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

[andromeda331]

3 hours ago, methodwriter85 said:

She's more of a t.v. star now, but I really absolutely love that Anna Chlumksy made a slow and steady comeback culminating with Veep after taking almost a decade off. I remember seeing a profile done on her when she was trying to become a food critic and thought she had a good head on her shoulders. I never thought Anna would go back into acting.

I always liked her. She was in an episode of Covert Affairs and a couple of White Collar I liked both characters. I always hoped she'd turn up in more shows or in her own show but didn't think she'd return to acting either.

[Pink ranger]

Remembering  Sacha Baron Cohens rise on Channel 4 during the mid 1990s, I was happy to see his comeback with who is America, after a few lacklustre movies. His unique act is ideal for cable and since he is reliant on the people he is interviewing not recognising him, not reaching super A-list level of fame may be for the best.

Also Matthew mcconaugheys mcconaissance has be one of this decades best comebacks even though it has some want cooled off these past couple of years. 

Edited June 16, 2019 by Pink ranger

[Wiendish Fitch]

Word on Anna Chlumsky. I admire that she didn't fall down the typical "former child star" rabbit hole: She took a break from acting, finished high school, had a normal life, went to college, explored her options, got a degree, gave acting another shot, realized she truly loved it and wanted to pursue it for real, but she has a degree fall back on, and she's an adult now with experience and perspective that gives her a thicker skin. Her comeback really feels like positive karma for her good judgment.

Not gonna lie, I wish more (if not all) child actors did this. Even if they don't have comebacks as adults, at the very least they'd probably be happier.

[krankydoodle]

15 hours ago, methodwriter85 said:

And then, of course, both Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman really managed to restore their cred. Reese especially- she really was getting joked about and pointed at as a has-been at the beginning of this decade.

Reese Witherspoon's renewed success is especially impressive because that drunk driving, "Do you know who I am?" incident could've seriously derailed her career. She and her PR team handled that so well that I think most people have forgotten about it entirely.

[methodwriter85]

8 hours ago, krankydoodle said:

Reese Witherspoon's renewed success is especially impressive because that drunk driving, "Do you know who I am?" incident could've seriously derailed her career. She and her PR team handled that so well that I think most people have forgotten about it entirely.

I think that incident as well as Reese's slumping career with her three flops in a row (Water for Elephants, How Do You Know, and This Means War) felt like a cold, hard reality check. She seemed to take a lower profile and went back to her indie roots and her comeback has been pretty well-done.

As opposed to Demi Moore, who seemed to be basing her 2000's comeback attempt on the fact that she still looked really, really good in a bikini and had outstandingly good work done.

Charlie's Angels 2 wound up not being the best choice to launch a comeback but she does still work, regardless. She was probably smart with her money because she doesn't seem to be doing things like going on reality shows or Dancing with the Stars to try and keep her name out there.

Man, now that I think about it, I could have totally seen Demi doing the Anne part on the campy Netflix show What/If. She should play a calculating boss bitch in a gritty Netflix drama or maybe something along the lines of Victoria Greyson in Revenge.  She'd kill it in those kinds of parts, I think.

Edited June 17, 2019 by methodwriter85

[topanga]

20 hours ago, methodwriter85 said:

Man, now that I think about it, I could have totally seen Demi doing the Anne part on the campy Netflix show What/If. She should play a calculating boss bitch in a gritty Netflix drama or maybe something along the lines of Victoria Greyson in Revenge.  She'd kill it in those kinds of parts, I think.

I loved her as the tough, so-called bitchy boss in that movie with... Michael Douglas(?) when he accuses her of sexual harassment (?). Please excuse my sh*t for brains. My point is that she’s great in CEO/ bad-ass boss rolls. 

Wasn't she on the TV show Empire for a while recently?

[Danny Franks]

On ‎6‎/‎16‎/‎2019 at 6:58 AM, methodwriter85 said:

She's more of a t.v. star now, but I really absolutely love that Anna Chlumksy made a slow and steady comeback culminating with Veep after taking almost a decade off. I remember seeing a profile done on her when she was trying to become a food critic and thought she had a good head on her shoulders. I never thought Anna would go back into acting.

I've loved Anna Chlumsky on Veep, and the other roles she's had (playing proto-Amy in In The Loop, in particular). I think it's safe to say she's not going to get many leading woman roles, because of the way Hollywood works, but she should have a very solid career as a supporting player, at least. She's great with Armando Ianucci's dark, deadpan humour, but if she can do broader, less acerbic stuff, I could see her getting some headline roles in comedies.

Also, I was just looking at his slate of upcoming movies, and does anyone in the world have better career prospects right now than Tom Holland? He's twenty three years old, is the headliner of a major franchise, has appeared in the even larger mother franchise of the MCU, and is signed on to play Nathan Drake in what is surely planned to be another franchise. In between, he's got a bunch of roles that vary from voice-work for animation to serious dramas (including one with Daisy Ridley, someone else who looks like she's headed for the stratosphere).

He seems to have the world very much at his feet.

Edited June 18, 2019 by Danny Franks

[Athena]

2 hours ago, Danny Franks said:

(including one with Daisy Ridley, someone else who looks like she's headed for the stratosphere).

Chaos Walking, right? I'm actually a little concerned for them both because the movie was shot two years ago, but Lionsgate recently started reshoots since they found the current state unreleasable due to poor screen testings. The book it is based on yet another dystopian future YA series. Lionsgate has not been tracking well on those lately. I think Holland and Ridley will both survive it if it bombs or comes out with mixed reviews. I hope they don't get stuck with a mediocre franchise if the movie does ok.

[swanpride]

Tom Holland is just incredible talented. No matter in which role he turns up, he makes you immediately sympathise with his character. Question is if he has range.

[Danny Franks]

20 minutes ago, Athena said:

Chaos Walking, right? I'm actually a little concerned for them both because the movie was shot two years ago, but Lionsgate recently started reshoots since they found the current state unreleasable due to poor screen testings. The book it is based on yet another dystopian future YA series. Lionsgate has not been tracking well on those lately. I think Holland and Ridley will both survive it if it bombs or comes out with mixed reviews. I hope they don't get stuck with a mediocre franchise if the movie does ok.

Well that's disappointing. Test audiences aren't always that reliable, but even if they're wrong, bad press can kill a movie even quicker than bad writing, acting or directing.

I'd be more worried for Daisy Ridley, in that case. Because it's generally harder for women to bounce back from bad movies than it is for men.

Just now, swanpride said:

Tom Holland is just incredible talented. No matter in which role he turns up, he makes you immediately sympathise with his character. Question is if he has range.

I'm intrigued by him playing Nathan Drake, albeit a younger version than appeared in the games. He definitely has the charm to play Drake, but he needs to have an underlying steel that even Spider-Man hasn't had to show so far. Nathan Drake is basically a modern day Indiana Jones, but with a higher body count.

[JessePinkman]

I saw this brought up elsewhere but it's that two Will Smith lead vehicles, Independence Day and Men in Black, that helped make him into a star had sequels without him and both have bombed spectacularly. Even with the rise in franchises and IPs, you can't discount the draw of a movie star to the general populace. Not that those films would have been successes with him as the star but both are largely remembered (MiB more than ID) because of him. And he's starring in a movie everyone thought would flop but is instead the 3rd highest grossing movie this year!

Speaking of Aladdin, what do you think will become of Naomi Scott and Mena Moussad's careers now? They're both very talented and in one of the biggest movies of the year so this should lead to great opportunities for them but also...Hollywood. 

[AimingforYoko]

18 hours ago, topanga said:

I loved her as the tough, so-called bitchy boss in that movie with... Michael Douglas(?) when he accuses her of sexual harassment (?). Please excuse my sh*t for brains. My point is that she’s great in CEO/ bad-ass boss rolls. 

Disclosure. Near the end of Douglas' "asshole" period.

[methodwriter85]

15 hours ago, Danny Franks said:

He seems to have the world very much at his feet.

It's been awhile since I've seen a guy still in his 20's with this much hype/hope surrounding him. Timothee Chalamet and Lucas Hedges are more seen as indie awards bait people, whereas Tom Holland looks like he has real "mainsteam star" potential. I also see that with Ansel Elgort, but he's not really hyped as much.

Edited June 19, 2019 by methodwriter85

[kiddo82]

13 hours ago, Danny Franks said:

I'm intrigued by him playing Nathan Drake, albeit a younger version than appeared in the games. He definitely has the charm to play Drake, but he needs to have an underlying steel that even Spider-Man hasn't had to show so far. Nathan Drake is basically a modern day Indiana Jones, but with a higher body count.

I agree.  Part of what makes him the perfect Peter Parker is this adorable boyish, almost bumbling, charm.  Nathan Drake is more assertive, rugged, and quite frankly sexy.  I think you need someone older, or who at least plays older.  I could see more of an Armie Hammer or Trevante Rhodes type in that role before Holland.

[paulvdb]

16 hours ago, JessePinkman said:

I saw this brought up elsewhere but it's that two Will Smith lead vehicles, Independence Day and Men in Black, that helped make him into a star had sequels without him and both have bombed spectacularly. Even with the rise in franchises and IPs, you can't discount the draw of a movie star to the general populace. Not that those films would have been successes with him as the star but both are largely remembered (MiB more than ID) because of him. And he's starring in a movie everyone thought would flop but is instead the 3rd highest grossing movie this year!

I was never really into Men in Black, But I did like Indepence Day. I think there's only one way Will Smith could have made that sequel a success. And that would be using his star power to get some major rewriting done on the story.

[Danny Franks]

9 hours ago, kiddo82 said:

I agree.  Part of what makes him the perfect Peter Parker is this adorable boyish, almost bumbling, charm.  Nathan Drake is more assertive, rugged, and quite frankly sexy.  I think you need someone older, or who at least plays older.  I could see more of an Armie Hammer or Trevante Rhodes type in that role before Holland.

I think they've taken inspiration from the flashback sections of Uncharted 3 and 4, where you saw young teenage Nathan, and want to base the character on a mix of that kid and of the adult Nathan. But even young Nathan Drake is tough and hardened, in ways that Peter Parker isn't. It will be interesting to see what Holland does with the role.

But this makes me think that the perfect Sully for the movie might just be the guy who campaigned to play adult Nathan in movie, a few years ago - Nathan Fillion.

[VCRTracking]

On 6/16/2019 at 10:47 PM, methodwriter85 said:

I think that incident as well as Reese's slumping career with her three flops in a row (Water for Elephants, How Do You Know, and This Means War) felt like a cold, hard reality check. She seemed to take a lower profile and went back to her indie roots and her comeback has been pretty well-done.

As opposed to Demi Moore, who seemed to be basing her 2000's comeback attempt on the fact that she still looked really, really good in a bikini and had outstandingly good work done.

Charlie's Angels 2 wound up not being the best choice to launch a comeback but she does still work, regardless. She was probably smart with her money because she doesn't seem to be doing things like going on reality shows or Dancing with the Stars to try and keep her name out there.

Man, now that I think about it, I could have totally seen Demi doing the Anne part on the campy Netflix show What/If. She should play a calculating boss bitch in a gritty Netflix drama or maybe something along the lines of Victoria Greyson in Revenge.  She'd kill it in those kinds of parts, I think.

On 6/17/2019 at 6:56 PM, topanga said:

I loved her as the tough, so-called bitchy boss in that movie with... Michael Douglas(?) when he accuses her of sexual harassment (?). Please excuse my sh*t for brains. My point is that she’s great in CEO/ bad-ass boss rolls. 

Wasn't she on the TV show Empire for a while recently?

On 6/18/2019 at 1:13 PM, AimingforYoko said:

Disclosure. Near the end of Douglas' "asshole" period.

She's just been announced as one of the cast members in the upcoming TV series adaption of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World:

Demi Moore joins Solo star Alden Ehrenreich in USA's Brave New World series
 

Quote

Demi Moore, two-time Golden Globe nominee, star of films like G.I. Jane and Indecent Proposal, and, more importantly, the best villain a Charlie’s Angels movie could ask for, is entering a brave new world with her return to television.

Moore joins Solo: A Star Wars Story‘s Alden Ehrenreich and Game of Thrones vet Harry Lloyd in USA Network’s Brave New World TV series as Linda, the “brash, hard-living mother” of John the Savage (Ehrenreich), a man raised outside the confines of the New World.

Her previous television credits include HBO’s Animals., Fox’s Empire, NBC’s Will & Grace, and, going even further back in her career, Ellen, Tales from the Crypt, and General Hospital. One of her Golden Globe nominations came from her performance in the HBO film If These Walls Could Talk.

Brave New World, based on Aldous Huxley’s dystopian literary classic, takes place in the world of New London, a “utopian” society that achieved stability through the prohibition of monogamy, privacy, money, family, and history itself. Lloyd and his co-star from The Riot Club, Jessica Brown Findlay, star as Bernard Marx and Lenina Crowe, two New Worlders who break free from their civilization by journeying to the Savage Lands, where they become swept up in a rebellion. With the arrival of John in the New World, all three must deal with the realities of their conditioning as this illusion of harmony becomes threatened.

I've only read halfway through "Brave New World" but I did get to the point where they meet Demi's character "Linda". Although her physical appearance is somewhat different in the book(she gained a lot of weight after being away from civilization for so long) I can see her playing the character.

[Silver Raven]

Alden Ehrenreich is still getting cast?

[methodwriter85]

21 minutes ago, Silver Raven said:

Alden Ehrenreich is still getting cast?

*whispers* His dad was Steven Spielberg's accountant. He's also named for the director Phil Alden Robinson, who was another family friend. Not as important as Spielberg but he did direct Field of Dreams and Band of Brothers. Wild guess but it sounds like his family hung in the right circles.

In all honestly, I feel like people that have the "push" get multiple chances- the only time they don't is if they burned too many bridges, like what happened to Alex Pettyfer or Katherine Heigl, who now seems to be resorting to Netflix to try and revive her career.

Chloe Grace Moretz by all accounts seems to be a very nice person and that seems to be part of the reason why Hollywood's not leaving her yet despite the fact that she's only had 1 actual hit in a string of flops and disappointments.

[Pink ranger]

I thought that Alden Ehrenreich did a great job in Solo. He was able to channel the character without directly imitating Harrison Ford. His reviews where good even though the movie flopped. 

While he might not, for now, get cast to headline another blockbuster movie, I can’t see why he shouldn’t get opportunities on TV or indies.

[methodwriter85]

He was the one character that I liked in Hail, Caesar.

[Danny Franks]

1 hour ago, Pink ranger said:

I thought that Alden Ehrenreich did a great job in Solo. He was able to channel the character without directly imitating Harrison Ford. His reviews where good even though the movie flopped. 

While he might not, for now, get cast to headline another blockbuster movie, I can’t see why he shouldn’t get opportunities on TV or indies.

Agreed. I remember the stories about them hiring an acting coach for him, and all the scaremongering about it. But when  I saw Solo, I thought he did a really good job, and as you say, he wasn't just imitating Harrison Ford.

He has decent charisma and presence, and that's more than can be said for some people who get cast in leading roles.

[memememe76]

In terms of comebacks, although again TV related, Wynona Ryder has to be mentioned. And Keanu too with the John Wick movies. On a smaller scale, I love seeing Michelle Yeoh in the pop culture limelight again. 

[Lugal]

On 6/18/2019 at 8:01 AM, JessePinkman said:

I saw this brought up elsewhere but it's that two Will Smith lead vehicles, Independence Day and Men in Black, that helped make him into a star had sequels without him and both have bombed spectacularly. Even with the rise in franchises and IPs, you can't discount the draw of a movie star to the general populace. Not that those films would have been successes with him as the star but both are largely remembered (MiB more than ID) because of him. And he's starring in a movie everyone thought would flop but is instead the 3rd highest grossing movie this year!

I think part of it too is time.  Will Smith is definitely a draw but pop culture (and Will himself) moved on.

The sequel to Independence Day came out twenty years later, and the culture had moved on. ID is one of those movies that if I catch it on TV I might watch, but it never stuck with me enough to own.  I never saw the sequel because it just didn't interest me.

I thought MiB International wasn't bad, but it came out 22 years after the original and 7 years after the last sequel.

[Danny Franks]

1 hour ago, Lugal said:

I think part of it too is time.  Will Smith is definitely a draw but pop culture (and Will himself) moved on.

The sequel to Independence Day came out twenty years later, and the culture had moved on. ID is one of those movies that if I catch it on TV I might watch, but it never stuck with me enough to own.  I never saw the sequel because it just didn't interest me.

I thought MiB International wasn't bad, but it came out 22 years after the original and 7 years after the last sequel.

The thing that didn't help the Independence Day sequel is... it was bad. Just bland and predictable, rehashing a lot of the iconic tropes of the first movie, but without any of the charm. It just followed the 'same but bigger' philosophy, which rarely works.

I didn't watch MiB International, but I think MiB 2 and 3 were both crap, and while I don't know how profitable they were, the apparently cheaper and less convincing CGI suggests they were made on significantly lower budgets. It just seems like a dead franchise, and I don't really understand why anyone thought that a new entry would be a success.

[Lugal]

41 minutes ago, Danny Franks said:

The thing that didn't help the Independence Day sequel is... it was bad. Just bland and predictable, rehashing a lot of the iconic tropes of the first movie, but without any of the charm. It just followed the 'same but bigger' philosophy, which rarely works.

I didn't watch MiB International, but I think MiB 2 and 3 were both crap, and while I don't know how profitable they were, the apparently cheaper and less convincing CGI suggests they were made on significantly lower budgets. It just seems like a dead franchise, and I don't really understand why anyone thought that a new entry would be a success.

I can't speak about the Independence Day sequel because I never saw it.  ID was never a movie that sticks with me.  Fun to watch on the big screen, but ultimately it made no big impact on my life.  While I still love science fiction, what impressed me in 1996 is completely different that what would have impressed me in 2016.

MiB did have more of an impact, I bought the DVD and still watch it occasionally.  I actually liked MiB 3, and I thought International was was a fun enough way to kill two hours on a hot summer afternoon.  I think if they had released International back in the late 90s-early 00's they could have spun off the series, but that was before cinematic universes were a thing.

After the first movie, none of the MiB really did well domestically.  2 made about $50 million over its budget and 3 and International did not make back their budgets, and have been declining ever since. When worldwide revenues are taken into account the whole franchise has done almost $2 billion.  I would agree that creatively, it seems to be a dead franchise, but as long as Hollywood thinks they can squeeze more money out of it, who knows.

[methodwriter85]

6 hours ago, Lugal said:

I can't speak about the Independence Day sequel because I never saw it.  ID was never a movie that sticks with me.  Fun to watch on the big screen, but ultimately it made no big impact on my life.  While I still love science fiction, what impressed me in 1996 is completely different that what would have impressed me in 2016.

The problem with rebooting Independence Day is that it just doesn't really jibe with what people are interested in. There was some kind of vicarious thrill for Americans of 1996 to watch familiar landmarks get destroyed and seeing Americans rally against the enemy. Now it's not really a vicarious thrill.

[AimingforYoko]

6 hours ago, methodwriter85 said:

it just doesn't really jibe

I liked your post, not so much because I agreed with it, just because you correctly used jibe instead of jive.

[krankydoodle]

On 8/14/2018 at 3:25 PM, shireenbamfatheon said:

Florence Pugh is going to be pretty big in the near future. She had a lead role in the critically acclaimed Lady Macbeth, will be playing Dwayne Johnson's and Lena Headey's daughter in Fighting with my Family, has the lead female role in Chan-Wook Park's The Little Drummer Girl, and is starring in Little Women as one of the March sisters. It's pretty impressive to achieve all that in 2-3 years at the age of 22.

Pugh really got off to a running start. I don't think Fighting with my Family or The Little Drummer Girl got as much attention as expected, but she was amazing in Midsommar and now that she's been cast in the Black Widow movie, she's well on her way.

[methodwriter85]

"His Brand is excellence: How Leonardo DiCaprio became Hollywood's last movie Star"

I thought it was weird that this article doesn't mention Denzel Washington at all, who can still consistently open a movie, but whatever.

Leo was smart- Titanic set him up for life, and he did what he wanted to do and when he wanted to do it. It served him well.

[Danny Franks]

I thought DiCaprio's brand was "self-important, overly long movies that I'm not interested in watching".

I completely agree that Denzel Washington is a movie star, in the grandest sense of the term. He is at the stage of his career now where he can just play himself, at a range of volumes, without having to do anything radically different from one movie to the next. To me, that's the measure of a true movie star - that you don't need to inhabit a character or transform yourself to know that people will pay to see you.

[methodwriter85]

I mean, if you look at his IMDB, of his 10 movies that he released in this decade, 3 of them hit the 100 million mark. Six of the 10 made at least 90 million. Eight of the 10 made the 70 million mark. The only movie he did that didn't get to the 50 million mark was Roman J. Israel. Denzel Washington undeniably still has an audience that consistently comes out for him.

[swanpride]

Nah, DiCaprio's brand is "original movies by famous directors, preferable with a role which challenges him one way or another". You have to give it to him, he has worked with all the "big" ones by now. Question is what he will do when the last of the "famous" directors retire. They aren't many of the old school ones left, and the new well-known names, well, they are more likely to do something which isn't really in Leo's wheelhouse. I just can't imagine him starring in a Waititi movie.

[methodwriter85]

Wait, has he done Spielberg? I don't think he has.

I'd be interested in seeing Leo play a villain in an Edgar Wright movie.

Edited August 9, 2019 by methodwriter85

[Guest]

1 hour ago, methodwriter85 said:

Wait, has he done Spielberg? I don't think he has.

He has. Catch Me If You Can. 

Edited August 9, 2019 by Guest

[cpcathy]

15 hours ago, swanpride said:

Nah, DiCaprio's brand is "original movies by famous directors, preferable with a role which challenges him one way or another". You have to give it to him, he has worked with all the "big" ones by now. Question is what he will do when the last of the "famous" directors retire. They aren't many of the old school ones left, and the new well-known names, well, they are more likely to do something which isn't really in Leo's wheelhouse. I just can't imagine him starring in a Waititi movie.

David Fincher, please cast Leo in something!

[swanpride]

Yep, Catch me if you Can also happens to be one of my favourite movies featuring him. So much fun!

[Athena]

2 minutes ago, methodwriter85 said:

I'd really like to see Zoey Deutch and Glenn Powell do another movie together, but something with a tighter script. I liked Set It Up, but it kind of meandered a bit too much. However, they did have really good chemistry.

Bringing this from the costar thread. I like both these actors, but I have been thinking for years that Zoey Dutch is underrated. She has chemistry with a lot of people. She can act and she has decent range in comedy and some drama. I think she has a good amount of charisma. It's a bit annoying how other stars of her generation get more attention. 

[festivus]

6 minutes ago, Athena said:

Bringing this from the costar thread. I like both these actors, but I have been thinking for years that Zoey Dutch is underrated. She has chemistry with a lot of people. She can act and she has decent range in comedy and some drama. I think she has a good amount of charisma. It's a bit annoying how other stars of her generation get more attention. 

I've only seen her in a few things but I really like her. I think Glenn Powell is really underrated. He steals everything I've seen him in and he's the only reason I care about seeing the Top Gun sequel. I did love that movie back in the 80s when I went to see it but I don't think I'd be interested now it weren't for Glenn. Especially since they left Kelly McGillis out.

[methodwriter85]

Both Zoey Deutch and Glenn Powell feel like they're on the verge of the role that makes them a household name. However, I have also felt that way about Nicholas Hoult since I saw Warm Bodies in 2013, and it hasn't happened yet. I also thought that Logan Lerman was going to hit it big in sensitive young man roles in coming of age dramas, but that title became a dogfight between Lucas and Timothe Chalamet instead.

Edited September 4, 2019 by methodwriter85

[absnow54]

I can see Glenn Powell following a Chris Pratt trajectory. I don't think that Top Gun will be the movie that makes him though. He's definitely got IT though. I really like Zoey Deutch too, but she seems to excel more in dry, witty rom-coms and they're only making those on Netfilx (although that worked for Noah Centineo). I just saw that she's doing The Politician, and I think trying out television is a really great move.

[festivus]

I just started watching a show called Harrow (which I'd never heard of) and it made me think. Y'all, why isn't Ioan Gruffudd a bigger star? I've seen him in a few things but I just don't think he's as big a star as he should be. He's got it all; funny, great actor, charisma, and he's hot as the asphalt in hell. I don't think he's aging either, must of got hold of whatever Keanu takes. 😄 He should be having like a Benedict Cumberbatch career. If Chris Evans can recover from the Fantastic Four..............

Marvel, call him!

[Athena]

2 hours ago, festivus said:

I just started watching a show called Harrow (which I'd never heard of) and it made me think. Y'all, why isn't Ioan Gruffudd a bigger star? I've seen him in a few things but I just don't think he's as big a star as he should be. He's got it all; funny, great actor, charisma, and he's hot as the asphalt in hell. I don't think he's aging either, must of got hold of whatever Keanu takes. 😄 He should be having like a Benedict Cumberbatch career. If Chris Evans can recover from the Fantastic Four..............

Marvel, call him!

I avidly followed Gruffudd's early career in the 90s and move to LA in the 2000s. He has done a number of US TV shows, but they never made it big or really showcased his talent. I think he was miscast in Fantastic Four; it didn't really show his strengths and the writing was not great. Sometimes, I wonder if it was timing and oddly enough, if he had a similar problem that Jon Hamm did of being too hot. I know it sounds odd, but compare his career with best friend and former flatmate Matthew Rhys. Rhys is attractive but not in the same way and more of an everyman look. He did not have as many roles in the UK comapred with Gruffudd, but he managed to land stints on two long running US shows including being nominated for Globes and Emmys for "The Americans". Alongside the Cumberbatch comparison, part of the latter's appeal is that he is not "conventionally" attractive. Gruffudd has always come off as dreamy and he did best when playing into it with characters who were more ideal, earnest, and sometimes conflicted. He does have range but he didn't find the right roles. 

[festivus]

He is dreamy but he can also act and is funny. He even made my husband laugh when we were watching that show last night and he rarely does that. The husband was like, "where do we know him from" and I mentioned the things we'd seen him in, Forever, Ringer, HH, and F4. The hubby hates those Fantastic Four movies because he used to read those comics, but I don't mind them. They weren't written that well but I was okay with the casting for the most part.

I know this might sound weird but he reminds me a bit of Jeff Goldblum. I think it's the eyes and some of his expressions. Maybe he should try some more "interesting" type roles.

[LilWharveyGal]

8 minutes ago, festivus said:

HH

If you mean Horatio Hornblower, I've been wishing for years that some studio on the reboot/revisit train would think of HH and adapt some of the later stories now that Ioan (and everyone, for that matter!) have aged.

[festivus]

I did. I was too lazy to type it. Edit: But not too lazy to be flipping through his pics on IMDB. Priorities.

 

[methodwriter85]

Quote

I can see Glenn Powell following a Chris Pratt trajectory. I don't think that Top Gun will be the movie that makes him though. He's definitely got IT though.

I can definitely see Glenn Powell getting into the superhero thing, although who knows when that whole trend is going to implode.

He's similar to Pratt in the sense that he's handsome, but in an "everyman" Kevin Costner-in-his-prime kind of way, which is usually a good thing, because it means you can play a variety of leading man roles and you're less likely to fall victim to changing tastes.

Grufford might just be a case of bad timing. He was in the leading man age range in the 2000's, and his general type (charming European fellow with kind of an odd posh look) was kind of falling out of favor during that decade as even Hugh Grant was getting away from those type of roles. I think it came back in favor with Benedict Cumberbatch and Eddie Redmayne breaking out in this decade, but it didn't really help him much. Also, because none of his t.v. shows did well, people were less inclined to give him leading roles. I felt pretty bad for him that his biggest role in recent years was the cowardly boyfriend of the Rock's ex-wife in San Andreas.

Timing is such a funny thing. I remain convinced that if Julia Stiles had been an ingenue in the 1970's instead of the late 90's to mid-2000's, she would have had a much bigger career. I can see her in those reflective cerebral films of the 70's like An Unmarried Woman or the Stepford Wives.

Edited September 4, 2019 by methodwriter85

[Athena]

17 hours ago, festivus said:

He is dreamy but he can also act and is funny. He even made my husband laugh when we were watching that show last night and he rarely does that. The husband was like, "where do we know him from" and I mentioned the things we'd seen him in, Forever, Ringer, HH, and F4. The hubby hates those Fantastic Four movies because he used to read those comics, but I don't mind them. They weren't written that well but I was okay with the casting for the most part.

I agree with you. He has charm and humor. I meant dreamy both as his own roles and also how he makes the audience feel (biased here). He has such a pretty and handsome face that it's probably been difficult to cast him as a normal every day guy. I thought Fantastic Four also suffered from the lack of chemistry he and Alba shared which I partly blame on the script.  

17 hours ago, LilWharveyGal said:

If you mean Horatio Hornblower, I've been wishing for years that some studio on the reboot/revisit train would think of HH and adapt some of the later stories now that Ioan (and everyone, for that matter!) have aged.

By far the best role that Gruffudd has ever done and one of my favourite TV series. Gruffudd said in the past he would keep doing those stories until he was an old man. Alas, no one really wants to pay for the production and that era doesn't seem to interest viewers or at least people who make movies and TV.

16 hours ago, methodwriter85 said:

Grufford might just be a case of bad timing. He was in the leading man age range in the 2000's, and his general type (charming European fellow with kind of an odd posh look) was kind of falling out of favor during that decade as even Hugh Grant was getting away from those type of roles. I think it came back in favor with Benedict Cumberbatch and Eddie Redmayne breaking out in this decade, but it didn't really help him much. Also, because none of his t.v. shows did well, people were less inclined to give him leading roles. I felt pretty bad for him that his biggest role in recent years was the cowardly boyfriend of the Rock's ex-wife in San Andreas.

Gruffudd has a similar posh feel to all those actors (though his background is not as posh as theirs), but he is taller and generally more attractive that it's difficult to cast him as an underdog lead the way all of them have been.  

I think some other things hurt Gruffudd. After he moved to Hollywood, he settled down and had a family and mostly did network TV for a long time. I liked him on Ringer and was one of the few people who thought it could have been a great soapy show; him and SMG had good chemistry too. Forever was also a good use of his talents but hampered by iffy writing. He missed out on peak TV and the critically acclaimed shows. His American accent when he first moved was hit or miss.

Relative to other Brits, Gruffudd didn't do much theatre. He also has not acted much in UK productions since he left; he's actually doing an Australian show now. The UK acting scene is small and even Rhys has done a couple of UK things. Makes me wonder if he burned some bridges in the UK, but he definitely seems less plugged into the UK and theatre network which could have hurt his career.

[festivus]

13 minutes ago, Athena said:

I agree with you. He has charm and humor. I meant dreamy both as his own roles and also how he makes the audience feel (biased here).

Oh I knew you meant that but I couldn't resist calling him dreamy. *sighs like a teenage girl*

13 minutes ago, Athena said:

 I liked him on Ringer and was one of the few people who thought it could have been a great soapy show; him and SMG had good chemistry too. Forever was also a good use of his talents but hampered by iffy writing. 

Me and the husband loved both of those shows. Couldn't understand why either of them were cancelled. I was revisiting the cast photos of Ringer and there were so many good people on that show. Including one Zoey Deutch. 

He's older now, he should try to take on more wacky type roles. We are finding him pretty funny on Harrow.

[aradia22]

I was watching something for It Chapter Two and thought "I didn't know Karl Urban was in this movie." Turns out it's Jay Ryan. What is it with Australia churning out these giants with perfect bone structure? Hugh Jackman. Jai Courtney. The Hemsworths. There's some variety but a lot of these guys are definitely going up for the same roles or they could be each other's body doubles if they were less famous.