Future of Movie Stars: Who Will Shine? Who Will Fade Away?

[JBC344]

Not to mention if Gambit does well at the box office he now will have not only his own franchise but will be included in the overall X-Men movies as well.  In other words it is good to be Channing Tatum at the moment.

 

Not to mention the fact that he is regarded in Hollywood as a great guy and someone that people like to work with.  A lot of times that gets overlooked for things like Box office.  When in reality that is what often will keep you afloat in the lean years when everything isn't always great.

[DollEyes]

  ITA. Tatum's films may not break box-office records, but IMO he is talented and his rep for being one of the nicest people in the business doesn't hurt, either, otherwise filmmakers of Soderbergh, Tarantino & the Coen's caliber wouldn't give him the time of day, let alone work with him.

 

  Regarding Chris Pratt, while he has been very lucky in terms of his considerable box-office success so far, the way I see it, it's not just luck. I think he's very talented and like Tatum, is also considered as one of the nicest people in Hollywood, which could & will get him very far.

Edited August 26, 2015 by DollEyes

[VCRTracking]

What made you cast Jennifer Jason Leigh?

I’ve always really liked her. I thought in the back of my mind that Hateful Eight was sort of like a Western Reservoir Dogs, and I thought there was something very apropos about that for where I am in my career — there was a full-circle quality. To me, something screamed ’90s about this movie, and so I thought that this should have some of the really cool ’90s actors, but now: pretty boy Mike Madsen from the ’90s, but now. Pretty boy Tim Roth, with his blond hair, but now. And Snake Plissken [Russell], but now. So when I was looking for [the character] Daisy, I could have seen Jennifer Lawrence doing a good job with the role. I’m a very big fan of hers. I think she could end up being another little Bette Davis if she keeps on going the way she’s going. I think her work with David O. Russell is very reminiscent of William Wyler and Bette Davis’s.

 

Having said that, though, Daisy should be a little older. She should fit in with the guys. Jennifer Jason Leigh came in and was really good. She went for a couple of things that other people just kind of playacted. She had to act like she got shot, and she just screamed bloody murder. I kept remembering Jennifer’s bloodcurdling scream. If it had happened in a house, somebody would have called the cops.

 

 

From a recent Quentin Tarantino interview about his upcoming western The Hateful Eight:

http://www.vulture.com/2015/08/quentin-tarantino-lane-brown-in-conversation.html

[JBC344]

From a recent Quentin Tarantino interview about his upcoming western The Hateful Eight:

http://www.vulture.com/2015/08/quentin-tarantino-lane-brown-in-conversation.html

Wow a famous influential director who genuinely likes Jennifer Lawrence, but felt she was too young for this role, actually went with an age appropriate actress.  Please circulate this to all Hollywood directors, to let them know that there are still women acting in their 40's and 50's and they are still great.

 

PS.  I actually love Jennifer Lawrence, but was happy to hear this little story.

[raezen]

Speaking of Jennifer Lawrence, it is everywhere in the media right now that her and Amy Schumer are co-writing a script for the 2 of them to star in as sisters. This could be amazing like when Tina Fey and Amy Poehler do Weekend Update together or a big disappointment like when Tina Fey and Amy Poehler star in a movie together. Unless Sisters proves me wrong.

Edited to take out my error and say thank you to manbearpig, now I know that Baby Mama didn't come from the minds of TF or AP.

Edited August 27, 2015 by raezen

[Ruby25]

I question whether it's Jennifer Lawrence writing it or mostly Amy Schumer, but either way I would like to see her in a comedy not directed by David O. Russell. That would give me some hint as to whether she can do something besides scream her lines, since that's what all the actors in his movies do.

[raezen]

I question whether it's Jennifer Lawrence writing it or mostly Amy Schumer, but either way I would like to see her in a comedy not directed by David O. Russell. That would give me some hint as to whether she can do something besides scream her lines, since that's what all the actors in his movies do.

It's not going to matter if it's split 50/50, 25/75 or 10/90, by the time it goes through a couple of ghost writers and editors it's not going to matter. Didn't Ben Affleck joke at the Oscars that him and Damon felt like the Mili n Vanili of writers?

[manbearpig]

Speaking of Jennifer Lawrence, it is everywhere in the media right now that her and Amy Schumer are co-writing a script for the 2 of them to star in as sisters. This could be amazing like when Tina Fey and Amy Poehler do Weekend Update together or a big disappointment like when Tina Fey and Amy Poehler co-write and star in a movie together. Unless Sisters proves me wrong.

 

Fey hasn't written a movie since Mean Girls. Sisters looks like fun and I'll watch anything those two ladies do, but I would love to see Fey write herself another movie to star in one day. Obviously she's super busy though, and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt is hilarious so at least she's writing something good that makes my 30 Rock withdrawals a little easier to deal with.

 

Lawrence and Schumer working together is a nice surprise. Surely that movie is a lock to get made considering how well they're both doing lately.

[methodwriter85]

And I always thought it was going to be Lawrence and Emma Stone is a buddy cop movie first. Oh, well.

 

Anyway, my point about Channing Tatum is that like Chris Pratt, everybody was heralding him as the next big box office star. Then his action movies flopped. (And his Magic Mike sequel pretty much didn't do what it was supposed to.) So it'll be interesting to see whether or not Chris Pratt can actually prove to be the elusive box office star, or if he'll be a red herring like Channing was- someone with an amazing year but didn't quite shoot up to the stratosphere the way people thought they would after that great year.

Edited August 27, 2015 by methodwriter85

[Ruby25]

Well, in that sense Chris Pratt has already managed to have two action movie hits, where I would argue that Channing Tatum's big year should have shown that he was more of a draw as a romantic lead than an action hero. And then in comedy with the 21 Jump Street movies.

 

Maybe audiences prefer him in different kinds of films. Not everyone can be an action star.

[dusang]

I love White House Down.  How did Olympus Has Fallen get the sequel??

[Ambrosefolly]

So apparently Anne Hathaway is already starting to lose parts to younger actresses. She does acknowledge that she benefitted from this type of casting before. Of course, there are plenty of trolls that say Anne Hathaway is losing out on parts because she isn't talented enough, but it reminded of what Matt Damon said at the actors round table, that a lot of actress feel when they are starting to get good, the roles start drying up. I also call bullshit on Russell Crowe's "suck it up" statement about the actresses. I don't think many actresses would mind playing mothers if there was more meat to the role than "so & so's mother" and if Meryl Streep didn't have first pick on the decent roles for women of a certain age.

[raezen]

At least she's self aware enough to note she benefitted from it. This might have to go in the UO's thread but I thought it was kind of weird that Jennifer Lawrence in her Conan interview would lament that any Hunger Games in the future would have younger and better looking people when, duh, everyone has been saying that's the case with every other role she gets.

Edited September 4, 2015 by raezen

[methodwriter85]

So...was Anne Hathaway throwing shade at Jennifer Lawrence? That's kind of funny.  I do wonder what she thinks of her...I think the part of Anne that obviously wanted to be America's Sweetheart while being a major critical darling might be miffed that J-Law is getting the Julia Roberts fame level, not her.

[Ruby25]

Well, you have to have an offscreen personality that appeals to people for that to happen, I guess. Sorry, Anne.

 

You also have to be extremely lucky though.

[UYI]

Eh, Anne doesn't bother me much. I don't completely mind J-Law all the time, but she can be quite the Triflin' Tryhard (TM me) when she wants to be. (I'm going more on offscreen personas here; I'm honestly not familiar enough with either's acting to judge them on that).

 

YMMV, of course.

Edited September 4, 2015 by UYI

[Amethyst]

So...was Anne Hathaway throwing shade at Jennifer Lawrence? That's kind of funny.  I do wonder what she thinks of her...I think the part of Anne that obviously wanted to be America's Sweetheart while being a major critical darling might be miffed that J-Law is getting the Julia Roberts fame level, not her.

 

I don't think she was throwing shade.  Anne was up for the lead in Silver Linings Playbook, but she turned it down.  The other actresses considered for the role were in their late 20s and 30s, so the part going to 21 year old Lawrence was probably a shock to all of them.  I think Kirsten Dunst would have done an amazing job in the lead, personally.  

 

I don't think many actresses would mind playing mothers if there was more meat to the role than "so & so's mother"

 

IA.  There's nothing wrong with motherhood, it just means a completely different thing in films.  Sadly, "mom" roles usually mean that an actress has reached a certain age (or looks like it) where she can no longer play the ingenue or be viewed as a commanding lead in her own right.  Getting older wouldn't be bad if there were more substantial roles for women past the age of 35, but they are few and far between.  Male actors can play fathers as long as they want, as old as they want, and their characters have successful home lives in addition to successful careers.

 

Julie Roberts for example, only started doing motherhood-related roles around 2000, nearly 20 years after her start in the business.  And then you have actresses like Margot Robbie and Jessica Chastain lying about their real ages because they're afraid of losing roles to younger women.  Actresses have such a small window as it is, and it's only getting smaller.

 

I see now why plastic surgery is such a big deal for women in Hollywood.  It's not just vanity.  The first sign of aging can be the kiss of death for a working actress.  The First Wives Club even makes a joke about with Goldie Hawn's actress character and a very unfortunate Botox job.  But it's still true.  Like anyone else, these women just want to work, and if Botox-ing your face to terrifying proportions means another few years of decent roles, they'll do it.

[Ruby25]

How old is Margot Robbie? Is she not 24?

[vb68]

 

Sadly, "mom" roles usually mean that an actress has reached a certain age (or looks like it) where she can no longer play the ingenue or be viewed as a commanding lead in her own right.  Getting older wouldn't be bad if there were more substantial roles for women past the age of 35, but they are few and far between.  Male actors can play fathers as long as they want, as old as they want, and their characters have successful home lives in addition to successful careers.

 

I still think the poster child for this is Sally Field, who went from playing Tom Hanks' love interest in Punchline to his freaking mother in Forrest Gump.  Awkward!

[absnow54]

And then you have actresses like Margot Robbie and Jessica Chastain lying about their real ages because they're afraid of losing roles to younger women.

I have a hard time believing Margot Robbie is a Jennifer Lawrence/Shailene Woodley/Kristen Stewart/Emma Watson contemporary, but the claim that Jessica Chastain is lying about her age is really surprising to me, because if anything, I'd say she looked much younger than 38.

[AshleyN]

I don't think Jessica Chastain is lying about her age now -- I think that story goes back to when she first broke through a couple of years ago.

Edited September 4, 2015 by AshleyN

[JBC344]

Wait!!! What?  Are you saying that Jessica Chastain was claiming that she was what in her 20's five years ago and is now telling the truth about being 38?  How is that even possible, she has only really been famous for a handful of years. 

 

I still don't get the Margot Robbie age issue.  Can someone please explain it to me.  Is the claim that Margot "must" be older than 24 because she looks older than 24 or is there some actual proof of her giving her age and now lying about it?

[Dejana]

Wait!!! What?  Are you saying that Jessica Chastain was claiming that she was what in her 20's five years ago and is now telling the truth about being 38?  How is that even possible, she has only really been famous for a handful of years. 

 

I still don't get the Margot Robbie age issue.  Can someone please explain it to me.  Is the claim that Margot "must" be older than 24 because she looks older than 24 or is there some actual proof of her giving her age and now lying about it?

 

Jessica Chastain was one of those stars who wouldn't have a year of birth listed on her IMDb or Wikipedia entry, then I could swear it was listed 1981 at some point, but she got busted by another celebrity: the singer Mandisa, who came to fame on American Idol (which had a strictly-enforced age limit and regularly listed contestant ages onscreen). Mandisa went to Twitter after seeing The Help, gushing that "Celia" (Chastain's character) was a high school classmate of hers, along with a scan from her own yearbook as proof. Jessica herself has refused to discuss her age. She didn't always feel that way, and at least one local story from 1998 referenced her being 21. So, the media bios were generally updated to her being born in 1977.

 

With Margot Robbie, AFAIK, there's not any smoke beyond "She can't possibly be the same age as Emma Watson and Jennifer Lawrence." And that she's Australian, I guess, people think it's easier to lie about your identity if you're from another country. Her bio lists her as leaving school in 2007 and her IMDb credits begin in 2008, when she took the role of a teen character on an Australian soap (of course, that doesn't always indicate much about a person's actual age). Maybe did shave off a few years, or perhaps, she just looks mature for her age. Even with Mischa Barton clearly being a tween in The Sixth Sense, when The O.C. was big, you had people convinced she was secretly 30. Elizabeth Debicki also seems a lot older, or just more commanding than a number of other actresses born in 1990, and it's not just her height.

 

On the male side, Chadwick Boseman has also been cagey about his year of birth at times and is another person who was "ageless" on the IMDb/Wiki for a while. Newspaper clippings/photos surfaced online of his high school basketball days 1992-1993, making it rather difficult for him to pass as someone born in 1982.

Edited September 5, 2015 by Dejana

[methodwriter85]

I still don't get the Margot Robbie age issue.  Can someone please explain it to me.  Is the claim that Margot "must" be older than 24 because she looks older than 24 or is there some actual proof of her giving her age and now lying about it?

 

I'm not finding anything else about it other than, "Well, she looks old so she MUST be lying." I mean, come on- Alexa PenaVega and Mae Whtman are the same age even though Alexa looks much, much older. People age differently. I want like former high school classmates going, "No, she was in no way, shape, or form a 15-year old in 2005. Try 1995."

 

Some actual confirmed cases- Linda Cardellini when she first started out said she was born in 1980, but it was really 1975...Meredith Monroe from Dawson's Creek claimed a '75 birthdate when it was really 1969. Most recently, Rebel Wilson got outed as shaving off six years from her age, claimed to be 29 but really being 35.

 

And then there's this from 2008:

 

How Rachel McAdams Stays Forever 28

 

I lean towards thinking that the 1976 birthdate is the real one, but eh, two years isn't that ridiculous. I do remember her IMDB profile saying she was born in 1976 when she was first in Mean Girls, and people were commenting on how close in age she and Amy Poehler actually are despite playing mother and daughter. (Although I lean towards thinking that Amy was the young trophy second wife and Regina's real mother is off enjoying her alimony in Florida.)

 

It can't be THAT much- here's a video McAdams in an acting class that screams early 1990's, and she looks somewhere in her mid-teens there, which jibes with a mid/late 70's birthdate. It's kind of startling to see her an actual teenager, as opposed to her roles in Mean Girls and The Hot Chick.

 

She's a good example of gentle age shaving- if you go too much, like Rebel Wilson, you risk getting outed by people going, "Wait, she went to school with us back in the 90's! No way is she even close to that age!"

 

Another example- I was watching a very young, pre-Heathers Shannen Doherty on a game show where she said her birthday- April 12th, 1972. But of course, it's really 1971. And this was in 1988- she wasn't even 18 yet!

Edited September 5, 2015 by methodwriter85

[Oreo2234]

Oops. Did not want to post here.

Edited September 5, 2015 by Oreo2234

[Ohwell]

I find it odd that celebrities would lie about their ages because they would have to know that a former high-school classmate could "out" them by just showing their yearbook photo and evidence that it was Class of ____.

[Danny Franks]

Well, you have to have an offscreen personality that appeals to people for that to happen, I guess. Sorry, Anne.

 

You also have to be extremely lucky though.

 

Anne Hathaway's offscreen personality appeals to me a lot. I like people who aren't afraid of appearing intelligent. I like them a lot more than people who pretend to be morons because they believe the media and public will see it as somehow charming.

 

I also think Anne Hathaway is a much better actor, with much more range, than Lawrence has ever shown.

 

The age thing is ridiculous, because what does it matter how old someone is, if they don't look it? Acting isn't about your birth certificate, after all. They want Jessica Chastain to play 30, she can do it. But I guess it shows how lost in the maze so many Hollywood producers are.

[Dejana]

I find it odd that celebrities would lie about their ages because they would have to know that a former high-school classmate could "out" them by just showing their yearbook photo and evidence that it was Class of ____.

 

Stars have been lying about their ages as long as there has been show business (both ways, with some child actors adding years to be able to work longer hours). Even now, the mainstream media doesn't really look too deeply into the year some actor or singer is claiming to be born, unless someone bothers to make a big case out of it. Most actors probably don't care about getting away with the lie forever, just until they become established.

[JBC344]

Also we live in an error where people who would "expose" said information have a platform.  Stars from decades ago wouldn't care about some random classmate coming out of the woodwork because no magazine or newspaper would give said person the time of day.  Now all you have to do is call up TMZ.

[VCRTracking]

And there are actors who just have the luck of looking younger.  It astonishes me that Paul Rudd is 46.

[Ambrosefolly]

IA.  There's nothing wrong with motherhood, it just means a completely different thing in films.  Sadly, "mom" roles usually mean that an actress has reached a certain age (or looks like it) where she can no longer play the ingenue or be viewed as a commanding lead in her own right.  Getting older wouldn't be bad if there were more substantial roles for women past the age of 35, but they are few and far between.  Male actors can play fathers as long as they want, as old as they want, and their characters have successful home lives in addition to successful careers.

I think the commanding lead is the main issue. I am not what many consider a feminist, but I am sympathetic to women in hollywood. While men often have to wait out their teen years/twenties to get the serious roles, their ability to get consistently get the roles until old age is much better than women. On top of that they can use there teens/twenties to take low paying but challenging indie projects to build up their street cred because they don't have families to support.

Edited September 6, 2015 by Ambrosefolly

[Amethyst]

Is the claim that Margot "must" be older than 24 because she looks older than 24 or is there some actual proof of her giving her age and now lying about it?

 

This 2008 article from the Sydney Morning Herald stated Margot's age as 23, which would make her 31 now.

 

 

I still think the poster child for this is Sally Field, who went from playing Tom Hanks' love interest in Punchline to his freaking mother in Forrest Gump.  Awkward!

 

I had no idea about that one.  That really is awkward.

[SallyAlbright]

Margot Robbie really does seem 25 to me. She looks a bit older in films, but when I've seen her interviewed or without makeup in photos, she looks a lot younger. I don't even care though, I think she's both stunning and very talented. It sucks that there are so many articles debating the age of actresses, but very few if any about men. 

[kiddo82]

The Sally Field thing doesn't bother me that much as in the beginning she's mother to little Forest while by the end she's clearly made up to be older as mother of adult Forest.

[methodwriter85]

This 2008 article from the Sydney Morning Herald stated Margot's age as 23, which would make her 31 now.

 

See, now THAT is pretty good proof. I still think she should have gone with 28 if she's really 30/31.

 

Anyway, to get away from this conversation...Eddie Redmayne seems poised to try and pull off a Tom Hanks. Will he get there?

[JBC344]

The Sally Field thing doesn't bother me that much as in the beginning she's mother to little Forest while by the end she's clearly made up to be older as mother of adult Forest.

I think the idea is though that once Sally hit a certain age there was a perception of "she isn't the hot/young one anymore, let her play the mother".  Hell they could of had Julia Roberts play the part, but they never would of casted someone that "young". 

[Dejana]

See, now THAT is pretty good proof. I still think she should have gone with 28 if she's really 30/31.

Anyway, to get away from this conversation...Eddie Redmayne seems poised to try and pull off a Tom Hanks. Will he get there?

I agree about Robbie; shaving six years off your age is over reaching, but countrywoman Rebel Wilson was caught doing just that. In the golden era of Hollywood, stars who lied to appear older at first ended up, with time, looking like they were lying to seem younger, when they tried to use their actual ages.

The reviews out of Venice for The Danish Girl weren't as strong as I thought they'd be. Combined with the controversy about not casting a transgender actress (not that I think Oscar voters will care about that, but if critics go for other actors, awards voters might follow), I think Eddie will get another nomination, but not the win.

[Athena]

The reviews out of Venice for The Danish Girl weren't as strong as I thought they'd be. Combined with the controversy about not casting a transgender actress (not that I think Oscar voters will care about that, but if critics go for other actors, awards voters might follow), I think Eddie will get another nomination, but not the win.

 

I'm inclined to agree, but I'm looking forward to the movie. I'm hoping that Alicia Vikander gets some more critical acclaim out of it. I adored her in Royal Affair. I think Hollywood would benefit from having another Swedish A-lister. She has a lot of range and she seems to have chemistry with most of her co-stars.

[AshleyN]

Anyway, to get away from this conversation...Eddie Redmayne seems poised to try and pull off a Tom Hanks. Will he get there?

It's possible, but it'd be difficult I think. Tom Hanks was pretty much the biggest movie star in the world when he won back to back, wasn't he? And Forrest Gump was a phenomenon (it made $330 million in 1994 -- that would have made it the fourth highest grossing film of 2014 even without adjusting for inflation). Redmayne won't have either of those things going for him. Of course, in his favour is the fact that both the film and his character seem like just about the Oscariest thing imaginable: the trailer at least makes it look topical and important enough that voters can pat themselves on the back for being progressive, but pretty and period and British enough to avoid making the old farts in the Academy feel too uncomfortable.

Edited September 6, 2015 by AshleyN

[BooBear]

At least she's self aware enough to note she benefitted from it. This might have to go in the UO's thread but I thought it was kind of weird that Jennifer Lawrence in her Conan interview would lament that any Hunger Games in the future would have younger and better looking people when, duh, everyone has been saying that's the case with every other role she gets.

I don't think these ageism allegations are technically correct. I am sure that is some part of it but for me it is all about a famous person being over exposed. If you don't allow yourself to be "famous" and in like 30+ high profile movies in a short time peroid... I don't think age makes that much of a difference. You can see tons of just actresses (and actors) working like gangbusters at old ages... such as Allison Janey and for a guy Stanley Tucci. Once you get "famous" the public gets sick of seeing you pretty quickly. All actors and actresses should know that, put their careers on hold when offers stop, and then do the "comeback" in like 10 years.

[Ruby25]

Oh wow- I wonder if that Margot Robbie thing is true. That's pretty decent proof. And I have to admit, after Wolf of Wall Street I looked her up and was really surprised to find out she was only 23- I could have sworn she was at least 27. And if that article is true she would have been 29 at the time.

 

Hmmm. I'd totally buy it. I've always thought she looked older than early twenties.

[Dejana]

I don't think these ageism allegations are technically correct. I am sure that is some part of it but for me it is all about a famous person being over exposed. If you don't allow yourself to be "famous" and in like 30+ high profile movies in a short time peroid... I don't think age makes that much of a difference. You can see tons of just actresses (and actors) working like gangbusters at old ages... such as Allison Janey and for a guy Stanley Tucci. Once you get "famous" the public gets sick of seeing you pretty quickly. All actors and actresses should know that, put their careers on hold when offers stop, and then do the "comeback" in like 10 years.

 

There's always the risk that Hollywood will forget about you altogether and you won't have a career to come back to, after a long time off. Most actors also wouldn't consider themselves set for life and could actually use the money that steady work provides. Of course, Anne never would have said she's losing roles to just one 24-year-old actress in particular and named Jennifer Lawrence, because then the media plays that as Anne being jealous and pits them into some sort of catfight/feud, with people not-so-kindly pointing out that maybe it's not ageism, but JLaw being a bigger star than her. And I'm trying to figure out which roles for fiftysomethings that she ended up getting in her twenties...definitely not The Devil Wears Prada, Brokeback Mountain or Bride Wars. Get Smart? That could have gone to someone closer in age to Steve Carell.

Edited September 6, 2015 by Dejana

[methodwriter85]

 

In the golden era of Hollywood, stars who lied to appear older at first ended up, with time, looking like they were lying to seem younger, when they tried to use their actual ages.

 

Yeah, there's dispute over Sandra Dee's age- officially, she was born in 1942, but unofficially, she was born in 1944 and her mother inflated the age so that she could get modeling work. I can buy that she was 15, not 17, when she made Gidget. Her body definitely looked more like a 15-year old than a 17-year old.

 

Nick Cage also lied about being 18 when he made Fast Times at Ridgemont High- he was 17.

Edited September 6, 2015 by methodwriter85

[BooBear]

There's always the risk that Hollywood will forget about you altogether and you won't have a career to come back to, after a long time off. Most actors also wouldn't consider themselves set for life and could actually use the money that steady work provides.

 

That is the industry they are in. But they don't want it to be that way. Anne benefits from being a new fresh face (as much as being young) and then, doens't want the natural result of that.  This only applies as to issues of superstars who, say they only get 5 million a movie should have enough to live a very comfortable life after about 15 movies.  Or branch out to directing or producing or something else.  Let someone else have a chance.  I also feel like people either choose to be A listers (with a short movie career) or B listers with a longer career. If you choose A... you live with the consequences.

[greenbean]

I don't see how A-listers have short movie careers. Surely it's the other way round. Tom Cruise etc. are still going. Angelina Jolie, probably the only female A-lister of her generation, is still getting good work. Anne is not an A-lister, so if that were even the case, she shouldn't be having a short movie career.

[Dejana]

I don't see how A-listers have short movie careers. Surely it's the other way round. Tom Cruise etc. are still going. Angelina Jolie, probably the only female A-lister of her generation, is still getting good work. Anne is not an A-lister, so if that were even the case, she shouldn't be having a short movie career.

 

Some stars burn brightly for a long time, and others flame out, but IMO there's no easy formula or science to it. Leonardo DiCaprio and Denzel Washington have been A-listers for years. Will Smith went away as a headliner, but only annoyed people more since he spent the time trying to push his kids as stars. If he'd just stuck to making crowdpleasers the past five years, I think general audiences would've kept turning out to see his films. Sandra Bullock had a few lean years in the mid-2000s, but it's not like she set out to star in middling box office performers and then just knew she could turn things around. She only got The Blind Side and The Proposal after Julia Roberts passed, and was not the first (or second) choice for Gravity: Angelina Jolie walked away from the project and Alfonso Cuaron's second choice Natalie Portman didn't take the role either (her pregnancy overlapped with filming). If those roles hadn't fallen to Bullock, there's no guarantee she would've found other projects to make her a multiple Oscar nominee garnering the biggest box office of her career, in her forties and beyond.

Edited September 7, 2015 by Dejana

[greenbean]

I don't think there's a formula either, but on average I'd say an A-lister does last longer. Maybe not at that level, but as a working actor getting decent jobs. Bullock could have stepped down and found life doing decent tv gigs if she'd wanted. Especially in today's climate. She could have moved into an area similar to Gillian Anderson. Halle is currently trying this. I just don't agree with Boobear's assertion that being an A-lister means having a short career. It's more about how that career is managed. But Anne never was an A-lister anyway.

[Amethyst]

 and was not the first (or second) choice for Gravity: Angelina Jolie walked away from the project and Alfonso Cuaron's second choice Natalie Portman didn't take the role either (her pregnancy overlapped with filming).

 

I wonder if Jolie was even the first choice.  During an interview at Cannes this year, Salma Hayek mentioned that she was nearly cast for a space film, but the producers didn't agree.  Here's an excerpt from the article:

She [Hayek] told the story about how a male director fought to cast her and then gave up when the studio kept saying no. He sent her a note saying he was ashamed and we should have walked away but he needed the movie. The studio wouldn't hire her because they couldn't imagine "a Mexican in space."

 

Salma didn't name any names, but I figure she was talking about Gravity or Interstellar.  One of the posters "confirmed" it was about Gravity, so take that for you what you will.  If it is true, that's really depressing.

 

 

Back to Anne Hathaway and the A-lister stuff, I think that term is pretty flexible nowadays because movie industry is evolving so much.  It's a really fickle way to classify an actor.  Take someone like Michelle Williams, who is an amazing actress imo, but mostly flies under the radar.  Would she be considered a A-list?  

[JBC344]

It is also an issue of having access as well.  A-list actors are first in line to read all the really good scripts that get floated around and just have better access to projects, producers, directors.  Studios are more likely to build a project around an A-lister as well.

[UYI]

Yeah, there's dispute over Sandra Dee's age- officially, she was born in 1942, but unofficially, she was born in 1944 and her mother inflated the age so that she could get modeling work. I can buy that she was 15, not 17, when she made Gidget. Her body definitely looked more like a 15-year old than a 17-year old.

 

Nick Cage also lied about being 18 when he made Fast Times at Ridgemont High- he was 17.

 

At the beginning of her autobiography, Lucille Ball mentions that she was born on August 6th, 1911--and that because she made the mistake of telling her real age when she got to Hollywood, she could never lie about it, although she encouraged other women to do so. I always liked that story.

 

Of course, I also heard that she and Desi Arnaz would occasionally say that they were both born in 1914 to hide the fact that she was actually six years older than him.