when you think about actors who could have been great but never happened, who do you think of and why (scandal, poor movie choices, etc)?
DthRdrX
07-21-07, 06:50 PM
First name that comes to mind ... River Phoenix
Super X
07-21-07, 06:53 PM
Jan-Michael Vincent (was great when he was sober, lost his way when the booze took over)
Cuba Gooding Jr. (I've been scratching my head over every film choice this guy has made since "Jerry Maguire".)
Robert Forster (Poor movie choices for several decades.)
JPRaup
07-21-07, 07:00 PM
Edward Norton, he is great, but lately :/
7Keys
07-21-07, 07:07 PM
Edward Norton, he is great, but lately :/
Is that a reflection of Norton phoning it in or just because there hasn't been any great roles for him to choose from?
scott1598
07-21-07, 07:35 PM
First name that comes to mind ... River Phoenix
but....he died, so how can you make a statement like that with only the few movies (most he got good reviews for) he made prior to, um...dying?
clemente
07-21-07, 07:54 PM
but....he died, so how can you make a statement like that with only the few movies (most he got good reviews for) he made prior to, um...dying?
I think it falls under the "squandered" category since he died of an OD.
GeorgeP
07-21-07, 08:05 PM
John Belushi (looking burned out as early as "Continental Divide")
Todd Bridges ("Different Strokes")
Macaulay Culkin (Kit's a helluva dad :rolleyes: )
Bobby Driscoll ("Song of the South")
Woody Harrelson (could have been A-list after "Natural Born Killers")
Lukas Haas ("Witness")
Anne Heche ("Psycho" remake)
Olivia Hussey (what happened after "Romeo and Juliet"? :confused: )
David Janssen ("The Fugitive")
Juliette Lewis (see Harrelson)
Sal Mineo ("Rebel Without a Cause")
Jay North ("Dennis the Menace")
Dana Plato (see Bridges)
Freddie Prinze ("Chico and the Man")
PopcornTreeCt
07-21-07, 08:06 PM
but....he died, so how can you make a statement like that with only the few movies (most he got good reviews for) he made prior to, um...dying?
River Phoenix is the definitive answer to the thread question.
Christian Slater was huge coming out of the 80's with Heathers and Gleaming the Cube but he can't stay out of jail. Robert Downey, Jr. is having a rebirth but he really could have been great. Likewise Charlie Sheen.
Defiant1
07-21-07, 08:30 PM
Val Kilmer's reported on-set behaviour really killed his career. His looks have really taken a beating too. I've seen him in a few movies and really liked him.
The Bus
07-21-07, 09:35 PM
Val Kilmer? Really? If squandering means doing stuff like Spartan and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, I hope he continues.
7Keys
07-21-07, 10:16 PM
Todd Bridges ("Different Strokes")
Dana Plato (see Bridges)
Freddie Prinze ("Chico and the Man")
Wesley Snipes is definitely another good suggestion. I have to wonder if he was blacklisted?
Sweet Baby James
07-21-07, 11:12 PM
I really thought that Rutger Hauer was going to be great after seeing him play Roy Batty. Unfortunately(although I do enjoy some of these movies), he went the B movie route. I also thought that Mickey Rourke was going to have a bigger career after seeing him in The Pope of Greenwich Village.
PopcornTreeCt
07-21-07, 11:39 PM
Gerard Butler comes off the box office smash 300 to star in an Escape from NY remake!
Wesley Snipes career: what happens when you always bet on black.
Sweet Baby James
07-22-07, 12:11 AM
Wesley Snipes career: what happens when you always bet on black.
His career is so bad right now that it's only a matter of time until he takes Joe Rogan up on a smackdown.:lol:
FRwL
07-22-07, 12:34 AM
Steven Seagal
cranberries fan
07-22-07, 01:15 AM
George Reeves-(Superman)-and then the show goes off the air the man could not get job.
William Holden great actor by loved to drink way to much,he got very old very fast because of it
.
Marilyn Monroe she could had be much better actress if she had tried harder.
TheStoicPaisano
07-22-07, 01:26 AM
\ Last edited by cranberries fan : 07-22-07 at 12:17 AM. Reason: missing a few things
Try again.
g
07-22-07, 01:32 AM
Chris Tucker who only makes Rush Hour movies. This guy doesnt love to work. He works to get money only.
Wes Bentley after American Beauty was said to be the next best thing and then he disappeared. Coming back with Ghost Rider was not a good thing.
Michael Corvin
07-22-07, 11:14 PM
Chris Tucker who only makes Rush Hour movies. This guy doesnt love to work. He works to get money only.
There's nothing wrong with that. He just needs to add some variety to his resume. I mean three Rush Hour movies in seven years is pretty weak.
Jray
07-22-07, 11:43 PM
His career is so bad right now that it's only a matter of time until he takes Joe Rogan up on a smackdown.:lol:
I actually saw him in an infomercial for some exercise machine yesterday! :eek: He really has fallen far fast.
I'll put my vote in for Tom Sizemore. That guy has managed to FUBAR his life and career.
Umm... who is the guy in the photo half a page up? I'm missing a joke here...
Sweet Baby James
07-22-07, 11:47 PM
Umm... who is the guy in the photo half a page up? I'm missing a joke here...
A crossover joke from another thread. Check out post #6 in this thread-
http://forum.dvdtalk.com/showthread.php?t=506875
dx23
07-23-07, 08:21 AM
Wesley Snipes is definitely another good suggestion. I have to wonder if he was blacklisted?
The rumor is that his on-set behavior was completely disruptive. His has the diva attitude and he had frequent clashes with many of his co-stars.
You need to ad to the list Seagal and Van Damme that killed their career by refusing to play the villian of the film. They always wanted to be the hero and the main lead.
Also add Meg Ryan to the list. Instead of choosing chalenging roles she stuck with the dramedys that made her being typecasted in Hollywood.
Rad14
07-23-07, 08:41 AM
Marlon Brando.
Charlie Goose
07-23-07, 09:05 AM
Tupac Shakur - If you watch Juice or Poetic Justice, you can see that he could've been a great actor. It's too bad he got caught up in that ghetto war bullshit.
Giantrobo
07-23-07, 09:56 AM
The rumor is that his on-set behavior was completely disruptive. His has the diva attitude and he had frequent clashes with many of his co-stars.
Yeah, in interviews with his Blade III co-stars Beil and Reynolds they both said he barely spoke to them. They weren't sure if he was "in character" or what.
I'm sure he blamed "whitey" for this. :p
Giantrobo
07-23-07, 09:58 AM
I nominate Ed Burns. Why isn't this guy a bigger star? Has he been in anything really good since Saving Private Ryan?
Bandit03
07-23-07, 10:14 AM
Guy Pearce - I havent seen him do anything memorable since Memento.
Sweet Baby James
07-23-07, 10:20 AM
Guy Pearce - I havent seen him do anything memorable since Memento.
He was great in The Proposition, an Austrailian Western film that is well worth seeking out.
Groucho
07-23-07, 10:24 AM
I nominate Ed Burns. Why isn't this guy a bigger star? Has he been in anything really good since Saving Private Ryan?Four Brothers is probably taking up all his time. ;)
Bandit03
07-23-07, 10:45 AM
He was great in The Proposition, an Austrailian Western film that is well worth seeking out.
Thanks for the suggestion! I'll definately check it out.
matome
07-23-07, 11:33 AM
From A-list to DTV, definitely Snipes.
Gets my vote.
Winona screwed herself up pretty bad as well. Her latest movie is DTV as well in a couple of weeks (The Darwin Awards)
He got an Oscar nomination this year! How is that squandering potential?
fujishig
07-23-07, 01:53 PM
I always thought Dana Carvey was going to be great coming out of SNL... but outside of Wayne's World, he's made pretty much nothing. I mean, c'mon, Master of Disguise?
DVD Josh
07-23-07, 02:09 PM
Shanon Sossamon
Randy Miller III
07-23-07, 02:29 PM
He got an Oscar nomination this year! How is that squandering potential?
I'm thinking more of the last two decades overall.
Oh, and I'd like to add the obligatory
http://www.worstpreviews.com/images/norbit.gif
chris_sc77
07-23-07, 02:31 PM
I have got to say Ray Liotta , evwen though he's popped up in a few decent flicks over the years hes had some bad luck with the success of his projects.
GoldenJCJ
07-23-07, 03:39 PM
You need to ad to the list Seagal and Van Damme that killed their career by refusing to play the villian of the film. They always wanted to be the hero and the main lead.
Interestingly enough, Executive Decision is the only Seagal movie I own.
Dudikoff
07-23-07, 04:11 PM
Val Kilmer has not squandered his potential. He was never the typical hero type. Wonderland, Salton Sea, Tombstone, Heat, Spartan, and apparently Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (haven't see it) showcase just how consistently amazing Kilmer is.
I say:
Ray Liotta - I love the guy, but his choices have been horrible since Goodfellas.
Rutger Hauer - He's always good, in crappy movies.
Jean Reno - He was brilliant in the Professional, but every performance since has been forgettable and sometimes even awful.
Jason Patric - He's a genuinely good actor, but now you see him once every ten years.
Comedy option: The two Coreys.
Patrick G
07-23-07, 04:11 PM
Not squandering, but making a conscious decision to avoid massive success/popularity while still achieving greatness IMO - Robin Wright Penn.
her34
07-23-07, 04:21 PM
rob lowe - i think he could have been a big name movie star. his acting is limited but he could have chosen unique roles that fit him like brad pitt has done.
aside from poor movie choices, his other downfall was having a sex tape before sex tapes were in vogue
Sweet Baby James
07-23-07, 05:36 PM
I always thought Dana Carvey was going to be great coming out of SNL... but outside of Wayne's World, he's made pretty much nothing. I mean, c'mon, Master of Disguise?
I think that he put his career on the backburner after he almost croaked from a botched heart operation!
Jason
07-23-07, 05:45 PM
I think that he put his career on the backburner when he almost croaked from a botched heart operation!
Yeah, it's not like he's doing bad movies, he's not doing any movies.
I think that most SNL alumi could be listed in this thread though. For every one who makes it, there are a dozen who don't seem to even try.
starman9000
07-23-07, 05:58 PM
Yeah, it's not like he's doing bad movies, he's not doing any movies.
.
Master of Disguise?
Groucho
07-23-07, 05:58 PM
Todd Bridges ("Different Strokes")While I don't think he could have been great, he does have a good recurring role on Everybody Hates Chris.
Legolas
07-23-07, 06:10 PM
Mira Sorvino. Oscar-winner who recently did a made-for-TV movie with Stephen Dorff and the DVD cover tries to rip off The Bourne Identity cover as well as try to make Dorff look like Jack Bauer.
Charlie Sheen. Squandered his Platoon/Wall Street cred.
Hu Phan
07-23-07, 08:50 PM
Julia Ormond - Plays the female lead in Legends of the Fall, First Knight and Sabrina - all at least modest profit makers. Fights off a lot of other big names to play the lead in Smilla's Feeling for Snow - then nothing.
Also agree with Mira Sorvino. How she went so quickly from oscar winner to virtually nothing was embarrassing.
rkndkn
07-23-07, 08:57 PM
Guy Pearce - I havent seen him do anything memorable since Memento.
He's terrific in "First Snow".
rkndkn
07-23-07, 09:04 PM
I nominate Ed Burns. Why isn't this guy a bigger star? Has he been in anything really good since Saving Private Ryan?
I love Ed Burns. . . I really liked "The Groomsmen", which he wrote/directed/starred in, but he's had pretty low-profile projects. His "Purple Violets" doesn't look like it has a release date outside of playing at Tribeca. Seems like he has the lead in "One Missed Call", but being in a horror remake is not really what I'd like to see him doing. . .
riley_dude
07-24-07, 01:03 AM
I always thought Dana Carvey was going to be great coming out of SNL... but outside of Wayne's World, he's made pretty much nothing. I mean, c'mon, Master of Disguise?
I always wondered what happened here too. He is just as good as Mike Myers but didn't have the same luck.
zebop
07-24-07, 01:11 AM
Tupac Shakur - If you watch Juice or Poetic Justice, you can see that he could've been a great actor. It's too bad he got caught up in that ghetto war bullshit.
Very true...
Legolas
07-24-07, 05:00 AM
Wesley Snipes. Cashed in early on his New Jack City/White Men Can't Jump fame to make some pretty dumb action movies (Demolition Man being an exception), and while it led to Blade, his bad attitude and diminishing returns also led him to the straight-to-video Lundgren/Van Damme/Seagal pile.
Rad14
07-24-07, 09:52 AM
Interestingly enough, Executive Decision is the only Seagal movie I own.
Interestingly enough, I don't own any Seagal or Van Damme movies! and don't intend to. :thmbsdwn:
Giles
07-24-07, 11:04 AM
I thought Will Patton was great as Coach Yoast - yet he continues to play such ancillary characters in the most recent film's he chosen to be in.
Pistol Pete
07-24-07, 01:53 PM
For some reason Lindsey Lohan comes to mind today. Ok, maybe not great, but pretty good. Well, not terribly good, but at least cute.
GeorgeP
07-24-07, 01:55 PM
Robert Guillaume - not his fault, probably, but should've gotten much more visibility after "Benson."
GoldenJCJ
07-24-07, 02:17 PM
Edward Furlong was Hollywood's golden child after Terminator 2 came out. He's blown any chance of a career with drugs ever since.
Drexl
07-24-07, 02:25 PM
Natasha Lyonne
H8nXTC
07-24-07, 02:46 PM
Edward Furlong was Hollywood's golden child after Terminator 2 came out. He's blown any chance of a career with drugs ever since.
What kind of career with drugs would anyone want? A pharmacist?
Isn't Lindsey Lohan not just a "Train wreck waiting to happen", but a "Train wreck happening"?
jjcool
07-24-07, 05:22 PM
For some reason Lindsey Lohan comes to mind today. Ok, maybe not great, but pretty good. Well, not terribly good, but at least cute.
She comes to mind most days.
toddly6666
07-24-07, 05:43 PM
How come no one has said ROBERT DE NIRO and AL PACINO? These two greatest actors have been good co-starring, but they haven't been the leads in any successful movies for about 10 years!!! Pacino's last successful movies in which he was the lead was 2002's INSOMNIA and 1997's DEVIL'S ADVOCATE. DE NIRO's last sucessful movies in which he was the lead was 1998's RONIN and mid-90's HEAT, THE FAN, and CASINO (Eventhough he was funny in the Analyze This/That movies and the Meet the Parents/Fockers movies, I don't count them, because they aren't serious flicks).
These two actors were bad-asses, is it because they are too old that they can't be the main headliners anymore? People will pay money to see De Niro or Pacino in respectable serious headlining (not co-starring) roles again.
zekeburger1979
07-24-07, 06:03 PM
How come no one has said ROBERT DE NIRO and AL PACINO? These two greatest actors have been good co-starring, but they haven't been the leads in any successful movies for about 10 years!!! Pacino's last successful movies in which he was the lead was 2002's INSOMNIA and 1997's DEVIL'S ADVOCATE. DE NIRO's last sucessful movies in which he was the lead was 1998's RONIN and mid-90's HEAT, THE FAN, and CASINO (Eventhough he was funny in the Analyze This/That movies and the Meet the Parents/Fockers movies, I don't count them, because they aren't serious flicks).
These two actors were bad-asses, is it because they are too old that they can't be the main headliners anymore? People will pay money to see De Niro or Pacino in respectable serious headlining (not co-starring) roles again.
That's because you didn't read the thread title closely enough! :D
auto
07-24-07, 06:11 PM
I dont think she was mentioned: Heather Graham
aynrandgirl
07-24-07, 06:14 PM
I nominate Michael Pare.
Big Quasimodo
07-24-07, 06:21 PM
Mira Sorvino. Oscar-winner who recently did a made-for-TV movie with Stephen Dorff and the DVD cover tries to rip off The Bourne Identity cover as well as try to make Dorff look like Jack Bauer.
Charlie Sheen. Squandered his Platoon/Wall Street cred.
Charlie Sheen was the first that came to my mind too. It seems like the "high life" may have contributed to his downfall. Still he has recovered to a nice, safe career, if not the high, leading man route that looked to be his when he burst on the scene. Now I don't think Charlie Sheen was/is all that talented, but he had the road all laid out for him, like Legolas said.
Now Mira Sorvino, I propose, was lucky as hell to meet Woody Allen when she did and has settled in right where she belongs.
Marlon Brando was an interesting nomination, and certainly I would agree. His eccentricities cost him, and us, dearly. By the same token, they may have been what made him the actor that he was - so maybe it's a double edged sword.
I would have liked to see more from Daniel Day Lewis, to name a current actor that I think is great. It's not that he has squandered his potential, but by limiting his output so greatly, I get the feeling we missed out. Who knows...maybe more familiarity would have bred....Ben Stiller?
H8nXTC
07-24-07, 07:51 PM
I nominate Michael Pare.
He had a great start, last I saw of him was him picking up his kids at their school in Amsterdam a few years ago, big difference when I saw him at a video store in the late 80's in Pacific Palisades not long after the Philadelphia Experiment came out on video.
Silverscreenvid
07-25-07, 03:31 AM
Cuba Gooding, Jr.
He's now been reduced to making sequels to bad Eddie Murphy movies after playing the humorless heavy in another bad Eddie Murphy movie.
kms_md
07-25-07, 10:25 AM
Cuba Gooding, Jr.
He's now been reduced to making sequels to bad Eddie Murphy movies after playing the humorless heavy in another bad Eddie Murphy movie.
hey, let's not forget the haynes t-shirt commercials he is in with michael jordan ...
:)
ScandalUMD
07-25-07, 10:38 AM
Wesley Snipes is definitely another good suggestion. I have to wonder if he was blacklisted?
Always bet on blacklisted!
I'm gonna go ahead and put LiLo on this list. The most entertaining thing she could do now is to pull a River Phoenix while wearing no panties.
ytrez
07-26-07, 09:05 AM
The Coreys
Corey Feldman and Corey Haim were on top of the world and things were looking bright for them after movies like Stand By Me, Lucas, & Lost Boys. Then it went down hill fast. I'd say they are the poster boys for squandered potential. Especially Feldman after his performance in Stand By Me.
Buy: