# Actors / Actresses whose promising careers stalled? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 29, 2005, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-whose-promising-careers-stalled/328513 "2005-10-29T22:38:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2005, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-whose-promising-careers-stalled/328513/101 "2005-11-02T01:54:03Z")
> [@Little Nemo](#): > > How about Kurt Russell? He’s basically been making movies his whole life (he got his first TV role at the age of six), he’s done credible work in comedies, dramas, and action movies, but he’s never been able to break out into the top tier. He kicked Elvis Presley in the shin! How could anyone ever top that? ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2005, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-whose-promising-careers-stalled/328513/102 "2005-11-02T01:59:57Z")
> [@BiblioCat](#): > > I seem to remember hearing or reading that Cary Elwes has a bit of a Val Kilmer-like attitude. As in, being very difficult and hard to work with and having an ego the size of Texas. > > Or am I thinking of someone else, or just confusing him with Kilmer? No, no. I know people who’ve worked with him (Cary, not Val [hey, why no more lady names for boys?], who I actually liked in **Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang** ) semi recently and he was very nice and goofy. No ego at all, no dread pirate Roberts costume in his trailer. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2005, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-whose-promising-careers-stalled/328513/103 "2005-11-02T02:49:21Z")
> [@TommyTutone](#): > > **Mark Hamil** fell out of the big screen after his auto accident left him pretty badly scarred up. They worked it into the plot for Return of the Jedi, but he hasn’t done much film since then. On the other hand, his credits include a LOT of voicework for cartoons and video games over the years. He may not be A-list, but he’s not starving either. Um, no. The accident happened right before _Empire_, not _Jedi_. That’s why the scene with the Wampa ice creature was added, to explain the scarring on his face. Actually, right after the accident, they did the infamous “Holiday Special”, and you can tell because he has a ton of make up on. It wasn’t THAT severe an accident. After the SW movies, he was afraid of being typecast. I’m sure he could have worked it out, instead, deciding to spend more time with his family than on his career, he went and did a lot on Broadway. I like Mark Hamill. He’s a funny, very cool guy who works best as a character actor-he’s at his best when he’s playing villains. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2005, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-whose-promising-careers-stalled/328513/104 "2005-11-02T03:09:21Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > [Megan Follows](http://imdb.com/name/nm0001227/) , best (for that matter, only) known for _Anne of Green Gables_ and its sequels, is a good actress and quite possibly the most beautiful woman ever on television. I’m amazed she never went further. (The stigma of being 1-Canadian and 2-always featured in conjunction with PBS beg-a-thons, perhaps.) Yeah, being Canadian sure hurt Jim Carrey, Dan Aykroyd, and Pam Anderson. Follows is a wonderful actress, but I’ve heard word that she is apparently the female Val Kilmer; absolutely impossible to work with; she’s abusive, self-centred, unreliable and a general terror. She’s probably still getting weekly deliveries of big bags of Japanese money for “Anne of Green Gables” so I doubt she’s worried about making the car payments. ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2005, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-whose-promising-careers-stalled/328513/105 "2005-11-02T03:18:34Z")
> [@Jonathan Chance](#): > > I think I recall that Mark Hamill originated ‘Amadeus’ on broadway, too. [He played the role,](http://www.ibdb.com/person.asp?ID=43873)[but he didn’t originate it.](http://www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=4083) ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2005, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-whose-promising-careers-stalled/328513/106 "2005-11-02T03:18:56Z")
> [@Love Rhombus](#): > > … > Kari Wuhrer: Yeah, I know she mainly did skimpy-clothes movies, but she was actually pretty good. > > I… Pretty good at what? You certainly can’t mean acting. Here characters are all the same. She doesn’t act, she just looks good. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2005, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-whose-promising-careers-stalled/328513/107 "2005-11-02T03:24:46Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Yeah, being Canadian sure hurt Jim Carrey, Dan Aykroyd, and Pam Anderson. > > Follows is a wonderful actress, but I’ve heard word that she is apparently the female Val Kilmer; absolutely impossible to work with; she’s abusive, self-centred, unreliable and a general terror. > > She’s probably still getting weekly deliveries of big bags of Japanese money for “Anne of Green Gables” so I doubt she’s worried about making the car payments. Really? Damn, that sucks. I LOVED her as Anne. She did appear on an episode of _Law & Order_. I didn’t recognize her until I checked the info for the episode. ---
**Author:** ![Torgo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@Torgo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Torgo)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2005, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-whose-promising-careers-stalled/328513/108 "2005-11-02T03:48:24Z")
Most of the 1980s Brat Pack, now in their 40s, have not sustained or regained their success of 2 decades ago. **Molly Ringwald:** she turned down _Blue Velvet_! **Emilio Estevez:** brief resurgence with the _Mighty Duck_ films. **Judd Nelson:** once hot career hampered by being Judd Nelson. **Andrew McCarthy:** suffers the indignity of being lesser-known than a right-wing blogger of the same name. **Rob Lowe:** success on \*The West Wing \* translated into a failed TV show. **Anthony Michael Hall:** lousy turn on SNL, became husky. **Ally Sheedy:** back on the radar briefly in arty lesbian film. **Little House on the Prairie** , while it made Michael Landon a rich man, scores a squatski on the star-making front. Even its’ star, Melissa Gilbert, is best known as the hard-nosed political warrior/president of SAG. ---
**Author:** ![scotandrsn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@scotandrsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotandrsn)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2005, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-whose-promising-careers-stalled/328513/109 "2005-11-02T04:40:52Z")
> [@Torgo](#): > > **Anthony Michael Hall:** lousy turn on SNL, became husky. Starring in the third season of “The Dead Zone”. He’s doing OK for himself, finally. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2005, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-whose-promising-careers-stalled/328513/110 "2005-11-02T15:49:27Z")
I have heard that Molly Ringwald also turned down the lead in \*Pretty Woman \* and _Some kind of Wonderful_ If this is not true, please correct me. I think I’d fire my agent ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2005, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-whose-promising-careers-stalled/328513/111 "2005-11-02T17:41:52Z")
Kids who I thought did quite well but never really became successful- Erzsebet Foldi, who played Michelle Gideon in _All That Jazz_. held her own sharing the screen with Roy Scheider, Ann Reinking and Leland Palmer, among others. Peter Ostrum, who played Charlie Bucket in _Willy Wonka_ in 1971. But I was very glad to see that Christian Bale, who I loved in _Henry V_ and _Empire of the Sun_ seems to be living up to his potential. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2005, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-whose-promising-careers-stalled/328513/112 "2005-11-02T18:25:29Z")
> [@D\_Odds](#): > > Maybe you mistyped, but Rhys-Davis career hardly fizzled. Prior to Sliders he had two _Indiana Jones_ movies and he recently had _The Lord of the Rings_ trilogy. Granted, most of his other work was pure shyte, but he’s seemingly always employed and seems to land big roles now and then. :smack: I meant to puit a negative in there. I meant that those two (Rhys-Davis and O’Connell) are the two that still have careers.) ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2005, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-whose-promising-careers-stalled/328513/113 "2005-11-02T18:40:20Z")
> [@EJsGirl](#): > > Peter Ostrum, who played Charlie Bucket in _Willy Wonka_ in 1971. He’s a dentist now, I believe, and quite happy. Took the kids to the new movie, thought it was good but not as “warm” as the original. I agree. I generally liked Emilo better that Charlie. Oh, and Wile? I disagree. I think she has talent. Hasn’t been able to use or develop it due to the focus on her physical attractions, but I think it’s there. **Jennifer Hammon** is a favorite of mine. Her career kinda got shot down by an early skinflick, but even in that she showed talent and charisma. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2005, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-whose-promising-careers-stalled/328513/114 "2005-11-02T19:34:40Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > :smack: > > I meant to **puit** a negative in there. I meant that those two (Rhys-Davis and O’Connell) are the two that still have careers.) _(emphasis added_ What did you do to piss off Guadere? 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Airblairxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Airblairxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airblairxxx)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2005, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-whose-promising-careers-stalled/328513/115 "2005-11-02T21:16:11Z")
> [@Love Rhombus](#): > > **Jennifer Hammon** is a favorite of mine. Her career kinda got shot down by an early skinflick, but even in that she showed talent and charisma. Never heard of her . . . OK, the word “skinflick” got my attention, but the most recent entries in her IMDb page are kind of interesting: \*\*Collateral \*\* (2004) (production assistant: Mr. Cruise) **The Last Samurai** (2003) (personal assistant: Mr. Cruise) A few pages back, someone asked about **Khrystyne Haje** , from _Head of the Class_. She invested some money into a dot-com company that hit it big, managed to avoid the subsequent crash, and is now worth around $100 million. My cite is an issue of “People” magazine that I read about three years ago, and can find no mention of via Google. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2005, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-whose-promising-careers-stalled/328513/116 "2005-11-02T22:09:48Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > No one is going to argue that John Rhys-Davis and Jerry O’Connell had careers that fizzled (though for a while it looked like O’Connell’s might have) > [@D\_Odds](#): > > Maybe you mistyped, but Rhys-Davis career hardly fizzled. Prior to Sliders he had two _Indiana Jones_ movies and he recently had _The Lord of the Rings_ trilogy. Granted, most of his other work was pure shyte, but he’s seemingly always employed and seems to land big roles now and then. so in other words everyone is in agreement 😉 I always think of Julia Ormond (as \*\*Guin \*\* said)in this category. She may have taken time off for kids, but came back too late, as she was last seen in a Lifetime miniseries. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2005, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-whose-promising-careers-stalled/328513/117 "2005-11-02T22:48:55Z")
> [@Airblairxxx](#): > > A few pages back, someone asked about **Khrystyne Haje** , from _Head of the Class_. She invested some money into a dot-com company that hit it big, managed to avoid the subsequent crash, and is now worth around $100 million. My cite is an issue of “People” magazine that I read about three years ago, and can find no mention of via Google. I read the same article. I think that Tony Dell (the ultra cute preppie from the series) lives with her as well (though I don’t know if it’s romantic). ---
**Author:** ![Aguecheek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@Aguecheek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aguecheek)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2005, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-whose-promising-careers-stalled/328513/118 "2005-11-02T23:21:19Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Follows is a wonderful actress, but I’ve heard word that she is apparently the female Val Kilmer; absolutely impossible to work with; she’s abusive, self-centred, unreliable and a general terror. Huh. That’s too bad. I was in a play with her father when I was in university, and a nicer person I don’t think I’ve ever met. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2005, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-whose-promising-careers-stalled/328513/119 "2005-11-03T12:50:38Z")
Khrystyne Haje has been in a couple of _L&O_ and _L&O: SVU_ episodes over the last few years. She’s aged really well - she looks exactly the same as she did when she was on _Head of the Class_. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Goob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c77e96/32.png) [@Mr.Goob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Goob)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2005, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-whose-promising-careers-stalled/328513/120 "2005-11-03T15:54:08Z")
I saw Goodfellas on HBO last night. Ray Liotta has a bunch of bit parts but I don’t remember him ever leading a film again. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-whose-promising-careers-stalled/328513.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-whose-promising-careers-stalled/328513.md?page=7)