MovieChat Forums > Alicia Silverstone Discussion > Why didn't she become a huge star?

Why didn't she become a huge star?

posted 11 years ago by cherancooly
18 replies | jump to latest

In The Crush she was really very good in an at first promising but then predictable movie which still yielded her acclaim, and was humorous and endearing in the successful Clueless. Adding that to the popular Aerosmith videos why did that end up being the peak of her career, as opposed to going on to bigger films?

I've seen on a similar thread to this one that apparently she made bad choices with films later on but still surely she would;ve been given a good chance to make up for that? Also heard the idea that people were rooting for her to fail but I don;t understand that either. Surely she would have been much adored for her parts in Clueless etc earlier? When I think of succesful people who the public roots for to fail I think of people that others find very unlikeable like Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber, but Alicia at their age seemed as far from them as possible.

It's just strange to think given her very early success, 18 when Clueless came out, that that was her highest point of success. All I can think of is she found acting and her high profile at the time too much hassle and consciously rejected fame and acting in big movies, preferring to be under the radar.

[–] [email protected] 10 years ago

As if

[–] MickyMac (3252) 4 years ago

She's made movies that aren't all that shouted about. She's terribly associated with Clueless as the ditzy blonde, every time she spoke as Batgirl can't get her Clueless image out of your head.

[–] TMC-4 (20483) 3 years ago

https://www.datalounge.com/thread/27692728-kirsten-dunst%E2%80%99s-career-never-really-took-off.-why-

Her weight gain didn't help matters either. She became the "IT" girl of the moment on MTV in that Aerosmith video, then broke out in a very big way transitioning to the big screen with Clueless. Her acting skills were average at best (but certainly sufficient for that particular movie and genre). It was all about her "look" and her beauty really. She was harder to market after all of the well-reported wardrobe issues with that Batman movie and as she gained weight - her sexiness no longer translated the same on screen. The old adage about the camera adding 10 lbs. is actually quite true. I will never fail to be fascinated when I see a reality TV star (or on a more rare occasion - movie star) in person. They look so different - but almost always much "tinier" and...well, thinner in person. Some women in particular can be very beautiful in person while actually looking a tad chunky on a big screen. Some look very odd in person yet very fetching on film or in photos. Also, everyone gains weight in different ways - sometimes in face (never good for anyone on camera), sometimes hips/butt, sometimes - you get the point. The female stars who look the best often has very tiny frames, slender little limbs, long necks, cheekbones, big eyes, etc. When Silverstone gained weight, her look quick lost its edge. I'm sure she was still quite beautiful, but it no longer translated the same way on screen. Without acting talent to bolster her appeal - her fame dwindled quickly. She was only good for certain roles to begin with. Just my take on Alicia. I liked her fine, but she was no talented actress (like Kirsten and to a lesser degree IMO - Reese).

by Anonymous reply 77 January 5, 2021 7:07 AM

[–] HarveyManFredSin (4877) 2 years ago

She was poorly cast as Batgirl. I don't think it was because she was incapable of playing anything but the ditzy Valley Girl type, but the character was a badly-written travesty of the original character (and one that was contrived to be seventysomething Alfred Pennyworth's *niece* rather than Commissioner Gordon's daughter).

[–] TMC-4 (20483) 2 years ago

'I wasn't prepared for it': Alicia Silverstone opens up about her 'very complicated' experience with fame after Clueless:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-11774535/Alicia-Silverstone-opens-complicated-experience-fame-Clueless.html

Alicia Silverstone opened up about her 'very complicated' experience with fame after Clueless in a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter.

The actress, 46 – who recently slipped back into her iconic role of Cher Horowitz for a Super Bowl commercial – spoke about not being prepared for superstardom when the 1995 cult classic became a massive hit.

'When Clueless came out, it really shifted,' said Alicia. 'I had been the girl from Crush, then I was the Aerosmith chick, and then, after that, I was Cher.'

Silverstone explained: 'It was very complicated and I don't think I knew how to manage it. I didn't have the foundation, the good tools to deal with it, I wasn't prepared for it in any way, shape or form.

'I really had no idea what was happening,' added the '90s It Girl, 'and it didn't feel comfortable.'

Silverstone went on to discuss the difficult balance between 'being an activist, a mother and an actress.'

'It's isn't easy, being an activist, a mother and an actress all at the same time. But I'm doing my best,' she told THR.

'I continue to do speaking engagements about health and our earth, all of that is really meaningful to me.

'The most important thing to me is being fully present with my son. As for acting, I'll keep finding a way to dabble, to stay in there.'

Silverstone's career in Hollywood gained steam in 1993 with her thriller The Crush, in which she played a mentally-unstable 14-year-old girl who develops a terrifying fixation on her neighbor.

The Crush earned Alicia the MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance, and she followed it up by appearing in the classic music video for Aerosmith's hit song Cryin'.

[–] TMC-4 (20483) 2 years ago

https://www.datalounge.com/thread/32798022-alicia-silverstone-

I just read the article at R1. This encapsulates why Alicia had a quick rise and fall. You can't take it for granted or be "above Hollywood". I disliked how hard she tried to something different than her Cher persona. A smart actor would have leveraged that. She's not very versatile. It seems like these days she plays "the other woman" type roles a lot or second wife.

by Anonymous reply 5 April 15, 2023 6:30 PM

[–] HarveyManFredSin (4877) 2 years ago

I didn't care for the Cher persona at all. Proud Jewish women (and Alicia is half-Jewish, on her father's side, and her mother apparently converted), should NOT be playing those types of 'JAP' (Jewish American Princess) characters. It's a DEMEANING stereotype and anathema to the majority of REAL Jewish women/girls, who are descended from OPPRESSED people with a proud tradition of ACADEMIA, SCHOLARSHIP and HIGH INTELLIGENCE. Leave the BIMBOS, VALLEY GIRLS and MATERIALISTS to the blonde, blue-eyed Aryan WASPS (and yes, I know Silverstone looks like a WASP, but she isn't one, and Cher *Horowitz* was clearly implied to be Ashkenazi Jewish).

[–] HarveyManFredSin (4877) 2 years ago

She pretty much was, off the back of ONE moderately successful sleeper hit, Clueless, but then she had flop-after-flop (i.e. Batman & Robin, Excess Baggage, Blast from the Past).