OldBoy

it seems like all of them are doing it. Brad Pitt won't be far behind, but Colin Farrell, Witherspoon, freaking Mahershala Ali, though, i think this was filmed before Moonlight, but came out after? i may be wrong. Matt Damon did that movie reality show with Ben, so many great stars. i think Al Pacino is the one i'd go with. with Hunters, Angels in America (also with Streep), that Kevorkian docudrama, others, i believe. i'm surprised he went to small screen.

So who else on that big star list are you surprised went to the small screen? (whether pay cable or new streaming site, old streaming site, etc...)

JeffTheAlpaca

De Niro did the Wizard of Lies on HBO

OldBoy

Forgot about that.

DJariya

DJariya

Fist of Doom Jr

I'm not surprised by any of these. The idea that a movie actor is "slumming it" to go on TV has been dead for 10 or 15 years. I'd be surprised if Ahnuld or Tom Cruise went on a show, though.

fujishig

Yeah, especially with cable (and now streaming) going after prestige projects, it's not that surprising anymore. The stars aren't caught up in a long term commitment that would prevent them from taking movie roles, there's no stigma like there used to be in going back to TV, etc. Now an actor in their prime going back to like a network TV role on a 20+ episode per season show would be a bit surprising.

WCChiCubsFan

This is spot on. Remember when movie actors would never do commercials for the US market but would do them overseas? Now you see them in commercials all the time.

cultshock

These days I think that TV shows can offer more interesting and challenging roles than many films could, so that attracts acting talent. Plus for the most part there are no longer the long term commitments that most TV shows used to require, so why not?

GoldenJCJ

It wasn’t an action oriented scripted show or anything but Arnold did take over for Trump on The Apprentice for a season.

mwbmis

Especially for actresses. How many good roles a year are there for women in major studio releases these days? Unless they can find something in an independent film that catches on or develop their own projects, the same actresses are all competing for these non-wife, non-girlfriend parts. And the studio really wants Theron or Robie for those parts anyway

Count Dooku

Glenn Close really changed the perception of what it means for a movie star to do TV series when she did The Shield and then starred on Damages.
And as noted, these are non-wife, non-gf parts. TV gives actresses a lot of opportunity that the movies do not to play complex characters.

Josh-da-man

This.

And the also the idea of a "movie star" has lost a lot of its cachet. An actor or actress in a title role is no longer a guarantee of a big box office, so it's not unusual to see a lot of them move between tv and movies. There's really on a handful of them that seem to avoid tv, Tom Cruise being one of them, and I wouldn't bat an eye if, tomorrow, it was announced that he was going to star in some kind of HBO series.

PhantomStranger

The belief in Hollywood now is that the best dramatic roles are on long-form, serialized premium cable shows.

JeffTheAlpaca

Luke Wilson is doing Stargirl on CW.

Guess his movie career is over if you are doing a CW show which is not as prestigious as a Netflix, Showtime or HBO production.

fujishig

Hey, it's a DC Universe show!

DJariya

To be fair, Luke Wilson has never been an "A-List" actor.

JeffTheAlpaca

He played the lead in a lot of comedies in the late 90's to early to mid 2000's until Hollywood stopped making comedies around the 2010's.

OldBoy

who said anything about “slumming it”? I simply asked which movie stars who stuck to theatrical release for most of their careers then suddenly transitioned to tv. Which is not theatrical and typical movie making as a show or limited series. I’m surprised Al Pacino did something other than a theatrical release, that’s all.

fujishig

Well if you're going to bring him up, in another DC Universe series, you have both Brendon Fraser and Timothy Dalton, both pretty big draws back in their heyday. But like Luke it's not like they were exactly in demand now.

Rex Fenestrarum

This was a bigger deal in the 70s and 80s.

The Thornbirds? Richard Chamberlain... on TV?

The Winds of War? Robert Mitchum... on TV?

That was a big deal.

rw2516

Richard Chamberlain was never a theatrical movie star

Charles Bronson did a tv movie towards the end
Burt Reynolds, one of the biggest movie stars in the world did Evening Shade
Doris Day, yes she was a major star, had to do a sitcom because of financial troubles
Jimmy Stewart, probably top ten stars of all time did a series in 70s
Glenn Ford, yes he was a major movie star, did a tv series
James Garner, not a has been, returned to tv
Robert Duvall/Tommy Lee Jones -Lonesome Dove count?
Rock Hudson did tv movies. Maybe he was has been by then

Count Dooku

Ben Hur, who said to his sister Ben Him, "We'd better swap names before they start calling me Ben Gay!" Never got a dinner!
Sophia Loren, whose new baby asked her, "Is all that for me?" Never got a dinner!
James Cagney, who said to Mickey Mouse, "You dirty rat!" Never got a dinner!
Dean Martin’s great-great-uncle, Ebenezer Martin, who said to Eli Whitney, "I see the cotton, but where’s the gin?" Never got a dinner!

Count Dooku

Richard Chamberlain was Dr Kildare

rocket1312

You make it sound like Mahershala Ali is some huge movie star. He got his start on TV. He's been a lead/regular on probably half a dozen series. And guested on numerous others. Ever seen House of Cards?