Actresses Who Didn't "Stick to the Wall"

Cafe Society
1

Okay, I guess I didn’t mean to be stirring a pot, but kinda did.

This thread is about “the Girl” roles in movies - or at least now I get that. I kinda thought it might also be about hyped actresses - you know, ones that get a full media blitz, end up in some pretty well-respected situations (top movies, winning an Oscar even), but then flame out, or at least settled down to a level not nearly on par with all the hoopla. The arc is high but short, and often has a “manufactured” feel, where some PR/Studio machine throws a lot of weight behind the actress, kinda realizes they aren’t sticking, and then moving on…

I was wrong - well, about that thread, at least. And Evil Captor set me straight by Post #33, but he also pointed out that my topic might make a decent thread - I suspect it has a couple-few times before…

And when I cited folks like Geena Davis, Gretchen Mol, Shannon Sossamyn and Marisa Tomei as examples of the type of actress I am talking about, **foolsguinea **posted:

While I appreciate the snark, sir - surely you wouldn’t say that either has lived up to winning an Oscar - Davis in a failed TV show about a woman president and plenty of other fizzles (and please don’t get me wrong - I think she is great and am bummed that she and, say, Margaret Colin, couldn’t end up with higher-profile careers - very tall, intelligent, cheek-bony brunettes are my weakness), and Tomei pops up regularly, like in the Wrestler, but not much and with baggage (heck, Mickey Rourke is talking smack about her - Mickey Rourke?!). Mira Sorvino is an obvious addition to that group. Anyway - wouldn’t you agree that, in some fundamental way, they didn’t stick?

So - besides Julia Ormond, who else is out there? Or is my premise flawed?

2

There are many actresses who fit that arc. The classic example is Carrie Snodgress, who got hype and great reviews in Diary of a Mad Housewife, but whose career fizzled (partly by her own choice).

Jean Seberg is another example. She made a big splash as an unknown doing Saint Joan (though not to great reviews) and seemed set for stardom, but it never happens.

Millie Perkins wowed everyone in The Dairy of Anne Frank, but never made an impression afterwards.

3

There are a truckload of actresses like that. Off the top of my head, I’d add to your list Lisa Bonet (Angel Heart), Monica Potter (Con Air), Morgan Brittany (TV, Dallas), Eliza Dushku (True Lies), Lori Singer (Footloose) and Ashley Judd (Double Jeopardy).

Jennifer Aniston may join the club in a year or two. Despite her success in Friends, she’s had a pretty spotty film career.

4

Ashley Judd and Monica Potter (Monica to a lesser degree) both have pretty big-ass careers. I think many of the actresses listed here are in it for the acting; not for the stardom. They pick and choose work that appeals to them on an artistic level and both have played opposite some pretty big names. Ashley Judd, in particular, has made a conscious effort to stay away from the trappings of Hollywood stardom.

5

Except that Jean Seberg was the worst singer in the history of motion pictures, and I can prove it.

6

The funny thing here is that, in my mind, both Colin and Tomei are both “most famous for” being on the soap opera As The World Turns. They were both on it when I first started watching it as a pre-teen, and when I see their names, despite all that either of them have done since, the first things I think are “Margo” and “Marcie”.

Edited: I should note that Meg Ryan is also in this little group. She was also on ATWT, playing Betsy Stuart, when I started watching the show, and all of her stardom since then hasn’t displaced her as that character in my head.

7

Might it make sense to draw a distinction between those who can act (Marisa Tomei, e.g.) vs. those who can’t (Lori Singer – I watched Footloose again one recent wasted Sunday afternoon, and damn, she just wasn’t very good).

Jennifer Beals looked like another example, then she got a late second wind with The L Word, which I’ve never seen so I don’t know if she can act or not.

Anyway – when the hoopla won’t support the career of a woman who actually isn’t very talented, that’s one thing, but when the woman is talented but doesn’t catch the public’s fancy, or makes one too many bad choices, it’s another.

And I agree, Ashley Judd doesn’t belong on the list – she’s had a very solid career.

8

I recently rewatched Dangerous Beauty and found it just as beautiful and as much fun as I remembered, and its star, Catherine McCormack, incredibly beautiful and talented. She also made an impression as Mel Gibson’s short-lived wife in Braveheart, but, although IMDB shows a number of credits, mostly in British TV, she’s definitely not realized the star potential apparent in Dangerous Beauty.

Why?

Maybe she looks too much like Rebecca DeMornay?

9

I’ll give you Julia Ormond, who I haven’t seen since the excellent Smilla’s Sense of Snow.
And I’ll add Maura Tierney, a brilliant actress (really), who never made it out of the TV ghetto. Her career consists mostly of *News Radio *and ER, so she’s hardly a failure, but I never understood why she didn’t hit big in movies. I know she’s had a few roles, but I’ve never seen her in anything with any real meat to it, let alone a starring role in a big-budget production.

As I said, she’s got the technical chops. She’s also got the looks. I think she’s extremely beautiful. Of course, that may just be me, but I don’t think my tastes are so far from the norm that she’d be thought of as plain by anyone.

10

Speaking from a neutral perspective as someone who isn’t attracted to women in general, Tierney is…interesting-looking. I wouldn’t call her beautiful. Or pretty. She has a distinctive face…pleasant, I suppose. But not classically beautiful. It’s something about her mouth or chin, I think.

11

I know it’s completely un-PC, but I just can’t help occasionally wondering if some of the [del]actresses[/del] female actors who have careers stall for no apparent reason wind up in the “where are they now” file because they wouldn’t submit to the advances of some producer, director, or co-star.

12

Eye of the beholder. I haven’t seen her for a few years, but on NewsRadio she was a babe.

13

Who knows. Personal taste in beauty is naturally going to be idiosyncratic.

But I don’t think there’s any question as to her acting ability. The number of actors who can do both brilliant comedy (News Radio) and serious drama (ER) *really, really well *is vanishingly small.

14

I agree about her talent, though her storyline on ER has edged awfully close to melodrama at times. But that’s not her fault so much as the writers. At one point I was seriously getting tired of the Abby Crazy-Train of Drama.

15

Don’t forget the actress from which she was cloned - Dana DeLaney.

16

In her defense, Shannyn Sossamon is consistently held to be “oh-so-hot” by me and the roommates. I think part of this appeal is that she’s clearly not the type of glamorous, bright lights movie star that she was perhaps positioned to be earlier.

Hence, she delivers in her role in the splendid Wristcutters, but is pretty unlikely to be noticed by the general public anymore.

17

I wouldn’t say so, no. I would suggest a greater number of actresses rise and fall because they submitted to the advance of time: they hit their first big paycheck and want to raise a family, or they aren’t all that keen on the plastic surgery treadmill that many Hollywood actors run just to stay in pictures.

Every actor in Hollywood wants that mysterious It: looks, charm, talent, and that big break. Most make do with three out of the four. Men keep their looks longer, from Hollywood’s narrow point of view, giving male actors a longer shelf life. Female actors strike while the iron is hot and then many drift away.

18

Gretchen Mol popped into my head right after I read the thread title.

19

Juliette Lewis? Julia Stiles? Julie Warner (Doc Hollywood)?

20

Piper Perabo was supposed to be the next big thing after Coyote Ugly. Now she’s getting fourth-billed in talking dog movies.