I don’t know that you can ever call someone who is an actual box office draw an actor who shouldn’t be getting work anymore. Even if you think he or she sucks, if it’s a person that can sell tickets to a movie just by being in it, then they are earning their paycheck.
I think what the OP is actually looking for, although he can correct me if I’m wrong, is actors who are not draws and not particularly good actors, yet still seem to be getting work for reasons no one can quite figure out.
Patrick Wilson is that guy for me. I realize he’s James Wan’s go-to guy, and if James Wan thinks he’s perfect as a lead that’s great, but no one else should really be hiring this guy to carry a movie. He’s not even good playing off a better actor. I liked Lakeview Terrace, but I found Wilson completely unsympathetic despite the fact that Samuel L. Jackson was playing total psycho.
Yeah, you wonder if all the Tom Cruise haters realize that it is a business. Studios don’t get income according to the arbitrary acting judgments of fans only for the tickets they buy. So things like this in Forbes Box Office: Tom Cruise Hasn’t Had A Real Flop In Nearly 30 Years may have some bearing on the subject of Tom Cruise’s suitability for acting jobs.
And despite how much he seems like an awesome guy, I’ve got to nominate Keanu. The last thing I saw him in, Knock Knock, he was so bad that I felt sorry for him.
Oh, Keanu’s terrible, but personally I like to see him in movies.
You know who I don’t like though? Gerard Butler. And although he’s considered A-list, I’m not really convinced that his presence in movies puts butts in seats the way a Tom Cruise or Will Smith does. He certainly didn’t save Gods of Egypt.
One person I think we’d all agree on is Steven Seagal, although major studios haven’t given him work in a couple of decades. But there’s still a market for his direct to video movies even though it’s all the same thing:
Problem exists
Steven Seagal shows up, notices problem
Seagal kicks everyone’s ass who is part of the problem
Seagal faces big bad guy at the end and kicks his ass as easily as he kicked the asses of the guys before him
Problem solved, Seagal has not yet sweat, much less actually been in any danger whatsoever.
Megan Fox! Probably the epitome of that particular problem. And I’d note since I’m thinking of TMNT that I don’t like Will Arnett either. Those Turtles though, they should be in everything.
Will Smith. He only plays one character (an ‘alpha male’) and he sucks at it. I have no idea why he is famous. He was good in fresh prince, but that was 20 years ago.
