# Actors you were sure would make it big, and they didn't **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 26, 2013, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-were-sure-would-make-it-big-and-they-didnt/677194 "2013-12-26T03:47:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2013, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-were-sure-would-make-it-big-and-they-didnt/677194/101 "2013-12-29T23:27:05Z")
Lukas Haas. Seemed like a talented kid, figured he’d go places. But he’s a [funny looking adult](http://images.starpulse.com/pictures/2007/10/16/previews/Lukas%20Haas-PRN-008992.jpg), it has to be said, and not the handsome leading man type at all. ---
**Author:** ![smokey78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@smokey78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smokey78)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2013, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-were-sure-would-make-it-big-and-they-didnt/677194/102 "2013-12-29T23:29:39Z")
I really thought the gals from Twin Peaks would make it. I could count Lara Flynn Boyle for she got The Practice, but folks like Sheryl Lee or Sherilyn Fenn or Madchen Amick. I would see them on an off on short-lived Tv series, but nothing substantially noteworthy. I know Madchens been working steadily so at least that and now she on witchy drama cable series. Sheryl Lee did a couple of short tv shows I recall, incidentally she is married to Neil Diamond’s son, and had a son few years back. The one I thought was a classic beauty (when I first saw her on As the World Turns) was Peyton List and everyone in the soapworld swore up and down she would make it big. She has worked steadily in the past ten years but no series has gone past a season ( think she has had four tv shows) she did have recurring role on Mad Men. As Sterling’s second wife Jane. She’s now in a CW series, The Tomorrow People where viewers I’ve heard wished she wasn’t in this thankless role that is wasting her talent. ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2013, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-were-sure-would-make-it-big-and-they-didnt/677194/103 "2013-12-29T23:40:22Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Stephanie Zimbalist, despite her gorgeous appearance and family connections, hasn’t seemed to have gotten a lot of work since Remington Steele. I LOVED Stephanie Zimbalist, and I used to watch Remington Steele whenever I got the chance, even though I loathe (and continue to loathe) Pierce Brosnan. Hate that guy, always did, always will. I don’t know why exactly, but there is something about him that just irks me. > [@Uniqueorn](#): > > Edward Furlong, the kid from Terminator 2. I thought with his looks and intensity, he would become a modern day James Dean. Furlong is kind of a freaky, awkward guy. And I’ve read he is difficult to work with. But there are always people that are hard to work with that continue to get work, so who knows the real reasons? I personally don’t care for Furlong, and I’m not surprised he hasn’t made it big. I will throw out Maura Tierney, who I also adore. Her most recognizable work was probably as Richard Gere’s legal assistant in Primal Fear, but she has had a pretty decent career. I always thought she was very attractive and couldn’t understand why she didn’t become a bigger star. Maybe i have bad taste in women. Did I mention my crush on Stephanie Zimbalist? 😃 As far as a Steve Guttenberg goes, I always looked at him as a poor man’s Tom Hanks. He and Hanks were both up and coming around the same time, they look similar, but Hanks for whatever reason (maybe talent) took off, and Guttenberg didn’t. My male nomination for this thread is Mark Harmon. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2013, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-were-sure-would-make-it-big-and-they-didnt/677194/104 "2013-12-29T23:47:01Z")
Danny Bonaduce ( **The Partridge Family** ) had maybe the most promising debut of any sitcom kid ever; I’m kind of surprised he didn’t have a durable career in sitcoms. Lisa Gerritsen ( **Mary Tyler Moore, My World and Welcome To It** ) and Jay North ( **Dennis the Menace** ), too. It seems like Skip Sudduth keeps getting set up to be the next big cop show hero, but nothing ever seems to come of it. And why isn’t Denis Leary freakin’ _huge_ at this point? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2013, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-were-sure-would-make-it-big-and-they-didnt/677194/105 "2013-12-29T23:50:05Z")
> [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > As far as a Steve Guttenberg goes, I always looked at him as a poor man’s Tom Hanks. He and Hanks were both up and coming around the same time, they look similar, but Hanks for whatever reason (maybe talent) took off, and Guttenberg didn’t. I used to think of Michael Keaton as the poor man’s Tom Hanks, and that Steve Guttenberg was the poor man’s Michael Keaton. And Judge Reinhold is the poor man’s Steve Guttenberg, which is a bit sad. Somewhere in there is Alan Ruck. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2013, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-were-sure-would-make-it-big-and-they-didnt/677194/106 "2013-12-29T23:52:04Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > I don’t know but I think the aforementioned Clancy Brown has been big enough. Not only is he iconic in Highlander and Shawshank Redemption, has a nice role in Starship Troopers and all the voice work…he’s got to be one of the most universally liked actors around. I’ve never heard of anyone who doesn’t like Clancy Brown. I don’t know either. Clancy Brown has been more successful than 99% of all actors. > [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > I LOVED Stephanie Zimbalist, and I used to watch Remington Steele whenever I got the chance, even though I loathe (and continue to loathe) Pierce Brosnan. Hate that guy, always did, always will. I don’t know why exactly, but there is something about him that just irks me. > > Furlong is kind of a freaky, awkward guy. And I’ve read he is difficult to work with. But there are always people that are hard to work with that continue to get work, so who knows the real reasons? I personally don’t care for Furlong, and I’m not surprised he hasn’t made it big. > I will throw out Maura Tierney, who I also adore. Her most recognizable work was probably as Richard Gere’s legal assistant in Primal Fear, but she has had a pretty decent career. I always thought she was very attractive and couldn’t understand why she didn’t become a bigger star. > > Maybe i have bad taste in women. Did I mention my crush on Stephanie Zimbalist? 😃 > As far as a Steve Guttenberg goes, I always looked at him as a poor man’s Tom Hanks. He and Hanks were both up and coming around the same time, they look similar, but Hanks for whatever reason (maybe talent) took off, and Guttenberg didn’t. > My male nomination for this thread is Mark Harmon. Mark Harmon??? The star of the highest rated TV show on TV for the last decade? America’s biggest tv star is probably not a good example for this thread. Sure his movie career wasn’t huge but I think he has made up for it. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-were-sure-would-make-it-big-and-they-didnt/677194/107 "2013-12-30T00:06:58Z")
> [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > I will throw out Maura Tierney, who I also adore. Her most recognizable work was probably as Richard Gere’s legal assistant in Primal Fear, but she has had a pretty decent career. I always thought she was very attractive and couldn’t understand why she didn’t become a bigger star. She was supposed to play Sarah Braverman on the current TV show The Parenthood, but had to drop out due to receiving treatment for breast cancer. Lauren Graham ended up with the role. And of course she was on Newsradio and ER, so she’s had a reasonably successful television career. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-were-sure-would-make-it-big-and-they-didnt/677194/108 "2013-12-30T00:07:36Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Mark Harmon??? The star of the highest rated TV show on TV for the last decade? America’s biggest tv star is probably not a good example for this thread. Sure his movie career wasn’t huge but I think he has made up for it. Interesting link from Wikipedia to a 1974 [People magazine](http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20064117,00.html) item when he was a senior at UCLA: > [@](#): > > Still, Harmon was good enough last season to quarterback UCLA’s varsity team, although he doesn’t plan a pro career. He will either go into advertising or law—he feels the contract field is ripe for an attorney with sports savvy. I think acting has worked out for him. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-were-sure-would-make-it-big-and-they-didnt/677194/109 "2013-12-30T00:08:42Z")
By the way, my contribution to the thread is Alicia Silverstone. After Clueless and Blast From the Past, I expected her to go onto bigger things, although Brittany Murphy seemed to have more success after Clueless than Alicia Silverstone. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-were-sure-would-make-it-big-and-they-didnt/677194/110 "2013-12-30T00:14:14Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > > [@AK84](#): > > > > Matthew Mcconaughey. He is busy fixing that though. > > If he didn’t make it big, then I don’t know what definition of “big” we’re using here. Agree that he’s had a big career. In the past few years, he’s been in Mud, The Paperboy, Dallas Buyer’s Club, The Wolf of Wall Street, and of course Magic Mike. He seems to choose interesting roles and not necessarily ones that trade on his good looks. ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-were-sure-would-make-it-big-and-they-didnt/677194/111 "2013-12-30T01:59:17Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Mark Harmon??? The star of the highest rated TV show on TV for the last decade? America’s biggest tv star is probably not a good example for this thread. Sure his movie career wasn’t huge but I think he has made up for it. Sorry. I was thinking of people who didn’t have big movie careers, not TV careers. I don’t know why, but I think of TV as a step below the movies. Even though it isn’t necessarily the case, I have a different view of the movie star vs. the TV star. When people went from the movies to tv, it used to be looked at as a career demotion, so to speak. That’s why some people, like Clint Eastwood or Tom Cruise would probably never be seen on a tv series again (i think Clint starred in one when he was younger, and before he stuck on the big screen). Harmon never caught on in the movies, and neither did Tierney. But yes, they both have had success, and as you point out, Harmon has had a great run on TV. ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-were-sure-would-make-it-big-and-they-didnt/677194/112 "2013-12-30T02:04:27Z")
I will also confess to having no idea who Clancy Brown was until I looked him up on IMDB. My first memory of him was in Bad Boys, with Sean Penn as a juvenile Delinquent. He played Viking, one if the two smacks who controlled the barn and gave out work assignments to the other JD’s. Until Penn beat the hell out of him and Tweety with a pillow case full of soda cans. ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-were-sure-would-make-it-big-and-they-didnt/677194/113 "2013-12-30T02:12:57Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Mark Harmon??? The star of the highest rated TV show on TV for the last decade? America’s biggest tv star is probably not a good example for this thread. Sure his movie career wasn’t huge but I think he has made up for it. Has NCIS really been the highest rated TV show for the past decade? And is he really considered america’s biggest TV star? I will grant you that he isn’t a good choice for this thread if we are including tv, but I honestly never thought about NCIS as being the best show for the last decade, or Harmon as being america’s biggest TV star. Not now, not ever. Anyone else care to chime in here a bit? I’m genuinely curious about this. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-were-sure-would-make-it-big-and-they-didnt/677194/114 "2013-12-30T02:54:14Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I used to think of Michael Keaton as the poor man’s Tom Hanks, and that Steve Guttenberg was the poor man’s Michael Keaton. And Judge Reinhold is the poor man’s Steve Guttenberg, which is a bit sad. > > Somewhere in there is Alan Ruck. I know it’s easy to rip Steve Guttenberg but the guy’s had one hell of a career. I’m not particularly partisan on him but dissing a guy who appeared in more films in the 1980s than any other actor seems cheap. OK, looking things up, he’s tied with Gene Hackman for the record between 1980 and 1990. It’s hard not to see him as ‘big’. But he doesn’t do a lot of serious or action stuff so he gets shunted into the ‘just does comedy’ pigeonhole. ---
**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:** [December 30, 2013, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-were-sure-would-make-it-big-and-they-didnt/677194/115 "2013-12-30T03:13:57Z")
> [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > Has NCIS really been the highest rated TV show for the past decade? > > And is he really considered america’s biggest TV star? Yes and yes, and by a pretty decent margin on both counts. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-were-sure-would-make-it-big-and-they-didnt/677194/116 "2013-12-30T03:17:49Z")
> [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > Has NCIS really been the highest rated TV show for the past decade? > > And is he really considered america’s biggest TV star? > > I will grant you that he isn’t a good choice for this thread if we are including tv, but I honestly never thought about NCIS as being the best show for the last decade, or Harmon as being america’s biggest TV star. Not now, not ever. > > Anyone else care to chime in here a bit? I’m genuinely curious about this. Depends on how you look at it. American Idol has had more viewers at times but NCIS has been the highest rated drama. Here is an article about Harmon’s new contract and the popularity of the show. [http://m.deadline.com/2013/02/mark-harmon-signs-new-ncis-deal-paving-the-way-for-renewal-of-hit-cbs-drama/](http://m.deadline.com/2013/02/mark-harmon-signs-new-ncis-deal-paving-the-way-for-renewal-of-hit-cbs-drama/) ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-were-sure-would-make-it-big-and-they-didnt/677194/117 "2013-12-30T03:25:18Z")
Half a mil an episode (his old deal) is still $11 million per year. Bet he cries all the way to the bank about not doing more movies. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-were-sure-would-make-it-big-and-they-didnt/677194/118 "2013-12-30T03:36:32Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > I know it’s easy to rip Steve Guttenberg but the guy’s **had** one hell of a career. _Had_. He potentially could have had a career trajectory aligned with Hanks. He arguably deserved to have one aligned with Matthew Broderick. But he hasn’t been in anything of note in _25 years_, not since the _Three Men and a Baby_ sequel if that even counts. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-were-sure-would-make-it-big-and-they-didnt/677194/119 "2013-12-30T03:50:14Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Half a mil an episode (his old deal) is still $11 million per year. Bet he cries all the way to the bank about not doing more movies. His new deal is estimated at $700,000 an episode. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-were-sure-would-make-it-big-and-they-didnt/677194/120 "2013-12-30T03:57:17Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > By the way, my contribution to the thread is Alicia Silverstone. After Clueless and Blast From the Past, I expected her to go onto bigger things, although Brittany Murphy seemed to have more success after Clueless than Alicia Silverstone. Somebody pointed out that while George Clooney’s career survived _Batman & Robin_, that movie killed the careers of Chris O’Donnell and Alicia Silverstone. Both had been up-and-coming stars and that bomb made them has-beens. It would damaged Uma Thurman’s career but Quentin Tarantino stuck with her and _Kill Bill_ helped rebuild her reputation. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-were-sure-would-make-it-big-and-they-didnt/677194.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-were-sure-would-make-it-big-and-they-didnt/677194.md?page=7)