These Actors Were Going To Be Big Stars – Then They Fizzled Out
It's just about impossible to anticipate the long-term trajectory of a Hollywood career. Various factors, from the whims of movie producers to personal demons to plain old bad luck, can derail what once seemed like a promising career.
A Redditor recently posed the question in the r/moviecritic subreddit of which actors seemed like they were on the track to superstardom before fading away. While these actors have had successful careers on their own merit, it once felt like they would be bigger.
Michael Biehn
"Alien 3 killed off his character, Hicks, off-screen, and he missed big roles like Platoon and The Fly. Typecasting and personal struggles, including alcoholism, held him back.
For me, he's one of those actors who had the talent but never got the recognition he truly deserved."
Hayden Christensen
"It's a shame because Star Wars fans (most of them at least) have really come to love him and his portrayal of Anakin. It’s just sad that he had to endure so much hate for his acting and the dialogue to the point it tanked his career."
"He co-starred in Life is a House with Kevin Kline years ago. He actually can act, but he was never going to escape that role."
Chris O'Donnell
"I remember Scent of a Woman, and 3 Musketeers, and something else, thinking he was going to be huge."
"I think the emergence of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck rocked a couple careers. They just exploded, and were really charismatic, sharp, funny, and still to this day hold huge power in Hollywood. Ethan Hawke and Chris O'Donnell always come to mind as people who lost out to them."
Mira Sorvino
"She was supposed to be in The Lord of the Rings but because she got into a fight with Weinstein, the role went to Liv Tyler."
"She won an Oscar for The Mighty Aphrodite so young, too."
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau
"He's got it all but never really launched into stardom after GoT"
"He's a pretty big star in Denmark/Northern Europe. He does a lot of stuff there. He may just want to live at home."
Mickey Rourke
"As I understand it, he was going to be the next De Niro or something."
"Yeah, he was extremely popular in his heyday. More like he became a huge star but squandered it"
Aaron Eckhart
"The guy has it all just never a big headliner."
"He's not a good actor, in my opinion. Everything he does is forced. He was ok in The Dark Knight but otherwise I really don't enjoy his roles."
Skeet Ulrich
"I used to describe him as the Johnny Depp of the Midwest. I'm not even sure exactly what it means, but I think it fits."
"At the time he was cast in Scream, he was being called by the entertainment mags as 'the next Depp, ' and I kind of wish people would stop calling people the next anyone."
Taylor Kitsch
"He's not a breakout star, but the man can act. He was great in Waco and American Primeval."
He was given the chance to be a leading man with John Carter, which was a massive flop, and Battleship, which underperformed. Neither was really his fault but that's how the cookie crumbles in this business.
Josh Hartnett
"Josh Hartnett made the decision to leave Hollywood and was all the better for it. Also, incredibly stand up guy!"
"He completely walked away at the height of his fame, then came back in a very restricted manner, only doing passion projects in small indies for a stretch."
Brendan Fraser
"He's a star, but Brendan Fraser should've been WAAAAAY bigger."
"He was in EVERY movie that our generation saw no matter how dumb (George of the Jungle, Bedazzled, The Mummy, Monkey Bone, Blast From the Past, Encino Man, Airheads...)"
Christian Slater
I think he ticked off someone huge in Hollywood and then he was blacklisted. I remember him from Robin Hood. Then I didnt see him again before Mr. Robot."
"I think he seemed often like he was doing a Nicholson impersonation instead of being himself and acting."
Anna Faris
"I feel like she never got a big time shot at her moments because of her involvement with the Scary Movie series."
"She's in a lot of B movies and they're okay but the writing is bad in most of them since she's type casted at the ditzy blonde in 99% of things she was in."
Gretchen Mol
"She had a 'New It Girl' Vanity Fair cover. A few things her and there. She didn't want to play the game. Refused to travel away from NYC for her young kids etc."
"If she can sleep at night and live the life she wants, then God bless her, I'm happy for her, that's worth not seeing her as a star."
David Duchovny
"He didn't fade away after leaving The X-Files, but every industry rag was predicting that he'd be the next Hollywood leading man following his departure. He obviously found success in TV again, and he's had a few film roles, including Return to Me with Minnie Driver, which I really liked."
"His career isn't a failure, but he's not the 'George Clooney Version 2' many were expecting."
Bruce Campbell
"While I wish he got more movie roles he has a great TV career. Brisco County Jr, reccurring roles in Hercules and Xena, Burn Notice, and a decent run with Ash Vs Evil Dead."
"It looked like to me he only became a film actor to help out on his friend's movie (Sam Raimi) and didn’t want to pass up good paying gigs."
Charlie Hunnam
"There was were a few years there where he was being cast as a lead. He's much better as a support."
"He has excellent chops, he is just choosy about roles. He backed out of playing Christian Grey in 50 Shades. While I think it was a good creative decision on his part he would have launched into the stratosphere if he played that role."
Robert Carlyle
"Talented and versatile. For me, he was supposed to be as big as Gary Oldman."
"I read somewhere that Robert Carlyle turned down a lot of Hollywood offers in the late '90s and early '00s because he wanted to stay close to his family in Britain."
Josh Lucas
"I don't know why, but I always considered him a lite version of Matthew McConaughey."
"He should have hit it big. He's a great looking guy with the acting chops but Poseidon hurt him as a leading man."
Sam Worthington
"He's set for life with his Avatar gigs. But back in 2009, people, especially people in Australia were expecting him to be the next Heath Ledger."
"He had a great five-year run, that's more than many leading men can ask for."
Jonathan Majors
"He had a whole arc being set up for the Marvel Character Universe as their next big bad and then harassment and assault charges killed that."
"In addition to his MCU role he was also capitalizing from a well received Lovecraft Country role and his role in Creed. He had the whole world served to him and he just spat on it."
Shia LaBeouf
"He faded away, know he had issues but so many were able to come back. Wonder what was different about him."
"People hate working with him, and is known to be a terrible human in real life per good sources, and he doesn't seem to dispute much of this."
Billy Zane
"He had a starring role in The Phantom, then he was the villain in Titanic. He had that old-school Hollywood way about him, like a latter day Errol Flynn. But... fizzled out."
"I genuinely thought he was gonna be a big name only to end up seeing him pop up in the most random of roles like playing himself in Zoolander."
Alison Lohman
"She was amazing and I had a huge crush on her. She actually decided to leave acting on her own and be a mom."
"Allison Lohman was so beautiful. Still is, but she used to be, too."
Nick Stahl
"I'm still salty about Carnivale’s cancellation."
"I always found his face distracting. I'm not sure what it is. I think he's a decent actor but (other than Carnivale), I can't get into his movies for some reason."
Rutger Hauer
"He's my fave, I love his movies, even the cheesiest of them, but after Blade Runner it seemed like he’d be one to watch out for but ended up fading into cult status."
"I'm also a huge fan of his part as Sallow in Blood of Heroes and Wulfgar in Nighthawks. I mean, the dude was basically great in everything, even his minor bit in Batman Begins."
Jason Patric
"Let's be honest, Speed 2 was never going to launch him... I mean it's kind of hard to follow Keanu in a franchise, and even more so when the movie is just plain awful."
"He wasn't a lead, but he was outstanding as a nihilistic soldier in The Thin Red Line."
Jonathan Rhys Meyers
"Bro was rolling off The Tudors and an acclaimed performance in Match Piece. Then addiction got him, and now he's doing B-movies with Bruce Willis and John Travolta."
"He was big in the '90s and in the UK before the Tudors. Problem is so much of his career was based on his looks and the romantic access due to that. Obviously as you get older this can be harder to do."
Stuart Townsend
"I thought he would have been bigger by now. Eastern Promises was brilliant. His 2 Cronenberg films…"
"Listen to the Lord of the Rings episodes on the 'What Went Wrong' podcast about movies. They give amazing details about the casting, shooting, and release of the movie."
Carl Weathers
"[He] should have been what Sly and Arnold were. He oozed charisma and had amazing presence on the big screen."
"Sports Illustrated said he was going to be the next Arnold Palmer."
