Can you think of any actors or actresses who had what was called a ‘breakthrough’ performance and was predicted for stardom, only to fall by the wayside?
I can think of Michael Pare, the guy in Eddie and the Cruisers.
Mickey Rourke-like a Bruce Willis type, if he didn’t flip out.
I think Juliette Lewis is becoming another. She was great in Cape Fear, and after that, she’s pretty much been playing the same role. Now she’s in Gap commercials.
I suppose he has reached some level of stardom, at least to a certain extent, but everyone was picking Matt Dillon to be the next great screen legend about 18 years ago or so when “My Bodyguard” came out. He had some starring roles in major movies, but it never clicked. It was always somone else in the films that got noticed.
Of course there is the cast of Cheers, but the jury is still out, I imagine. We’ll see in a couple of years.
I see on the IMDB that Treat Williams has been in a lot of movies, but has never seemed to live up to the hype I remember from the early 80s, when he was in “Prince of the City”.
Icarus, we can only hope that Matthew McConaughey never becomes a huge star. If you’ve seen “Contact”, you know what I mean. His career doesn’t seem to be trending that way, fortunately.
John Travolta- every movie he makes bombs now. He’s really only had 2 or 3 good movies, then the expectations are so high. Just wait for 2009 for Travolta comeback #2… or is it 3?
pardon my dumbness, but would john malkovich be in this category?? i know he was hot and great in cycles, but i don’t think he got the stardom which he seemed destined to have. also, i don’t think that juliette lewis has very good tits either!
Malkovich has been nominated for an oscar a few times. He’s also pretty choosy about his performances. I think he’s too ‘artsy’ to really be a star, by choice. He could be if he wanted to.
Incidentally, Oblong, maybe this will amuse you, as it did me: when I first saw your thread title I thought immediately of Michael Pare, whom you named in your OP.