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

[VCRTracking]

There's always parts available for the girlfriend role. Eye candy in popcorn movies that aren't very demanding and don't require a lot of backstory. 

Edited August 22, 2020 by VCRTracking

[Kel Varnsen]

On 8/17/2020 at 4:13 PM, Ms Blue Jay said:

In my opinion, blonde, thin, young women are always in fashion in Hollywood.

Plus these days when an actress ages out of those roles she can just start a "lifestyle brand" and take in even more cash.

[festivus]

On 8/17/2020 at 3:13 PM, Ms Blue Jay said:

In my opinion, blonde, thin, young women are always in fashion in Hollywood.

Yes, and how boring is that.

[methodwriter85]

Speaking of Julia Garner, rumors are swirling that Madonna wants her to play her in a biopic because she followed her on Instagram. I wanted AnnaSophia Robb but her career never seemed to rebound after the Carrie Diaries. She still gets work but usually supporting roles. 

[VCRTracking]

Someone suggested Florence Pugh on Twitter months ago. She does have that mature sounding voice.

[vb68]

Jonathan Majors is having a heck of a year. I think he has the goods to be a long term player.

[methodwriter85]

On 9/1/2020 at 9:12 PM, VCRTracking said:

Someone suggested Florence Pugh on Twitter months ago. She does have that mature sounding voice.

Florence Pugh could work. Her eyes are hazel instead of Madonna's vivid blue but since when do that ever stop Hollywood? The good thing is that no one is expecting a vocal powerhouse so any number of actresses can work. (There's always lipsynching but that seems to have become verboten in Hollywood even for biopics.)

[methodwriter85]

On 9/6/2019 at 4:37 PM, aradia22 said:

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.

Jacob Elordi reminds me a little of Matt Dillion, but if you took a similar kind of face (broodily handsome brunette with soulful dark eyes) and placed it on a 6'5" Australian giant. What is it about Australia? Lol Jacob is definitely a really good actor and I can see him graduating from teen stuff into really great dramas. The problem is that he's 23 which means Hollywood isn't going to take him seriously in the kind of dark, gritty roles I think he'd be great at. Euphoria is a great start in that direction but it's still a teen show. 

Edited November 23, 2020 by methodwriter85

[aradia22]

Quote

Nikolaj Coster Waldau - He’s continued to do his Danish films, and he seems perfectly happy with that. He stars in them. They do well overseas, but he’s not broken in with anything big in Hollywood, but I think he would like to.

Gwendoline Christie - She starred in a really well received stage production of Midsummer Night’s Dream. She also had a small part in the new David Copperfield. Her big role was Captain Phasma and they stupidly killed that character off. She seems to like the weird and arty.

Emilia Clarke - Is plugged into the cheesey rom-com machine, but they seem to all get panned. She needs a good solid feel good film. 

Jason Momoa - He’s probably done well post his time on GoT but he was only in one season. Aquaman, though a terrible film, was made for him. Now he’s going to be Duncan Idaho in Dune. That has real potential for him.

I'm a little surprised NCW hasn't at least managed an Alexander Skarsgard sort of career but maybe Skarsgard chases those roles harder or is deemed to have more weight because of his past successes. I'm hoping there's a female screenwriter or director just waiting for the opportunity to put Gwendoline Christie in something. I'm actually thinking period piece/drama but... a good one, not those shallow Hollywood biopics. Portrait of a Lady on Fire vibes. You know. Emilia Clarke has time but I agree the way she's racking up flops doesn't look great. She just needs to hang on long enough until someone gives her a role like Emma Watson in Beauty and the Beast. I don't know if she has the talent for sustained success but she could definitely find another project with cultural relevance that makes money and keeps her going if she wants to work. I feel like Momoa has done a good job of establishing his fame. I don't know how that will play out in terms of his actual work over time but he seems well cemented as a celebrity at this point.

[methodwriter85]

Again though, I think Last Christmas was probably a good idea on paper, but the marketing botched it by making it seem like a happy romantic comedy when it's not. You can't market a movie without giving audiences a feel of what they're in for. I will never forget how Spanglish was marketed as a feel-good movie about learning to get past cultural differences and was instead treated to a cynical look at consumerist American culture obsessed with physical perfection and exploits the underclass.

[VCRTracking]

When I first saw Anna Taylor Joy in SPLIT a while back I thought "Wow, she's great. Too bad about her eyes." I'm so glad I was wrong about them being a hindrance to her career!

Edited November 30, 2020 by VCRTracking

[festivus]

I just finished watching The Queen's Gambit last night and she was great. I've never seen her in anything before but I could not look away from her, she owned that screen. She has a different look but I think she has an otherworldly beauty. 

Btw, her name is Anya Taylor-Joy. I thought it was Anna too until about halfway through watching.

[memememe76]

With the success of The Undoing, Nicole Kidman is really finding general population success on prestige television. We are also seeing that with Kaley Cuoco. I think an actress of colour like Taraji P Henson could hit similar gold going this route. 
 

Kristin Stewart is seeing her star shine with the success of The Happiest Season. It’s hard to dispute the fact that her presence increased interest. 
 

I wonder if there is an actress who wants to challenge the Hallmark system and create a series of thoughtful female centred movies. 

[caracas1914]

On 12/1/2020 at 5:45 AM, festivus said:

I just finished watching The Queen's Gambit last night and she was great. I've never seen her in anything before but I could not look away from her, she owned that screen. She has a different look but I think she has an otherworldly beauty. 

Btw, her name is Anya Taylor-Joy. I thought it was Anna too until about halfway through watching.

Agreed Anya has a unique , I think cinematic look.    She is like an anime character come to life.    Her spin on yet another movie version of "EMMA" was interesting, and she gave weight to  what could have been just  the prototypical  victim/hostage heroine of  the Split/Glass films.   

The reality is like most young women actresses she has  limited shots for stardom, whereas male actors (insert basic white leading man) can have 10 flops in a row and still get offered potentially star-making leading roles.

[kiddo82]

I didn't love Mank but I'm happy for Amanda Seyfried.  I've always thought she's a better actress than some of her credits suggest and if this puts her on the radar for some higher profile work then good for her.  I also think it's of note that other than McAdams (and not counting the adult characters), she's probably had the highest profile post Mean Girls career.  Don't get me wrong, I love me some Karen Smith, but I don't know if that type of staying power was something that a lot of people were predicting back in 2004.  

Edited December 8, 2020 by kiddo82

[kiddo82]

Every so often I fall down a Madeline Kahn rabbit hole on YouTube.  The woman had talent oozing from her pores and an it factor to boot.  (I can listen to the twenty seconds she sings Battle Hymn of the Republic in Young Frankenstein on a loop).  Aside from the fact in general that she was taken much much too young, I can't help but lament how we really missed out on her giving an all time iconic voice acting performance in a Disney/Pixar film.  She does stand out in A Bug's Life, but it's unfortunately a role that gets lost in the shuffle.  Imagine her as Dory or Joy or Jessie (or even Edna).  Not only would she have been fantastic but it would have been a gateway for a whole new generation of fans.  And it's not that any of those roles need to be recasted in the first place, but just imagine what she could have done with them.

[Scarlett45]

On 12/7/2020 at 9:20 PM, kiddo82 said:

I didn't love Mank but I'm happy for Amanda Seyfried.  I've always thought she's a better actress than some of her credits suggest and if this puts her on the radar for some higher profile work then good for her.  I also think it's of note that other than McAdams (and not counting the adult characters), she's probably had the highest profile post Mean Girls career.  Don't get me wrong, I love me some Karen Smith, but I don't know if that type of staying power was something that a lot of people were predicting back in 2004.  

I was thinking about Amanda Seyfried the other day and what she was up to. I last remember seeing her in the live action Cinderella (as a step sister). 
 

I thought Amanda had talent (I loved her in Big Love), and she’s certainly very beautiful, with the type of face that wouldn’t “break” at 40. But it’s a dog eat dog world out there!

[katha]

I hope Lee Pace gets more great opportunities in the future. He's been stellar in everything I've seen him in: "The Fall", "Pushing Daisies", the Hobbit movies, "Halt and Catch Fire". He's been on the brink of a higher profile, but it's never quite happened for him. He's doing some science fiction series for Apple which looks quite interesting, hopefully that is a success for him.

[krankydoodle]

18 hours ago, katha said:

He's been on the brink of a higher profile, but it's never quite happened for him.

I've considered creating a topic for discussing actors we thought would have bigger careers, but figured that might get depressing.

On this topic, I have high hopes for Kyliegh Curran who I thought held her own against Rebecca Ferguson in Doctor Sleep. Ferguson was fantastic in the showier role and IIRC got more attention from critics, but I was really impressed by how Curran pulled off the difficult task of making a precocious teen with supernatural abilities believable and sympathetic.

[haje]

I watched The High Note recently and it was mostly fine but I was really so charmed by Kelvin Harrison Jr's general presence and it made me think about the other films I've seen him in so far (Waves, Luce, It Comes At Night) and the range he has shown in what is a relatively young career. I genuinely think he's the whole package.  If Euphoria Season 2 gives him good material, I can see him breaking out in a big way and I hope he does because he deserves it. 

 

Edited February 2, 2021 by haje

[Lugal]

On 5/18/2020 at 9:23 AM, BlackberryJam said:

Gwendoline Christie - She starred in a really well received stage production of Midsummer Night’s Dream. She also had a small part in the new David Copperfield. Her big role was Captain Phasma and they stupidly killed that character off. She seems to like the weird and arty.

Gwendoline Christie is also 6'3" so that alone limits her roles.

[BlackberryJam]

2 hours ago, Lugal said:

Gwendoline Christie is also 6'3" so that alone limits her roles.

She’s going to be Lucifer in The Sandman. I love it.

[Mabinogia]

18 hours ago, BlackberryJam said:

21 hours ago, Lugal said:

Gwendoline Christie is also 6'3" so that alone limits her roles.

She’s going to be Lucifer in The Sandman. I love it.

You just made my day!

[methodwriter85]

If Netflix can't revive Katherine Heigl's career, nothing will. Since Firefly Lane is doing well I wonder if they'll recruit her to do R-rated romantic comedies for them like they recruited Vanessa Hudgens to do PG-13 romantic comedies. 

 

 

Edited February 10, 2021 by methodwriter85

[Avabelle]

Surprisingly I quite enjoyed Firefly Lane so I think it will keep her busy for another year or so. I’d forgotten that she’s quite charismatic. I’m hoping she might get another role on the back of this. I don’t think Heigl works as a main draw but shows/movies where she’s sharing the screen time seem like a good move.

[methodwriter85]

On 2/13/2021 at 6:56 AM, Avabelle said:

Surprisingly I quite enjoyed Firefly Lane so I think it will keep her busy for another year or so. I’d forgotten that she’s quite charismatic. I’m hoping she might get another role on the back of this. I don’t think Heigl works as a main draw but shows/movies where she’s sharing the screen time seem like a good move.

It's funny to think though that Katherine Heigl was basically the last RomCom queen. I guess Emma Stone might count as one? 

[Danny Franks]

On 2/13/2021 at 11:56 AM, Avabelle said:

Surprisingly I quite enjoyed Firefly Lane so I think it will keep her busy for another year or so. I’d forgotten that she’s quite charismatic. I’m hoping she might get another role on the back of this. I don’t think Heigl works as a main draw but shows/movies where she’s sharing the screen time seem like a good move.

I've not seen Heigl in much, and certainly never watched Greys Anatomy, but in the movies I have seen her in, I always thought she was an engaging, charismatic presence. No idea about all the behind the scenes stuff, but it seems like she's been punished far more harshly than other people might have been.

4 minutes ago, methodwriter85 said:

It's funny to think though that Katherine Heigl was basically the last RomCom queen. I guess Emma Stone might count as one? 

I would have thought it was an opening for Anna Kendrick, given how charming and funny she is, but it seems like something she's not that interested in. At least in movies, because the Love Life series showed that she could definitely be a romcom queen.

[methodwriter85]

Tyler Posey is seriously on my radar for the Next Former Child Star Breakdown. I get a feeling of wrongness that I can't quite explain when I peeped his social. He does seem very over acting and maybe he'll find happiness as a tattoo artist?

Edited March 9, 2021 by methodwriter85

[shantown]

10 hours ago, methodwriter85 said:

Tyler Posey is seriously on my radar for the Next Former Child Star Breakdown. I get a feeling of wrongness that I can't quite explain when I peeped his social. He does seem very over acting and maybe he'll find happiness as a tattoo artist?

When I saw the video of why he was trending on twitter today.... yikes.

[methodwriter85]

21 hours ago, shantown said:

When I saw the video of why he was trending on twitter today.... yikes.

Yikes. Damn, I seem to have a sixth sense for this. I called it on Shia LaBeauf, too. He had been on a comeback trail, then showed up absolutely trashed in the Fast Times at Ridgemont High reading, and then suddenly had a Me, Too moment pretty soon after.

Tyler Posey was supposed to do a Lost Boys CW adaption but that got shelved.

Anyway, back to the thread...

Anya Taylor-Joy seems to be making good on her initial 2016-2017 breakthrough, being nominated for a Golden Globe for Emma and winning a Golden Globe for the Queen's Gambit. The distinctive eyes definitely make her face memorable and makes her stand out from a lot of her contemporaries. 

She's also apparently becoming David O'Russell's next 20-something muse. I can't stand the guy, but there's no denying that he's put out movies that do a lot for people's careers. 

Edited March 10, 2021 by methodwriter85

[katha]

"Chaos Walking" being dumped and buried by the studio last week made me sad for Tom Holland and Daisy Ridley. Both haven't had much luck with picking projects outside their franchises so far. Holland will probably get more chances, given the sexist nature of the industry. Ridley is in that dangerous moment where she needs something notable not tied to Star Wars. Getting your big break in a franchise can be a blessing and a curse..

[Avabelle]

I’ve never seen Daisy Ridley act so can’t speak to her career or talent but I watched her interviewed on Graham Norton last week and thought she came off so obnoxious. Not sure if it was nerves or what.

[methodwriter85]

Yeah, Daisy Ridley doesn't seem to possess a lot of charisma in what I've seen of her.

[Anduin]

On 3/11/2021 at 11:44 PM, Avabelle said:

I’ve never seen Daisy Ridley act so can’t speak to her career or talent but I watched her interviewed on Graham Norton last week and thought she came off so obnoxious. Not sure if it was nerves or what.

I haven't seen much of her press work, but she's pretty fun in Star Wars. She just looks like she's enjoying herself a lot of the time. Making big action and effects movies can't be easy. If someone actually enjoys the process, then more power to her. And even when she doesn't have that light in her eyes, she's still good. She's convincingly angry in the fights. You get the drift.

[Ms Blue Jay]

I absolutely love Daisy and think she's so charismatic.  I wonder why that movie is going through so much hell.  

[katha]

I've not been convinced by anything she's done outside of Star Wars so far, unfortunately. She becomes strangely bland/forgettable IMO. SW is a very specific blank slate/self-insert action movie character and I'm not sure that the skillset that had her do well in that setting necessarily translates well into roles where she needs to be more distinct.

It might also be a case of bad judgement from her/her management, where they don't know what suits her and chose projects for her that don't really have here stand out and don't do well in general. Boyega has shown much better judgement so far IMO. Though I'm also coming to suspect that he is also just a better actor.

[Ms Blue Jay]

Boyega was a much more established actor before Star Wars.  It's not like his career was going to fall off after SW regardless.  

Regardless, Daisy's charm and acting really works on me and I'll definitely be following her career.

[caracas1914]

On 3/15/2021 at 10:36 PM, katha said:

I've not been convinced by anything she's done outside of Star Wars so far, unfortunately. She becomes strangely bland/forgettable IMO. SW is a very specific blank slate/self-insert action movie character and I'm not sure that the skillset that had her do well in that setting necessarily translates well into roles where she needs to be more distinct.

It might also be a case of bad judgement from her/her management, where they don't know what suits her and chose projects for her that don't really have here stand out and don't do well in general. Boyega has shown much better judgement so far IMO. Though I'm also coming to suspect that he is also just a better actor.

Daisy Ridley may be the female version of Orlando Bloom, who did fine with the role of Legolas in LOTR, but doesn't have enough charisma or distinctiveness to standout in any other roles.  

[Danny Franks]

I wouldn't really draw any conclusions about Daisy Ridley yet. She only finished up the Star Wars behemoth in 2019, then 2020 happened and no one really got much done. But she apparently has three projects in pre-production at the moment.

Chaos Walking hasn't been well received but I've not seen any reviews that criticise her performance, or that of Tom Holland (who, by the way, is in an oddly similar position as Ridley, with one mega-franchise under his belt and a couple of middling drama movies, yet no one is wondering about his career).

I guess she has to cope with being attached to something that upset so many fanboys and there are always certain corners of the internet that will never forgive her for that (or for being a woman in their macho fantasy movie), which is something Bloom didn't have to deal with. Of course, he still got a second big franchise and two or three other lead roles in blockbusters before people realised he was a bit rubbish. I still wonder what Kingdom of Heaven could have been if someone like Eric Bana or Ewan McGregor had been the lead.

[caracas1914]

3 hours ago, Danny Franks said:

Chaos Walking hasn't been well received but I've not seen any reviews that criticise her performance, or that of Tom Holland (who, by the way, is in an oddly similar position as Ridley, with one mega-franchise under his belt and a couple of middling drama movies, yet no one is wondering about his career).

 

I first noticed Tom Holland years ago in "The Impossible" and he got actually get a lot of critical acclaim and awards,; I was duly impressed Holland  more than held his own in scenes with Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts,    Ditto in "Edge of Winter" and "Lost City of Z".   Whether that translates to stardom outside of SM I can't say, but on screen the kid has wattage IMO which was clear even before he did the first Spidey movie.

 

[Avabelle]

Agreed re Tom Holland. Daisy Ridley I haven’t seen in anything so can’t comment on her talent. It was just that one appearance on Graham Norton where I found her to be really annoying and obnoxious which is a shame as usually people come off at their best on Graham Norton.

[caracas1914]

On 3/26/2021 at 2:58 AM, Avabelle said:

Agreed re Tom Holland. Daisy Ridley I haven’t seen in anything so can’t comment on her talent. It was just that one appearance on Graham Norton where I found her to be really annoying and obnoxious which is a shame as usually people come off at their best on Graham Norton.

I personally haven't seen it, but apparently there is a revisionist movie (re: Hamlet from Ophelia's POV) called "Ophelia" released a year or two ago,  where DR plays the lead character and seemed to get some good critical reviews.    

[methodwriter85]

On 3/25/2021 at 2:50 PM, caracas1914 said:

Daisy Ridley may be the female version of Orlando Bloom, who did fine with the role of Legolas in LOTR, but doesn't have enough charisma or distinctiveness to standout in any other roles.  

Orlando Bloom aged pretty damn well and it seems like he's moving more towards t.v. That might be better for him.

Edited April 1, 2021 by methodwriter85

[methodwriter85]

I love that Glenn Close is just enjoying her status as the Susan Lucci of the Oscars. I honestly get the feeling she's having a ball in this current uptick of her career. I think the fact that she's not winning is giving her more press than if she actually won. LOL.

[Ambrosefolly]

If someone career is humming along without an Oscar win, like Glenn Close or Amy Adams, there is no real point. It is cool to get, don't get me wrong, but at this point does little for the career. 

[methodwriter85]

1 hour ago, Ambrosefolly said:

If someone career is humming along without an Oscar win, like Glenn Close or Amy Adams, there is no real point. It is cool to get, don't get me wrong, but at this point does little for the career. 

And then there are plenty of examples who win Oscars but it doesn't really help their career much, like Marissa Tomei or Mira Sorvino. That's especially true of the novelty wins by children like Patty Duke (she worked plenty but never had a prestigious career), Tatum O'Neal (too many demons), and then there's Anna Paquin, who kind of bumped around for a bit until True Blood made her an adult star.

Brie Larson DID get a bump with her Oscar win but I don't know if she's really "liked" by the public at large. Captain Marvel was a success but she has had some considerable backlash. 

Brie's an interesting one, because I always thought she had a pleasant, warm, on-screen presence similar to character actress Amy Ryan, but her perception after Captain Marvel is the complete opposite. LOL. 

I think ultimately Brie's going to be most comfortable in smaller indie type films or cult tv shows on streams, although I could be wrong. I think the ship has sailed on her being considered America's Sweetheart It Girl, not that I think she wants that anyway.

Edited April 29, 2021 by methodwriter85

[Kel Varnsen]

48 minutes ago, methodwriter85 said:

And then there are plenty of examples who win Oscars but it doesn't really help their career much, like Marissa Tomei or Mira Sorvino.

To be fair, in all likelihood Harvey Weinstein probably killed Miro Sorvino's career 

[methodwriter85]

8 minutes ago, Kel Varnsen said:

To be fair, in all likelihood Harvey Weinstein probably killed Miro Sorvino's career 

Good point. It also makes sense why Anabella Sciorra seemed to be have disappeared after such a hot start to her career.

[Danny Franks]

22 hours ago, methodwriter85 said:

Brie Larson DID get a bump with her Oscar win but I don't know if she's really "liked" by the public at large. Captain Marvel was a success but she has had some considerable backlash. 

Brie's an interesting one, because I always thought she had a pleasant, warm, on-screen presence similar to character actress Amy Ryan, but her perception after Captain Marvel is the complete opposite. LOL. 

The public backlash was largely due to overly sensitive online males who can't abide the thought of women not catering to their surface-deep fantasies by being pretty and not saying anything. Some people just absorb the disdain that those people have for her without knowing the reason for it.

Larson dared to say "I don’t need a 40-year-old white dude to tell me what didn’t work about A Wrinkle in Time. It wasn’t made for him!". That was it. And it triggered all those fucking weirdos who are almost constantly triggered and desperate to feel victimised for being white and mediocre. Then she dared to infiltrate a franchise that those same people liked to consider their own - the MCU. Not only that, she dared to headline her own movie, playing a character who was arguably stronger than any other character in the universe.

Then she dared to have that movie gross over $1billion, shattering the YouTube predictions of losers who were sure it would bomb because they live in an echo chamber where everyone is at least dabbling in hard right sentiment.

[methodwriter85]

19 minutes ago, Danny Franks said:

Then she dared to have that movie gross over $1billion, shattering the YouTube predictions of losers who were sure it would bomb because they live in an echo chamber where everyone is at least dabbling in hard right sentiment.

The bitterness is a bit much. I posted a video of her teen pop career attempt called "Done with Like" in a 2000's nostalgia Facebook group and the comments were surreal.

That clip is a reminder though that no matter how anyone feels about Brie, she paid her dues. She toiled for a long time in bit parts as a working child actor not to mention her failed bid for teen pop stardom, and she didn't have the benefit of coming from a rich family. If you like her or not, no one can say that Brie didn't work her ass off to get where she is now.

I remember Virginia Madsen said something to the effect of, "It's great that people can be choosy about roles. But the ones that can be choosy about roles are usually the ones that have family money to fall back on. I don't." 

 

Edited April 30, 2021 by methodwriter85