# Huge movies that failed to produce a star? (Or, actors who failed to turn a hit into stardom) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 8, 2018, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-movies-that-failed-to-produce-a-star-or-actors-who-failed-to-turn-a-hit-into-stardom/810236 "2018-03-08T13:56:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2018, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-movies-that-failed-to-produce-a-star-or-actors-who-failed-to-turn-a-hit-into-stardom/810236/81 "2018-03-10T00:30:34Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > Porky’s, despite being critically reviled, was a huge hit in 1982 but did it boost the career of any of its lead actors? Kim Cattrall did become a recognizable name but that was years later with “Sex and the City”. > [@nightshadea](#): > > you forgot the cinematic master piece of mannequin … You’re right. She was also in the first **Police Academy** movie and even though it was financially successful, her career didn’t get much of a boost out of that film either. How hopeless do you have to be as an actress if you’re the lead actress in three high-grossing movies over a five year period but don’t achieve any significant stardom or public recognition? ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2018, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-movies-that-failed-to-produce-a-star-or-actors-who-failed-to-turn-a-hit-into-stardom/810236/82 "2018-03-10T10:53:08Z")
I wonder about Dana Andrews and “The Best Years of Our Lives”. It was a critically acclaimed and popular film of its day. The wiki article on it says that of films released before 1950 only “Gone With The Wind”, “Bells of St Marys”, “The Big Parade” and four Disney films have done more total business, mainly due to re releases. Andrews had a long career afterwards (I think he did well with real estate investments) but did he have stardom? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2018, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-movies-that-failed-to-produce-a-star-or-actors-who-failed-to-turn-a-hit-into-stardom/810236/83 "2018-03-10T23:13:19Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > As for actors who failed to turn a hit into stardom, I have to mention Hayden Christensen from the Star Wars prequels. He never really had another role that was as high profile as Anakin Skywalker. And poor Jake Lloyd. It can be a tough road for a child actor, but he was so roundly hated in that role I don’t know if he ever acted again. Ditto the guy who did Jar Jar Binks’s voice. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2018, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-movies-that-failed-to-produce-a-star-or-actors-who-failed-to-turn-a-hit-into-stardom/810236/84 "2018-03-11T00:34:54Z")
> [@Jim\_s\_Son](#): > > I wonder about Dana Andrews and “The Best Years of Our Lives”. It was a critically acclaimed and popular film of its day. The wiki article on it says that of films released before 1950 only “Gone With The Wind”, “Bells of St Marys”, “The Big Parade” and four Disney films have done more total business, mainly due to re releases. Andrews had a long career afterwards (I think he did well with real estate investments) but did he have stardom? Yes. His real breakthrough was in the classic film noir\*\* Laura\*\* in 1944 and for about 20 years he had a good run. He was a good actor but, compared to some of his peers, he just didn’t seem to leave much of an impression on later viewers. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2018, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-movies-that-failed-to-produce-a-star-or-actors-who-failed-to-turn-a-hit-into-stardom/810236/85 "2018-03-11T00:36:15Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > As for actors who failed to turn a hit into stardom, I have to mention Hayden Christensen from the Star Wars prequels. He never really had another role that was as high profile as Anakin Skywalker. It’s a shame. People find it hard to believe, but he’s actually a pretty good actor. I enjoyed the movie “Awake”. It’s a fun movie and he’s really good in it. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2018, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-movies-that-failed-to-produce-a-star-or-actors-who-failed-to-turn-a-hit-into-stardom/810236/86 "2018-03-11T02:54:24Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > It’s a shame. People find it hard to believe, but he’s actually a pretty good actor. I enjoyed the movie “Awake”. It’s a fun movie and he’s really good in it. It was his film “Shattered Glass” that really impressed me. It’s a vastly underrated film. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2018, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-movies-that-failed-to-produce-a-star-or-actors-who-failed-to-turn-a-hit-into-stardom/810236/87 "2018-03-11T04:04:14Z")
He got excellent reviews for _Life as a House_, too. ---
**Author:** ![squidfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a87d85/32.png) [@squidfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squidfood)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2018, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-movies-that-failed-to-produce-a-star-or-actors-who-failed-to-turn-a-hit-into-stardom/810236/88 "2018-03-11T21:32:00Z")
While Robin Wright and Cary Elwes have had respectable careers, they didn’t leap into leading roles the way I thought they would when _The Princess Bride_ came out. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2018, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-movies-that-failed-to-produce-a-star-or-actors-who-failed-to-turn-a-hit-into-stardom/810236/89 "2018-03-11T23:34:37Z")
I liked “Rogue One” a lot, but thus far, no one in the cast has emerged as a star. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2018, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-movies-that-failed-to-produce-a-star-or-actors-who-failed-to-turn-a-hit-into-stardom/810236/90 "2018-03-11T23:40:13Z")
It’s only been [del]a couple of years[/del] fifteen months since that movie was released. That’s way too early to tell if any of the cast achieves star status. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2018, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-movies-that-failed-to-produce-a-star-or-actors-who-failed-to-turn-a-hit-into-stardom/810236/91 "2018-03-11T23:52:13Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > He got excellent reviews for _Life as a House_, too. He did – and he was nominated for a Golden Globe and a SAG award for it. Plus, that film came out a year before his first appearance as Anakin, in AotC. The Prequels were full of actors who were well-regarded for other performances, but when working with Lucas’s actor-unfriendly scripts and direction, and when playing on a green-screen set, against virtual actors who would be added in during post-production, most of them did turn in less-than-stellar performances. In Christensen’s case, I do wonder if those performances, early in his career, hindered perceptions of him (and the roles which he would later get). Natalie Portman apparently managed to avoid that fate, but maybe he didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2018, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-movies-that-failed-to-produce-a-star-or-actors-who-failed-to-turn-a-hit-into-stardom/810236/92 "2018-03-12T14:42:01Z")
Ewan McGregor’s career also didn’t seem to suffer from his gigs as Obi-Wan. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2018, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-movies-that-failed-to-produce-a-star-or-actors-who-failed-to-turn-a-hit-into-stardom/810236/93 "2018-03-12T14:56:57Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Ewan McGregor’s career also didn’t seem to suffer from his gigs as Obi-Wan. Very true, though he’d already had several significant roles (including Trainspotting and Velvet Goldmine) before TPM. Of everyone who was in the Prequels, it always seemed to me that McGregor was the one who realized that he wasn’t getting any help from his director or script, so he was just going to have fun with it. ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2018, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-movies-that-failed-to-produce-a-star-or-actors-who-failed-to-turn-a-hit-into-stardom/810236/94 "2018-03-12T20:49:46Z")
The closest person to “auto watch” status for me is still Cruise. He has let me down a couple times, but I generally know, if he’s in it, it’s going to be good. Guy knows how to pick fun, interesting scripts. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huge-movies-that-failed-to-produce-a-star-or-actors-who-failed-to-turn-a-hit-into-stardom/810236.md?page=4)