# 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:** 1\ **Showing post:** 38
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2013, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-were-sure-would-make-it-big-and-they-didnt/677194/38 "2013-12-26T16:14:10Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > My pick would be Bruce McGill. I remember seeing him back in _Animal House_ (playing D-Day) and thinking he’d be the guy who would go on to be a major star. But while he’s had a solid career he never rose out of the supporting level. The other guy from Animal House that I was sure would make it big was [Tim Matheson](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001513/?ref_=tt_cl_t14), who played Eric Stratton, they frat guy who seduced Dean Wermer’s wife. He had that easy Jack Lemmon (in his prime), cocktail-party, polo-shirt smooth manner. If Tim had come on the scene after _Mad Men_ became popular, he probably \*would \*have made it big. Instead he wound up as the cheated-on husband in a bunch of Lifetime movies IIRC. I loved it when he took Mrs. Wermer up to his room, and he loosened his tie in that James Bond way… and all he was wearing was a toga and a tie. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-were-sure-would-make-it-big-and-they-didnt/677194)._