Why didn't anyone from LOTR become a big star?
05-27-19, 07:54 PM
#1
DVD Talk Gold Edition
Thread Starter
Why didn't anyone from LOTR become a big star?
Watching ROTK on A&E and it dawned on me how despite the box office and Oscars (underserved. Master & Commander was better and holds up 15 years later)), no one became a star out of this.
Ian achieved equal or greater stardom from X Men
Elijah?
Sean Astin, the one member of the cast everyone thought should have gotten an Oscar nom? Where is he now?
Viggo, we know, didn't seek stardom.
Didn't Dominic Monaghan go bankrupt?
Hugo Weaving had The Matrix
Has anyone seen Liv Tyler lately?
Jonathan Rhys-Davies has enjoyed a solid if unremarkable career as a character actor.
Orlando Bloom kinda sank after the disaster of Elizabethtown. OTOH he's banging Katy Perry so I don't feel too bad for him.
No one got a career boost out of this movie, it seems.
Or am I missing something?
Ian achieved equal or greater stardom from X Men
Elijah?
Sean Astin, the one member of the cast everyone thought should have gotten an Oscar nom? Where is he now?
Viggo, we know, didn't seek stardom.
Didn't Dominic Monaghan go bankrupt?
Hugo Weaving had The Matrix
Has anyone seen Liv Tyler lately?
Jonathan Rhys-Davies has enjoyed a solid if unremarkable career as a character actor.
Orlando Bloom kinda sank after the disaster of Elizabethtown. OTOH he's banging Katy Perry so I don't feel too bad for him.
No one got a career boost out of this movie, it seems.
Or am I missing something?
05-27-19, 07:55 PM
#2
Banned by request
Re: Why didn't anyone from LOTR become a big star?
Check out IMDb and get back to us. Most, if not all, have had continued success. Sounds like you measure it on awards.
05-27-19, 08:12 PM
#4
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Why didn't anyone from LOTR become a big star?
Uh..while Liv Tyler has disappeared almost all of them have continued to work consistently. Mortensen was just in another Best Picture Award winner.
05-27-19, 08:12 PM
#5
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Re: Why didn't anyone from LOTR become a big star?
Ian McKellan has been nominated for Oscars (2). and of course, incredible success as Magneto in X-Men franchise. among so many others. Elijah had a successful tv series on FX, some movies, Sean Astin, pretty much doing what he did before, nothing great, but still around. Viggo is huge and great and nominated multiple times as well. he just chooses no spotlight. but raves in everything else. Hugo Weaving is still everywhere. Red Skull, much more. i don't know how much better it can get for the young and old in that cast...
05-27-19, 08:27 PM
#7
DVD Talk Godfather
Re: Why didn't anyone from LOTR become a big star?
Dominic Monaghan was only on the biggest television show of the 00's (Lost) and translated that into his own pet project Wild Things nature/tv show.
05-27-19, 08:48 PM
#8
Re: Why didn't anyone from LOTR become a big star?
Elijah Wood makes a ton of money producing and supports a lot of projects that wouldn’t otherwise get made; Mandy is a recent one he helped fund.
05-27-19, 09:01 PM
#9
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05-27-19, 09:06 PM
#10
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Why didn't anyone from LOTR become a big star?
Agree that "Master and Commander" is also a great movie. But tough calling it a better film than "Return of the King". Equal for sure IMO.
05-27-19, 09:53 PM
#13
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Re: Why didn't anyone from LOTR become a big star?
Karl Urban has done pretty well, as is Andy Serkis. And Brett McKenzie is way more well known now than he was back then.
05-27-19, 10:07 PM
#14
DVD Talk Hero
Re: Why didn't anyone from LOTR become a big star?
Who the fuck is Brett McKenzie?
05-27-19, 11:37 PM
#18
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05-28-19, 12:47 AM
#19
DVD Talk Gold Edition
Thread Starter
Re: Why didn't anyone from LOTR become a big star?
All right then, I stand corrected.
But I still say M&C was better than ROTK. It was supposed to be the start of a franchise, one I would much rather see.
But I still say M&C was better than ROTK. It was supposed to be the start of a franchise, one I would much rather see.
05-28-19, 05:32 AM
#20
05-28-19, 06:22 AM
#21
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Why didn't anyone from LOTR become a big star?
Ian was a huge star BEFORE LOTR and X-Men. I can't believe anyone would even suggest otherwise.
Viggo IS a huge star. He's been nominated for three Oscars and been in two Best Picture winners.
Viggo IS a huge star. He's been nominated for three Oscars and been in two Best Picture winners.
05-28-19, 06:34 AM
#22
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Re: Why didn't anyone from LOTR become a big star?
McKellen was certainly a respected actor, but huge star seems like a stretch. His highest grossing movies before X-Men and LOTR were small minor parts in Last Action Hero and The Shadow, which we’re both flops.
My parents and Shakespeare professor both loved him, but I would think you need a larger presence in the public consciousness than that to count as a “huge star.”
My parents and Shakespeare professor both loved him, but I would think you need a larger presence in the public consciousness than that to count as a “huge star.”
05-28-19, 09:13 AM
#23
DVD Talk Special Edition
Re: Why didn't anyone from LOTR become a big star?
I still maintain that Dances with Wolves is a great film, but it gets bashed constantly because it won the Oscar over Goodfellas.
05-28-19, 09:21 AM
#24
DVD Talk Hero
Re: Why didn't anyone from LOTR become a big star?
Andy Serkis got pretty famous off it.
Plus other than Gollum, McKellen and Lee the acting never really raised above what it needed to be (it was never bad, just never really any showy pieces).
Everybody played their part well, though, but the effects, directing and world building were the stars of that franchise.
Plus other than Gollum, McKellen and Lee the acting never really raised above what it needed to be (it was never bad, just never really any showy pieces).
Everybody played their part well, though, but the effects, directing and world building were the stars of that franchise.
Last edited by RichC2; 05-28-19 at 09:28 AM.
05-28-19, 09:24 AM
#25
DVD Talk Hero
Re: Why didn't anyone from LOTR become a big star?
I mean, you can say similar things about the main cast of Star Wars (either trilogy, if you argue that Ford got more notoriety out of Indiana Jones and certainly not his acting skills in Star Wars). Even though the prequels had a lot of name actors I doubt anyone really discovered them via those movies.