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37 Stars Who Got Leading Roles Time And Time Again, But Never Became A-Listers
Depending on who you talk to, some people view fame as the best goal you can have in your life. And we're not saying it's not a good goal -- it is, as long as it doesn't overpower everything else in life.
Additionally, the thing with fame is that it's very volatile -- sometimes even a smaller thing can ruin years of work leading up to it. Alternatively, you might not be able to achieve it, no matter how hard you work. Just take a look at the celebs on today's list -- one second, they seemed like they were gonna rule the entertainment industry, and the next, it seemed that no one really heard about them anymore.
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#1
Chris Pratt. He’s one of those people you like more the less you know about him. As he got more famous we all just kept finding out lamer things about him and now.. I feel like I just heard him defending some wild RFK jr takes.
Apatheist Account2 3 months ago
He's clearly A-list though - Jurassic Park and Marvel is as high as it gets these days.
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#2
So far, Sydney Sweeney.
NoWingedHussarsToday replied:
IDK, she seems to be doing well. Euphoria, the White Lotus S1, couple of movies...... I guess time will tell how her being MAGA will affect here........
Janelle Collard 3 months ago
She has two things going for her + neither one is any acting ability. She flashes her front. That's it.
#3
Shia Labeouf. I was so glad when they stopped putting him in lead roles, finally.
A lot of people want to be famous, at least on some level. Some might not even realize that they crave it. From the outside, it seems like being famous is receiving unconditional love from people you don’t know, getting things for free, being treated better than common folks, and getting praise for your work. And so, it seems like an appealing life for many.
Of course, that’s only the outside of it – the inner workings of fame can be way more hostile – from stalking, to exhaustion, and no privacy – being famous isn’t all butterflies and rainbows.
#4
Taylor Lautner.
GenericRedditor0405 replied:
I wish Taylor Lautner and his wife, Taylor Lautner, the best all the same
#5
Gal Gadot for me. She’s attractive, but cannot act to save her life. I also am scratching my head that Disney casted her as the Evil Queen in the Snow White remake. Like “this is the person who’s supposed to be jealous of Snow White’s beauty? Really?”.
#6
I feel like this is happening with Taron Egerton. I love him so I hope he becomes A-List.
Ellinor she/they/elle 3 months ago
Love him, loved him in Sing movies and ADORED him in Rocketman !
And it isn’t like all of this is a secret – it’s pretty well known. Yet, some folks still crave fame, and so they go into professions that have a higher chance of shooting them into the stars.
These professions include titles like actor, singer, dancer, or just overall performer, to name a few. Still, getting into this profession doesn’t inherently guarantee that you will become famous – sometimes you can give your all, but it still doesn’t happen for you.
#7
Katherine Heigl.
mermaidpaint replied:
When they say you don't bite the hand that feeds you, when Shonda Rhimes writes you a cancer storyline and rearranges shooting schedules to accommodate your film career, you don't complain that you were forced to work long hours on the schedule that was created so you could take time away from set to make a movie. And you don't make it known that you didn't submit yourself for an Emmy nomination because Grey's Anatomy didn't give you Emmy worthy material.
She's said that she would be willing to return to GA but Shonda has said "Yeah, we're good,."
#8
Cara Delevigne.
She was in multiple movies throughout the second half of the 2010's but I don't think she caught on.
#9
Kit Harrington and really a lot of the GOT cast.
Today’s list is full of such examples. In it, you will find plenty of names of people in the entertainment industry, mostly Hollywood, who had the potential to be the next big thing but then faded into obscurity. Well, maybe not obscurity, but they aren’t seen around as much as they used to be.
So, like Cara Delevingne, Noah Centineo, and many others. It also includes a few names that people are guessing will fade into obscurity in the near future, such as Glen Powell. We’ll have to see about it, won’t we?
#11
Jaden Smith.
KaTheEdgy replied:
I mean, it's not like Hollywood tried to make him into an A-Lister. Will's the one who pushed it, Jaden did not seem to care that much about acting.
Janelle Collard 3 months ago
And his sister. Both are "self-educated," meaning they never went to school.
#12
Nickelodeon tired to turn Victoria Justice into the next big star. However her music & acting career flopped while her costar, Ariana Grande career’s took off.
Granted, all of these takes are solely opinions of netizens shared online; they aren’t a proper indicator of someone’s success. Maybe the people who wrote down these opinions don’t see these celebs around much, but perhaps you do – it all depends on where you look, right?
After all, celebrity relevance is a tricky thing. Some names are destined to be known by almost everyone in the world, while others are more relevant on a smaller scale, in smaller communities.
#13
I dont think you ever outshine C. Thomas Howell, who was going to be the huge star after The Outsiders movie.
You might have heard of the other minor actors staring in the film, Matt Dillon,Patrick Swayze, Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez, oh and Tom Cruise.
#14
Jeremy Renner. Was groomed to take over Mission Impossible and Jason Bourne franchises, couldn't quite cut it.
#15
Ruby Rose.
phantom_avenger replied:
I always felt like her character in Orange is the New Black was supposed to have a major role, following Season 3 but they scrapped those plans for her once they realized that Ruby Rose is very difficult to work with.
The thing is that some celebs might be more versatile and adaptable to ever-changing society and trends within it, which lets them become very well known. Others can be just as talented as those popular ones, but might lack some adaptability or simply lack the luck to become well-known. It all depends from case to case.
Just like the names in today’s list, many of them had a great promise, but it was unfulfilled for one reason or another. Maybe it wasn’t their time, maybe it wasn’t meant to be – who knows. Maybe not becoming overly famous is a blessing in disguise – ultimately, many famous folks speak out about how detrimental fame is to their well-being. And so, perhaps avoiding it all isn’t so terrible.
Do you have any examples of celebs that could've become A-listers, but didn't? we would love to hear them.
#17
I feel like Glen Powell was pushed pretty hard 2023-2024. I don’t dislike him but idk if that’s gonna pan out the way the Hollywood machine wanted.
#18
Chris Klein
They tried so hard.
Lost Panda 3 months ago
Everyone bashed Rollerball, but I kind of liked it as a kid. I mean sure not the same as the original, but like I've said for other movies/shows, you can't watch them as they're the same.
#19
Blake Lively.
Affectionate-Tea8509 replied:
Blake post-Gossip Girl really had several opportunities but she gave priority to Ryan (who still focused on his own career lol) and their family so she just does things she wants to do every once in a while.
#21
Josh Hartnett was everywhere for a couple years. What happened there?
*Edit: He didn't want it? That's easy respect right there.*.
#22
There was a push to make Justin Long the next comedy lead. He’s fine as a side character but not fit for leading roles.
#23
Jonathan Rhys Meyers.
afdc92 replied:
Got a lot of talent but his substance use issues really did him in.
#26
Not necessarily Hollywood specific, but I think Emily Ratajkowski has always tried to make herself happen.
#27
Alex Pettyfer.
Cold_Investment6223 replied:
I knew someone who worked on a project with him (this is over a decade ago) and said while he was particularly nice to them, they noticed him treat other coworkers not so… nicely and it made them uncomfortable.
#29
Dylan O’Brien. It’s too bad because I think he’s done a great job in everything. Just saw Caddo Lake the other day and it was the first thing I’ve seen him in awhile. Another great performance. Not sure why he didn’t really keep getting roles.
#30
Anthony Mackie.
I love everything he’s been in but I get the feeling he hasn’t quite slotted into a decent film role yet.
#31
Not sure how much I'd classed them as celebs but Daisy Ridley & John Boyega.
If you look at the archive discussion thread of The Force Awakens, you'll see them described as 2 of the biggest stars to rise in the years ahead.
#32
Ben Platt
His father was the producer of the Dear Evan Hansen movie adaptation, and gave Ben the lead role again just so his role of Evan could be "immortalized", despite Ben being 27 playing a teenager. The movie was pretty badly received. They also put him in an episode of the Will and Grace reboot where he was supposed to be a "hot young twink" that Will started dating, but like.....no.
#34
Ansel Elgort (who? exactly.).
IndustryPast3336 replied:
Ansel Elgort was being pushed so hard that he somehow swindled his way into being Tony in West Side Story while having the worst singing voice in the entire cast and the only one who is noticably autotuned.
#35
I was part of the team that tried to make Noah Centineo an A-lister industry plant. It failed miserably and I thought it was funny.
#36
Surprised no one said Chris O'Donnell.
#37
Colin Farrell was being set up as an action star for a while, and I love the man's acting, but he never quite had the "Tom Cruise" thing and is much better now as a brilliant character actor. (I know he also had substance use issues, but that wasn't the main problem.) They were trying to do the same thing with Jeremy Renner. (Same issue -- he's a good actor, he just doesn't fully connect to audiences.) Then Will Smith's son was put in everything for a while. On the female side, I remember various "It Girls" being lined up over the years (e.g. Gretchen Mol, Michelle Monaghan) and I liked most of them just fine, but they never became huge.
I think real movie star quality is pretty elusive and not everyone connects with the audience that way; it's not even that they are bad actors -- it's that big stars need to be relatable and at the same time larger than life, and not everyone does that well.
Right now, I think Paul Mescal is in that position: he is an absolutely lovely actor, but he's not a Gladiator II type actor, and they keep trying to make it happen, and I just don't see it.
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What do you think ?
Zoe Vokes 3 months ago (edited)
There are loads more - Orlando Bloom was good in LoTR, got cast in PotC but otherwise hasn’t done anything great, Justin Timberlake when he switched to acting from singing got some big roles, Jared Leto isn’t liked much by anybody not producing or casting the films, Rami Malek outside of Bohemian Rhapsody and Mr Robot, Dane DeHaan was weirdly pushed as an action star, Vanessa Hudgens, Rachel Zegler… I think there have been so many people that casting agents push forward so that they were the ones discovering new talent.
JayWantsACat 3 months ago
Jai Courtney and Sam Worthington. At least Courtney can be fun and charismatic. Worthington is a lump of bland that can barely act. Sure, he's fine in some things but not leading man good.
Zoe Vokes 3 months ago (edited)
There are loads more - Orlando Bloom was good in LoTR, got cast in PotC but otherwise hasn’t done anything great, Justin Timberlake when he switched to acting from singing got some big roles, Jared Leto isn’t liked much by anybody not producing or casting the films, Rami Malek outside of Bohemian Rhapsody and Mr Robot, Dane DeHaan was weirdly pushed as an action star, Vanessa Hudgens, Rachel Zegler… I think there have been so many people that casting agents push forward so that they were the ones discovering new talent.
JayWantsACat 3 months ago
Jai Courtney and Sam Worthington. At least Courtney can be fun and charismatic. Worthington is a lump of bland that can barely act. Sure, he's fine in some things but not leading man good.
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