# Actors who looked like they would become big stars, but didn't **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 16, 2008, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-looked-like-they-would-become-big-stars-but-didnt/445552 "2008-04-16T03:20:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2008, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-looked-like-they-would-become-big-stars-but-didnt/445552/101 "2008-04-18T03:31:10Z")
[QUOTE=Swallowed My Cellphone] Anthony Stewart Head and James Marsters have long standing careers in theatre that pre-date Buffy (Head’s been a very successful stage actor since the 1970s). Since Buffy, Head has been working like crazy (including playing Frank n Furter) and he’s got a BBC series based on Merlin, he’s not Merlin though. I think Marsters has been playing around with a band. Doing an album and whatnot. Denisof has Bell’s Palsy and the left side of his face has lost a lot of mobility (Whedon compensated for this by shooting him from the other side). It’s possible he’s lost enough expressiveness in his face for it to be a serious acting liability. [/QUOTE] I’m looking forward to seeing Head in _Repo: The Genetic Opera_ some time this year, a horror-musical where he plays a futuristic repo man/assassin/surgeon against Paris Hilton, Sarah Brightman, and Paul Sorvino. He has the horror resume already, and he’s one hell of a singer. I know Marsters had a band, Ghost of the Robot, but I wasn’t sure if he had dropped out or they broke up, or if he’s in a new band now. I still can’t believe the guy is 46! And I had no idea Denisof had Bell’s Palsy. Wesley was my favorite character on both shows, and Denisof was such a great, intense actor that I never noticed. I do know he’s married to Alyson Hannigan and has had a very minor recurring role on\* How I Met Your Mother\*. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2008, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-looked-like-they-would-become-big-stars-but-didnt/445552/102 "2008-04-18T03:46:45Z")
[QUOTE=Big Bad Voodoo Lou] I know Marsters had a band, Ghost of the Robot, but I wasn’t sure if he had dropped out or they broke up, or if he’s in a new band now. I still can’t believe the guy is 46! And I had no idea Denisof had Bell’s Palsy. Wesley was my favorite character on both shows, and Denisof was such a great, intense actor that I never noticed. I do know he’s married to Alyson Hannigan and has had a very minor recurring role on\* How I Met Your Mother\*. [/QUOTE] I think Marsters band released a CD recently… Well, I’m pretty sure his band has started a tour in 2008 (in the UK). Denisof was diagnosed with Bell’s Palsy right before the final season of _Angel_. You can sort of see it in latter day headshots, his smile is bigger on the right side. But the final seasong of Agnel was pretty grim, so it’s not like he was smiling much. I certainly never noticed. ---
**Author:** ![pesch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pesch/32/4925_2.png) [@pesch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pesch)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2008, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-looked-like-they-would-become-big-stars-but-didnt/445552/103 "2008-04-18T05:03:03Z")
Carrie Fisher’s also found a good living acting as script doctor. Lot less stress, and the money’s still pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2008, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-looked-like-they-would-become-big-stars-but-didnt/445552/104 "2008-04-19T17:24:20Z")
[QUOTE=pesch] Carrie Fisher’s also found a good living acting as script doctor. Lot less stress, and the money’s still pretty good. [/QUOTE] When she does still act she’s still got it, though. Her guest shot on _30 Rock_ earlier this year as the groundbreaking TV writer Liz idolized from the 1970s was one of the funniest episodes of a funny show. One of my favorite lines was “_Man this place hasn’t changed at all over the years. Does everyone still do blow in Joe Garagiola’s office?_” and the tour of her home in Little Chechnya. Fisher discussed her illness on one interview I saw conducted at her home. When asked how severe it was before she was medicated she asked the interviewer “Do you like that lamp on my desk?” When he responded “Yeah, it’s beautiful…” she told him “Yeah, it should be. It’s antique and an original Louis Tiffany. It cost a quarter of a million dollars. That I didn’t have. But I had to have it… that’s the kind of thing you get when you’re young and manic and coked up and have an unlimited American Express Card. It took me years to pay it off and the hell of it is I never particularly liked it, but I keep it for inspiration to take my medicine.” Her novels are great also. The first chapter of [The Best Awful](http://www.amazon.com/Best-Awful-Carrie-Fisher/dp/B0009WUV30/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208625715&sr=8-2) (sequel to _Postcards From the Edge_) is entitled “The Man Who Got the Man Who Got Away” is one of the most manic thrillrides of an opening I’ve ever read (and sadly autobiographical- it’s based on an unmedicated/self medicating manic odyssey she had when her husband left her for another man). ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2008, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-looked-like-they-would-become-big-stars-but-didnt/445552/105 "2008-04-19T20:27:20Z")
That is one hell of a Carrie Fisher quote. I love her even more now. ---
**Author:** ![Chanteuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de053/32.png) [@Chanteuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chanteuse)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2008, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-looked-like-they-would-become-big-stars-but-didnt/445552/106 "2008-04-19T20:39:29Z")
[QUOTE=Krokodil] I’m surprised Elisabeth **Shue** didn’t leave a bigger **footprint**. [/QUOTE] _snort_ ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2008, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-looked-like-they-would-become-big-stars-but-didnt/445552/107 "2008-04-19T21:38:27Z")
[QUOTE=Beware of Doug] This deserves to be highlighted - it’s _not_ the audience that makes stars, _it’s the industry_. You can be as popular as you like on Main Street, but if you’re poorly promoted, make one too many flops, drop out of the biz for while, or piss anybody off, it’s bye bye stardom. Anybody wondering “where are they now” or “why aren’t they bigger” - look first to the industry. [/QUOTE] Perhaps Treat could use a Quentin Tarantino type to come into his life. Worked for Travolta and he was as good as dead to the industry as well as most early fans. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2008, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-looked-like-they-would-become-big-stars-but-didnt/445552/108 "2008-04-20T19:09:17Z")
Claire Danes. I’ve been watching “My So Called Life” from Netflix and then I looked her up on IMDb. She did some movies–“Brokedown Palace” and “Romeo + Juliet” which were popular back in the day, but lately…nothing. It seemed like she was going places and she was way personable in “My So Called Life” and totally gorgeous…what happened? ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2008, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-looked-like-they-would-become-big-stars-but-didnt/445552/109 "2008-04-20T19:33:31Z")
[QUOTE=Freudian Slit] Claire Danes. I’ve been watching “My So Called Life” from Netflix and then I looked her up on IMDb. She did some movies–“Brokedown Palace” and “Romeo + Juliet” which were popular back in the day, but lately…nothing. It seemed like she was going places and she was way personable in “My So Called Life” and totally gorgeous…what happened? [/QUOTE] She was actually very good in Stardust last summer. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2008, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-looked-like-they-would-become-big-stars-but-didnt/445552/110 "2008-04-20T19:59:26Z")
[QUOTE=Freudian Slit] Claire Danes. I’ve been watching “My So Called Life” from Netflix and then I looked her up on IMDb. She did some movies–“Brokedown Palace” and “Romeo + Juliet” which were popular back in the day, but lately…nothing. It seemed like she was going places and she was way personable in “My So Called Life” and totally gorgeous…what happened? [/QUOTE] That’s not true. While it appears she took a two year hiatus after Brokedown Palace, she’s been quite busy with some high profile projects. She played a lead in the big budget Terminator 3, and she was also the poster girl for Shopgirl. I also liked her a lot in The Family Stone from 2005. And though it wasn’t the greatest film ever made, she was decent in the otherwise snooze-worthy Stage Beauty. And hey, bonus, she did nudity in two of those. Though she did kind of pull a Thora Birch. Just like Thora’s costar Scarlett Johansson skyrocketed past her after Ghost World as Thora seemed to fade, Claire’s costar from Brokedown Palace Kate Beckinsale shot past her on the celebrity scale as Danes went MIA. ---
**Author:** ![diggleblop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@diggleblop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diggleblop)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2008, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-looked-like-they-would-become-big-stars-but-didnt/445552/111 "2008-04-21T01:25:30Z")
[Chris O’Donnell](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000563/) ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2008, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-looked-like-they-would-become-big-stars-but-didnt/445552/112 "2008-04-21T13:12:03Z")
_The Goodbye Girl_ was on TCM yesterday and . . . Quinn Cummings? ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2008, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-looked-like-they-would-become-big-stars-but-didnt/445552/113 "2008-04-21T14:15:10Z")
[QUOTE=Sampiro] When she does still act she’s still got it, though. Her guest shot on _30 Rock_ earlier this year as the groundbreaking TV writer Liz idolized from the 1970s was one of the funniest episodes of a funny show. One of my favorite lines was "\*Man this place hasn’t changed at all over the years. [/QUOTE] This is quite true. She really has quite the knack for comedic timing. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2008, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-looked-like-they-would-become-big-stars-but-didnt/445552/114 "2008-04-21T14:42:03Z")
[QUOTE=diggleblop] [Chris O’Donnell](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000563/) [/QUOTE] As mentioned above (page two-ish, I think). Chris O’Donnell is a super-dad. He has five kids now and deliberately took time away from Hollywood, in order to maintain a good work-life balance and to be a family man and a “regular guy” (so he finished his univeristy degree between movies). In interviews he has stated that, as the youngest of seven, he’s always wanted to be a dad and has always wanted to be very active in his kids’ lives. He actively chose not to be Mr. Superstar, saying in a 1999 interview: “I gave myself a life for a couple of years. I really haven’t had one for most of this decade. . . I lived for so many years going from one hotel suite to another. I longed for the normal routine my friends enjoy so that’s what I did.” ---
**Author:** ![medstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f07891/32.png) [@medstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/medstar)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2008, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-looked-like-they-would-become-big-stars-but-didnt/445552/115 "2008-04-22T02:38:34Z")
I nominate Bruce Greenwood. He’s a very handsome man, good actor, but he’s just not the superstar that he should be. It’s a shame because he’s taken parts in sad movies that just break my heart. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2008, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-looked-like-they-would-become-big-stars-but-didnt/445552/116 "2008-04-22T03:04:20Z")
[QUOTE=Ellis Dee] That’s not true. While it appears she took a two year hiatus after Brokedown Palace, she’s been quite busy with some high profile projects. She played a lead in the big budget Terminator 3, and she was also the poster girl for Shopgirl. I also liked her a lot in The Family Stone from 2005. And though it wasn’t the greatest film ever made, she was decent in the otherwise snooze-worthy Stage Beauty. And hey, bonus, she did nudity in two of those. Though she did kind of pull a Thora Birch. Just like Thora’s costar Scarlett Johansson skyrocketed past her after Ghost World as Thora seemed to fade, Claire’s costar from Brokedown Palace Kate Beckinsale shot past her on the celebrity scale as Danes went MIA. [/QUOTE] Okay, fair enough. She’s doing stuff–I just started wondering why she wasn’t huge. The Ghost World/Brokedown Palace comparison is a good one. I just was somehow expecting Claire Danes to be…huger. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Punkyova](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@The\_Punkyova](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Punkyova)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2008, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-looked-like-they-would-become-big-stars-but-didnt/445552/117 "2008-04-22T03:47:55Z")
[QUOTE=Sigmagirl] _The Goodbye Girl_ was on TCM yesterday and . . . Quinn Cummings? [/QUOTE] [Quinn Cummings](http://qcreport.blogspot.com) ---
**Author:** ![Leiko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Leiko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leiko)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2008, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-looked-like-they-would-become-big-stars-but-didnt/445552/118 "2008-04-22T08:11:29Z")
[QUOTE=Sam Stone] Dirk Benedict is an actor that never got his career off the ground. He was quite charismatic in the original “Battlestar Galactica”, and I remember him being touted as the next big thing after he got good reviews co-starring in “The A-Team”. He had to battle cancer, which may have scuttled his career, but he’s still alive 30 years later, so I guess he whipped it. [/QUOTE] If the way they talk about him in his home town of White Sulphur Springs is any indication, it might be an attitude problem. (My best friend’s grandmother used to babysit Dirk!) Of course the town’s opinion isn’t the best indicator; when you never come back to visit the town- so I’ve been told, maybe he has visited- and you leave behind beef for a macrobiotic diet, you don’t do much for popular opinion of yourself in a tiny town that relies on cattle ranches. But it seems more like it was raising the kids that kept him out of show biz after BSG and The A-Team. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-looked-like-they-would-become-big-stars-but-didnt/445552.md?page=5)