# Almost, But No Cigar--Actors Who Showed Promise of Superstardom, then... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 3, 2005, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-but-no-cigar-actors-who-showed-promise-of-superstardom-then/282766 "2005-01-03T01:37:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-but-no-cigar-actors-who-showed-promise-of-superstardom-then/282766/21 "2005-01-03T11:19:17Z")
> [@SPOOFE](#): > > Edward Norton. Sure, he’s a Name and is definitely known to a good chunk of the public, but he’s nowhere near the same class as, say, Tom Cruise or Johnny Depp. But he should be. He should be what Jude Law is rapidly becoming. Not that he still can’t, but it’s just surprising that he hasn’t already. Jude Law? Jude Law was in 17 different films in the last four months, all of them flops. I have a feelng that if we revive this thread in three years time Jude Law will be the headliner. Edward Norton, on the other hand, will never be Tom Cruise or Johnny Depp - he’s just not that good looking. Norton is an Great Actor, not a Movie Star. I have a feeling he’ll be the next Al Pacino, Dustin Hoffman or Sean Penn, none of whom ever reached Cruise-like levels of stardom. My nomination, incidentally, is Jason Patric. ---
**Author:** ![Menocchio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@Menocchio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Menocchio)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-but-no-cigar-actors-who-showed-promise-of-superstardom-then/282766/22 "2005-01-03T12:19:35Z")
Gary Sinise is doing alright, I guess, but I really thought he’d be right up there with Hanks after his brilliant turns in Apollo 13 and Forrest Gump. ---
**Author:** ![TPWombat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbce88/32.png) [@TPWombat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TPWombat)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-but-no-cigar-actors-who-showed-promise-of-superstardom-then/282766/23 "2005-01-03T12:22:42Z")
**[Sarah Patterson](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0666395/bio)**, who turned in a brilliant performance at age 14 in [**Company of Wolves**](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087075/combined), then seems to have just left acting. ---
**Author:** ![GraceTX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c4cdca/32.png) [@GraceTX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GraceTX)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-but-no-cigar-actors-who-showed-promise-of-superstardom-then/282766/24 "2005-01-03T12:40:58Z")
I don’t know if this counts, but I’ve always thought [Dennis Hopper](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000454/) should be a bigger star than he is. He’s been in some truly fantastic films (Easy Rider, Hoosiers, True Romance, etc.), but he never really made the transition to stardom. Pity, too. I think he’s great! ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-but-no-cigar-actors-who-showed-promise-of-superstardom-then/282766/25 "2005-01-03T12:44:56Z")
Alicia Witt. I guess Hollywood doesn’t take kindly to people with 200 IQs. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-but-no-cigar-actors-who-showed-promise-of-superstardom-then/282766/26 "2005-01-03T13:58:44Z")
I heard they thought James Cann was going to be HUGE after the Godfather. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-but-no-cigar-actors-who-showed-promise-of-superstardom-then/282766/27 "2005-01-03T14:56:02Z")
Alicia Silverstone comes to mind. When she did clueless, I was sure she was gonna become very famous. From IMDb it looks as if she’s still working, though nothing major. Julia Ormond looked like she was gonna make it, starring or co-starring in some high profile projects, but then she just vanished. All the casts from Melrose Pl. and Beverly Hills. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-but-no-cigar-actors-who-showed-promise-of-superstardom-then/282766/28 "2005-01-03T15:15:34Z")
_Someone_ must have thought \*\*Harve Presnell \*\* would be a big star, casting him in the lead in the big budget musical, **The Unsinkable Molly Brown** (this was about the same time Hollywood refused to cast Julie Andrews in **My Fair Lady** because she wasn’t a big enough name). The film flopped, and Presnell vanished, until he made a comeback as a character actor, notably in **Fargo** and **The Pretender**. Most people thought \*\*Carrie Snodgress \*\* would have a long, successful career after starring in **Diary of a Mad Housewife** , but she quit acting to live with Neil Young and by the time she returned, she was only in supporting roles. **Candy Clark** won an Oscar for her role in **American Graffiti** , but never reached stardom. ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-but-no-cigar-actors-who-showed-promise-of-superstardom-then/282766/29 "2005-01-03T15:15:54Z")
**Malcolm McDowell** His excellent performance in _if…_ caught the eye of Stanley Kubrick. He casted McDowell in _A Clockwork Orange_, which made him a big name and then… He never really became a big name again. That is until he was in _Caligula_, but that was more a “WTF were you thinking?” type of attention than super stardom. It’s too bad, because he’s a great actor. He just chooses direct-to-video type of roles. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9dc877/32.png) [@Mr\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-but-no-cigar-actors-who-showed-promise-of-superstardom-then/282766/30 "2005-01-03T15:16:32Z")
**Juliette Lewis**. I loved her early work. **Claire Danes** went off to uni but there is still time for her to be big. Where is **Christina Ricci** lately? **Ed Norton** is an interesting choice. I disagree in saying that he is not good looking enough for superstardom, he just doesn’t seem to care. **Sarah Polley** was a huge child star in Canada and was touted as a cross between Uma Thurman and Jodie Foster when she first crossed over to American film but she seems content making movies no one ever sees these days. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-but-no-cigar-actors-who-showed-promise-of-superstardom-then/282766/31 "2005-01-03T15:23:03Z")
> [@Agrippina](#): > > **Malcolm McDowell** He’s now the go-to guy when a B-movie needs a snarling “looks like Sting’s dad”-type villain. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-but-no-cigar-actors-who-showed-promise-of-superstardom-then/282766/32 "2005-01-03T15:29:54Z")
What the heck happened to **Christian Slater**? From what I could tell, he had the acting chops to transcend the 80s-teen-actor quicksand that engulfed the likes of Corey Feldman and Molly Ringwald. This guy seemed destined to inherit Jack Nicholson’s role in Hollywood (and I guess he still could). I know he’s been working and all, but Slater just doesn’t seem to be an A-lister anymore. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-but-no-cigar-actors-who-showed-promise-of-superstardom-then/282766/33 "2005-01-03T15:33:04Z")
**RealityChuck** _Candy Clark won an Oscar for her role in American Graffiti, but never reached stardom._ I am quite the Candy Clark fan myself, but she did not win an Oscar. ---
**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-but-no-cigar-actors-who-showed-promise-of-superstardom-then/282766/34 "2005-01-03T16:08:30Z")
> [@Mr Jim](#): > > Where is **Christina Ricci** lately? She seems to be content with mostly independent and smaller films. She definitely keeps working, and I noticed that the one she’s currently filming also stars Albert Finney, Liam Neeson, and Tim Robbins. > [@](#): > > **Sarah Polley** was a huge child star in Canada and was touted as a cross between Uma Thurman and Jodie Foster when she first crossed over to American film but she seems content making movies no one ever sees these days. Well, she was the female lead in the remake of _Dawn of the Dead_. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-but-no-cigar-actors-who-showed-promise-of-superstardom-then/282766/35 "2005-01-03T16:30:20Z")
After she did a story arc on the series, _Wiseguy_, I thought Joan Severance would have had a great career. Since then, she’s done mostly TV guest shots and direct-to-video crud. (OTOH, Kevin Spacey, who played her character’s brother, has done very well.) ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-but-no-cigar-actors-who-showed-promise-of-superstardom-then/282766/36 "2005-01-03T16:41:27Z")
Jennifer Beals was a Genuine Hot Patootie in _Flashdance_ (1983), then tanked horribly in _The Bride_. She seems to have done mostly teevee stuff since then. The only thing on her post-1985 filmography that I’ve even heard of is _Devil in a Blue Dress_. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Roboto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@Mr.Roboto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Roboto)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-but-no-cigar-actors-who-showed-promise-of-superstardom-then/282766/37 "2005-01-03T16:46:10Z")
Wolf Meister… Yes, Michael Parks especially after, “Then Came Bronson” Sir Laurence Harvey…Brilliant Actor! Should have received more leading roles here in the states. I’m not sure about his stardom in the U.K. Kristine Kaufman…As a young man, I saw her in “Tauras Bulba” probably my first screen crush. I never saw her again. I know she married her leading man, Tony Curtis from the movie. Ray Sharkey…Unfourtunately,he died too young. His re-occuring role in the Wiseguy showcased his talents. ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-but-no-cigar-actors-who-showed-promise-of-superstardom-then/282766/38 "2005-01-03T17:44:49Z")
**Michael Keaton** He was big in the '80s as a comedy actor, and then made it big as Batman in the early 1990s. And then he started taking crappy role after crappy role and now he’s doing TV cameos and box-office bombs (_Jack Frost_ and _Desperate Measures_ to name a couple). ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-but-no-cigar-actors-who-showed-promise-of-superstardom-then/282766/39 "2005-01-03T18:09:17Z")
Wasn’t Matthew McConaughey groomed to be the next Tom Cruise? Couldn’t quite crack the A-list, and now you don’t see him much. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-but-no-cigar-actors-who-showed-promise-of-superstardom-then/282766/40 "2005-01-03T18:13:30Z")
I just remembered **Christophe Lambert** , who started out good - Greystoke, Subway, Highlander… and lately [Absolon](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0300902/), [The Piano Player](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0293509/) [Vercingétorix](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0199481/) rating an abyssmal 2.7 at IMDb. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-but-no-cigar-actors-who-showed-promise-of-superstardom-then/282766.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-but-no-cigar-actors-who-showed-promise-of-superstardom-then/282766.md?page=3)