# Decide who gets to be a bigger star! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 22, 2006, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decide-who-gets-to-be-a-bigger-star/361763 "2006-06-22T19:51:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2006, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decide-who-gets-to-be-a-bigger-star/361763/1 "2006-06-22T19:51:08Z")
Let’s say that one day you’re out jogging, or walking the dog, or whatever activiity most commonly takes you out of doors, when you see see an old man choking. Remembering your first aid training, you admnister the Heimlich manuever in the nick of time. Afterwards, looking at you in gratitude, the old man turns to you and says, “Meet me at this address tonight at sundown. Dress nicely.” Doing as you’re told, you find that you’ve saved the life of the leader of the[Stonecutters](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonecutters). In gratitude, you are being inducted into the ranks of the people who keep the metric system down and control the British crown. Because you saved the life of the leader, you’re given your choice of committee assignments. You choose the movie/tv/recording artist committee. If the Stonecutters can make Steve Guttenburg a star, you think, then surely there’s someone more deserving you can make the biggest star in the world. Who do you choose? ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2006, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decide-who-gets-to-be-a-bigger-star/361763/2 "2006-06-22T19:56:40Z")
Ah! I forgot to answer my own question! For me, it’s the lovely and alliterative [Laura Linney](http://newsfeed.tcm.ie/images/people/lauralinneyPA.jpg). Any movie she wants the starring role in, she gets; I trust her judgment. In fact, any role she wants, she gets. Any interview she wants, she gets. She has approximately ten thousand times the talent of (shudder) Julia Roberts, and she deserves more recognition, damn it! Anybody else? ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2006, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decide-who-gets-to-be-a-bigger-star/361763/3 "2006-06-22T20:06:39Z")
[Courtney Fairchild](http://www.courtneyfairchild.com/) gets a shot at a big time label. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2006, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decide-who-gets-to-be-a-bigger-star/361763/4 "2006-06-22T20:25:24Z")
If acting talent and good looks were the only criteria, [Jeff Fahey](http://www.thespiannet.com/actors/F/fahey_jeff/index.shtml) should have been a star long ago. While I’ve enjoyed his many B-movie efforts, I’d love to see this guy get the acclaim he deserves. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2006, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decide-who-gets-to-be-a-bigger-star/361763/5 "2006-06-22T20:40:39Z")
**Ry Cooder, John Hiatt, David Lindley, and Maria Muldaur** should all be bigger stars than they are. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2006, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decide-who-gets-to-be-a-bigger-star/361763/6 "2006-06-22T21:21:40Z")
Not to be cliche or anything, but… (assuming we’re not just talking about performers here): **Joss Whedon** ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2006, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decide-who-gets-to-be-a-bigger-star/361763/7 "2006-06-22T22:11:50Z")
Kate Mara Alan Tudyk Selma Blair (what, I’ve got a crush) Allison Mack [Scott Schwartz](http://imdb.com/name/nm0777435/), just for the hell of it. ---
**Author:** ![Rachael\_Rage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71c47a/32.png) [@Rachael\_Rage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachael_Rage)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2006, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decide-who-gets-to-be-a-bigger-star/361763/8 "2006-06-22T22:11:58Z")
I vote for Chicago glam-rock icon **[Bobby Conn](http://www.bobbyconn.co.uk/)**. I simply do not understand why he’s not the biggest rock star in the universe. His wee 5’4" frame oozes talent and charisma from every pore. He is easily the best recording artist I’ve ever seen live, and I’ve seen a lot of people. Whether alone or with a band, he’s never short of mesmerizing. Why is he not the undisputed Rock God of the 21st century? I just. don’t. get it. :shakes head: ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2006, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decide-who-gets-to-be-a-bigger-star/361763/9 "2006-06-23T02:51:37Z")
me? ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2006, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decide-who-gets-to-be-a-bigger-star/361763/10 "2006-06-23T05:56:09Z")
> [@Love Rhombus](#): > > Alan Tudyk Agreed. And, also, Jena Malone. ---
**Author:** ![Clockwork\_And\_Candy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b782af/32.png) [@Clockwork\_And\_Candy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clockwork_And_Candy)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2006, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decide-who-gets-to-be-a-bigger-star/361763/11 "2006-06-23T06:17:39Z")
I simply could not narrow it down to just one. **Gillian Anderson**. Yes, people, she isn’t _always_ Agent Scully. Am I the only one who saw _The House of Mirth_? **Laura Linney**. Again, see _House of Mirth_. **Elisabeth Shue**. I know, I know-- _Hollow Man_ and _Hide and Seek_ sucked. But, c’mon! She was in _Back to the Future Part II_, _Adventures in Babysitting_ and _The Karate Kid_. Cut her some slack. **Leelee Sobieski**. Cute, despite the fact that she looks like Helen Hunt. **Thora Birch**. Who’d 'ave thought that it’d be Scarlett who’d make it big after seeing _Ghost World_? Not I. **Holly Hunter**. 'Member _The Piano_? She’s also got a killer body. **Mia Sara**. What happened to your career? **Robin Wright Penn**. See above. **Sarah Polley**. Stop directing and go back to acting. Please. **Monica Potter**. You are so gorgeous. Like Julia Roberts, but pretty. Why doesn’t anyone know who you are? ---
**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:** [June 24, 2006, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decide-who-gets-to-be-a-bigger-star/361763/12 "2006-06-24T20:59:58Z")
I think [Kari Wuhrer](http://www.kariwuhrer.net/switch.html)prolly has what it takes to be an A-list star, though her career has been mostly B-movies and General Hospital stuff. She’s better looking than, and a better actress than Jennifer Garner. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2006, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decide-who-gets-to-be-a-bigger-star/361763/13 "2006-06-24T21:09:30Z")
Definitely myself. I’d be starring in revivals of _Inherit the Wind_, \* Death of a Salesman\*, and _All My Sons_ before turning my attention to standup, while considering other “heavy” projects.