Gabrielle Anwar - she was in Scent of a Woman and The Man in the Iron Mask, then not much else that was noteworthy
Mira Sorvino purposely appears in fewer movies (and smaller movies when she does) since 2004 because she wants to spend more time with her family.
Secondly, whoever said Eliza Dushku must be suffering from Buffy overload. Sure, she was fun as Faith, but I never heard any It Girl talk about her beyond Kevin Smith, who apparently thinks she is the most amazing woman in the world that he’s not married to.
After Clueless, I expected to see a lot more from Alicia Silverstone, but her career doesn’t seem to have gone anywhere since (aside from Blast From The Past). Meanwhile, Brittany Murphy was in a secondary role in that movie, and has since had a much bigger career.
I don’t get why Marisa Tomei is included. Since 1993 she has been nominated for 3 Oscars and has won one. How many other actors could say that?
My friends and I have always referred to these as “Ione Skye actresses”. She was considered to be the actress-of-the-future when Say Anything released. I just looked her up, and she’s been working consistently, but is obviously in the forgotten backwaters of industry awareness.
poof, fizzle.
thank you for correcting my spelling…
**KtK **- I went with “actresses” for brevity’s sake in a thread title; I use “actors” generically IRL. As for the casting couch issue - I just can’t see it: I think the studios look at these actors as a new product release, like Swiffer hand towels to flank Swiffer mops, or Coke Zero to flank regular Coke. If the brand gets traction, they build it out; if not - stop making that one and move on…
I understand that Shannyn Sossamon actually had a baby when her star was on the rise.
Thora Birch from American Beauty and Ghost World comes to mind. I thought she’d have at least a Parker Posey-level indie darling career, but the last thing I saw her in was a made-for-the-Sci-Fi-Channel movie.
And speaking of American Beauty, I always thought that “It Boy” Wes Bentley would go on to have more of a career than he did.
And while Eliza Dushku has been mentioned, what about Sarah Michelle Gellar or Alyson Hannigan? OK, neither of them have exactly dropped off the face of the Earth. But after “Buffy”, AFAIK, Gellar appeared in a hacky horror flick “the Grudge” with a cameo in the sequel, and Hannigan is fourth or fifth billed in a humdrum, MOR sitcom.
Interesting that you mention Carrie Snodgress. I had a friend who attended the Goodman School of Performing Arts with her, before she got that role in Diary of a Mad Housewife. She was loathed by everyone in the school and my friend, who had met his share of divas, said she defined bitch on wheels. My guess is she didn’t get any further work because of her personality.
One problem many of these actresses have is that they all sort of look alike. If you put twenty of them in the same room, auditioning for the same role, you could easily play eeny meeny miney mo and nobody would know the difference. I am not saying some don’t have more talent than others, but many of them just don’t “stand out” on their own. Most could wear the exact same dress and shoe size.
Male actors usually have more of a “look” that separates them from other actors. The leading man, the action hero, the nerd, the horn-dog, the scientist, the wise father, etc. Granted, male actors more often than not get stuck playing the same kind of role over and over, but at least they find work and have their “niche”.
I find it a lot easier to watch an episode of Law and Order and say, “That guy looks familiar…oh yeah, he played [fill in the blank] supporting role in [fill in the blank].” It is a lot harder to say the same with women, due to make up, costuming etc. which means, for me at least, it is much harder to recognize a woman in a role until much later in the show/film.
Which proves you don’t watch it. How I Met Your Mother is awe… wait for it… some. And a ton of other people on this board will say the same. Plus, every interview featuring Alyson Hannigan in the waning days of Buffy had her talking about wanting to do a sitcom. Is it really fair to say she failed when she’s doing exactly what she wants?
And Thora Birch had a breakdown after Ghost World.
She’s currently in Burn Notice.
Julia Ormond has a pivotal role in a movie that’s been nominated for 13 Oscars, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. She’s in the movie from beginning to end.
My husband and I refer to that as Hollywood pretty. If you saw her in a store in the middle of nowhere, you’d likely think she was one of the prettiest people in the building, but because those looks are so ubiquitous on the screen, they all sort of blend together into one homogeneous look. Their sheer similarity makes them almost plain.
On that point, I will mention that even if an actress has some initial success in movies or TV, getting a reputation as “difficult” will snuff out a promising career more thoroughly than appearing in five Battlefield Earth-type flops in succession.
Rachel McAdams was supposed to be the next big thing a couple of years ago. She seems to have vanished. Kate Bosworth got shoved down our throats in that Superman movie. She stunk it up and her career hasn’t exactly exploded.
Back in late 80’s or early 90’s, Linda Fiorentino was getting all kinds of hype as the next Meryl Streep. That fizzled pretty quickly.
I’ve never seen HIMYM, so I can’t vouch for its quality, but I was going to say the above exactly. Hannigan spoke openly about her dream being to appear in a long-running sitcom, and it sounds like she has exactly what she wanted.
Julia Stiles is who immediately came to mind. She was in a bunch of really popular movies while I was in high school, and then…?
Pivotal? You could take Ormand out of that movie and it wouldn’t be noticeable.
She’ll be in some fairly noticeable movies coming out this year.
I’m not sure what the yard stick is for this sort of thing.
Demi Moore went from no. 1 box office after Ghost ,to zip. Her problem is she can not chose a role very well. Plent of chances but GI Jane for christ sake. What was she thinking?