Actors who were going to be The Next Big Thing—then fell off the face of the earth

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Edward Furlong

Yes! I remember crushing on him when he first started in the Terminator movie. I was like 12 but thought he was cute. I looked up his wiki and found this fascinating detail…when does this movie come out? I’d love to see Shelly Duval in something again. I loved her in the 80s and thought she was mentally ill now. And Dee Wallace! What a throwback.

“In 2023 Furlong was slated to star in the movie Forest Hills alongside Shelley Duval and Dee Wallace as well as Charlie's House, his first post- pandemic starring role.[“

[Anonymous]

No one mentioned Jennifer Grey?

[Anonymous]

Dan Levy-he was EVERYWHERE

[Anonymous]

Mena Suvari.

[Anonymous]

Lori Petty

Lauren Holly

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mini Driver She is still out there working. But I thought she would have had a bigger career.

She's a character actor who never fit the pretty ingenue mold. She's done pretty well actually, has worked steadily just not in big flashy roles. Not sure she even was after those though.

+1, I found it odd that someone named Minnie Driver. Like you say, I don't think she was ever tapped by Hollywood publicity as a next big thing/Hollywood movie leading actress. She's always been more of a character actor despite appearing in the usual rom-coms earlier in her career. She's in a lot of UK and other international productions and has worked very steadily, has several movies and series about to be released. Yeah, I looked her up on IMDB because of this thread. Funny how the yardstick is "next big thing"...what, in romcoms and Hollywood movies? Who cares? Just working steadily is "making it" for most actors.

I loved her recurring character on will and grace and also really loved her in the short lived sit com About a Boy. She’s really good as a quirky comedic actor and works pretty steadily with that. I think she’ll actually age well as many of the middle aged or older women roles are for quirky or sharp tongues types. She was never the “everyone’s sweetheart” type. She was actually kind of a weird casting choice for good will hunting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No one mentioned Jennifer Grey?

Why would they?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one mentioned Jennifer Grey?

Why would they?

…Because after Dirty Dancing people thought she’d be the next big thing, and her nose job made her unrecognizable so she wasn’t?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dan Levy-he was EVERYWHERE

He was promoting "Schitt's Creek" so yeah, he was everywhere, but he hasn't vanished since it ended in 2020. He was already a writer/producer/presenter before he ever made "Schitts's Creek." He has three new shows he is executive producing right now. And he's not the kind of producer who's an actor getting a producer credit for vanity and extra money; he actually...produces.

Some folks on this thread seem to think that someone is on the rocks if they aren't constantly in front of the camera acting. And a lot of PPs here are tossing out names without even thinking to spend a nanosecond looking these people up. It's why the good Lord gave us the gift that is IMDB.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Richard Armitage after North and South. He seems to just make bad Netflix films occasionally.

Great actor. He was in the hobbit, but agree that he’s had terrible roles.

He's definitely the leading man type, but there's some evidence he's gay and he won't cop to it or not, so possibly movies don't know what to do with him.

He's just come out but it was a not-at-all-well-hidden-secret for a long time. However, if Tom Cruise can play straight characters, so can he.

Damn right!

Armitage, and I'm sure other actors around his age and even a bit younger, were likely well aware that being openly gay (apparently he uses queer, I have to note that) would damage your career until quite recently. The big example was Rupert Everett, who absolutely was Next Big Thing-bound but also came out as gay very early--1989--and has said since that it definitely hurt his acting prospects: "In 2009, Everett told British newspaper The Observer that he wished he had never revealed his sexuality, as he feels that it hurt his career and advised younger actors against such candour." I've read other interviews where he said much the same. He worked, for sure, but has said more than once that roles were severely limited and he knew it was due to his being openly gay. It's been over 30 years since he came out but I'd wager that other actors working in the 90s-2000s-2010s, like Armitage, looked at his example and kept private as much as they dared. Especially ones like Armitage who played a lot of straight leading-man types.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Richard Armitage after North and South. He seems to just make bad Netflix films occasionally.

Great actor. He was in the hobbit, but agree that he’s had terrible roles.

He's definitely the leading man type, but there's some evidence he's gay and he won't cop to it or not, so possibly movies don't know what to do with him.

He's just come out but it was a not-at-all-well-hidden-secret for a long time. However, if Tom Cruise can play straight characters, so can he.

Damn right!

Armitage, and I'm sure other actors around his age and even a bit younger, were likely well aware that being openly gay (apparently he uses queer, I have to note that) would damage your career until quite recently. The big example was Rupert Everett, who absolutely was Next Big Thing-bound but also came out as gay very early--1989--and has said since that it definitely hurt his acting prospects: "In 2009, Everett told British newspaper The Observer that he wished he had never revealed his sexuality, as he feels that it hurt his career and advised younger actors against such candour." I've read other interviews where he said much the same. He worked, for sure, but has said more than once that roles were severely limited and he knew it was due to his being openly gay. It's been over 30 years since he came out but I'd wager that other actors working in the 90s-2000s-2010s, like Armitage, looked at his example and kept private as much as they dared. Especially ones like Armitage who played a lot of straight leading-man types.

I thought that the entertainment industry of all places would be more accepting of gay people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Richard Armitage after North and South. He seems to just make bad Netflix films occasionally.

Great actor. He was in the hobbit, but agree that he’s had terrible roles.

He's definitely the leading man type, but there's some evidence he's gay and he won't cop to it or not, so possibly movies don't know what to do with him.

He's just come out but it was a not-at-all-well-hidden-secret for a long time. However, if Tom Cruise can play straight characters, so can he.

Damn right!

Armitage, and I'm sure other actors around his age and even a bit younger, were likely well aware that being openly gay (apparently he uses queer, I have to note that) would damage your career until quite recently. The big example was Rupert Everett, who absolutely was Next Big Thing-bound but also came out as gay very early--1989--and has said since that it definitely hurt his acting prospects: "In 2009, Everett told British newspaper The Observer that he wished he had never revealed his sexuality, as he feels that it hurt his career and advised younger actors against such candour." I've read other interviews where he said much the same. He worked, for sure, but has said more than once that roles were severely limited and he knew it was due to his being openly gay. It's been over 30 years since he came out but I'd wager that other actors working in the 90s-2000s-2010s, like Armitage, looked at his example and kept private as much as they dared. Especially ones like Armitage who played a lot of straight leading-man types.

I thought that the entertainment industry of all places would be more accepting of gay people.

It's more accepting now than it was even a decade ago, yes. But just because the industry is accepting that does not mean that viewers are as accepting as the business itself is. The issue is really that some viewers may still have issues with, for instance, a gay actor playing a straight character in a straight romantic relationship, even now. And the parts of the industry that are afraid of offending (and losing viewers) will still be leery, unfortunately.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dan Levy-he was EVERYWHERE

He was promoting "Schitt's Creek" so yeah, he was everywhere, but he hasn't vanished since it ended in 2020. He was already a writer/producer/presenter before he ever made "Schitts's Creek." He has three new shows he is executive producing right now. And he's not the kind of producer who's an actor getting a producer credit for vanity and extra money; he actually...produces.

Some folks on this thread seem to think that someone is on the rocks if they aren't constantly in front of the camera acting. And a lot of PPs here are tossing out names without even thinking to spend a nanosecond looking these people up. It's why the good Lord gave us the gift that is IMDB.

A lot of stuff gets announced on Deadline & then seems to go nowhere

[Anonymous]

You're mentioning people who in the 1980s and 1990s starred in numerous movies, some in movies that won Oscars. That's really the pinnacle of achievement. Where are they now? It's like Olympic gold medalists. Not every young actor and actress will continue at that rate and pace as they progress through the ranks. Maybe they don't want to take lesser roles in front of the camera, and they chose to make better use of their lives behind the camera.

[Anonymous]

Julia Stiles and Kirsten Dunst were everywhere and then suddenly in absolutely nothing.