Why isn't X a big star?

Stockard Channing is a brilliant actress who I’ve long been highly impressed by. But for most of her career she has been the sidekick or a secondary character.

As a sideline, I didn’t realize she is now 63.

I guess Grease was that long ago, wasn’t it? :eek:

And even Irons’ cred as an actor was severely damaged. I think his participation in that movie signalled to everyone that he had entered the “cash the big paycheck” chapter of his career.

You’re telling me. People can’t even get his last name right. :smiley:

True. Her career has taken an odd detour since the late 90’s when it looked extremely promising. Her career was thriving when she was lead in small independent films but once she took a high-profile role in the remake of The Haunting, it’s been downhill ever since. It’s especially strange when you consider that her co-stars in that big budget disappointment (Liam Neeson, Catherine Zeta Jones, and Owen Wilson) didn’t see their careers suffer as a result of being in that movie. It’s almost like the powers that be in Hollywood got together and decided Taylor was the one who was going to take the hit for being in that flop.

Irony is a cruel mistress.

Lili Taylor did a lot of TV after The Haunting, the other three stayed in movies. I’d imagine if she did more than a few movies since The Haunting, she’d be more known as a movie actress.

Or maybe the conspiracy got to me… :eek:

Doesn’t help that he has a habit of publicly bagging one of his movies if he thinks it’s bad. (See the Time Machine.)

I’m not saying she’s totally disappeared. It’s just that from the perspective of where her career was ten years ago, having it now mostly consist of doing guest shots and playing supporting roles in TV shows seems like a bit of a comedown. There could be a lot of reasons why Taylor’s career met its early potential. Perhaps it’s because Hollywood considers her appearance and manner to be “too quirky” or it could be just another example of how difficult it is for even a talented actress to find good roles in movies.

Guy Pearce is well-known to movie fans thanks to awesome turns in L.A. Confidential and Memento. However, he may have a Val Kilmer-sized ego that ends up hurting his career. I remember him saying something like he was too good of an actor to do superhero movies, and then turned around and made The Time Machine, a horrible wannabe-steampunk movie that bombed. Meanwhile, other equally-talented actors have gone on to even greater levels of success in superhero movies, and become household names as a result: Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, and Tobey Maguire being the most obvious. Even Edward Norton, one of the greatest actors of this age bracket, is starring in the next Hulk movie, and Robert Downey Jr. is playing Iron Man next year. I thought Pearce would have been great playing Daredevil, and it would definitely have put him on the map as far as superstardom goes – it helped the less-talented Ben Affleck, who wasn’t nearly as popular before the movie.

All these stars will soon find a home on some crappy TBS doctor or police related show, where they are the “Big Name” and every episode degrades them further and further.

I know she’s not exactly unknown today, but I still feel a bit puzzled as to why Sherilyn Fenn never became the superstar she deserves to be. Great actress and (to me, anyway) the most beautiful woman who ever lived. She even seems like a really nice person. So what gives? Boxing Helena couldn’t have been THAT bad, can it?

I mentioned Bruce McGill in a similar thread in the past. He played D-Day in Animal House and stole every scene he was in. I figured he was going to be the real breakout star from the movie. Now it’s thirty years later and he’s had a respectable career as a character actor (he’s appeared in six movies this year plus some TV work) but he clearly never jumped to the next level.

Yes it could. Kim Basinger ended up giving up millions of dollars in a lawsuit just so she wouldn’t wreck her career by starring in that turkey. I’m afraid Fenn wasn’t so fortunate.

Giovanni Ribisi is one of my favorite actors,if he is in it,I will watch it.

He will get his due.

Thomas Gibson. I was inpressed with how well he was in Dharma & Greg, and his work in Criminal Minds is excellent.