# Stars that bucked your expectations **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 30, 2014, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stars-that-bucked-your-expectations/702975 "2014-10-30T04:47:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 13
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2014, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stars-that-bucked-your-expectations/702975/13 "2014-10-30T14:27:02Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Brad Pitt. It’s not that I had low expectations to start with, I had none at all. Then after Se7en and 12 Monkeys I realized the guy was a real actor. 12 Monkeys did it for me. I thought he was just a pretty boy actor going into it. Great performance. > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I’ve mentioned this one before. Back when I saw _Animal House_ in 1978, I would have predicted Bruce McGill was going to be the breakout star. > > McGill’s worked steadily since then but he’s never become a major star. See, I think the exact opposite. When I look at Animal House I find it amazing that the most successful actor in the movie would turn out to by Bruce McGill, the guy who barely had a line. Belushi obviously would have been bigger had he lived. Tom Hulce won an Oscar but did not have much of a movie career. I think he does much more stage work. Tim Matheson has worked but never became a star. The others have worked too but none as much as McGill. He has always found his way on to TV shows and movies. And he always delivers. He currently has a big supporting role in _Rizzoli and Isles_. I purposely left out Kevin Bacon. His part was slightly bigger than an extra. Tim Matheson has more acting credits but he started as a child actor. McGill has been more visible but Matheson has done steady work. James Widdoes doesn’t do much acting but I was surprised to see how much directing he does. Tom Hulce does not have an IMDB credit after 2008. Peter Reigert seemed to disappear for a while but has been doing more work that I have seen lately. Karen Allen had some (obviously) huge movie roles but her career has been spotty. Stephen Furst, Babylon 5 and St Elsewhere of course but spotty work in between. So I would have to say Bruce McGill comes out on top. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stars-that-bucked-your-expectations/702975)._