# 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:** 7
**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, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-were-sure-would-make-it-big-and-they-didnt/677194/121 "2013-12-30T03:59:23Z")
Well, Chris O’Donnell is now starring in NCIS: Los Angeles. So he’s not starring in big Hollywood movies, but presumably a lead role in a network drama pays well enough. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-were-sure-would-make-it-big-and-they-didnt/677194/122 "2013-12-30T04:13:22Z")
I thought after _Titanic_ Billy Zane would have got some more high profile roles but he sort of disappeared into forgetable stuff. I also expected to see more Andy Garcia in starring or supporting roles of big budget films after Godfather 3, Untouchables, Black Rain, etc. The last thing I remember him in are the Oceans movies. And I don’t know what happened to Val Kilmer. He went from super huge star wise to super huge literally. ---
**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, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-were-sure-would-make-it-big-and-they-didnt/677194/123 "2013-12-30T04:24:06Z")
Billy Campbell ought to have been a success, in my opinion. _The Rocketeer_ may not have been a huge hit when it came out, but it has had persistent cult appeal and he should have been able to capitalise on that. He’s been in a few TV series, but none have managed to do very well. ---
**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, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-were-sure-would-make-it-big-and-they-didnt/677194/124 "2013-12-30T04:33:50Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > 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/) NCIS isn’t just the highest rated drama, it’s the highest rated show, period. It has better ratings than Sunday Night Football, for cryin’ out loud. That’s monster ratings. Note that Harmon’s deal is $700 thousand per episode **plus profit sharing**. That’s huge. Ashton Kutcher is still likely getting a higher per-episode paycheck but he gets no participation on the back end. According to [this link](http://www.themalaymailonline.com/showbiz/article/ashton-kutcher-still-the-highest-paid-actor-on-us-television), back in August of this year the top three highest paid TV stars were Ashton Kutcher ($750k), Jon Cryer ($650k) and Mark Harmon ($525k), all figures per episode. ---
**Author:** ![Mississippienne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mississippienne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mississippienne)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-were-sure-would-make-it-big-and-they-didnt/677194/125 "2013-12-30T04:35:02Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > And I don’t know what happened to Val Kilmer. He went from super huge star wise to super huge literally. I mentioned him before, but Val Kilmer has a reputation as being VERY hard to work with. While filming _The Island of Doctor Moreau_, Kilmer got into one of his snits and Marlon Brando told Kilmer “Your problem is, you’re confusing your talent with your paycheck.” You make enough enemies in high places, and it’ll come back to bite you in the ass. ---
**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, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-were-sure-would-make-it-big-and-they-didnt/677194/126 "2013-12-30T05:14:14Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > 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/) > [@EllisDee](#): > > NCIS isn’t just the highest rated drama, it’s the highest rated show, period. It has better ratings than Sunday Night Football, for cryin’ out loud. That’s monster ratings. > > Note that Harmon’s deal is $700 thousand per episode **plus profit sharing**. That’s huge. Ashton Kutcher is still likely getting a higher per-episode paycheck but he gets no participation on the back end. According to [this link](http://www.themalaymailonline.com/showbiz/article/ashton-kutcher-still-the-highest-paid-actor-on-us-television), back in August of this year the top three highest paid TV stars were Ashton Kutcher ($750k), Jon Cryer ($650k) and Mark Harmon ($525k), all figures per episode. Well, thank you both for fighting my ignorance. I had no idea. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-were-sure-would-make-it-big-and-they-didnt/677194/127 "2013-12-30T05:26:23Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > 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. Though, like his BFF DiCaprio, resistant to aging. In the opening scenes of \* Lincoln\* he’s playing a farmboy turned soldier even though he’'s in his mid 30s. Re: Judge Reinhold: he also has a reputation for being very difficult to work with/very obnoxious, which is probably all the more damaging since he can’t open a film. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-were-sure-would-make-it-big-and-they-didnt/677194/128 "2013-12-30T05:33:21Z")
> [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > Well, thank you both for fighting my ignorance. I had no idea. Ditto - I’ve never seen NCIS and didn’t even know Harmon starred in it, much less that it was such a big deal. ---
**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, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-were-sure-would-make-it-big-and-they-didnt/677194/129 "2013-12-30T05:40:03Z")
[Here’s a link](http://www.zap2it.com/zap-season-ratings,0,4865486.htmlstory) that illustrates just how insane it is. I mean, seriously; NCIS? Really?! Contents of link transcribed: Nielsen Television - TV Ratings for Primetime: 2012-13 Season-to-Date Top 20 Network Primetime Series through March 24, 2013 #1 NCIS 21,898,000 #2 Sunday Night Football 21,443,000 #3 The Big Bang Theory 18,847,000 #4 NCIS: Los Angeles 17,952,000 #5 American Idol-Wednesday 16,361,000 It beats the NFL, which I still can’t wrap my head around, and crushes American Idol so badly that its spin-off also beats American Idol. heh. ---
**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, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-were-sure-would-make-it-big-and-they-didnt/677194/130 "2013-12-30T06:43:19Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > #4 NCIS: Los Angeles 17,952,000 _NCIS:LA’s_ ratings are even more absurd to me, as the show is completely awful. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-were-sure-would-make-it-big-and-they-didnt/677194/131 "2013-12-30T08:04:08Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > 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. Yes, which is why I wrote “he is busy fixing that” in my post. Please tell me what his career was like pre _Lincoln Lawyer_? He was a punchline. Here is a [contemporary](http://www.vulture.com/2011/03/matthew_mcconaughey_gets_gasp.html)review Since then his career has taken off and as this article points out,[he has not looked back](http://www.dailytexanonline.com/life-and-arts/2013/11/14/matthew-mcconaugheys-career-makes-a-comeback). There is even a [trope for it.](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CareerResurrection) ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-were-sure-would-make-it-big-and-they-didnt/677194/132 "2013-12-30T08:48:00Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > 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. What also hurt Silverstone was [forming her own production company](http://theinsider.etonline.com/gossip/55628_Alicia_Silverstone_on_Her_Clueless_Mistakes/). Producing is usually a good idea: gives you creative control. But she was only 18, the first project was **Excess Baggage** (ever heard of it, except for this? Me neither), and I guess after that, people figured they might as well burn money as invest it in one of her endeavors. Come to think of it, that’s probably a common factor with many/most of the people mentioned in this thread. Difficult to work with, getting older, not hugely talented…those things matter, but what’s most important is the ability to **make money happen**. If you can do that, you can be as difficult and old and marginally talented as you like. If you can’t, straight-to-video. Or get married. Or train for something else. ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-were-sure-would-make-it-big-and-they-didnt/677194/133 "2013-12-30T11:58:09Z")
What about Shannon Elizabeth? After her role in American Pie, I was sure she was enroute to the A-list. She’s worked steadily since then, but nothing like I expected. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-were-sure-would-make-it-big-and-they-didnt/677194/134 "2013-12-30T15:57:17Z")
I was also surprised that the Twin Peaks women didn’t do better in their later careers. David Lynch has a genius for casting actresses that are red hot … Joss Wheedon does, too, perhaps to a lesser extent. But IMHO luck has a lot to do with success in Hollywood. In a country of 300 million, where perhaps the number one most desired fate is to be a Movie Star, beautiful, talented actresses are a dime a dozen. With that kind of competitive pressure, random chance has to be an important element in who succeeds and who does not. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-were-sure-would-make-it-big-and-they-didnt/677194/135 "2013-12-30T16:37:03Z")
> [@Ms\_Boods](#): > > Powell has worked steadily on British TV and in the theatre, though. He was actually one of the better actors on _Holby City_ and I was sorry to see him go. > [@GuanoLad](#): > > _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. He had a brief but important role in _Veronica Mars_. My nomination is **Noah Taylor**. When I heard “the guy from _Shine_” had been nominated for an Oscar I assumed it was him as IMO he’d done a stunning job playing Helfgott as a teenager. But no, it was Geoffrey Rush who’d gotten it. Taylor seems to get steady work but he never really got big. Too quirky, I guess, like a British Crispin Glover with more talent. ETA: I’ve just noticed he’s in _Game of Thrones_. Huh. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-were-sure-would-make-it-big-and-they-didnt/677194/136 "2013-12-30T16:37:44Z")
Ralph Macchio aka Karate Kid. But the world only needed one Fonzie-lite, and it already had Scott Baio. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-were-sure-would-make-it-big-and-they-didnt/677194/137 "2013-12-30T17:37:27Z")
> [@Mississippienne](#): > > My pick is Rufus Sewell. He was excellent in _Dark City_, or even in the thankless bad guy role in _A Knight’s Tale_. It seems he got typecast in typical villain roles, and went back to the stage for the most part. I know him primarily from English-lit type shows like _Middlemarch_ and _Cold Comfort Farm_. I was astonished to see him in the recent BBC/HBO version of _Parade’s End_ playing a haggard and completely loony old clergyman. I said aloud, “My god–that’s Rufus Sewell. Remember when he used to be hot?” Doesn’t seem like that long ago. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-were-sure-would-make-it-big-and-they-didnt/677194/138 "2013-12-30T20:24:47Z")
If we did a thread of “Actors who made it big that you thought would be doing Hallmark Specials”, I’d say Jessica Alba. After Dark Angel folded, I thought she was all but done. ---
**Author:** ![Yodalicious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yodalicious/32/8195_2.png) [@Yodalicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yodalicious)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-were-sure-would-make-it-big-and-they-didnt/677194/139 "2013-12-30T21:33:23Z")
> [@the\_diego](#): > > Clancy Brown > Adrian Paul I thought Adrian Paul would have made a great James Bond. ---
**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, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-were-sure-would-make-it-big-and-they-didnt/677194/140 "2013-12-30T21:54:25Z")
> [@Daddypants](#): > > I thought Adrian Paul would have made a great James Bond. Speaking of James Bond, George Lazenby could have been sitting pretty, but didn’t want to do Bond. From [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Lazenby): > [@](#): > > His co-star Diana Rigg was among many who commented on this decision: > > ``` > The role made Sean Connery a millionaire. It made Sean Connery ... I truly don't know what's happening in George's mind so I can only speak of my reaction. I think it's a pretty foolish move. I think if he can bear to do an apprenticeship, which everybody in this business has to do - has to do - then he should do it quietly and with humility. Everybody has to do it. There are few instant successes in the film business. And the instant successes one usually associates with somebody who is willing to learn anyway.[15] > > ``` [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-were-sure-would-make-it-big-and-they-didnt/677194.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-were-sure-would-make-it-big-and-they-didnt/677194.md?page=8)