Actors that should have been bigger stars | Page 4 | The Boneyard

Actors that should have been bigger stars

Mano said:
The Saint was great. The title of worst Val Kilmer movie goes to The Island of Dr. Moreau though. My favorite is definitely Heat with Kiss Kiss Bang Bang right behind it.
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Oh man, totally forgot about Spartan. Great, slow burn flick!
 
Mano said:
Oh man, totally forgot about Spartan. Great, slow burn flick!
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Good call. Pretty sure that was the first time I ever saw Kristen Bell.

Mamet's stuff is different. The dialogue really seems more like a play than a movie. His films are hit and miss for me. I really like "State and Main."
 
I started Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. I immediately stopped because I could tell it was going to be pretty good and I want to watch it in one sitting.

The thing about Val Kilmer is that he can actually act and not play the same character in every movie.
 
nwhoopfan said:
I'm a big fan of Sam Rockwell. He's been in plenty of movies, but usually as a supporting actor, or in B grade or indie movies. He's incredibly versatile, he's got plenty of charisma, seems like the guy should be a much bigger star than he is. As both Zaphod Beeblebrox and Guy Fleegman, he's nailed down 2 of the better comedic sci fi performances of all time.
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Also the star of one of the better sci fi movies this century. Moon.

One of my favorite actors. Reminiscent of a more modern Gary Oldman. Another of my favorite actors.
 
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Kolumbo, the poster, not the detective.
 
superjohn said:
Chris Cooper and Ben Mendelsohn. Neither has matinee idol looks, they are both actually a little creepy looking.

Guess they are more grossly underrated actors, to be a huge Hoywood star you have to have the look. People like Treat Williams, Clive Owen, Mark Ruffalo, Eric Bana, Alison Lohman, Ron Eldard, Michael Biehn, Carla Gugino should have bigger careers.
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Cooper and Mendelssohn are both good.

Ruffalo is the epitomy of a one note actor.

Bana had a pretty big career, especially for a guy who started as a character Actor (2 of this best films were his first The Castle and Chopper). His movies have grossed $3billion worldwide. That's a ton.
 
HuskyHawk said:
I always wondered what happened to Mandy Patinkin after Princess Bride. They didn't even have him sing. Looks like he's had some TV success in shows I didn't watch. Antonio Banderas is no Mandy Patinkin in a musical role.
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He went the TV route. Chicago Hope. Criminal Minds. He's one of the leads in Homeland on HBO atm.
 
intlzncster said:
He went the TV route. Chicago Hope. Criminal Minds. He's one of the leads in Homeland on HBO atm.
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I believe he went to the stage before TV. He has a very good singing voice. He also co-starred in The Doctor with William Hurt, Elizabeth Perkins, Adam Arkin, and Christine Lahti (Arkin and Lahti later had parts in Chicago Hope as well).
 
I recently saw Phoebe Cates mentioned in an article, and thought I would circle back to her. She retired in 1994, so she doesn't count for this thread, but she is definitely an actress that could have been a monster star if she had stayed in the business. She was bankable (Starred in Gremlins, Drop Dead Fred, Gremlins II, all successes), did well in a few indie flicks in the early days of indie flicks, and was one Disclosure type movie away from being the next Demi Moore. She is gorgeous in a very non-generic, non-threatening way, so she could play virtually anything.

She would probably have needed the perfect role to win an Oscar, but she could have been a big star into her 40's, and with her looks, transitioned to mom roles to stretch her career out in a way that Demi Moore couldn't.

But she packed it in instead.
 
The Cheers cast, with the exception of Woody Harrelson for film and Kelsey Grammer for television.
 
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nelsonmuntz said:
I recently saw Phoebe Cates mentioned in an article, and thought I would circle back to her. She retired in 1994, so she doesn't count for this thread, but she is definitely an actress that could have been a monster star if she had stayed in the business. She was bankable (Starred in Gremlins, Drop Dead Fred, Gremlins II, all successes), did well in a few indie flicks in the early days of indie flicks, and was one Disclosure type movie away from being the next Demi Moore. She is gorgeous in a very non-generic, non-threatening way, so she could play virtually anything.

She would probably have needed the perfect role to win an Oscar, but she could have been a big star into her 40's, and with her looks, transitioned to mom roles to stretch her career out in a way that Demi Moore couldn't.

But she packed it in instead.
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I remember her in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High", along with Sean (Jeff Spicoli) Penn and Ray Walston as Mr Hand. Hilarious movie.

 
nelsonmuntz said:
I recently saw Phoebe Cates mentioned in an article, and thought I would circle back to her. She retired in 1994, so she doesn't count for this thread, but she is definitely an actress that could have been a monster star if she had stayed in the business. She was bankable (Starred in Gremlins, Drop Dead Fred, Gremlins II, all successes), did well in a few indie flicks in the early days of indie flicks, and was one Disclosure type movie away from being the next Demi Moore. She is gorgeous in a very non-generic, non-threatening way, so she could play virtually anything.

She would probably have needed the perfect role to win an Oscar, but she could have been a big star into her 40's, and with her looks, transitioned to mom roles to stretch her career out in a way that Demi Moore couldn't.

But she packed it in instead.
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Forgot her two most important. Fast Time at Ridgemont High (pool scene) and Paradise (half the scenes). At the height of her powers.

I loved that girl.
 
intlzncster said:
Forgot her two most important. Fast Time at Ridgemont High (pool scene) and Paradise (half the scenes). At the height of her powers.

I loved that girl.
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Eddie Murphy.
Now, he was a pretty big star in his day so maybe he just peaked very early. Started off his acting career with SNL, 48 Hours, Trading Places, Beverly Hills Cops, Coming to America. Then seemed to fall off.
 
Kolumbo said:
Eddie Murphy.
Now, he was a pretty big star in his day so maybe he just peaked very early. Started off his acting career with SNL, 48 Hours, Trading Places, Beverly Hills Cops, Coming to America. Then seemed to fall off.
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He had such a long run that it is hard to argue he didn't make it big. He transitioned to more family friendly roles in the last 20 years, and was successful. He was a little like Steve Martin in that way. The Dr. Doolittle franchise was very big, as was Daddy Day Care, and he transitioned well to supporting roles (Dreamgirls) and animated (Shrek franchise). He had a few stinkers along the way, but so does every actor. I think he is semi-retired now. He is probably worth about $100 million, so he doesn't need to work anymore.
 
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Kolumbo said:
Eddie Murphy.
Now, he was a pretty big star in his day so maybe he just peaked very early. Started off his acting career with SNL, 48 Hours, Trading Places, Beverly Hills Cops, Coming to America. Then seemed to fall off.
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I disagree on Murphy as well. He completed the African American comedic Mount Rushmore, along side Foxx, Prior, and Cosby. Disregarding Delirious and Raw, for any other person those four movies are a career, but Murphy followed them up with Boomerang, Another 48 Hours, and Beverly Hills Cop II (not in that order). Shrek was icing on the cake. At 57 years old he is still instantly recognizable, whether it be appearance or voice. When I think of stars, that might be THE box to check.
 
My wife was watching Grease, and I stuck around for the end of it. I had forgotten how good Olivia Newton John was in that movie. She crushed it, and it was a tough part. She got a well-deserved Golden Globe nomination for that part. That movie grossed $400 million, most of that in the late 70's, which today would have been well over $1 billion. She followed that up with Xanadu, which was just weird, and then some dreck that I have never seen called Two of a Kind with Travolta, and that was it. After that, she was a periodic TV guest star and was most recently in Sharknado 5.

She could act and sing, was absolutely gorgeous in her prime, and co-starred in one of the biggest hit movies in history. And then she vanished because of two bad movies. She must have had a terrible agent.
 
I agree Eddie Murphy is a big star, just saying he could have been bigger. He has certainly been hugely successful financially. Thinking of guys like Tom Hanks, Marky Mark, Will Smith...comedians or musicians who really made it big in film. I wasn't sure if Murphy chose to transition into animated/kid stuff or had to settle. Murphy was on that kind of trajectory but his name doesn't have the draw of those other guys. Perhaps a separate category for conversation.
 
Husky25 said:
I disagree on Murphy as well. He completed the African American comedic Mount Rushmore, along side Foxx, Prior, and Cosby. Disregarding Delirious and Raw, for any other person those four movies are a career, but Murphy followed them up with Boomerang, Another 48 Hours, and Beverly Hills Cop II (not in that order). Shrek was icing on the cake. At 57 years old he is still instantly recognizable, whether it be appearance or voice. When I think of stars, that might be THE box to check.
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Dr. Doolittle out-grossed 48 Hours, Trading Places and Beverly Hills Cop, COMBINED. Family comedies pay the bills.
 
nelsonmuntz said:
My wife was watching Grease, and I stuck around for the end of it. I had forgotten how good Olivia Newton John was in that movie. She crushed it, and it was a tough part. She got a well-deserved Golden Globe nomination for that part. That movie grossed $400 million, most of that in the late 70's, which today would have been well over $1 billion. She followed that up with Xanadu, which was just weird, and then some dreck that I have never seen called Two of a Kind with Travolta, and that was it. After that, she was a periodic TV guest star and was most recently in Sharknado 5.

She could act and sing, was absolutely gorgeous in her prime, and co-starred in one of the biggest hit movies in history. And then she vanished because of two bad movies. She must have had a terrible agent.
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Without looking it up, I believe she got really sick and missed her window. I also remember her focusing on music.
 
Husky25 said:
Without looking it up, I believe she got really sick and missed her window. I also remember her focusing on music.
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She did get sick in the 90's. She was doing both music and acting for a while, and had a couple of big post-Grease hits (I believe Physical was after Grease). I think she did switch to music, which didn't pay off for her because she had a couple of album flops in the 80's. She also took some time off to have a kid, which an actress in her late 30's can't really do. There is plenty of time in her 40's to be mom.

Xanadu should not have been that bad from a career standpoint. It was a weird movie, and reviews were not great, but I looked it up and she carried that thing to $22.8 million box office, which isn't terrible for 1980. That would be like $80 million today. Not a bloodbath for a medium budget film, and coming off the prior monster, I would have thought she would keep getting roles.
 
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nelsonmuntz said:
Dr. Doolittle out-grossed 48 Hours, Trading Places and Beverly Hills Cop, COMBINED. Family comedies pay the bills.
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I don't put too much stock in what a movie grosses. Is it adjusted for inflation? I remember it costing about $3.50 to see a movie in the theater in the mid 80's compared to closer to $10 in 1998. Ironically (because premium cable movie stations and the VCR hurt the Theater business model), Jim Carey (not an especially good actor) was the first to make a base $20M for The Cable Guy.

48H, BHC, TP, and CTA, were all better movies, Murphy was better in them, and was more valuable to the production than Carey was to CG.
 
nelsonmuntz said:
She did get sick in the 90's. She was doing both music and acting for a while, and had a couple of big post-Grease hits (I believe Physical was after Grease). I think she did switch to music, which didn't pay off for her because she had a couple of album flops in the 80's. She also took some time off to have a kid, which an actress in her late 30's can't really do. There is plenty of time in her 40's to be mom.
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Far more risky in the mid 80's than it is now.
 
Husky25 said:
I don't put too much stock in what a movie grosses. Is it that adjusted for inflation? I remember it costing about $3.50 to see a movie in the theater in the mid 80's compared to closer to $10 in 1998. Ironically (because premium cable movie stations and the VCR hurt the Theater business model), Jim Carey (not an especially good actor) was the first to make a base $20M for The Cable Guy.

48H, BHC, TP, and CTA, were all better movies, Murphy was better in them, and was more valuable to the production than Carey was to CG.
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It is a different audience. Dr. Doolittle and Daddy Day Care are not going to win any awards and are definitely not cool, but they bring people into the theaters. My point was that Murphy didn't fade, like some of the other actors we have mentioned, but he remained a bankable star until about 10 years ago. That is almost a 30 year run at the top. Not too many actors can say that.
 
Ben Foster. He was awesome in Alpha Dog, and while I have not seen all his movies, he always gets great reviews, but he hasn't broken out yet. He does a lot of ensemble and indie flicks. He is like a younger, male, Chloe Sevigny.
 
Kolumbo said:
I wasn't sure if Murphy chose to transition into animated/kid stuff or had to settle.
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My first inclination is it was by choice. Shrek came out in 2001. Disregarding babies, his children would have been between 7 and 12. Shrek would have been right in their wheelhouse and Murphy would have had F'u (teetering on F'me) money by then.
 
nelsonmuntz said:
It is a different audience. Dr. Doolittle and Daddy Day Care are not going to win any awards and are definitely not cool, but they bring people into the theaters. My point was that Murphy didn't fade, like some of the other actors we have mentioned, but he remained a bankable star until about 10 years ago. That is almost a 30 year run at the top. Not too many actors can say that.
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We agree. Gross receipts just don't provide an apples/apples comparison.
 
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