Why Portia De Rossi Doesn't Work Much Anymore
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Not all of Portia de Rossi's TV shows were hitsshare
There's a lot of overlap in today's Hollywood, but there are still some people from previous generations that can still be categorized as "movie actors" and "TV stars." Those who came up in one world or the other and had their most success in that environment are forever linked with it. Portia de Rossi is very much an actor associated with television. She got her big break on American television when she joined the cast of the white-hot legal dramedy Ally McBeal in 1998, playing inscrutable lawyer Nelle Porter until the series wrapped in 2002. With 89 episodes completed, that's the longest and most successful TV gig in de Rossi's career. She also was on three seasons of Scandal, Shonda Rhimes' acclaimed political drama, which Nielsen listed as one of the most tweeted-about series of 2014.
On the flip side, she's been part of the cast of numerous short-lived shows and all-out bombs. Among de Rossi's misfires are the Josh Brolin 10-episode wonder Mister Sterling, the slacker sitcom New York Daze, and the negligibly watched classroom comedy Nick Freno: Licensed Teacher. Hollywood casting agents may think twice about giving a major role to de Rossi, as she doesn't have a proven track record as someone who will instantly or necessarily deliver big audiences.
One of Portia de Rossi's shows won awards, not ratings
If there's one thing that Portia de Rossi's better known television projects have in common, it's that they were all critically acclaimed and masterminded by unique, visionary creators. In 2003, de Rossi joined the cast of Arrested Development, playing Lindsay Bluth, an extraordinarily self-absorbed daughter of a corrupt housing magnate. One of the first single-camera comedies on American television, the layered, lightning-fast, joke-and-reference-filled Fox comedy became a hit amongst comedy nerds, TV critics, and awards voters. Its first season scored 100 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and won the Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series. The show hung on at Fox for two more shortened seasons, despite abysmal ratings, and was revived on Netflix years later. In the meantime, de Rossi found another role on another edgy TV series: as soulless executive Veronica Palmer on ABC's surreal, low-rated, quickly cancelled corporate satire Better Off Ted. (It was created by Victor Fresco, also responsible for cult hits Andy Richter Controls the Universe and Santa Clarita Diet).
Unfortunately, de Rossi's shows were so fresh, so original, and such outliers in relation to pretty much everything else on TV at the time that they didn't find a big audience and were quickly cancelled. That's probably going to make the producers of new, more commercial shows reluctant to cast de Rossi, as she's thought of as an actor who makes prestigious — and ultimately poorly-viewed — programs.
A potential Portia de Rossi TV comeback show fell apart
Portia de Rossi has a knack for working with TV show creators who have a specific and original idea of how they want their series to go forth. In addition to working with David E. Kelly on Ally McBeal, Mitchell Hurwitz on Arrested Development, Ryan Murphy on Nip/Tuck, and Shonda Rhimes on Scandal, de Rossi teamed up with Bryan Fuller for Mockingbird Lane. Fuller brought some of the most innovative, beloved, and also short-lived shows to TV in the 2000s, including Dead Like Me, Wonderfalls, Pushing Daisies, and Hannibal. In 2012, just before the TV reboot and revival craze would grip the small-screen industry, Fuller got the go-ahead from NBC to develop a modern-day retelling of the 1960s sitcom The Munsters. While that comedy was a silly and goofy high-concept family comedy in which the family members were monsters, Fuller's Mockingbird Lane was dark, bloody, and twisted. Opposite Jerry O'Connell as Herman Munster, de Rossi played Lily Munster. Despite the star power, pedigree, familiar material, and a pilot episode budget of around $10 million, Fuller announced NBC was "not moving forward with #MockingbirdLane."
The expensive disappointment may not have reflected well on de Rossi. Being associated with a high-profile and costly flop may have made producers reluctant to cast the actor in their shows and films.
A career in movies didn't quite take off for Portia de Rossi
While Portia de Rossi possesses the dynamic and unbeatable combination of striking good looks and excellent comic chops, her brand just didn't seem transferrable to the big screen. Try as she might, this star of multiple TV shows couldn't seem to get her movie career off the ground.
De Rossi landed small parts in indie movies before Ally McBeal made her a known entity, but after, she could only find work in a small string of ignored, forgettable, and mostly independently produced movies.