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Actors you thought were going to be "a thing" but you were completely wrong about.

posted 3 years ago by samoanjoes (56645)
149 replies | jump to latest

Michelle Ryan. She was in the short lived "Bionic Woman" show. She was a decent actress and was hotter than Satan falling into a volcano while eating a jalapeño pepper. I thought she would be big just on her looks alone but she never did anything big afterwards.

Aidan Turner. He was sort of big in Ireland. I saw him in "Being Human" but he left the show to do "The Hobbit" movies. He even had the movie star look that the ladies would love. I thought he would be a huge star but I was completely wrong.

Dillon Freasier. He was the kid in "There Will be Blood". He held his own opposite Daniel Day-Lewis. How was I supposed to know he was going to be in nothing afterward? Literally not a single thing.

Paul Walter Hauser. He was brilliant in "Richard Jewell". I thought he was going to get an Oscar nomination. He didn't and has been in mediocre movies since.

[–] Capnbucky (2218) 3 years ago

Kelsey Grammer

[–] samoanjoes (56645) 3 years ago

He's had a successful career.

[–] Capnbucky (2218) 3 years ago

Not as a movie star

[–] samoanjoes (56645) 3 years ago

Down Periscope won 7 Oscars.

[–] Mustang (5418) 3 years ago

Really? Not bad for a silly comedy. I only watched it once and can't say I feel a need to see it again.

[–] samoanjoes (56645) 3 years ago

I was joking.

[–] Mustang (5418) 3 years ago

That's a relief.

[–] Iffy762 (1334) 3 years ago

I feel like he's more of a tv actor.

[–] [deleted] 3 years ago

"Paul Walter Hauser. He was brilliant in "Richard Jewell". I thought he was going to get an Oscar nomination. He didn't and has been in mediocre movies since."

I first saw him in Kingdom. Thought he was an awesome character actor.

His talents are wasted in Cobra Kai though.

[–] samoanjoes (56645) 3 years ago

I didn't even know he was in that.

[–] Iffy762 (1334) 3 years ago

Me neither. Aha. Stingray!

[–] Ticketsplease (4024) 3 years ago

I'm surprised Josh Duhamel hasn't done something bigger. He's always a solid supporting actor.

[–] Mustang (5418) 3 years ago

He was in everything back in the 2000s then kind of disappeared.

[–] samoanjoes (56645) 3 years ago

Josh Duhamel is consistently in stuff but none of it is as big as Transformers.

[–] Mustang (5418) 3 years ago

He kind of has that every man thing that Tom Hanks has except his range isn't quite as good.

[–] Mustang (5418) 3 years ago

Christina Applegate I always thought she was too late. She had a classic 80s vibe.
Nikki Cox plastic surgery killed her career.
Jennifer Garner.
Timothy Olyphant.

[–] samoanjoes (56645) 3 years ago

I still can't believe Nikki Cox had her own show in the 90s.

[–] Mustang (5418) 3 years ago

She was hot but then ruined herself. When I saw her in Vegas it was like a different woman.

Not much acting ability but they did throw a lot of support behind her.

[–] Who (5146) 3 years ago

Michael Imperioli - thought he was going to be a next gen De Niro

Noah Wyle - he was the star of ER but seemed to only get small roles after that whereas co-stars George Clooney, Juliana Maguiles, and Maura Tierney went on to do bigger things.

Robert Sean Leonard - he was great in The Dead Poets Society but not sure what happened to his career after that.

Josh Hartnett - good looking guy. Was in lots of big films in early 2000s then not so much. Heard he quit acting.

Elizabeth Shue - started off in cute girlfriend roles then did serious Award-worthy drama in Leaving Las Vegas then her career stalled.

Jena Malone - got a few big roles post child-actor years but not for long.

[–] Mustang (5418) 3 years ago

I always got the sense Shue wanted to be seen as a serious actress. She started doing films that were less mainstream and her career suffered.

Robert Sean Leonard had an ongoing role in the tv show House and he has worked since then but I haven't seen any of it.

I'm surprised by Wyle as well but I think the cheesy Librarian films ended his career.

[–] Iffy762 (1334) 3 years ago

I think the Librarian films became a tv series and he was in that series for some of it. But I don't know what he did after that. Another person who was in the Librarian series was Lindy Booth, who I don't think was ever destined to become a big actor but I always thought she was very pretty and very talented. She's one I would love to see in more stuff.

[–] samoanjoes (56645) 3 years ago

Josh Hartnett didn't quit. He was in "Wrath of Man" last year.

Michael Imperioli is a weird one because he even won an Emmy and nothing became of him.

[–] Who (5146) 3 years ago

Idk, articles like this gave the impression that he stepped away from mainstream films

https://pagesix.com/2021/12/08/josh-hartnett-reveals-why-he-left-hollywood-in-rare-interview/

[–] samoanjoes (56645) 3 years ago

Hit piece.

[–] Who (5146) 3 years ago

Yeah true, but there are a few of the same out there. Point is I thought Hartnett was going to be an A list star, not just working as a supporting player in Statham’s latest flick.

[–] Mustang (5418) 3 years ago

Louis Gosset Jnr won an Oscar and then went onto not much of acclaim. I was surprised when I checked his IMDB page just now and saw he has been making stuff all this time.

[–] Iffy762 (1334) 3 years ago

Wasn't Robert Sean Leonard in House for years?

Elisabeth Shue always annoyed me, to be honest. There's usually been something very cloying about her in the things I've seen her in. But I have to admit, for the one season she was on The Boys, she really elevated it (if you can say something like that about a series like that), and she wasn't cloying at all.

[–] Who (5146) 3 years ago

IDK, never watched House. I only know the main actor. Again, after DPS I thought he’d have a big screen career.

[–] Freddy (1325) 3 years ago

like to watch old movies and you are right so many where excellent but some how got lost in the shuffle

[–] actionkamen (23176) 3 years ago

Justin Timbelake. He's got a big name and he was super good in Alpha Dog. I actually liked his acting more than his music. They tried to make him a legit actor in the early 2010s but then just went nowhere.

[–] samoanjoes (56645) 3 years ago

I wouldn't mind if he retired at everything he does.

[–] TandyMan (11096) 3 years ago

I think Timberlake had a hard time getting good scripts away from established actors. But I liked him on the screen.

[–] mikethemartian (6708) 3 years ago

Watching old episodes of Buck Rogers I was wondering why I hadn’t seen Gil Gerard in more things after the series ended. He seems like he would have been a natural to be part of an ensemble cast in a war or western movie.

[–] Mustang (5418) 3 years ago

He's had steady work surprisingly enough, just not much of it has been well known.