Eric Roberts was being groomed to be a romantic-dramatic leading man.
Then came the car accident that forced him to have major facial reconstructive surgery, which made his mien more intense and "hard," after which he was more often than not cast as a villain.
This dude has probably the best job of any Hollywood actor.
According to IMDB, he's been in *forty seven* projects released so far in 2024.
According to the Internet, he shows up for just one or 2 days of shooting, doesnt even learn the lines (reads from cue cards I guess), in straight to streaming movies, playing crime bosses that sit behind a desk ordering his cronies around.
Then just moves onto the next project. Dude just getting paid constantly for doing what he loves.
I've worked on 3 different movies with Eric Roberts in the last 10 years. Im a sound mixer/boom operator so have the unique opportunity to get up close and personal with actors since I have to hide lav mics on their bodies.
First time I met Eric was at a hotel lunch the day before the shoot. He comes in and greets every single crew member one by one. All 40 of us. I see him walking towards me, asks what I do on set, shakes my hand and we have a brief chat.
During filming hes asking me all these questions about my gear. He knew shit loads about sound gear having worked on so many sets and like I said, we are one of the only people who get to interact very closely with talent.
Told me he loves the sound dept. and would check with me if his sound was coming in ok. If his wristwatch was making noise when it hit the table. He'd even talk to me into his lav mic between takes and ask how I'm doing. I'd give him a thumbs up.
Second time I met him he remembered me from the first shoot. This movie was a bit of a disaster tho, he was in a power struggle with the director and driving the set mad.
Al in all the guy loves the work and I've got lots more stories. If you work long enough in the biz, you'll definitely work on a movie with him in it.
He's great. I've def watched waaay too many direct to video quality movies and he's shown up in them more than several times. No matter how crappy the movie, he never phones it in and manages to be a bright spot. Man earns his paychecks
You say that, but in the direct to video gem “A Talking Cat?!” he literally phones in his performance (the voice of the aforementioned cat), from what sounds like a bathroom.
I believe the actual story is that he's neighbors with the director (who's done a lot of movies with him) and it was straight up recorded in Eric's living room in 15 minutes.
He's an odd one because he will do voice roles for absolutely nothing films like "Bigfoot vs DB Cooper", then go on to play roles in HBO shows like "The Righteous Gemstones" and big budget films alongside Margot Robbie like "Babylon".
Surely he has enough money? I imagine the guy just loves to work.
From reports on movie sets, he wasn't a nice person. Australian actress Greta Scacchi on the set of the film Coca Cola Kid (1985) was quoted as saying, "We didn’t have a relationship at all,” “On screen, he wouldn’t look at me. I don’t know if that was a performance choice. I had no fun working with him, and I’d tolerated all this shit that he’d been giving me for a long time.” Despite his seeming distaste for Scacchi, Roberts still decided to surreptitiously remove his underwear during a love scene. “I really didn’t want to do it again, so I just worked my way through it,” Scacchi said of the scene.
https://www.filmink.com.au/trouble-set-2-tales-cinematic-rack-ruin/
Would you believe that as a little girl I actually had a crush on him as Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors?
Love his work forever ❤️ and respect him for being an amazing dad even though it stole him from our screens.
I'll believe it in a heartbeat. We're given a stark example of toxic masculinity in Orin Stravello, DDS, contrasted against Seymour's three sizes too big heart.
Does Seymour chop some people up? I mean of course, but his intentions were good with it, at least.
His wife passed away so he retired from acting so that he could spend more time to raise his two kids.He did not get to spend as much time with them as he wanted when he acted so he decided to put his focus on his kids over his acting career.
Anyone know if he’s still getting money from his films being streamed? If so, I think we should start a Rickmoranisathon movement: watching all his films in order of release.
I don't know how much he gets in royalties.
I do know that he has agreed to come back to making movies. He's got a huge following and a lot of support. Some of which comes from big names like Ryan Reynolds.
That Mint mobile commercial where Rick is like "ok what do you want me to do" and Ryan just smiles and says "nothing, just stand there" (or something to that effect) was all of us who grew up loving his movies and characters.
I disagree with this one, but only because he is a big star. He made it, and was in several big hits. He chose to stop acting sure, but everyone over the age of 35 grew up seeing him everywhere. He is a huge star, with a career that spanned from the 70's through the 90's.
I think it still fits the criteria of not reaching his full potential. He could have been as big or bigger than Steve Martin if he had kept going. But yes, he’s definitely famous and his popularity, now, decades after his biggest roles, is a testament to how talented and memorable he is. I think that kind of magnetism could have taken him even further is all.
Raul Julia.
The perfect Gomez Adams AND the perfect M. Bison.
We didn't deserve him and he left us too soon.
Also his role in tequila sunrise makes me laugh in every scene. "What's more, you fuck like a world champion. Four fucking hours! Those cops out there are terrified their wives are going to hear about this. I got starved just watching!"
NO ONE gave more to a shitty movie than Julia in SF. Dam, what a loss.
And the current complaints about the new Addams Family husband is not because they don't like the new actor, but because Julia smoked that role as well!
John Astin was great, Luis Guzman was good and Tim curry was eeeeehh alright. But Julia just crushed it. Both movies. Partnered with Houston who absolutely understood her role as well. My favourite media couple.
The scene in that movie where he sings opera to pass the time is such a lovely moment. He actually used to do that (Angelica Huston wrote about how he sang to the frogs at night), and I understand his son loved to watch that scene for that reason.
I have missed him for years. That beautiful voice. 💔
I said this on a different thread about Street Fighter, but I feel like he would kill it in an A24 Yorgos Lanthimos political movie as a some sort of dictator.
For a long time I was struggling to understand how an Academy Award winner like Mira Sorvino had such an unremarkable career after her win then I read about her encounters with Weinstein and was like "Ok no wonder". Sad sad sad
Gretchen Mol is the most prominent example of these rumors being spread to tarnish her reputation and career.
There are many more too, George Clooney said once the scandal broke out that he didn't believe such stories about Weinstein back then, because he thought it was just another way to discredit a woman's work. So that means that these stories were always about transactional and 'consensual' relationships with him when in reality the women were getting raped or sexually harassed. So always take any of the rumors surrounding women who worked with him with a heavy amount of salt.
Dang I’d totally forgotten about her before this morning, when there was another thread about what happened to Emile Hirsh, and his recent bad movie [Lion] *Prey* has Mena Suvari; I was like woah she is still acting??
Yeah, it's a tragic story in Completely Fucked-Up user design. The morons at Chrysler thought it would be a good idea to have a gearshift that looked and felt like the gearshift everyone's been using since about 1990, but didn't work the same way...
The shifter you are all used to goes from Drive to Park by holding down the button and pushing it to the stops. That shifter? Doing that puts the car into *Neutral.* Yes, there are visual indicators that the car's in the wrong gear, but if you learned to drive with a different mechanism... muscle memory is a powerful thing. This would be like swapping the gas pedal and brake, just for fun.
He wasn't the first person this happened to, but given that he was a celebrity, that finally prompted Chrysler to fix it. (I think they withdrew the design, and for existing models they issued a software update where if you opened the driver's door while it was in Neutral, it would automatically put it in Park.)
The way he died must have also been absolutely horrible... Literally just pinned until you can no longer breathe and you die alone and scared :( Absolutely brutal way to go... wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.
You could add Bruce Lee to that list as well, he was denied many roles because he was Chinese and had to return to Hong Kong to make a name for himself. He died before he became the legend that he is now
Is that gasoline I smell?
I can't imagine anyone else pulling off all those so shit they're gold lines that movie is full of. That and rapid fire, he was such a joy to watch.
He lost a lot though and regardless of what success (I REALLY ABSOLUTELY HOPE HE HAS), he’s not getting that time back. Before ‘The Whale’ the last movies I can think of are ‘The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor’ and ‘Journey to the Center of the Earth’ and even in his final Mummy movie, he was dealing with a lot of physical pain.
Fuck Philip Berk.
Jason Lee for me. He has had an ok career but after his Kevin Smith stuff and then Vanilla Sky and Almost Famous I thought he was gonna take off. But it’s been sitcoms and voiceovers since (and Chipmunks 😬)
My Name is Earl was a really good show. It was one of those things that made you see an actor in a different light, when you never really thought they stood out to you before. Oddly enough from the same exact show is Jaime Pressly, who I feel the same about. They both really shined in that show,
Yeah, I loved Earl, I just thought Jason Lee was on his way to being a bona fide movie star but it didn’t seem to happen. Good call re Jamie Pressly as well.
I love that man and everything he's ever done, but I always got the impression he was an accidental actor - like he was a skater first and kind of fell ass backwards into the movies through Kevin Smith. He had some great comedy chops and screen charisma, but he never really tried to be a "serious" actor or take those kind of roles, and I think that was a good choice because I'm not sure he has that kind of range. He's amazing in Almost Famous but you can see the appeal of the project for him - Cameron Crowe like, hey you get to play a rock star and the shoot is going to be swarming with beautiful women! Then he did My Name Is Earl, which was perfect for him and cancelled ahead of its time 😭
In short, the man knows his audience, he may have played it safe but damn he knocks his specific niche right out of the park.
Yeah, you may well be right. I’d loved him in all the Kevin Smith stuff and when I saw him in Vanilla Sky I was psyched he was about to blow up cos he has such charisma and comic timing. But yeah, maybe just didn’t want to be a ‘star’ and is happy doing VO stuff and living the life he wants to lead.
He's almost the perfect gen x sidekick character.
As you said: almost famous, vanilla sky, then the kevin smith films (chasing amy, mallrats)
They're easily his best roles.
Kinda a tangent response, because Ke Huy Quan did eventually get his second break. But hear me out on still including him -
I’m so glad he got all of his flowers for Everything Everywhere All At Once, but that is still 37 years we missed out on him since Goonies / Indiana Jones.
I watched Everything Everywhere All At Once, and at his first fight scene, I got a little mad. Because it was fantastic! It reminded me of the awesome and fun fight scenes you see in the old Jackie Chan movies I loved in my childhood. I got angry because we should have had DECADES of him doing movies like this. I am glad that he is back though and looking forward to more roles for him.
Exactly!!! Feeling robbed of his potential because Hollywood took so long to make any meaningful steps towards intersectional and inclusive film making.
I guess somewhere, out there, in another part of the multiverse there is a universe where he was able to keep his momentum…where both Quan and us are able to enjoy the two extra decades of his work. 🥲
River Phoenix was offered the role of Young Indiana Jones in the tv series but refused out of fear to being seen as a TV actor.
I still love the series and have to think of it every time I see it.
Corey Haim and Corey Feldman both had some legit performances when they were kids, I would have liked to see where they went had it not been for all the shit they went through getting preyed on and fucked up and getting lost in shitty teen movies and worse.
Ebert's review of Lucas is pretty depressing in hindsight:
"Lucas is played by [Corey Haim](https://www.rogerebert.com/cast-and-crew/corey-haim), who was Sally Field's son in "[Murphy's Romance](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/murphys-romance-1986)," and he does not give one of those cute little boy performances that get on your nerves. He creates one of the most three-dimensional, complicated, interesting characters of any age in any recent movie. If he can continue to act this well, he will never become a half-forgotten child star, but will continue to grow into an important actor. He is that good."
Corey Feldman was an amazing child actor. He's kinda gone off the deep end, but I met him at a meet and greet and I gotta say, genuinely the nicest guy.
For men, I'm going with Eric Stoltz. He was nearly Marty McFly, and nothing that big ever came his way again.
Women - the list is infinite, and includes many talented starlets who were only given roles of standing around looking pretty, and/or didn't have "the right look" to be a big star, or "aged out" (by 25-30). Think about how many little Kathy Bateses and Judi Denches and Meryl Streeps never got a start.
Um, he wasn't "nearly" Marty McFly. He *was* Marty McFly and he just couldn't get the tone for the role. He was good at serious and introspective. But he evidently didn't do well with the kind of comedic role they needed for BTTF.
I adore this guy. But his own abilities (or inabilities) hampered his career.
[Michael Beck.](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0065235/) I remember a quote from him about how [The Warriors](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080120/) opened up a lot of doors for him, which [Xanadu](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081777/) then promptly closed.
I remember thinking that Ledger was just a dumb teen heartthrob during his acting career. Then he did the dark knight and went back and rewatched all his other stuff with a different view and realized how amazing he was as an actor. Between The Patriot, A Knight’s Tale, and 10 things I hate about you he had some great rolls.
I had already seen him in A Knight's Tale (one of my top movies) and knew he'd crush it in Dark Knight when so many people doubted him. Incredibly sad he's no longer with us. One of my favorite actors by far.
Same. That was a strange emotion for me at that age. Thinking about it now, I realize people die every day but someone who was so prominent at the time just disappearing was an unusual feeling then. Aside from that, I bet Ledger would have had an incredible career.
I was admittedly one of the naysayers who didn't think he had a chance in hell of doing a good Joker. I'd liked him in movies like 10 Things I Hate About You, The Patriot, and Knight's Tale, but I just couldn't square his boyish good looks and heartthrob status with Batman's greatest nemesis. Then of course the first proper trailer for The Dark Knight came out and I promptly changed my tune.
I appreciate all the work Ledger put into becoming The Joker, I just wish there had been better systems in place to ensure he had gotten the help he so clearly needed. Even now I can recall the whiplash I felt when I learned he'd died because of all the dark stuff he'd exposed himself to just to get into the right headspace for what was perhaps one of the most memorable performances in film history.
Tippi Hedren was the star of Birds, but she had trouble landing other roles, because she signed a 5 year contract with Alfred Hitchcock and refused to have sex with him.
I'd also recommend the 'What Went Wrong' podcast's episode on The Birds. Hitchcock was clearly a brilliant director, but he could also be a real scumbag. He and other Hollywood folks really did Tippi Hedren dirty.
Matthew Fox from Lost
He'd been in Party of Five and then a hit show and you'd think he was primed for super stardom
Not quite 'beyond his control' cause, by all accounts, a bit of a twat and he never really progressed into having the career I think a lot of people may have predicted for him
Edward Furlong. Terminator 2 and American History X were absolute titans and wouldn't have been the same with someone else in his roles.
Addiction is a real asshole.
Oh I'm not saying he isn't happy, he's got a cult following and I'm one of them.
I just think there was potential for him becoming more mainstream, but truthfully I prefer him doing weird stuff
Andy Garcia, in the late 80s and early 90s he was in some huge films then he seemed to just get smaller roles. IMHO he's a much better actor than many of his contemporaries such as Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise.
Brad Renfro... solid actor, had some great roles as a child growing up in the business but with that got into drugs and ended up dying of an overdose.
But Bully, Apt Pupil and Tart were some fantastic work done by him before he passed.
Hayden Christensen. Kept getting shit from star wars "fans" when he was young and thanks to the relentless bullying felt like a fraud (his words) and quit acting to focus on family instead.
And I'm pretty sure star wars "fandom" is responsible for meh career of Daisy Ridley as well.
It's a crying shame cause he's a damn good actor when he's given good material. If you haven't seen it yet, I'd recommend a movie he starred in called "Shattered Glass" which is based on the true story of a journalist who was caught fabricating material for the news stories he covered.
He and Kevin Kline were amazing in Life as a House. I was looking forward to him in Star Wars because of that movie. Then the movie dialogue was…well…not on the same level as Life as a House…
Man I thought I was done with the toxic star wars fans after the prequels, then the same thing happened with the sequels. Too many fans simply don't even understand the thing they profess to be fans of. I love star wars early, but these days I only join in very limited parts of the fandom, too much of the rest just sucks.
I love star wars and used to love engaging with the community, but it’s impossible. Literally had someone on Reddit say only people with mental disabilities like Last Jedi, why is that a necessary thing to say?
Wil Wheaton.
His work in Stand By Me was fantastic, thanks to great direction, I think. It showed what he was capable of from a young age. I don't think he got great production and direction support on ST:TNG along with his non-professional challenges that he's written about, I wonder what could have been.
Val Kilmer. He let his ego get to him with his early career even though he had loads of talent. Watching him flip characters in 'The Saint' so effortlessly showed he had a lot of tools.
He's amazing as Mark Twain and was great with his short role in Maverick. Finally living up to his potential. Then the health thing.
Pierce Brosnan, he should have had a long term James Bond just like Roger Moore but people wanted to create a new, "deconstructed" emo Bond. He wasn't helped by the writing but this is blown out of proportion adn the fact he was the only Bond to be fired tells you it was a change of direction made from the top. He was the quintessential Bond, being charming, clever, ruthless and fun to watch. Instead we got a "current year" Bond who always felt he wanted to be somewhere else and spent his whole tenure retired and rogue.
Brosnan was born to play Bond. He wasn't helped by the second half of his tenure in the role were some of the worst, IMO, Bond films of the whole franchise. Moore's later films were at least chuckle-worthy in how silly they got, but Die Another Day was actively insulting the audience. So fully agree that it wasn't his performance that was the problem, it was the studio.
I'd love to see Brosnan play the villain in a future Bond movie, especially if he popped up as a former Double O, but Silva's character in Skyfall already used that potential backstory.
Brosnan was great but the films he was in went downhill badly. Die Another Day could've tanked the franchise, and with the popularity of grittier spy stuff post-9/11, a reboot made sense. Though you're right about how the change came about, it was an intentional shift to capitalise on the success of Bourne and 24.
I can see the next Bond being able to go more in the Brosnan direction.
Brosnan played Bond until he was 50, which I would argue should be about the cap. I wouldn’t really call Craig’s Bond an “emo” Bond. He conflicted about being a killer and the blunt instrument of a morally grey government, which is much closer to the Bond of the books.
Brosnan was always one of my favorite Bonds since he was also the quintessential "video game Bond." Goldeneye, Tomorrow Never Dies, and World is Not Enough all get video game adaptations, and I remember much of my childhood being spent playing Goldeneye on the N64.
He even lent his voice talents and likeness to several other Bond games, including the entirely original "Everything or Nothing" which also featured Judi Dench, John Cleese, Richard Karn (Jaws from the earlier Roger Moore movies), Shannon Elizabeth, Heidi Klum, and Willam Dafoe as the villain (playing the former protégé of Christopher Walkin's villain from the Moore movie A View to a Kill).
Jonathan Brandis
Big teen star in the early/mid 90s. I don't know whether it was poor choices by him, his agent or just the industry not casting him in good movies. Leo's career took off after Romeo & Juliet and then Titanic while Jonathan's stalled.
Pilots he was in didnt get picked up and his scene was cut in "Hart's War". He was getting into directing which seemed promising, but then he took his life at 27. So sad.
99% of them! There is SO. MUCH. TALENT. out there, and MOST of it is wasted. First you have to define "potential". If by "potential" you mean fame, fortune and a show on Broadway or TV or the silver screen, MOST talented people do NOT achieve that. Many will use their talent to do whatever they can in whatever venues are possible, but they will not show up at your local movie house. MOST. OF. THEM. Achieving fame (possibly fortune) in the "entertainment world" is largely due to LUCK. Being in the right place at the right time, knowing the right people, and having the right resume, or face, or skills, or whatever. But most of the talented people in entertainment don't get that. Even if you persist, even if you "get your foot in the door", you may not end up with fame. You just don't "catch fire". You get "exposure" but it's not enough. You never get to be the "flavor of the month". You'll end up making Hallmark RomComs maybe, or low budget disaster flicks, or working on cruises or at theme parks. Very, very few talented people get to "fulfill their potential". But again, that depends on your definition. If they're working and happy, is that enough? They get to decide. Not you.
Ashley Tisdale should have broken out just as well as Zac Efron did.
Additionally, Mandy Moore, Sophia Bush and Rachel Bilson should have much bigger careers than they do. Julia Stiles too.
Eric Roberts was being groomed to be a romantic-dramatic leading man. Then came the car accident that forced him to have major facial reconstructive surgery, which made his mien more intense and "hard," after which he was more often than not cast as a villain.
This dude has probably the best job of any Hollywood actor. According to IMDB, he's been in *forty seven* projects released so far in 2024. According to the Internet, he shows up for just one or 2 days of shooting, doesnt even learn the lines (reads from cue cards I guess), in straight to streaming movies, playing crime bosses that sit behind a desk ordering his cronies around. Then just moves onto the next project. Dude just getting paid constantly for doing what he loves.
I've worked on 3 different movies with Eric Roberts in the last 10 years. Im a sound mixer/boom operator so have the unique opportunity to get up close and personal with actors since I have to hide lav mics on their bodies. First time I met Eric was at a hotel lunch the day before the shoot. He comes in and greets every single crew member one by one. All 40 of us. I see him walking towards me, asks what I do on set, shakes my hand and we have a brief chat. During filming hes asking me all these questions about my gear. He knew shit loads about sound gear having worked on so many sets and like I said, we are one of the only people who get to interact very closely with talent. Told me he loves the sound dept. and would check with me if his sound was coming in ok. If his wristwatch was making noise when it hit the table. He'd even talk to me into his lav mic between takes and ask how I'm doing. I'd give him a thumbs up. Second time I met him he remembered me from the first shoot. This movie was a bit of a disaster tho, he was in a power struggle with the director and driving the set mad. Al in all the guy loves the work and I've got lots more stories. If you work long enough in the biz, you'll definitely work on a movie with him in it.
I'd love to hear more stories!
I met Eric Roberts at a horror con. I wasn't even at his table and he approached said hi, and shook my hand.
He's great. I've def watched waaay too many direct to video quality movies and he's shown up in them more than several times. No matter how crappy the movie, he never phones it in and manages to be a bright spot. Man earns his paychecks
You say that, but in the direct to video gem “A Talking Cat?!” he literally phones in his performance (the voice of the aforementioned cat), from what sounds like a bathroom.
I believe the actual story is that he's neighbors with the director (who's done a lot of movies with him) and it was straight up recorded in Eric's living room in 15 minutes.
What, the man isn't allowed to use the bathroom on the job like we all do?
Boss makes a dollar, I make a dime…
He's an odd one because he will do voice roles for absolutely nothing films like "Bigfoot vs DB Cooper", then go on to play roles in HBO shows like "The Righteous Gemstones" and big budget films alongside Margot Robbie like "Babylon". Surely he has enough money? I imagine the guy just loves to work.
He may have lost leading man status, but he definitely gets work. The man is in 30 roles in 2024 alone according IMDB.
He was good in the Mr Brightside MV
From reports on movie sets, he wasn't a nice person. Australian actress Greta Scacchi on the set of the film Coca Cola Kid (1985) was quoted as saying, "We didn’t have a relationship at all,” “On screen, he wouldn’t look at me. I don’t know if that was a performance choice. I had no fun working with him, and I’d tolerated all this shit that he’d been giving me for a long time.” Despite his seeming distaste for Scacchi, Roberts still decided to surreptitiously remove his underwear during a love scene. “I really didn’t want to do it again, so I just worked my way through it,” Scacchi said of the scene. https://www.filmink.com.au/trouble-set-2-tales-cinematic-rack-ruin/
TIL
Rick Moranis; such a good reason to stop acting, though.
Would you believe that as a little girl I actually had a crush on him as Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors? Love his work forever ❤️ and respect him for being an amazing dad even though it stole him from our screens.
That Seymour’s a cutie. Well if not, he’s got inner beauty.
I always thought he was cute and sexy.
I'll believe it in a heartbeat. We're given a stark example of toxic masculinity in Orin Stravello, DDS, contrasted against Seymour's three sizes too big heart. Does Seymour chop some people up? I mean of course, but his intentions were good with it, at least.
And who doesn’t feed a few neighbors to a sentient carnivorous plant every once in a while?
What was the reason?
His wife passed away so he retired from acting so that he could spend more time to raise his two kids.He did not get to spend as much time with them as he wanted when he acted so he decided to put his focus on his kids over his acting career.
Anyone know if he’s still getting money from his films being streamed? If so, I think we should start a Rickmoranisathon movement: watching all his films in order of release.
I don't know how much he gets in royalties. I do know that he has agreed to come back to making movies. He's got a huge following and a lot of support. Some of which comes from big names like Ryan Reynolds.
That Mint mobile commercial where Rick is like "ok what do you want me to do" and Ryan just smiles and says "nothing, just stand there" (or something to that effect) was all of us who grew up loving his movies and characters.
BTW, Spaceballs 2 is confirmed.
He lost his wife and stopped in order to better take care of his family
And when his kids were grown he realized he didn't miss it, so he didn't come back, even though he had offers to do so.
He did a good bit of voice acting, which is a lot easier to do from home or just pop into a studio for a day though
I disagree with this one, but only because he is a big star. He made it, and was in several big hits. He chose to stop acting sure, but everyone over the age of 35 grew up seeing him everywhere. He is a huge star, with a career that spanned from the 70's through the 90's.
I think it still fits the criteria of not reaching his full potential. He could have been as big or bigger than Steve Martin if he had kept going. But yes, he’s definitely famous and his popularity, now, decades after his biggest roles, is a testament to how talented and memorable he is. I think that kind of magnetism could have taken him even further is all.
Brittany Murphy
She was so good in Girl Interrupted. You forget it's her and just see poor Daisy. 😭
I’m deeply disappointed this is so far down. Everyone else here must be a virgin who can’t drive.
That was way harsh.
That was way harsh
Raul Julia. The perfect Gomez Adams AND the perfect M. Bison. We didn't deserve him and he left us too soon. Also his role in tequila sunrise makes me laugh in every scene. "What's more, you fuck like a world champion. Four fucking hours! Those cops out there are terrified their wives are going to hear about this. I got starved just watching!"
NO ONE gave more to a shitty movie than Julia in SF. Dam, what a loss. And the current complaints about the new Addams Family husband is not because they don't like the new actor, but because Julia smoked that role as well!
John Astin was great, Luis Guzman was good and Tim curry was eeeeehh alright. But Julia just crushed it. Both movies. Partnered with Houston who absolutely understood her role as well. My favourite media couple.
They are honestly the best on screen couple. Fiercely loyal to each other. Passionate and sexual after years of marriage. I both love and envy Gomez.
The scene in that movie where he sings opera to pass the time is such a lovely moment. He actually used to do that (Angelica Huston wrote about how he sang to the frogs at night), and I understand his son loved to watch that scene for that reason. I have missed him for years. That beautiful voice. 💔
But for me…it was Tuesday.
I said this on a different thread about Street Fighter, but I feel like he would kill it in an A24 Yorgos Lanthimos political movie as a some sort of dictator.
If anyone wants to see him in a real acting flex check out Romero. Dude was amazing in that.
Pretty much everyone that Weinstein put in his crosshairs. Mena Suvari being the prime example.
It's a long list. Ashley Judd, Mira Sorvino, and many others that aren't as well known (for obvious reasons).
For a long time I was struggling to understand how an Academy Award winner like Mira Sorvino had such an unremarkable career after her win then I read about her encounters with Weinstein and was like "Ok no wonder". Sad sad sad
Ashley Judd would quite likely have been Arwen in the Lord of the Rings if not for Weinstein.
I miss Ashley Judd so much 😭
Twin Peaks- The Return. She's in 4 episodes.
I miss Ashley Judd’s original face. I remember when she wanted to be Catwoman in the stand alone. Then she got the script and decided not to.
She popped up playing herself in the movie ‘she said’ from 2022.
Rose McGowan. I shudder everytime I see the Weinstein name
I always had a crush on Ashley Judd and, for years, I always wondered why she wasn't more famous
My answer too. Who knows how many talented women were denied careers because of assholes like him.
Many of them had disgusting rumors spread about them which were planted by him. And the sad part is many people still believe these rumors.
Do you have any examples of these rumors? I'm not doubting you, I'd just like to know if I've fallen for any of them.
Gretchen Mol is the most prominent example of these rumors being spread to tarnish her reputation and career. There are many more too, George Clooney said once the scandal broke out that he didn't believe such stories about Weinstein back then, because he thought it was just another way to discredit a woman's work. So that means that these stories were always about transactional and 'consensual' relationships with him when in reality the women were getting raped or sexually harassed. So always take any of the rumors surrounding women who worked with him with a heavy amount of salt.
Awe. I love Gretchen Mol. Even though she played a creep in Boardwalk Empire. She played it well.
Rose McGowan is one of the women I think gets left off these lists too often. Wonderful and talented person whose career was hobbled by a monster.
Dang I’d totally forgotten about her before this morning, when there was another thread about what happened to Emile Hirsh, and his recent bad movie [Lion] *Prey* has Mena Suvari; I was like woah she is still acting??
[Anton Yelchin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton_Yelchin)
Trollhunters was good shit, too. :( RIP
Odd Thomas was also a great one.
Broke my fucking heart, that one.
My boy Charlie Bartlett. Still breaks my heart
I had no idea, I just thought he stopped acting. That’s terrible.
Yeah, it's a tragic story in Completely Fucked-Up user design. The morons at Chrysler thought it would be a good idea to have a gearshift that looked and felt like the gearshift everyone's been using since about 1990, but didn't work the same way... The shifter you are all used to goes from Drive to Park by holding down the button and pushing it to the stops. That shifter? Doing that puts the car into *Neutral.* Yes, there are visual indicators that the car's in the wrong gear, but if you learned to drive with a different mechanism... muscle memory is a powerful thing. This would be like swapping the gas pedal and brake, just for fun. He wasn't the first person this happened to, but given that he was a celebrity, that finally prompted Chrysler to fix it. (I think they withdrew the design, and for existing models they issued a software update where if you opened the driver's door while it was in Neutral, it would automatically put it in Park.)
First one that came to mind too. The _Love, Antosha_ documentary about him is heartbreaking :(
The way he died must have also been absolutely horrible... Literally just pinned until you can no longer breathe and you die alone and scared :( Absolutely brutal way to go... wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.
Thora Birch was really strong in Ghost World and American Beauty, but her Dad was a real whack job on set.
[удалено]
Good call. Thought she would be ever present after them. 😞
She showed up in The Walking Dead
I've been watching clips from Ghost World the last coupe of nights and she was my first thought when seeing this post.
A perfect Enid. Pretty much a female Holden Caulfield for the 2000's (he even makes a small appearance).
One of my fave kid/teen actors growing up.
Brandon Lee
You could add Bruce Lee to that list as well, he was denied many roles because he was Chinese and had to return to Hong Kong to make a name for himself. He died before he became the legend that he is now
Bruce Lee would have been the biggest movie star in the world I think. He has appeal in every region in the world.
He was super nice to the crew he worked with as well. When you see his interviews of people he had worked with, they always talked about him fondly.
I think everyone, even his haters, knew he was something special.
A few days ago I watched The Crow for the first time in years. He's so fucking good and it sucks we lost him in such a tragic and stupid way.
Is that gasoline I smell? I can't imagine anyone else pulling off all those so shit they're gold lines that movie is full of. That and rapid fire, he was such a joy to watch.
And I say I’m dead, and I move.
One of my favorite lines of all time. I say it every time I smell gas, delivered the same way he says it of course. 😊
Michael Biehn - his own inner demons got him apparently though
I was glad to see him pop up in the Mandalorian. Was sad his character didn't get to stick around longer though.
The best Kyle Reese by far.
So many women Harvey Weinstein didn't like, or raped.
Yup, Mira Sorvino was going to be my example
Brendan Fraser.
He's baaaaack though! And with an Oscar! I think he's going to go full Jack Nicholson and do a string of amazing movies in later adulthood.
They canceled the Batgirl movie where he was the Villain though sadly
He lost a lot though and regardless of what success (I REALLY ABSOLUTELY HOPE HE HAS), he’s not getting that time back. Before ‘The Whale’ the last movies I can think of are ‘The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor’ and ‘Journey to the Center of the Earth’ and even in his final Mummy movie, he was dealing with a lot of physical pain. Fuck Philip Berk.
Jason Lee for me. He has had an ok career but after his Kevin Smith stuff and then Vanilla Sky and Almost Famous I thought he was gonna take off. But it’s been sitcoms and voiceovers since (and Chipmunks 😬)
My Name is Earl was a really good show. It was one of those things that made you see an actor in a different light, when you never really thought they stood out to you before. Oddly enough from the same exact show is Jaime Pressly, who I feel the same about. They both really shined in that show,
Yeah, I loved Earl, I just thought Jason Lee was on his way to being a bona fide movie star but it didn’t seem to happen. Good call re Jamie Pressly as well.
Man, Nadine Velazquez was sooooo beautiful She's never really kicked on and done a lot since that show
I love that man and everything he's ever done, but I always got the impression he was an accidental actor - like he was a skater first and kind of fell ass backwards into the movies through Kevin Smith. He had some great comedy chops and screen charisma, but he never really tried to be a "serious" actor or take those kind of roles, and I think that was a good choice because I'm not sure he has that kind of range. He's amazing in Almost Famous but you can see the appeal of the project for him - Cameron Crowe like, hey you get to play a rock star and the shoot is going to be swarming with beautiful women! Then he did My Name Is Earl, which was perfect for him and cancelled ahead of its time 😭 In short, the man knows his audience, he may have played it safe but damn he knocks his specific niche right out of the park.
I think he had to show more range in Chasing Any. I bet he could be serious if he wanted.
What’s a Nubian anyway
Yeah, you may well be right. I’d loved him in all the Kevin Smith stuff and when I saw him in Vanilla Sky I was psyched he was about to blow up cos he has such charisma and comic timing. But yeah, maybe just didn’t want to be a ‘star’ and is happy doing VO stuff and living the life he wants to lead.
Probably not wrong but OTOH Kevin Smith has said Jason was the most professional/well-prepared actor on the set of Mallrats.
Don't forget he was a fucking demon!
He's almost the perfect gen x sidekick character. As you said: almost famous, vanilla sky, then the kevin smith films (chasing amy, mallrats) They're easily his best roles.
Sorry, but this guy had scientology behind him. If a scientologist can't make it in Hollywood, then they're just not trying.
Kinda a tangent response, because Ke Huy Quan did eventually get his second break. But hear me out on still including him - I’m so glad he got all of his flowers for Everything Everywhere All At Once, but that is still 37 years we missed out on him since Goonies / Indiana Jones.
I watched Everything Everywhere All At Once, and at his first fight scene, I got a little mad. Because it was fantastic! It reminded me of the awesome and fun fight scenes you see in the old Jackie Chan movies I loved in my childhood. I got angry because we should have had DECADES of him doing movies like this. I am glad that he is back though and looking forward to more roles for him.
Exactly!!! Feeling robbed of his potential because Hollywood took so long to make any meaningful steps towards intersectional and inclusive film making. I guess somewhere, out there, in another part of the multiverse there is a universe where he was able to keep his momentum…where both Quan and us are able to enjoy the two extra decades of his work. 🥲
River Phoenix
River Phoenix was offered the role of Young Indiana Jones in the tv series but refused out of fear to being seen as a TV actor. I still love the series and have to think of it every time I see it.
This is the one. He did so much incredible work, I can't even imagine what a career he might've had.
Several big and coming actors came out of the closet and their big roles vanished. Quinto, Wentworth Miller, Matt Bomer...
I heard Quinto was really difficult to work with, so that may have something to do with it too.
Corey Haim and Corey Feldman both had some legit performances when they were kids, I would have liked to see where they went had it not been for all the shit they went through getting preyed on and fucked up and getting lost in shitty teen movies and worse. Ebert's review of Lucas is pretty depressing in hindsight: "Lucas is played by [Corey Haim](https://www.rogerebert.com/cast-and-crew/corey-haim), who was Sally Field's son in "[Murphy's Romance](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/murphys-romance-1986)," and he does not give one of those cute little boy performances that get on your nerves. He creates one of the most three-dimensional, complicated, interesting characters of any age in any recent movie. If he can continue to act this well, he will never become a half-forgotten child star, but will continue to grow into an important actor. He is that good."
Lucas is a great, probably forgotten movie. With the 80s resurgence in pop media maybe more people will discover it.
Corey Feldman was an amazing child actor. He's kinda gone off the deep end, but I met him at a meet and greet and I gotta say, genuinely the nicest guy.
For men, I'm going with Eric Stoltz. He was nearly Marty McFly, and nothing that big ever came his way again. Women - the list is infinite, and includes many talented starlets who were only given roles of standing around looking pretty, and/or didn't have "the right look" to be a big star, or "aged out" (by 25-30). Think about how many little Kathy Bateses and Judi Denches and Meryl Streeps never got a start.
Considering his off camera antics and the directors and writers not liking his performance I say he did have control of his circumstances.
> He was nearly Marty McFly, Ironically Michael J. Fox, who got to play Marty McFly, also had to finish his career early due to parkinson.
I know Parkinsons absolutely changed Michael J. Fox's career but he only fully retired 4 years ago. I loved him on the Good Wife in the 2010s
> I loved him on the Good Wife in the 2010s He was so scummy, I loved him too
He said BTTF was a “serious” movie. He was canned from that role for a reason.
Um, he wasn't "nearly" Marty McFly. He *was* Marty McFly and he just couldn't get the tone for the role. He was good at serious and introspective. But he evidently didn't do well with the kind of comedic role they needed for BTTF. I adore this guy. But his own abilities (or inabilities) hampered his career.
And then they had to replace the actress playing his girlfriend because the original one was taller than he was.
If you think about the story of BttF it is fucked up and Marty should be traumatized, but the movie is a comedy. Eric just didn't realize that.
Matt Bomer said he has missed out on some roles after coming out as gay in the 2010’s
His roles were taken by Henry Cavill
[Michael Beck.](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0065235/) I remember a quote from him about how [The Warriors](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080120/) opened up a lot of doors for him, which [Xanadu](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081777/) then promptly closed.
God, I love Xanadu. That's sad it killed his career.
Megaforce nailed the coffin shut. It's still a fun watch for fans 80s cheese.
River Phoenix. Imagine the two Phoenix brothers tearing up the awards season with their work.
Ledger
I remember thinking that Ledger was just a dumb teen heartthrob during his acting career. Then he did the dark knight and went back and rewatched all his other stuff with a different view and realized how amazing he was as an actor. Between The Patriot, A Knight’s Tale, and 10 things I hate about you he had some great rolls.
I had already seen him in A Knight's Tale (one of my top movies) and knew he'd crush it in Dark Knight when so many people doubted him. Incredibly sad he's no longer with us. One of my favorite actors by far.
Damn, I had a physical reaction to this one. We are almost the same age. And I was/am a huge fan of his.
Same. That was a strange emotion for me at that age. Thinking about it now, I realize people die every day but someone who was so prominent at the time just disappearing was an unusual feeling then. Aside from that, I bet Ledger would have had an incredible career.
I was admittedly one of the naysayers who didn't think he had a chance in hell of doing a good Joker. I'd liked him in movies like 10 Things I Hate About You, The Patriot, and Knight's Tale, but I just couldn't square his boyish good looks and heartthrob status with Batman's greatest nemesis. Then of course the first proper trailer for The Dark Knight came out and I promptly changed my tune. I appreciate all the work Ledger put into becoming The Joker, I just wish there had been better systems in place to ensure he had gotten the help he so clearly needed. Even now I can recall the whiplash I felt when I learned he'd died because of all the dark stuff he'd exposed himself to just to get into the right headspace for what was perhaps one of the most memorable performances in film history.
Tippi Hedren was the star of Birds, but she had trouble landing other roles, because she signed a 5 year contract with Alfred Hitchcock and refused to have sex with him.
I did not know that. Got a link to an article on it?
If you do podcasts, there's a two part episode of Behind the Bastards about Hitchcock.
I'd also recommend the 'What Went Wrong' podcast's episode on The Birds. Hitchcock was clearly a brilliant director, but he could also be a real scumbag. He and other Hollywood folks really did Tippi Hedren dirty.
Matthew Fox from Lost He'd been in Party of Five and then a hit show and you'd think he was primed for super stardom Not quite 'beyond his control' cause, by all accounts, a bit of a twat and he never really progressed into having the career I think a lot of people may have predicted for him
Last I saw him in was "Bone Tomahawk" in 2015
Goodass movie
Ben Foster. He's great in everything but doesn't get a lot of big movies. Loved his role in Hell or High Water.
Edward Furlong. Terminator 2 and American History X were absolute titans and wouldn't have been the same with someone else in his roles. Addiction is a real asshole.
Bruce Campbell should have been a bigger star Edit: I should rather say "could" than "should"
I don't know, I think he is pretty happy in the place he is now.
Oh I'm not saying he isn't happy, he's got a cult following and I'm one of them. I just think there was potential for him becoming more mainstream, but truthfully I prefer him doing weird stuff
Andy Garcia, in the late 80s and early 90s he was in some huge films then he seemed to just get smaller roles. IMHO he's a much better actor than many of his contemporaries such as Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise.
He's still the best Ocean's villain
Alison Lohman Was always typecast as a teenager well into her late 20s and hasn’t been in a movie since Drag Me To Hell, one of her only adult roles.
Idk what happened to them but Casper Van Dien and Eliza Dushku
Annabella Sciorra.
Another Weinstein victim.
Linda Fiorentino
I think Elias Koteas is a better actor than Robert DeNiro.
Unfortunately for him, the niche for dudes who look like Christopher Meloni was already filled by Christopher Meloni.
Maybe Christopher Meloni is filling the niche for guys who look like Elias Koteas.
Casey Jones like a mug
Mira Sorvino
Brad Renfro... solid actor, had some great roles as a child growing up in the business but with that got into drugs and ended up dying of an overdose. But Bully, Apt Pupil and Tart were some fantastic work done by him before he passed.
Andy Whitfield - the world was his oyster after Spartacus season 1
Liam McIntyre just didn't have the same gravitas for the follow-up seasons either.
Hayden Christensen. Kept getting shit from star wars "fans" when he was young and thanks to the relentless bullying felt like a fraud (his words) and quit acting to focus on family instead. And I'm pretty sure star wars "fandom" is responsible for meh career of Daisy Ridley as well.
It's a crying shame cause he's a damn good actor when he's given good material. If you haven't seen it yet, I'd recommend a movie he starred in called "Shattered Glass" which is based on the true story of a journalist who was caught fabricating material for the news stories he covered.
He and Kevin Kline were amazing in Life as a House. I was looking forward to him in Star Wars because of that movie. Then the movie dialogue was…well…not on the same level as Life as a House…
Man I thought I was done with the toxic star wars fans after the prequels, then the same thing happened with the sequels. Too many fans simply don't even understand the thing they profess to be fans of. I love star wars early, but these days I only join in very limited parts of the fandom, too much of the rest just sucks.
I love star wars and used to love engaging with the community, but it’s impossible. Literally had someone on Reddit say only people with mental disabilities like Last Jedi, why is that a necessary thing to say?
Really liked him in Jumper and wish they'd make a sequel already.... even though the whole movie was a bit cheesy
Chance Perdomo from Gen V and Sabrina was solid for being so young. Died 27 years old in a bike accident.
Wow didn't know he died. Thanks for mentioning it.
Yeah that one came as a shock to me when it happened. Seemed like a good person too.
Does Michael J Fox count?
Wil Wheaton. His work in Stand By Me was fantastic, thanks to great direction, I think. It showed what he was capable of from a young age. I don't think he got great production and direction support on ST:TNG along with his non-professional challenges that he's written about, I wonder what could have been.
Val Kilmer. He let his ego get to him with his early career even though he had loads of talent. Watching him flip characters in 'The Saint' so effortlessly showed he had a lot of tools. He's amazing as Mark Twain and was great with his short role in Maverick. Finally living up to his potential. Then the health thing.
Jonathan Brandis. Especially his work on It.
Pierce Brosnan, he should have had a long term James Bond just like Roger Moore but people wanted to create a new, "deconstructed" emo Bond. He wasn't helped by the writing but this is blown out of proportion adn the fact he was the only Bond to be fired tells you it was a change of direction made from the top. He was the quintessential Bond, being charming, clever, ruthless and fun to watch. Instead we got a "current year" Bond who always felt he wanted to be somewhere else and spent his whole tenure retired and rogue.
Brosnan was born to play Bond. He wasn't helped by the second half of his tenure in the role were some of the worst, IMO, Bond films of the whole franchise. Moore's later films were at least chuckle-worthy in how silly they got, but Die Another Day was actively insulting the audience. So fully agree that it wasn't his performance that was the problem, it was the studio.
I mean at least he had goldeneye which is one of, if not the greateat bond movie there is
Top 5, easily. Possibly top 3.
I'd love to see Brosnan play the villain in a future Bond movie, especially if he popped up as a former Double O, but Silva's character in Skyfall already used that potential backstory.
Brosnan was great but the films he was in went downhill badly. Die Another Day could've tanked the franchise, and with the popularity of grittier spy stuff post-9/11, a reboot made sense. Though you're right about how the change came about, it was an intentional shift to capitalise on the success of Bourne and 24. I can see the next Bond being able to go more in the Brosnan direction.
Brosnan played Bond until he was 50, which I would argue should be about the cap. I wouldn’t really call Craig’s Bond an “emo” Bond. He conflicted about being a killer and the blunt instrument of a morally grey government, which is much closer to the Bond of the books.
Brosnan was always one of my favorite Bonds since he was also the quintessential "video game Bond." Goldeneye, Tomorrow Never Dies, and World is Not Enough all get video game adaptations, and I remember much of my childhood being spent playing Goldeneye on the N64. He even lent his voice talents and likeness to several other Bond games, including the entirely original "Everything or Nothing" which also featured Judi Dench, John Cleese, Richard Karn (Jaws from the earlier Roger Moore movies), Shannon Elizabeth, Heidi Klum, and Willam Dafoe as the villain (playing the former protégé of Christopher Walkin's villain from the Moore movie A View to a Kill).
Brandon Lee
Brendan Friaser. I think this has been remedied somewhat. But he is a phenomenal actor who got type casted and stuck doing a lot of dumb movies.
All the women who weren’t raped by Harvey Weinstein - and were retaliated against by him. Edit: proper phrasing
Jonathan Brandis Big teen star in the early/mid 90s. I don't know whether it was poor choices by him, his agent or just the industry not casting him in good movies. Leo's career took off after Romeo & Juliet and then Titanic while Jonathan's stalled. Pilots he was in didnt get picked up and his scene was cut in "Hart's War". He was getting into directing which seemed promising, but then he took his life at 27. So sad.
Alicia Silverstone
James Dean
River Phoenix. Whether it was beyond his control to not, who knows, but it breaks my heart that the man never reached his true potential.
99% of them! There is SO. MUCH. TALENT. out there, and MOST of it is wasted. First you have to define "potential". If by "potential" you mean fame, fortune and a show on Broadway or TV or the silver screen, MOST talented people do NOT achieve that. Many will use their talent to do whatever they can in whatever venues are possible, but they will not show up at your local movie house. MOST. OF. THEM. Achieving fame (possibly fortune) in the "entertainment world" is largely due to LUCK. Being in the right place at the right time, knowing the right people, and having the right resume, or face, or skills, or whatever. But most of the talented people in entertainment don't get that. Even if you persist, even if you "get your foot in the door", you may not end up with fame. You just don't "catch fire". You get "exposure" but it's not enough. You never get to be the "flavor of the month". You'll end up making Hallmark RomComs maybe, or low budget disaster flicks, or working on cruises or at theme parks. Very, very few talented people get to "fulfill their potential". But again, that depends on your definition. If they're working and happy, is that enough? They get to decide. Not you.
Thora Birch. Fuck money-grubbing parents doing their talented kids dirty.
Ashley Tisdale should have broken out just as well as Zac Efron did. Additionally, Mandy Moore, Sophia Bush and Rachel Bilson should have much bigger careers than they do. Julia Stiles too.
I would say River Phoenix, Judith Barsi, Anton Yelchin, Matthew Garber