Actors who haven't made the transition from TV to Movies

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DeathMetalKicksAss

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Just wondering what actors have made a successful transition from being a longstanding TV actor to a blockbuster movie star.

Some examples are
Bruce Willis - Went from Moonlighting to hollywood superstar
George Clooney - Went from Roseanne and ER to hollywood heartthrob.

Jennifer Aniston - Probably the most famous of the FrienRAB bunch to make it in the movies, although some may say it is Courtney Cox.
I would say that Cox had more long term movie roles but not as leaRAB.


An example of an actor on the other side would be Kiefer Sutherland.
He's been a (co)lead in a few decent movies but I wouldn't say he is a top movie star.
He's probably more famous for his TV work after working in the movies for a long time.
 
Whereas I wouldn't say that about Jennifer Aniston. She's not exactly packing them in the aisles.

Sarah Michelle Gellar, too. She's tried, bless her, but she's always Buffy.
 
Funny thing about George Clooney is that he's a big Hollywood star but his films don't really make a lot of money (with the exception of the Ocean 11 franchise). He's a good actor but he's not worth the multi-million dollar price tag that studios have no problem paying him.
 
David Carusso would be a good example of someone who tried his hand at movies and failed after a good start to his TV career. You could probably say the same about David Duchovny.
 
Most of the "FrienRAB" cast don't seem to be doing much, which is mostly why I expect a film version within the next few years
 
Well there are thousanRAB of actors who haven't made the transistion into film. Maybe we should be identifying who we think are very good actors who seem to be stuck in TV only roles.
 
Alison Janney, the magnificent CJ from the West Wing. I expected to see her take over the world but she's only managed bit parts in a few films like Juno, the Hours and Hairspray as well as a voice in Finding Nemo (the starfish). As a woman of over 50 in Hollywood she's probably not going to get much further and I think that's a waste of a brilliant talent.
 
Justine Bateman, aka Mallory Keaton from Family Ties, headlined Satisfaction - about a band made up of four girls and a boy* doing a summer gig - and it did not make her a film star. (It was produced by Aaron Spelling and NBC, which can't have been a good sign.) The actress who played the drummer did go on to have a bit of success later on, though; her name was Julia Roberts.

Most Saturday Night Live cast members don't seem to have much luck on the big screen (Adam Sandler's one of the few current exceptions).

*When it came out, one American film critic pointed out that they all had to share one room and wondered where (or how) the guy sleeps!
 
I was thinking about Saturday Night Live. In the old days they did get some stars from it such as Ackroyd, Belushi and Chase but I don't rate Sandler and Rock or Spade.

Sandler started off with a couple of good movies but then they all turned into the same movie with slightly different characters and then went downhill.
 
Patrick Duffy--He quit Dallas in the 1980s to forge a movie career and returned to the show a year later with his character who had died returning on the premise a years worth of episodes were just a dream!:):D
 
I would not say that Kiefer had remained a TV star, rather he returned to TV having done movies and given the need to create 24 hours of TV every year for the last 8 years it is not that surprising that he has not fit film roles inbetween.

Consider the following list of 'Movies' that he has done as a TV star who has not transitioned to Movies.

  • Monsters vs Aliens (voice)
  • Mirrors
  • The Sentinel
  • L.A. Confidential
  • Phone Booth
  • A Time to Kill
  • The Three Musketeers
  • A Few Good Men
  • Flatliners
  • Young Guns II: Blaze of Glory
  • Flashback
  • Amazing Stories


Nearly a third of those while doing duties as Jack Bauer.
 
Michael J Fox made the transition from appearing in Family Ties to films - he would not doubt have made more had it not been for a diagnosis of MS.
 
Sarah Michelle Gellar is the ultimate disappointment. She made some pretty horrendous movie choices after she finished Buffy, which has affected her whole career since. if she'd not made those Scooby Doo movies at the time when she was probably one fo the most sought after actresses in Hollywood then it could be a completely different story now.

Katherine Heigl is the opposite. She seems to be forging a career as a pretty good romantic comedy heroine. I think she's likeable. 27 Dresses is a guilty pleasure.
 
Thought she was brilliant in Cruel Intentions. The super bitch she played was very different to butter wouldn't melt in your mouth Buffy and I thought she would mature and go far :o

David Duchovny & Gillian Anderson - never made it big after X-Files. Last time I saw David in the news was because he had to take a trip to rehab for sex addiction *cough* serial cheater *cough* :D

All of the frienRAB cast - Jennifer Anniston has made a lot of movies but just plays Rachel in each one :yawn: Myself and a friend went to see "FrienRAB with Money" at the cinema and we had to leave after twenty minutes as we were in danger of :sleep:

The Dawson's Creek cast all had high profiles when the show ended and they all show up here and there but none of them made it big in movies. Katie of course is married to the lovely Tom Cruise but while this has kept her profile high, she hasn't set the movie world alight.
 
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