DVD Talk Forum - Movies which were Star vehicles and the star blew their chance at Superstardom (2024)

Actors got a bit of a name from other projects, get a breakout role as a star and blow it so bad that they fade into averageness. (i.e. the flip side of Tom Cruise and Top Gun).

These come immediately to mind

Kuffs - Christian Slater

Rollerball - Chris Klein

Action Jackson - Carl Weathers

I think Christian Slater's fall was Alone In The Dark. Though, he was starting to come back in his TV series My Own Worst Enemy. But sadly, that got cancelled

One that really comes to mind is

Angus - Charlie Talbert. He had a very, very strong first movie appearence and lead acting role there. Unfortunately that was it. After Angus he just went to the crapper.

Casper Van Dien was very good in Starship Troopers. But it seems like any of his roles after that just didn't match up.

Party Girl - Parker Posey. That was her only good role. Her role in Scream 3 was too ditzy to take. Although her role in Josey And The puss*cats was slightly funny, as was her role in The House Of Yes. Ive yet to see how she is in Personal Velocity though.

Girl - Tara Reid. Very talented role there. Sadly, her ditzy on film roles seemed to have made her just as ditzy off film as well

Another one from Girl and a year before that - Lolita is Dominique Swain. All her other performances after that have been forgettable.

Trust - Adrienne Shelly. A great role in that movie. And I believe I read that her other great role was in her final film Waitress. May she rest in peace :(

Thats all I can think of off hand for now.

I would say for Andrew McCarthy, his high point was Less Than Zero.

And for Jason Biggs, it would be after the American Pie trilogy.

Ok true. Change Loser to Woody Allen's Anything Else then. I forgot about that one.

I'd add Brittany Murphy to the list. She broke out with 8 Mile and then did crap like Just Married and Uptown Girls and nosedived from there.

For me, she broke out with Girl Interrupted and Spun. Though I agree that she certainly matched it with 8 mile. probably did better with that one now that I think about it, so yeah, Ill agree with that one.

My add would be Robin Tunney. She had 3 great roles: Empire Records, The Craft and Niagra, Niagra. But after that, it didnt seem like anything else held up. (but I havent seen The Zodiac or her role in the Mentalist, so I may be mistaken there)

BROTHERS just came out like a week ago.

David Caruso - Jade
Judd Nelson - Blue City
Jeremy London - Mallrats
Chris O'Donnell - Batman & Robin
Rachel Leigh Cook - Josie and the puss*cats
Justine Bateman - Satisfaction
Geena Davis - Cutthroat Island
Anthony Michael Hall - Out of Bounds
C. Thomas Howell - Soul Man

.

Colin Farrell - pick any film from his filmography. I'd guess it was PHONE BOOTH that most firmly derailed his stardom.

P.S. Although he seems to have made a comfortable transition to character actor, which may have been what he wanted all along. I suspect he'll have a long career as long as he does supporting roles.

What about The Dead Zone?

He was hilarious in Tropic Thunder...

I don't think she blew it by being in a tremendously successful film. It's just that actresses in Hollywood have about an 18 month shelf-life.

EW named her the worst Bond villain of all time and she got a Razzie award for worst performance. She was pretty widely panned by everyone, so I'm sure it had an effect on her career. Actresses get a lot of heat by simply being the "Bond Girl," and if it was a standout performance she should have gotten some meaty roles out of it.

For Dana Carvey, Clean Slate (1994) and possibly Opportunity Knocks (1990). Outside of the Wayne's World movies (in which he's practically hidden behind the hair and glasses), he hasn't had a successful film career. The comeback attempt Master of Disguise failed as well.

Another one is Yahoo Serious in Young Einstein.

It seemed they were trying to make a pretty boy star out of James Franco for a while with stuff like Flyboys and Tristan and Isolde. His role in Pineapple Express at least showed he could be more than that and he has gotten some pretty good acting roles since then, though he may never be the breakout star.

I guess one might say Jennifer's Body with Megan Fox.

I'd say Kiss of Death was the biggest, loudest nail he hammered in his own coffin.

Halle Berry: everything after Monster's Ball
Sharon Stone: everything after Basic Instinct
Heather Graham: everything after From Hell
Barry Pepper: not really his fault, but everything after Battlefield Earth
Orlando Bloom: he was great in Kingdom of Heaven, but everything after that (which is not a Pirate movie)

Concerning Christaine Slater, he basically just had a good run - hes more washed up. I loved all his leading movies - hard rain, broken arrow, and his earlier ones

A recent/new test of superstardom chance would be Sam Worthington in Avatar.

I would have said Worthington in Terminator Salvation but Christian Bale was credited as the lead in that. With Avatar he'll be the only lead in that if I'm not mistaken.