now has a successful TV career (albeit at 80 lbs. over his playing weight, natch). Still has incredible prescence, and an aura of "cool."

-Mickey Rourke
This guy was the SHITS in his early work, then decided to become a full-time spousal-abusur cum boxer, which both lead to substance abuse problems and his subsequent horror movie facelift, which is actually a reconstruction of his boxing-battered face. The guy had it in the 80's, though

-Diane Lane
Really was a flop up until Unfaithful, as she had an amazing beginning of her career (A Little Romance, Rumble Fish, The Outsiders, Cotton Club) then kind of went nowhere. May have also been pegged as one of those "too beautiful" types. Under the Tuscan Sun was NOT helpful for career in any way

-Winona Ryder
No Comment

-Claire Danes
Really good actress, but between trying to start her career AND get and Ivy league education, was hard for her to find good work.

-Natalie Portman
Amazingly skilled and beautiful, but two words have really hurt her career: Phantom Menace. Did good work in Cold Mountain, should rebound nicely with some good roles now that she is out of Radcliffe and only has 1 more George Lucas shitburgers to complete.

-Thomas Jane
I thought he was amazing in Boogie Nights, the Last Time I Committed Suicide and *61, but latched onto a few clunkers (Deep Blue Sea?). Has another looks-like clunker coming out (punisher) and one supposedly great flick coming out (Stander). Has a great sense of cool and an almost McQueen like vibe.

-Rosannah Arquette
Did some great stuff, and some awful stuff int he 80's, then just seemed to vanish into a cloud of super-small indie stuff and big budget fluff.

-Patricia Arquette
Almost the same exact trajectory as her sister. Weird, huh

-Robert Downey Jr.
I think enough has been said about this guy. Just supremely talented. Has acting chops almost to the level of Sean Penn, but seems to love the yip a little too much.

-Ally Sheedy
All over the place. Has done some amazing work, then gone and done nothing.

-Liev Schreiber
I still think this guy has it in him, but never seems to get a break. Has been fantastic in the stuff he's done (RKO 281, Hamlet, Sum of All Fears). Did an amazing job of Henry V in Shakespeare in the Park, where Henry was compared to George W. Upcoming Manchurian Cnadidate might be the big break he needs.

-Joseph Fiennes
Has really done nothing since Shakespeare in Love. Very skilled actor, with some good prescence. Though he does moonlight as the lead singer of Maroon 5:D

What I find most interesting are those small, sometimes b-level movies where two or more shoulda-been actors team up. Such as:

Last Time I Committed Suicide, The ....
-Thomas Jane, Gretchen Mol
Gunshy
-Diane Lane and William Peterson
Forever Mine
-Joseph Fiennes, Gretchen Mol AND Ray Liotta

Any others would be welcome....
 

Michael Reuben

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Don't mean to pick on you, Chung, but this is a perfect example of the myopia that winds throughout this thread (and others like it). Not every actor aspires to becoming a movie star, and Liev Schreiber is a perfect example. He certainly doesn't need a big break; he's an established performer who is already regarded -- by critics, by audiences and by his peers -- as one of the finest actors working today. And he's made it very clear in interviews that he does movies primarily to subsidize his stage work. (Al Pacino routinely says the same thing.) A group that focuses primarily on movies might not know him well, but to those who know his work Schreiber is clearly at the top of the acting game.

M.
 

chung_sotheby

Supporting Actor
Joined
Apr 8, 2002
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857
Michael,
Point taken, but you are mistaken. I thought that this thread was about actors who have failed to live up to their potential on-screen, not in general. I know that Liev Schreiber has stated many times that his focus is on the stage, but I think that it would be nice to have him do a cinematic role that would showcase his talent to a wider audience.
If I was just talking about good actors that are not "movie stars" then I would have mentioned Patricia Clarkson, Katherine Keener, John Malkovich, Tom Wilkinson, Parker Posey, Aaron Eckhardt, et al, but since they have a body of independant screen work that speaks VOLUMES about their talent and showcases their talent, I did not mention them. However Liev Schreiber does not have the extensive amount of screen work, therefore his screen-acting potential in unfulfilled.
No Myopia here, just good ol' 20/20, Michael:D
 

WillG

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Question:

What defines the "IT" Girl? Is it just to describe a young actress that is (supposed to be) up and coming, or does it have something to do with the type of work the actress does?
 

Jacob McCraw

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Dec 24, 2003
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Gary Oldman is one of my absolute favorite actors. He should break out of his nutsy bad guy mold with roles as Sirius Black in the upcoming Harry Potter film, and Commissioner Jim Gordon in Batman Begins.

I nominate Angelina Jolie for this list (though Taking Lives looks somewhat promising), and Charlize Theron might not be far behind with Aeon Flux in the pipe.
 

Michael Reuben

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Therein lies the myopia. Neither the title nor the opening post limited the topic to screen performances, and any such limitation would be silly. How can you possibly assess whether an actor is living up to his or her "potential" if you limit yourself to film work? Or even film and TV? As I've said on other occasions, the craft of acting is thousands of years old, but screen acting is still in its infancy. It's not for nothing that film is considered a director's medium, while the stage is still considered the actor's true medium. (Susan Sarandon said it best: Theater acting is making love; movie acting is masturbation.)

In general, though, I tend to agree with Lew Crippen: Any actor who manages to make a living at it -- even if it's on a daily soap -- should be considered a success.

M.
 

Kevin M

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Kevin Ray
I was going to mention Mickey Rourke as well, after seeing him in Diner, POGV, Barfly, Angel Heart & particularly Johnny Hansom I thought there was no stopping him....turns out the only one who could was himself.
 

chris winters

Second Unit
Joined
Nov 12, 1999
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274
well despite the title "home THEATER forum" this subsection of the web site is titled "movies". Is it any wonder that our focus is on films?. Im all for talking about the stage and learning somthing new, but dont fault anybody for aproaching a thread from the standpoint of film on a website about and for movies.
 

chung_sotheby

Supporting Actor
Joined
Apr 8, 2002
Messages
857

Now I think that the above quote by Mrs. Sarandon is a bit Myopic. I guess that while she has mostly worked with directors who are more visually inclined (George Miller, Ridley Scott, Louis Malle), her work with Tim Robbins and Burr Steers, more like actor's directors, has been of consistently higher level. Maybe if she did some work with other actor's directors her low opinion of film acting would change. Or maybe she just has a really high opinion of masturbation:D
 

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