The “What the Hell Happened” series started when I caught the Day of the Dead remake on cable. Since the movie had never received a theatrical release, I entered with extremely low expectations. But somehow, the movie failed to live up to my low standards. My mind wandered. All I could think was “What the hell happened to Meena Suvari?”
I started wondering what had happened to other actors I used to follow. How had Michael Keaton gone from playing Batman to semi-retirement? How did Oscar nominee Elisabeth Shue end up slumming it in a Piranha remake?
As I worked my way through the series, I learned about Val Kilmer’s weight gain, Rick Moranis’ personal loss and Kathleen Turner’s illness. I discovered how many actresses were victims of bad plastic surgery like Meg Ryan. All that, and Steve Guttenberg.
Eventually, the series became more popular than I could have ever imagined. In an effort to give readers more of what they wanted, I decided to expand the scope of the series. Originally, I was very selective when choosing subjects for WTHH. Candidates had to be A-list actors who had disappeared from the spotlight. Also, I would only write about actors and actresses I had actually been a fan of.
Little by little, I loosened those criteria. I started writing about actors who had shown promise but never achieved A-list status. This allowed me to write about some of my favorite actresses like Penelope Ann Miller, Bridget Fonda and Mira Sorvino. I also started writing about actors who are still in the public eye but aren’t as big of stars as they used to be. This let me cover working actors like Nicole Kidman, Jim Carrey and Chevy Chase.
Finally, I decided it was okay to write about actors I was never especially fond of. This made Steven Seagal eligible.
There have also been some changes regarding the scope of each article. When I started, the articles were much shorter. I hit the highlights and lowlights of the subject’s career. Their personal lives were only commented on if it had a direct impact on their career. TV guest spots and direct-to-video movies were usually omitted. But as I have written the series for the last several years, I have come to appreciate that those things are important to painting a full picture of the actor’s career. While no article is ever likely to be 100% comprehensive, I now try to include relatively obscure projects along with the ones everyone is familiar with.
I will be the first to admit that the title of the series sometimes requires interpretation. It’s a little weird to ask what the hell happened to an actor who is currently working. And frequently the answer to the question isn’t all that compelling. A lot of times, an actor just got old. Or they decided to concentrate on their families or personal lives. Sometimes they just decide staying on the A-list is no longer worth the effort.
At this point, the series is intended to be a career retrospective. Sometimes I am dissecting a train wreck like Sean Young or Mel Gibson. Other times, I’ll look at squandered potential like Nicolas Cage or Heather Graham. Some careers will be long and distinguished. Others will be relatively short-lived. All that is needed is a rise and a fall.
Frequently, the mild profanity in the title puts fans of the subject on the defensive. While I respect the passion of these fans, I think their anger is usually misplaced. The fact that these actors have been selected for a retrospective means that they have achieved a level of greatness that merits such treatment.
The articles are written with what I hope is a humorous tone. I do crack wise at the expense of the celebrities. But I figure these guys can take it. All of my jokes are intended in the spirit of good fun. If articles ever veer into being mean spirited, that is a failure on my part.
I hope you enjoy looking back at these careers with me. If you do, please be sure to let me know in the comments section. If you don’t, let me know that too. Although I appreciate constructive criticism much more than a drive-by “You suck”. The comments sections of these articles have been lots of fun. I have enjoyed long conversations with several like-minded readers over the years. I have even made friends with movie lovers around the world.
Also, if there is a subject you would like to see covered, let me know. I have taken several suggestions since starting the series. Be sure to vote in the poll to select the next candidate. I frequently let the poll guide me when choosing who to write about next.
As always, thanks for reading. Hope you stick around.
You know Crispin Glover from Back to the Future. Even if you have never seen his infamous appearance on the David Letterman show, odds are you have heard about it. Glover has cultivated dual reputations as an eccentric genius and an unpredictable pain in the rear. Crispin Glover followed his ...
Kristy McNichol was a top teen star through the 1970's with a role on the hit TV show, Family. When that show ended, McNichol's movie career took off with two box office hits. But then, she suffered a very public breakdown while filming a movie in France. In the late ...
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Sean Young was one of the first actors chosen for the "What the Hell Happened" series. As you probably know, she has the distinction of having visited the site to comment on her article directly. So naturally, when I started adapting the series for video, Sean Young was one of ...
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One quirky British romantic comedy made Hugh Grant a movie star overnight. The following year, a public scandal threatened to end his career early. But Grant's savvy public relations skills saved the day. For the next decade or so, he was the undisputed king of the rom-com. Grant has never ...
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In the early aughts, Vince Vaughn found success as a core member of a group of comedic actors collectively known as the "Frat Pack." The group included the likes of Ben Stiller, Will Ferrell, Jack Black and Luke and Owen Wilson. The Frat Pack was responsible for some of the ...
Megan Fox turned a lot of heads in Michael Bay's Transformers. Audiences bought tickets to see the CGI robot fights but many came away talking about the sexy mechanic played by Fox. Hollywood took notice of her too. Overnight, the unknown actress became a sought-after movie star. Two years later, ...
At the age of ten, Macaulay Culkin became an icon. The sight of him slapping aftershave on his cheeks and screaming is an indelible part of pop culture. Few actors will ever have a scene as memorable as that one. By the age of fourteen, Culkin was a millionaire. He ...
Pauly Shore was never a movie star, but for a short time in the nineties, he managed to headline a modestly budgeted comedy annually. Although he had deep roots in the comedy club scene, Shore was more of a personality than a comedian. He didn't make observations or tell jokes ...
Over the course of five seasons on Cheers, Shelley Long was nominated for an Emmy four times. After the show's first season, she won both an Emmy and a Golden Globe. Long was Cheers's first breakout star to the point where many wondered whether or not the sitcom could carry ...
The Brat Pack givith and the Brat Pack taketh away. By now, the "What the Hell Happened" series has documented the careers of several young actors in the mid-eighties who were branded with the Brat Pack label. Some fared better than others, but those most closely associated with the coming-of-age ...
In the mid-90's Skeet Ulrich seemed like a likely candidate for heart-throb status and A-list stardom. After making some noise in a couple of cult films, Ulrich was poised for success. While few would deny the actor's status as a heart-throb, movie stardom proved elusive. These days, Ulrich has gone ...
Usually articles in the "What the Hell Happened" series start off with a brief paragraph intended to show what a big star the subject used to be. This career high point will then typically be contrasted with either a corresponding low point of the subject's current status. But the rise ...
After a string of hits in the mid-eighties, Kelly McGillis was a rising star. Her career took off quickly reaching its peak with one of the most iconic movies of the entire decade. Top Gun made Tom Cruise a mega-star. But McGillis' career went in a different direction. A few ...
Joe Dante worked his way from cartoonist, to production assistant, to editor, all the way to director in his own right. His fondness for the old-school and homages to bygone eras of filmmaking inform most of his work, of which there is quite alot. Over his career, he has shifted ...
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In the mid-to-late 80's, Jennifer Grey was a rising star. She had worked with top-tier directors like Francis Ford Coppola and John Hughes. After just three years in movies, Grey was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actress. And then she vanished. Grey's career went from hot to cold ...
Ally Sheedy rose to fame as part of the Brat Pack in the 1980's. In the middle of the decade, she starred in two of the most iconic coming-of-age movies of the decade. Like a lot of her fellow Brat Packers, Sheedy's movie career cooled off quickly as the decade ...
Edward Furlong's first movie was a critically acclaimed box office smash. He was thirteen years old when he became famous overnight for playing a boy who was destined for greatness. At the time, it seemed like great things might have been in Furlong's future as well. But almost immediately, Furlong ...
Tobey Maguire is best-known as the first movie Spider-man. But before he donned the blue and red tights, Maguire was a promising actor who seemed destined for a long career. During the 90's, Maguire built a reputation as a talented actor in a string of independent movies. After he crossed ...
Ivan Reitman Ivan Reitman began humbly, from the very earliest outset. His refugee family moved to Canada, which is where he received a degree in music. Having been introduced to filmmaking in college, he moved to Hollywood, comfortably moving into the director's chair, where he fairly quickly rose to direct ...
Rosanna Arquette was the first of several siblings to break into Hollywood. Throughout the 80's, Arquette seemed constantly on the brink of stardom. But her big break never materialized. There's some memorable films on Arquette's resume, but she was rarely the star. Over time, the actress who inspired a hit ...
It may seem odd to ask "what the hell happened" about a guy who is currently starring on a network sitcom. Tim Allen definitely didn't disappear. He's still a decent-sized TV star. But once upon a time, Allen was more than that. At the peak of his career, Allen had ...
Kelly LeBrock was "the woman in red". When Anthony Michael Hall employed weird science to create his idea woman, it was LeBrock who stepped out. She even had to remind us not to hate her for her beauty. LeBrock was definitely a model first and an actress second. But her ...
John McTiernan was a Julliard graduate who became one of the biggest directors of the later 80's and early 90's. His directing career got off to a quick start. Within a few films, he was directing the biggest movie star in the world and reinventing genres altogether. He directed the ...
For a brief time in the late 20th century, Freddie Prinze Jr. was a teen heartthrob. He followed up a hit horror franchise with a sleeper romantic comedy and a science fiction movie that was expected to spawn a series of sequels. After a string of you-oriented rom-coms, Prinze married ...
Karen Allen starred in one of the best-remembered blockbuster movies of all time. She has worked with Steven Spielberg, Richard Donner, John Carpenter and William Friedkin. Her costars include Harrison Ford, Al Pacino, Billy Murray and John Belushi. But despite appearing in several hit movies, Allen never became a big ...
At one time, Chris Tucker was the highest paid actor in Hollywood. He was able to command $25 million dollars for one movie. And then, he disappeared. Now sometimes, it feels like an actor has disappeared. But in reality they are busily working on a bunch of movies most people ...
In the early 90's, Elizabeth Berkley was a rising star. After several years on television, she was ready to make the leap to the big screen. Showgirls was a huge opportunity. The script was written by one of the most successful screenwriters in Hollywood and the director was A-list. The ...
In 1985, Judd Nelson starred in two of the top-25 highest-grossing movies of the year. He was 26 years old. Nelson was one of the founding members of the Brat Pack, a group of young actors who helped define the decade. But when the 80's ended, the Brat Pack actors ...
Elizabeth Hurley You probably know Elizabeth Hurley as Hugh Grant's girlfriend even though the couple split up at the turn of the century. In the late 90's, Grant and Hurley were one of the most celebrated couples in show business. Their personal lives made headlines. For a time, Hurley had ...
Madeleine Stowe was a rising star in the late 80s and early 90s. She worked with A-list directors like Tony Scott, Michael Mann, Robert Altman and Terry Gilliam. Stowe seemed destined for a long and distinguished career as a leading lady. And then, poof, she vanished. In the mid-nineties, her ...
Emilio Estevez comes from Hollywood royalty. His dad is actor Martin Sheen. His brother is Charlie Sheen. As a child, his best friends were the Penns (Sean and Chris) and the Lowes (Rob and Chad). Estevez grew up immersed in show biz. In the early 80's Estevez became the de ...
In the mid-nineties, Liv Tyler was a rising star. Se had become a critical darling in a string of independent movies and commercial success by starring in a major summer blockbuster. By 1998, it seemed like Hollywood was hers for the taking. Since then, Tyler has worked consistently and in ...
Keanu Reeves has worked with some of the greatest directors around. He's been directed by Ron Howard, Kathryn Bigelow, Lawrence Kasdan, Gus Van Sant, Francis Ford Coppola and Bernardo Bertolucci just to name a few. His costars include Al Pacino, Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, Sandra Bullock and of course the ...
During the 90's, Anne Heche was an up-and-coming actress. Many believed that the A-list was in her future. Then she started a high-profile relationship with Ellen DeGeneres and I think it's fair to say that all hell broke loose. The couple became the face of same sex relationships at a ...
Damon Wayans is part of a big family. Several members of the Wayans family have had successful careers in entertainment. After being fired from Saturday Night Live, Wayans co-created In Living Color with his brother, Keenen. The upstart sketch show was a hit and Damon Wayans was the breakout star ...
Lea Thompson is best known for playing Michael J. Fox's mom in the Back to the Future trilogy. For most of the 80's, she seemed like an actress poised for stardom. But when the decade ended, Thompson's movie career dried up. From there, she transitioned into television. First as the ...
Billy Zane got his start in one of the most beloved science fiction movies of the 80's. He gained popularity on one of the quirkiest TV shows of the 90s. And he played the least-loved character in what was at the time the highest-grossing movie ever. His list of credits ...
There are very few actresses who have played iconic roles in action movies. Linda Hamilton is one of them. But immediately following the biggest success of her career, Hamilton put her career on hold. When she did work, it was usually as a guest star on a TV show. She ...
In the 1980's Ralph Macchio was a teen heartthrob. He rose to prominence along with with other hot actors of his generation with roles in iconic movies that are still relevant today. Macchio managed to avoid the Brat Pack label that doomed many of his contemporaries. But he struggled with ...
Katherine Heigl first came onto the scene with the cult TV series Roswell. She would go on to greater TV success with Grey’s Anatomy, which would win her an Emmy Award. From there, Heigl capitalized on that success with success in a trilogy of romantic comedies. In recent years, though, ...
Michael Biehn has starred in some classic science fiction/action movies. Well, maybe not "starred" in them, but he's had some prominent roles in memorable movies. His collaborations with James Cameron established him as a sci-fi icon even if he never became a household name. If things had gone just a ...
Josh Hartnett rocketed onto the A-list with Michael Bay's buster of blocks Pearl Harbor and seemed to be the virile leading man Hollywood was looking for. He worked with Robert Rodriguez and Ridley Scott and seemed to be a sure-fire movie star. And then, he just sort of disappeared. What ...
After knocking around Hollywood for a few years, Sylvester Stallone broke through in 1976 with one of the most beloved movies of the era. It went on to win some awards and make its title character an icon. Six years later, he would move into the role of another iconic ...
Orlando Bloom starred in one of the biggest movie trilogies of all time, and followed it up by starring in another one of the biggest trilogies of all time. He's worked with Peter Jackson, Ridley Scott, and Cameron Crowe. He was supposed to be the next big thing. What the ...
He came on the scene from seemingly out of nowhere in the cinematic banner year that was 1999. The film that put him on the map became a cinematic event and received a Best Picture nomination. He was being regarded as "the next Spielberg". Last year he released a big-budget ...
This article was written prior to John Singleton's death on April 28, 2019. The purpose of this article is to reflect on Singleton's career. He debuted in 1991 with one of the films that defined an era. His follow ups were not quite on the same level. But they were ...
For a brief time in the late 1990's, Leelee Sobieski was going to be The Next Big Thing. She looked so much like a young Helen Hunt, that many people thought they were related. At the time, Hunt was a big star. So by the transitive property, it stood to ...
Colin Farrell was one of the biggest up and coming leading men in Hollywood 10 years ago, he's worked with Michael Mann, Oliver Stone, Woody Allen, Terrence Malick, and Steven Spielberg but now seems to be struggling to stay relevant, despite the most unforgettable eyebrows in Hollywood. What the hell ...
In the late 80s and early 90s, Jean-Claude Van Damme was part of a wave of martial artists turned movie stars. Movies like Van Damme's break-out role, Bloodsport, were cheap, easy to make and usually provided a great return on investment. Van Damme in particular seemed poised to break out ...
Linda Fiorentino was a rising star and a major sex symbol in the mid-nineties. She scored critical acclaim with her role as a femme fatale in the neo noir film, The Last Seduction. Then she achieved mainstream success in the sci-fi comedy blockbuster, Men in Black. A few short years ...
In the mid-90's, Martin Lawrence had a hit TV show and a burgeoning movie career. He went on to establish himself as a Hollywood A-lister in big screen action movies and comedies. But by the end of the decade, Lawrence was surrounded by scandal. Since then, his movie career has ...
Rene Russo came seemingly out of nowhere and became one of the top actresses of the 90's. She start in a string of hits for most of the decade. She has worked with directors like Richard Donner, Wolfgang Petersen, Barry Sonnenfeld, and Ron Howard. And then, as suddenly as she ...
Edward Norton has been nominated for three Academy Awards; once for Best Actor and twice for Best Supporting Actor. He won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor in his first movie. In addition to acting, he has written, directed and produced movies. He even has a few song-writing credits ...
Lacey Chabert was classically trained at Juilliard. She has worked with all of the great American directors; Scorsese, Coppola, Spielberg, and even Kubrick. At the age of nine, Chabert became the youngest-ever Academy Award winner. She has followed up that Oscar win with two more, plus several nominations. Not to ...
Tom Berenger is an Oscar nominee and a Golden Globe winner. He's done action, drama and comedy. He's been the leading man and a supporting actor. He's worked with directors like Christopher Nolan, Oliver Stone and Ridley Scott. And yet, after nearly four decades in Hollywood, Berenger has never been ...
Rebecca De Mornay starred opposite Tom Cruise when they were both young actors on the rise. Cruise went on to star in Top Gun and became the biggest movie star in the world. De Mornay, on the other hand, struggled to capitalize on her early success. What the hell happened? ...
At the peak of her career, Neve Campbell was starring in a hit TV drama as well as a popular movie franchise. Scream revitalized the horror genre in 1996. Campbell continued to star on Party of Five while making Scream sequels. In between, she tried to make something happen outside ...
In the 90's, Ashley Judd was one of the most promising actresses in Hollywood. She has been nominated for two Golden Globes, played a young Marilyn Monroe and for a while she practically owned the thriller genre. But later in her career, Judd transitioned from suspense movies to chick flicks ...
Matt Dillon was "discovered" while cutting class as a teen. Not surprisingly, he made a career in the 80's playing the kind of kids who got into trouble. In the late 80's and early 90's Dillon successfully transitioned to adult roles with some critically acclaimed performances in smaller, independent films ...
Reese Witherspoon started her career in independent films in the 1990s. With the new millennium, she entered the mainstream. For a while, she seemed like the heir apparent to Julia Roberts as the Queen of Rom Coms. She scored an Oscar and a Golden Globe for her performance in Walk ...
Kurt Russell has had an extremely long career. So long that a lot of audiences probably don't remember his career as a child actor. Russell started making TV appearances in the late 1950s through the 60s. In the 70s, he became the top star at Disney. In the 80s, Russell ...
Kirsten Dunst was a child actor who successfully transitioned into adult roles. She worked opposite Brad Pitt, Robin Williams and Jim Carrey. She was directed by the likes of Woody Allen, Sam Raimi and Neil Jordan. She played a cheerleader, a vampire and Spider-man's true love. But when her web-slinging ...
In the 1990's, Jim Carrey was the king of comedy. He made headlines when he cashed a $20 million dollar paycheck for The Cable Guy after an impressive string of box office successes. For a while, he seemed poised to make the transition from comedy to drama with movies like ...
Lindsay Lohan isn't just a train wreck. She is a train that is perpetually wrecking. It's as though someone keeps rewinding the tape and replaying the same disaster over and over and over again. The situation has gone from sad to funny and back again more times than I can ...
Hilary Swank came from humble beginnings. As a teenager, she and her single mother were homeless. By the age of 30, she had won two Academy Awards for Best Actress. But after winning her second Oscar, Swank's career stalled out. Today, the two-time Oscar-winner is stuck in direct-to-video horror movies ...
Jason Patric was supposed to be a movie star. He was good-looking and talented. He starred in a hit movie and dated America's Sweetheart. Critics loved him. And yet somehow Jason Patric never became a star. In fact, I'm willing to bet most people reading this article won't remember who ...
In the early 1980's Phoebe Cates was one of the hottest rising stars in Hollywood. After memorable roles in two Hollywood blockbusters, her career cooled off. In the early 1990s, she went into retirement and has rarely been seen or heard from since. What the hell happened? ...
Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. Case in point: Steven Seagal. If I told you that a martial artist could become a movie star by training a Hollywood executive, you might find that hard to believe. But Seagal's story gets stranger from there. Seagal's fame didn't just fade. It was ...
Thora Birch was a child actor who seemed to be making a successful transition into more mature roles. For a brief time, she seemed poised for a long and exciting career. And then almost immediately, that career dried up. These days, she is known for being fired from a Broadway ...
This article was written prior to Robin Williams' death on August 11, 2014. The purpose of this article is to review Williams' career as an entertainer. At the peak of his career, Robin Williams was one of the most sought-after actors in Hollywood. He made the extremely rare transition from ...
During the 1990's, Kidman was one half of Hollywood's biggest power couple. During that time, she became one of the most sought-after actresses in Hollywood. Even after her divorce from Tom Cruise, Kidman's career continued to soar. She starred in big movies, was a darling of critics and finally won ...
In the late seventies and early eighties, Chevy Chase was the height of cool. He was the original break-out star of Saturday Night Live which was the hip show to watch and not an institution like it is today. When he went into movies, Chase was hailed as the next ...
Uma Thurman has been a Batman villain, Robin Hood's girlfriend, an Avenger (the English kind) and Quentin Tarantino's muse. She's worked with Robert DeNiro, Bill Murray, John Travolta and George Clooney. But these days, she's shifted gears into supporting roles. What the hell happened? ...
Brendan Fraser always seemed like he was one big movie away from being an A-list star. All through the 90's the media buzzed about his potential. At the end of the decade, Fraser finally had a couple of big hit movies. And yet, he still couldn't cross over to the ...
Renee Zellweger has won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, she was nominated twice for Best Actress and she has won three Golden Globes. For roughly a decade, she topped the A-list with both critical acclaim and commercial success. But she has been missing from the big screen for ...
It may seem strange to ask "What the hell happened to Nicolas Cage?" He certainly isn't missing. He appears in several movies every year. But the Oscar-winning actor has gone from being a box office draw to a national punchline who can't say "no" to any movie. What the hell ...
Debra Winger has received three Academy Award nominations. She's been nominated four times by the Golden Globes. Not to mention numerous nominations for various critics' awards and a couple of wins. But despite the acclaim, she had a toxic reputation for being "difficult" - a reputation which she reinforced by ...
Academy Award winner, Cuba Gooding, Jr. used to be cast in movies to give them an air of prestige. His presence was a signal to the audience that the movie they were seeing was meant to be taken seriously, even if it was directed by Michael Bay. But then, Gooding's ...
Molly Ringwald defined a specific period in pop culture history. She didn't win a lot of awards or work with a lot of legendary directors and co-stars. But Ringwald's cultural impact was far greater than her filmography would suggest. If you were in high school in the early-to-mid eighties, Molly ...
Matthew Broderick is a triple threat. He has been a star of stage and screen. His filmography includes iconic roles like Ferris Bueller and the voice of the Lion King. He's even fought Godzilla. But these days, you are far more likely to see the former Ferris Bueller on Broadway ...
Melanie Griffith is the daughter of Hollywood icon, Tippi Hedren, an Academy Award nominee and Golden Globe winner. She rose to the A-list in the 80s working with directors like Brian De Palma, Mike Nichols and Jonathan Demme. But after a promising decade, she stumbled and fell off the a-List ...
Arnold Schwarzenegger was an unlikely movie star. He struggled with the English language and a thick Austrian accent. His physique made him hard to cast in every-man roles. And yet, for a time, he was the biggest star in Hollywood. Eventually, he parlayed his popularity as a film star into ...
Bridget Fonda came from Hollywood royalty. Peter Fonda is her father and Jane Fonda is her aunt. Her grandfather was the legenday Henry Fonda. In the late 80's, Bridget Fonda was hailed as one of America's most promising young actresses. In the early 90's, she seemed poised for a break-out that never ...
Mike Myers successfully made the transition from Not Ready for Prime Time Player to movie star. His characters and catch-phrases were inescapable. Myers wasn't just a comedian, he was shaping pop culture. And then, he stopped. What the hell happened? ...
Jennifer Jason Leigh first caught audience's attention as part of the talented cast of Fast Times at Ridgemont High. In the early 90's, she became a critical darling and flirted with mainstream success. But she became bored with the roles she was offered in typical Hollywood movies and gravitated towards ...
Looking over Daryl Hannah's filmopgraphy, it's surprisingly impressive. Hannah rose to prominence in the early 80's and then was kind of forgotten about. Moreso than a lot of other actresses I have covered. She's worked with top directors like Ridley Scott, Ron Howard, Quentin Tarantino and Oliver Stone and co-starred alongside ...
When Christian Slater came onto the scene, he was compared to a young Jack Nicholson. In the late 80's and early 90's he was one of Hollywood's most talked-about actors. While he never really headlined any massive box office hits, he sure seemed like a big time movie star. Slater ...
Helen Hunt started her career as a child actor in the seventies. After two decades in the business, she finally got cast on a hit TV show. She won the Emmy for four consecutive years and won a Best Actress Oscar during the same time frame. A few years later, ...
Heather Graham has been around a lot longer than most people realize. She had an early role in a Haim/Feldman "Coreys classic", got caught up in the craziness of James Woods and somehow clawed her way to being Hollywood's "it" girl for a few short years in the mid 90's ...
John Travolta is the King of the Comeback. Where most careers involve a rise and a fall, Travolta's career is a roller coaster or peaks and valleys. In the 70's, he was a pop culture icon, in the 80's he was a has-been and in the 90's, he reinvented himself ...
Geena Davis rose to prominence in the 80's. She capped off the decade with an Academy Award. She kicked off the 90's with a starring role in the pop culture juggernaut, Thelma and Louise. But by the end of the 90's, her film career vanished. What the hell happened? ...
In the 80's Steve Guttenberg was a top-grossing movie star. His movies from the decade grossed over $500 million dollars. That's over half a billion dollars not adjusted for inflation. Guttenberg could do it all; comedy, drama, talking robot movies. But something happened as the eighties came to an end ...
Demi Moore was launched to stardom along with the rest of the Brat Pack. But while her colleagues' careers were cooling in the 90's, Moore's star kept rising. By the middle of the decade, Moore was the highest-paid actress in Hollywood. But soon after her career peaked, Moore walked away ...
At the top of his career, Wesley Snipes was an A-list action star who could also cross-over into comedy and drama as he saw fit. Few actors can claim the kind of cross-genre success Snipes enjoyed. But all that ended amid very public legal entanglements that ultimately landed Snipes in ...
She's been a Bond girl, Batman's girlfriend and a corpse in a Tom Petty video. Most recently, she played Zach Effron's mom. What the hell happened? The easy answer is that Kim Basinger was a sex symbol who got old. But the story of Basinger's career is far more interesting ...
By this point in the "What the Hell Happened?" series, a pattern has developed. The career usually begins with TV roles or modeling gigs. Then a big break, super stardom and a stint on the A-list. Sometimes the celebrity rides on the top of the a-list for years. Other times, ...
Hollywood is a treacherous place. It take a certain kind of person to make it as an actor. But however hard actors have it, actresses have it that much worse. For an actress to make it in Hollywood, well, they have to be strong. Some might even say they need ...
For a long time, I debated whether or not to write-up Mel Gibson. On the one hand, the answer to the question "what the hell happened" is known by all. Gibson's personal life and bad behavior exploded very publicly. I'm not sure if any celebrity has ever had such a ...
Michelle Pfeiffer was one of the most popular actresses in Hollywood. She starred opposite Al Pacino, Harrison Ford, Sean Connery and Jack Nicholson. The image of Pfeiffer cracking a whip as Catwoman is iconic. And then, she disappeared for seveal years. Recently, Pfeiffer has resurfaced. But her days on the ...
In the early 90's, he was arguably the biggest star in Hollywood. His films were hits. His directorial debut swept the Oscars. Kevin Costner was at the top of the A-list. Twenty years later, his films go direct to video and he's been reduced to playing Pa Kent in the ...
Mira Sorvino, daughter of character actor Paul Sorvino, scored an Oscar and a Golden Globe in her first major role. Five years later, her career had cooled to the point where she was doing TV movies. What the hell happened? ...
She was arguably the actress of my generation. Or at least she was during my late teens and early 20's. And then, she disappeared from the big screen in the midst of a bizarre shoplifting scandal. What the hell happened? ...
Jude Law has been on the edge of breaking out onto the A-list for the last decade. And yet, he's never quite made it. This is in spite of the fact that for a while there it seemed like Law was in every other movie made. In 2004, Law starred ...
She started her career as the 80's answer to a femme fatale. She quickly became an international sex symbol. At the peak of her career, Turner was a well-respected Academy Award nominee as well as a box office draw. But the big parts slowed down and then she seemed to ...
Once upon a time, she was Hollywood's "It" Girl. All signs pointed to Penelope Ann Miller being a household name. She was beautiful, talented and sought-after by casting agents. She appeared opposite De Niro, Pacino and Brando. And yet, somehow the A-list eluded her grasp. What the hell happened? ...
Actress Alicia Silverstone peaked in 1995 with the high school comedy Clueless. It came crashing down two years later in Batman and Robin. Just about everyone associated with the franchise-ending Batfilm suffered some kind of career setback. But while Chris O'Donnell has finally gotten himself a steady gig on TV and ...
The last few celebrities I have spotlighted all had pretty dramatic stories which resulted in the end of their A-list status. But Rick Moranis didn't fall prey to the usual celebrity excesses. This is the story of a guy who basically walked away from it all and never looked back ...
Once upon a time, Meg Ryan sat at the top of the A-list. Her nearest competitor was Julia Roberts. She was America's Sweetheart. Now, she seems to be retired after years of direct-to-video schlock. It's time to ask that age-old question: What the hell happened? ...
In the 80's, Sean Young was a rising star. She co-starred with Harrison Ford, Bill Murray, Kevin Costner and James Woods. She worked with directors Ridley Scott, David Lynch and Oliver Stone. She was cast in the star-making role of Vicki Vale in the 1989 Batman. And then, she became ...
In the 80's, Val Kilmer was Tom Cruise's rival both on-screen and off. Top Gun launched the actor to super stardom and Batman cemented his status at the top of the A-list. But then, Kilmer's career spiraled out of control. Today, the former sex symbol is considered by many to ...
Elisabeth Shue was the girl friend to the Karate Kid and Marty McFly. She had babysitting adventures and cocktails with Tom Cruise. In the 90s, she was an Academy Award nominee for Leaving Las Vegas, but then she disappeared from the spotlight until recently. What the hell happened? ...
Michael Keaton started out as a manic comic and grew into an unlikely leading man and an even more unlikely super hero. As the first big-screen Batman, Keaton was able to make deals that secured him A-list work. But when he walked away from the Bat-franchise, Keaton's opportunities dried up. ...
Mena Suvari made the leap from modeling to acting. In 1999, she appeared in two hit films; the raucous teen comedy, American Pie and the Best Picture winner, American Beauty. Suvari seemed poised for greatness. But her career quickly stalled out. Only a few years later, she was appearing in direct-to-video ...
Two actresses in desperate need of WTHH posts: Halle Berry and Jennifer Garner. Berry hasn’t had a real hit in… Ever? And neither has Garner, who has lately been riding the success wagon of husband Ben Affleck.
Jennifer Garner’s Movie Career Is Not in the Toilet: http://blogs.phillymag.com/the_philly_post/2012/10/11/jennifer-garners-movie-career-toilet/ “Butter bombs, Jennifer Garner’s track record worsens,” intoned the headline on Yahoo! Movie Talk before writer Meriah Doty delivered a whole spiel about Garner’s tumble from box-office royalty. The post left me in a daze. First, this isn’t 2006. Garner hasn’t been a matinee darling for years, nor has that been expected of her. Second, if profitability alone contributed to lengthy, rewarding careers then Michael Bay would be muttered in the same breath as Scorsese and Allen. Doty sees things a little differently. “Garner was on a roll from 2001… Read more »
10 Actresses Who Could Use a Career Reboot: http://whatculture.com/film/10-actresses-who-could-use-a-career-reboot.php/4 7. Jennifer Garner I can hardly think of an actress who seems like she’s going through the motions more than Jennifer Garner. She almost literally burst onto the scene in Alias, and seemed destined to be a huge crossover success. She upped her cred with the nerd crowd as Elektra, and captured hearts with 13 Going on 30. But after that… remember Catch and Release? Neither does anybody else. The Kingdom? Ghosts of Girlfriends Past? The Invention of Lying? Arthur? Jennifer seems to have a knack at choosing projects that everyone… Read more »
Movie Jail: This week’s defendant is…Jennifer Garner!
http://www.joblo.com/movie-news/movie-jail-this-weeks-defendant-isjennifer-garner
Mary Stuart Masterson has spent most of the last 4 years starting a family. She has had 4 children in about 3+ years, a son 11/2009, twins daughter & son 8/2011 & son/daughter ? in 10/2012 with husband Jeremy Davidson. SKoW yeah! She has done readings (5/2013) “Jesus Is Waiting” has only oblique religious implications, in this characteristically serio-comic tale of failed love and self-discovery by Amy Hempel. It’s the title of a recording by the Reverend Al Green, given to the narrator by “the man who won’t speak to me.” She’s taken to the road to get away from… Read more »
Good stuff. I was a big fan of MSM back in the day. Much like Bridget Fonda and the similarly named Mary Louise Parker, I kept waiting for them to become big stars. MLP eventually reached some level of success on TV. But the other two went the family route.
Eventually, I want to cover all of the actresses in the Western, Bad Girls.
10 Actors Who Completely Wasted Their Careers: http://whatculture.com/film/10-actors-completely-wasted-careers.php/9 3. Halle Berry When Halle Berry became the first African American to be awarded a Best Actress Oscar in 2002, it seemed like the gorgeous actress had cemented her role as a performer and sex symbol. In the years preceding she starred in the first X-Men movie and helped sell millions of tickets to Swordfish simply because she appeared topless in it. When Berry followed Monster’s Ball with the box office hits Die Another Day, X2: X-Men United, and Gothika her position on the A-list seemed secured, and there was even talk… Read more »
10 Actresses Whose Careers Went Downhill After Winning An Oscar: http://whatculture.com/film/10-actresses-whose-careers-went-downhill-winning-oscar.php/4 Halle Berry Oscar Win: Best Actress, Monster’s Ball (2002) The only thing that keeps Halle Berry from being on the top half of this list is the success she’s had with the X-Men series. When she’s not portraying Storm, she’s starring in Gothika, Perfect Stranger, New Year’s Eve, The Call, Movie 43… and then, of course, there’s Catwoman. Almost all of the films she’s made in the past decade have been poorly received with disappointing box office figures. When will she fire her agent? Better yet, was Halle Berry… Read more »
Indeed, the only film that Garner has been in that I liked was “Catch Me If You Can” (“13 Going on 30” didn’t do anything “Big” didn’t do better)
Two names I think are worth mentioning: Chow Yun-Fat and Hillary Swank. Chow Yun-Fat had a huge film career coming out of Hong Kong. He was one of Asia’s biggest movie stars. He emigrated to America in hopes of sustaining a viable film career in America. Unfortunately, Chow’s film career in Hollywood never quite took off. Some attributed it to Chow’s limited knowledge of English. Others believe it was outright racism; even though the United States likes to think of itself as a progressive country, the reality is, Asian and Asian American men seldom get cast to play leading men… Read more »
Good points on Chow. I could see doing a full write-up eventually. Although I think you did a pretty thorough job with his US career.
Swank has already been covered here. Hope you like it.
Excellent article on Hilary Swank! Very comprehensive read. a few other names I’ve came up with: Clive Owen, Josh Hartnett, and Michael Pare. I think Clive Owen would be an excellent choice. He had leading roles in a number of box office flicks in the mid 2000s ranging from King Arthur to The International. However, in the last several years, the only films I can think of which he appeared in were Intruders and Elite Squad. And neither film exactly lit up the box office. He hasn’t been in any noteworthy films in these last several years. Ditto for Josh… Read more »
Thanks. Glad you liked it.
Those are three really good suggestions. Hartnett in particular is one I have been meaning to write-up. Next time I am looking for names to add to the poll, I’ll remember these three guys.
I think I previously suggested that Josh Harnett be considered for a future WTHHT in the comments section for his “Pearl Harbor” co-star Cuba Gooding, Jr.’s WTHHT. And speaking of Clive Owen: 10 Actors Who Are Box Office Poison: http://whatculture.com/film/10-actors-who-are-box-office-poison.php/10 Notable Flops: Elizabeth: The Golden Age ($74.2m against $60m), Shoot ‘Em Up ($26.8m against $39m), The International ($60.1m against $50m), Duplicity ($78.1m against $60m), The Boys Are Back ($3.1m against $16m), Trust ($120k against $4m), Killer Elite ($56.3m against $35m), Intruders ($3m against $13m) and Shadow Dancer ($330k against roughly $6-7m). Despite being a talented and likable actor, Owen just… Read more »
For some reason or another, Clive Owen’s name is synonymous w/ the term “box office poison”. Dougray Scott is one name that I would suggest for a WTHHT. He had first gotten noticed as the male lead opposite Drew Barrymore in “Ever After” followed by his turn as the bad guy in “Mission: Impossible 2”. When he was cast to play Wolverine in the first live-action X-Men film, it seemed like Scott was well on his way to becoming an A-list star. But unfortunately, production for “MI2” went over-schedule and Scott was forced to vacate the role. Of course, a… Read more »
Yeah, Scott got screwed. However, it’s probably for the best. He has 1/2 the charisma Jackman does.
PLEASE PLEASE EXPLAIN TO ME, what happened to Eric Roberts?
That is an excellent suggestion. Thanks!
My plan is to go back to the poll results starting with the next article. Since the next article will be an actor, I will add Roberts to the poll as an option as a replacement. Then Roberts just needs enough votes to get an article written. Something tells me he won’t have any trouble getting them.
Oh- yeah- I met Eric Roberts and have a good story-
Do share… Or wait for the article if you prefer. But don’t leave us hanging.
Career Killing Films:
http://www.avmaniacs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=46334&p=829730&viewfull=1#post829730
Eric Roberts in STAR 80.
Sometimes an actor can be too good in a role…..
Was Eric Roberts A list other than being known as the brother of? If memory serves… it may not…. he didn’t pursue an acting career with the same zeal as Julia.
Well as I know Julia, at the beginning of her carreer was known as “the sister of Eric”. In late 70’s-early 80’s Eric Roberts was a rising star, he also received an Oscar nomination. Many say that Julia started her carreer after seeing her brother rise.
Ironically, 25 years ago Julia was only known as being “the sister of…” now it’s Eric known only because he’s “the brother of…”
Exactly.
10 Hollywood Career Paths Nobody Saw Coming: http://whatculture.com/film/10-hollywood-career-paths-nobody-saw-coming.php/2 9. Eric Roberts – From Early Oscar Nominee To B-Movie Star…With Occasional Exceptions Eric Roberts’ career began pretty well, with him scooping an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor in one of his very first film roles, the entertaining 1985 thriller Runaway Train. Roberts has never been able to return to the same level of greatness, though, and has spent the majority of his career floating around in the B-movie, TV-movie and even the straight-to-DVD market, with him being cast every so often in a high-profile film, such as A Guide to… Read more »
And ironically, Julia herself has a bit of a “difficult to work with” reputation: http://whatculture.com/film/10-famous-actors-who-are-notoriously-difficult-to-work-with.php/6 6. Julia Roberts I was surprised to learn this one, given that I always presumed Julia Roberts would be kind of down to earth in real life, given the kinds of characters she’s played (yes, it was her turn as a prostitute in Pretty Woman). And yet, looking back across the span of her career, I was shocked to see that she’s got a reputation as a diva. To the point in which even the likes of lovely old Steven Spielberg reached breaking point: whilst… Read more »
Eric Roberts career was similar to charlie sheen. Both were rising star who people thought would be stars but drugs ruined it . Like charlie Eric kind of got a comeback with his sitcom Less then perfect. But after Roberts left that show he went to tv movies .
By the time Julia came on the scene, her brother had her shot and blew it. But round about Star 80, Roberts had a very promising career.
I think Eric Roberts had some problems with substance abuse, and that kind of derailed his career in the ’80s. (He starred in “The Pope of Greenwich Village” and “Runaway Train.”)
That’s my understanding as well.
Perhaps another problem of Eric Roberts’ is that when you get right down to it, he’s a very hammy actor (especially in his early roles in which he really needed to tone down things down by about half). You can make the argument that “The Pope of Greenwich Village” and “Runaway Train”, which are generally considered his best movies, were good or great movies in spite of him, not because of him.
Read a few days back that Katherine Heigl’s planning a return to the tube nearly 4 years after
bolting Seattle Grace……..outta do a part on her at some point on her rise and fall after poor
choices,not to mention a big mouth,BTW!!!
Who Killed Katherine Heigl’s Career? http://www.boxoffice.com/articles/2012-01-who-killed-katherine-heigls-career One for the Controversy: What the Failure of Katherine Heigl’s Career Says About Women in Hollywood: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nico-lang/katherine-heigl-one-for-the-money_b_1293624.html The Star Market Revisited: Is It Over for Katherine Heigl? http://www.vulture.com/2012/01/star-market-revisited-is-it-over-for-katherine-heigl.html Katherine Heigl’s “One for the Money” Flops, Career Is Over: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Katherine-Heigl-s-One-for-the-Money-Flops-Career-Is-Over-249627.shtml 20 WAYS TO GET KATHERINE HEIGL’S CAREER BACK ON TRACK: http://www.hollywood.com/news/movies/7736345/20-ways-to-get-katherine-heigl-s-career-back-on-track?page=all Top 5 reasons why ‘One for the Money’ won’t save Katherine Heigl’s career: http://www.hitfix.com/articles/watch-katherine-heigl-trailer-for-bounty-hunter-2-err-one-for-the-money Is Katherine Heigl’s career at a tipping point? http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/awards-campaign/posts/is-katherine-heigl-s-career-at-a-tipping-point TV Actresses Find Ways to Avoid Katherine Heigl’s Film Flops: http://voices.yahoo.com/tv-actresses-find-ways-avoid-katherine-heigls-film-10911917.html?cat=40 Katherine Heigl: In Defense Of Her Supposedly Dying Career: http://news.moviefone.com/2012/01/29/katherine-heigl-defense/… Read more »
10 Actors Who Are Box Office Poison:
http://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/80992453.html?thread=14338591429#t14338591429
Katherine Heigl just can’t seem to find a niche. When she was in her rom com phase, it was always the same type of character, the trope bitter shrew who just needed a man to love her. In her action movie phase, she just wasn’t believable as a bounty hunter/superspy/whatever. TBH, she’s better suited as a supporting actress in an okay movie; instead of being a cardboard cutout lead in a subpar cardboard cutout movie.
Actors Hollywood Tried to Make Happen: Indiewire’s List: http://awardswatch.com/forums/showthread.php?33497-Actors-Hollywood-Tried-to-Make-Happen-Indiewire-s-List&p=1662053&viewfull=1#post1662053 For a short period of time (roughly from 2007-2010), she was a legitimate star who has actually made it, who starred in films that were significant financial hits and that used her star power as a major factor in their marketing. You might credit Knocked Up to Apatow, which would be fair enough, but Heigl alone sold films like “27 Dresses” and “The Ugly Truth”, which were also major hits overseas (a rare feat for American romantic comedies). In fact, both films actually made more abroad than they did in the… Read more »
10 Actors Who Completely Wasted Their Careers: http://whatculture.com/film/10-actors-completely-wasted-careers.php/7 5. Katherine Heigl The beautiful Katherine Heigl became a star on the TV series Grey’s Anatomy, and while on the show she co-starred in the 2006 Judd Apatow comedy hit Knocked Up. Heigl seemed poised to follow in the romantic comedy footsteps of Julia Roberts and Sandra Bullock with 27 Dresses and The Ugly Truth, but she started burning her bridges by complaining about the writing on Grey’s Anatomy and insulting Apatow by saying Knocked Up was “a little sexist.” Somewhat unfortunately for her image, the comments gave Heigl a reputation for… Read more »
I love this idea! I want to know what the hell happened to Shelley Long, Jeffrey Jones, and Billy Dee Williams?!
Shelley Long is on my list. But she does pop up on Modern Family if you’re looking for her. Billy Dee is still one cool customer. Look for him to make an appearance in the next article. He’ll get his own sooner or later.
And Jeffrey Jones – well – we’re not allowed to talk about him…
All kidding aside, Jones got himself into some pretty serious legal trouble that sunk his career forever. Some day, I may write about it. We’ll see.
I forgot about Jones’ legal battles! He and Wesley Snipes. Ha.
I write a column on my blog called BAD CINEMA where I take awful movies and desecrate them – or revel in their awfulness. You may enjoy. Keep up the good work!
I am checking it out right now. Looks like good stuff.
Here’s a link for anyone who wants to check it out:
http://cineaste83.wordpress.com/
Wow. Thanks for the link. I can’t wait to read your Ashley Judd post! I am trying to write my piece about CAN’T STOP THE MUSIC before work. Gawd. Have you seen? It won the first Razzie.
I have seen bits. I don’t think I have ever watched it all the way through. But after writing the Guttenberg artcile, I have added it to my bad movie bucket list.
I’m reading your Battleship article right now. Funny stuff. Any WTHH fans should check it out.
CSTM is pretty awful, but in a very fun campy way. Like SHOWGIRLS.
I have a soft spot for anything from the disco era. So I think I may secretly love it.
OMG have you seen ROLLER BOOGIE? or XANADU?! RB has Linda Blair…
RB – no
Xanadu – Oh hell yes! Best ELO/Olivia Newton John music video ever.
I could not finish Xanadu. I know I need to write about it, but it is just….Lord. Maybe I just need to get really stoned…
It’s a long slog in parts. You have to wonder who thought the young people would want all that Gene Kelly in their disco-tinged roller derby musical.
You have to wonder why Gene Kelly wanted Gene Kelly in a disco-tinged roller derby musical. What a way to go!
There is that. My guess is he wanted to meet Olivia Newton John. Can’t say as I blame him. ONJ circa 1980? Heck yeah! Pass the roller skates!
Hahaha. I saw some doc where they interviewed his widow and she said he truly believed in the project. Senility? BTW, did you know there is a whole foundation dedicated to preserving and archiving Xanadu history?
http://www.donosdump.com/xanadu/
Oh my! I appreciate ONJ and ELO more than most. And I have mentioned my rather shameful love of all things disco. But even with those considerations, I can barely sit through Xanadu. Why would anyone want to preserve anything beyond the soundtrack?
The same reason people go to Trekkie conventions: they are ridiculous.
That’s for sure. But then, who isn’t? I just spent a week writing an article in which I pretended to have dated Ashley Judd. In reality, we just fooled around a couple times.
I don’t know you well enough to gauge your levels of sarcasm. I guess it will become clear when I read the piece?
Yeah. I guess that running gag plays better after you’ve read the article. My point is that I consider myself as ridiculous as anybody. And despite what rumors you may have heard, I was certainly never engaged to Ashley Judd. I don’t know why people keep saying that.
Hahaha.
I’m all in favor of short articles. 😉
Yeah, Jeffrey Jones absolutely deserves a WTHHT (I mean, we “talked” about the creepy stuff that John Travolta has been accused of doing, so why not Jeffrey Jones). I think that I suggested it in the comments section for Matthew Broderick’s (his “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” co-star) WTHHT. I thought that maybe he was more than likely ineligible because really considered more as a character actor than a A-list, leading man/box office draw. Shelley Long without a doubt deserves a WTHHT also. She’s kind of an obvious example (just like David Caruso w/ “NYPD Blue” and McLean Stevenson w/ “MASH”… Read more »
Shelley Long’s “Irreconcilable Differences” co-star Ryan O’Neal really deserves a WTHHT now that I think about it. O’Neal was if I’m not mistaken, one of the top leading men (w/ an Academy Award nomination under his belt) in Hollywood during the 1970s. But it seems like drugs, drinking, the naturally negative feedback from punching out his son Griffin in the teeth (and just flat out being seen as a bad father period), his ego, and being nasty to people in general is what did him in. Also, there was the questionability over whether or not O’Neal was really a great… Read more »
He was all the rage after “Love Story” came out in 1970, followed by “Paper Moon” and then gradually fell off the radar through the rest of the decade. Females of all ages everywhere swooned over his role in LS but I think the MAD magazine parody was better than the movie.
O’Neal definitely fits the bill. Lots of juicy stuff to get into. I like the line that he was “the Orlando Bloom” of his day, but really that’s not fair. Bloom would likely kill for the kind of success O’Neal had.
O’Neal had a lot of charm and could kill with romantic/light comedy roles- the lovable conman in Paper Moon was maybe a career high. He basically disappeared when the Eighties hit- a Seventies Guttenberg? In the early-mid Eighties people like us might have written that he was due for a comeback- it never happened. I just think he was blown away by the Pacino/DeNiro/Hoffman class- his train wreck of a personal life couldn’t have helped. Oh- one of his attempts was Tough Guys Don’t Dance- which has a famous scene where O’Neal messes up an emotional scene- and Norman Mailer… Read more »
9 TV Stars Who Horribly Botched Their Big Leap Into Films: http://whatculture.com/film/9-tv-stars-horribly-botched-big-leap-films.php/4 Shelley Long Cheers was one of the highest-rated television series when its fifth season ended in 1987. It was at that point that lead actress Shelley Long decided to leave the series. Cheers would go on to run six more seasons to critical acclaim and huge ratings. As for Shelley Long? She had a budding movie career while she starred on Cheers, appearing in the popular comedies Irreconcilable Differences, The Money Pit, Outrageous Fortune, and Hello Again, which explains why she thought leaving the show was a good… Read more »
“You have to wonder why Gene Kelly wanted Gene Kelly in a disco-tinged roller derby musical. What a way to go!”
I remember reading somewhere that Astaire and Kelly were thrilled by the success of Grease- they thought the musical was back.
Kelly probably jumped (hopefully not on skates- although he could probably pull it off) to star with ONJ.
What the Hell Happened To…? 12 Movie Actors/Actresses Who Are M.I.A.: http://www.chicagonow.com/hammervision/2013/08/what-the-hell-happened-to-12-film-actorsactresses-who-are-m-i-a/#image/1 DAMON WAYANS. The early ’90s were very good to Mr. Wayans, what with Last Boy Scout and Mo’ Money cleaning up at the box office. These days, he seems content letting his son, Damon Wayans, Jr. (Happy Endings) take the spotlight. He had a solid TV run with My Wife and Kids, but hasn’t been seen in movies since 2003’s Marci X. LORI PETTY. She never really recovered after Tank Girl, well, tanked. Had a stint on TV’s Prison Break back in ’09, but not much else since… Read more »
What Happened To…? http://www.bigthoughtsfromasmallmind.com/2011/12/what-happened-to.html Minnie Driver When Minnie Driver appeared in Circle of Friends in 1995, she showed so much promise as a young unknown actress. She was luminous as the unconventionally pretty girl in a story about first love and enduring friendship. Driver portrayed Benny with a naturalness and honesty that made the character endearing, touching and funny, and that role opened many doors for Driver who followed it up with several other noteworthy appearances in the late ‘90s. She was a tour de force then and seemed poised to become the next “it girl” thanks to a captivating… Read more »
“Kate Winslet, Cate Blanchett, Kate Beckinsale”
The Kates?? What wag came up with that? When have Beckinsale and Blanchett been said in the same sentence? Not after Elizabeth-certainly not after Van Helsing!
Any idiot with a computer I guess-
They left off Kate Capshaw, Katherine Hepburn, Kathleen Turner, Phoebe Cates, Kate and Ally and a host of ther “Kates”. 😉
Ooooh! Noooo! Minie Driver, the broad with the oven-sized yap?! I thought her miscast in “Good Will Hunting” and in anything else she might have done.
lol – Damon dumped her and so did Hollywood. She had a rough go of things. Great suggestion.
AH, I recall when Minnie D was an It Girl! Not sure what happened, but she stopped being visible in films, then had a child and transitioned to/revived her musical career. And it’s not just an actress dabbling, Minnie D really IS a fine singer and decent songwriter! (I read something online that Damon had her “blacklisted,” whatever that means.)
I have seen that too. Apparently things ended badly between them.
Actors Hollywood Tried to Make Happen: Indiewire’s List: http://awardswatch.com/forums/showthread.php?33497-Actors-Hollywood-Tried-to-Make-Happen-Indiewire-s-List&p=1662653&viewfull=1#post1662653 Minnie Driver is sort of like the Abbie Cornish of the 90s. It’s like the movie Gods hated her or something but nothing ever worked out for her. An Ideal Husband was probably her best movie but she was barely in it. Tarzan was the most successful one but it was animation. Her first big budget action movie was shelved for ages and it bombed at the box-office. The only time she had to carry a movie on her own was that beauty pageant comedy that was absolutely ravaged by critics.… Read more »
Whatever Happened to Eric Bana? http://frettsonfilm.com/2012/11/03/whatever-happened-to-eric-bana/ Remember when Eric Bana was the Next Big Thing? Or the Next Incredible Hulk? He seemingly came out of nowhere—well, the Australian stand-up comic scene (who knew there was one?)—to get cast as Bruce Banner in Ang Lee’s shoulda-been-great 2003 snoozer Hulk. Prior to that, he’d only been known Stateside for a role as a soldier in Ridley Scott’s Black Hawk Down, but the real star of that movie was a helicopter—who could tell the actors apart? He’d also made a splash Down Under as a notorious Aussie criminal in Chopper (and no, the… Read more »
Inexplicable Career Arcs:
http://goneelsewhere.wordpress.com/2014/02/19/inexplicable-career-arcs/#comment-78413
Bana’s problem is that he’s just lacking the charisma to be a theatrical lead. He chose some poor projects when he was an up-and-comer, they tanked, and now he’s only gets scripts after everyone else on the planet has passed. I’m honestly a little surprised he’s even getting starring roles (rather than supporting) at this point.
Future of Movie Stars: Who Will Shine? Who Will Fade Away?
http://forums.previously.tv/topic/7750-future-of-movie-stars-who-will-shine-who-will-fade-away/page-5#entry355096
With Eric Bana, it seems a fairly simple story of a guy who got hyped, got some big roles for a couple of years, then failed to deliver big box office on a consistent basis, and stopped getting offered leading man roles in big-budget movies. The bulk of his movies that were successful were ensemble pieces, and he didn’t really deliver that many big hits that were based on his name alone.
“It must’ve seemed like a good idea at the time to play Nero, the villain of J.J. Abrams’ astronomically successful Star Trek reboot, but he was so buried under prosthetics that he was impossible to recognize”
Ha- I didn’t realize he was in it until reading a review a couple days after I saw the film!
Also, that character’s motivations made no sense whatsoever. He’s out for revenge so he sits around doing nothing for 20 years while baby Kirk grows up. At any point, he could have warned his planet to take precautions to prevent it from being destoryed instead of waiting 20+ years for revenge on Spock – a guy who was obviously trying to help but made a catastrophic (and very un-Spocklike) mistake.
I was about to go vote in the polls again.. for Keanu Reeves and then realized.. he has not dropped off the radar, in fact he has a recent documentary (“Side by Side”) about film making that I am dying to get ahold of.
so, another direction. “Pacific Heights” has been on cable and I watched parts of it again. Melanie Griffith and Michael Keaton have their own WTHH posts…. how about Matthew Modine? Talented and hunky. Poised to make A list, did he ever? Works, as so many others, but not A list now.
Modine has been on my radar for a while now. The argument against him is he was never quite a-list as Cutthroat Island proved once and for all. But for a while there, it looked like he would be. I’ll definitely get to him sooner or later.
Keanu just released a Kung Fu movie he directed- I guess that is how his career will go for now.
And don’t forget a middle-aged Bill and Ted sequel.
What the hell happened to that guy?
I think I’ve spent the last few hours going through your “What the Hell” list – it’s all excellent and I thoroughly enjoying devouring every bit of it. Would Adrien Brody count for your list? It’s like winning the oscar for The Pianist was the peak of his career and also the beginning of the end. Other suggestions: Halle Berry, Rob Schneider
I love to hear it when someone discovers the series and goes back and reads a bunch of older articles. That is exactly what I would do. So if others are enjoying the series the same way, that means it’s working. Thanks!
Adrien Brody and Halle Berry are on my short list. Schneider will probably take me a while to get to.
You’ve already mentioned ’bout Kurt Russell………how’s ’bout mentioning his longtime
squeeze Goldie Hawn,who’s been MIA from the big screen the last few years,BTW!!!!!
I actually had Hawn on my short list for a while. But I realized two things. One, her box office track record is actually amazingly consistent in spite of the fact most of her movies are terrible. And two, she walked pretty much walked away after having a remarkably successful career.
I’ll probably still write her up eventually. But the story didn’t seem as juicy as I hoped. So I back-burnered her. The list of actresses I plan to cover some day is long and she’s definitely on it.
Goldie Hawn probably has had one of the most remarkable careers in Hollywood for an actress. She lasted forever (1968 to what- 2000? ) It seems spiteful to blame her for Town and Country.
I don’t think anyone blames her for doing Warren Beatty a favor. Beatty owns T&C 100%.
You outta do something on Beatty down the road,since it’s been like a dozen years
since T&C and he’s basically taken a back seat to spouse Annette Benning,BTW!!!
I was just thinking that this morning. He’s on the list.
It seems like Warren Beatty (the failure of “T&C” was pretty much entirely his fault) is pretty much fully retired from filmmaking/show business. Beatty could have moved back into the spotlight after Quentin Tarantino offered him the title role in “Kill Bill” but he turned it down. I couldn’t be that surprised because Warren Beatty is pretty known for wanting to control his films. So in effect, it looks like Beatty’s lack of output in the last decade is by choice.
Yeah,no wonder no sane filmmaker nowadays would wanna deal with Warren’s massive
ego & demands,to be honest!!!!
Some suggestions I would like to include would be Linda Fiorentino. After working with the likes of filmmakers such as Martin Scorsese, William Friedkin and Mike Nichols, she basically pretty much disappeared after 2002’s “Liberty Stands Still”, co-starring WTHH alumni Wesley Snipes, which pretty much went straight to DVD, plus it was also revealed by Kevin Smith on the DVD commentary for “Dogma” that she was very difficult to work with and on some days on the set of that movie, wasn’t even speaking to him. That’s one of my picks. Another one would be Tom Sizemore. He has been… Read more »
Excellent suggestions. I will admit, I keep forgetting them both. I’m going to have to actually write down my list and make sure to include them both.
I will say this though. Smith has feuds with a lot of people. And the common denominator in those feuds is him. Not that he is the only one saying Fiorentino is difficult. But I’d seriously have to consider whether or not I wanted to work with a guy who talks so much trash so publicly.
Re: Linda F — time & time again, some actors think they’re “indispensable” and then they find they are (sadly) dispensable. The role’s not big enough, the money’s not big enough…forgetting that a little of something is better than a lot of nothing…or better than appearing in direct-to-DVD crap. (I must mention: Not ALL d-2-DVD films are crap, but experience has taught me that lots of them are.)
I have been out looking for some more concrete evidence of Fiorentino being difficult. The Smith stories are well documented, but everything else is speculation. It’s one of those things where you hear something enough, you start to believe it. The fact that her career flamed out and she didn’t come back to MIB2 all seem to support Smith’s claims that she is difficult. But my problem is Smith tends to be full of shit. He makes most of his money trash talking famous people who have upset him. So I don’t put a whole lot of stock in anything… Read more »
A suggestion: She was sort-of A-list very briefly, but then she seemingly fell…etc.: ROSIE PEREZ. Another guy that made lots of decent-to-dandy movies and some crap…haven’t seen him ’round in a bit: EDWARD NORTON. As for who “killed” Kath Heigl’s career, she can look in the mirror. I know someone that worked on one of her movies (in the crew, not an actor) and he says, like so many other people, that she was a mega-bitch. She talked **** on the two things that “made her,” namely “Grey’s” and “Knocked Up.” BEFORE those, KH was starring in crap like “Bride… Read more »
I’ve in Val Kilmer’s WTHHT article, suggested Edward Norton as a future subject. Him not being invited to reprise his role as Bruce Banner in “The Avengers” (due him allegedly being a headache to deal w/) would make for good reading. Plus, Norton recently hosted “SNL”, so he’s quite “relevant” these days regardless.
I have come close to writing up Norton a few times. And whenever I get ready to do so, he pops up in a relatively high profile project. I might just do his article next before he shows up in something else.
Perez could be interesting. I know she plays Click the Camera on Dora the Explorer these days.
I got some more names I can come up with for the series of articles and they are: Stephen Dorff – Made his film debut at 14 with the horror movie “The Gate”, did guest spots on TV shows throughout his teen years and did a couple of little-seen features when he reached his 20s, before getting a big boost by playing Deacon Frost in “Blade”, for which he won an MTV Movie Award for Best Villain. And then he squandered his potential thanks to his bad boy behavior, done tons of crappy films like “Fear Dot Com”, “Cold Creek… Read more »
In one of the past WTHHT articles, I vaguely recall LeBeau calling Stephen Dorff a “poor man’s Ethan Hawke”. I think I’ve in the past, also suggested Martin Lawrence get a WTHHT as well as his “Wild Hogs” co-star Tim Allen (since John Travolta has already gotten one of course): http://madamenoire.com/285747/what-happened-celebrities-who-should-have-had-bigger-careers/8/ He killed it in the 90s. From Martin to Bad Boys and everything in between, Martin Lawrence found fame and fortune in comedy, but we have to admit that when the Big Momma’s House years rolled in, Lawrence definitely was knocked down the Hollywood totem pole. Instead of sleek,… Read more »
I like making fun of Dorff. Of course, I also like making fun of Ethan Hawke. I think, if memory serves, that was the Reese Witherspoon article.
Yeah, I should get to Lawrence sooner rather than later. I may have to bump him up in the batting order.
Dorff has done some fine work AND he’s slid into Christian Slater territory…go figure.
🙁
Dorff just has a funny name. That and he was one cocky son of a bitch when he was younger. So he’s an easy target these days.
Great suggestions. I have considered both and I’m sure I will get around to them both in time. Lawrence in particular is probably overdue. I’ve been reading a lot about “Young Hollywood” in the 90s recently, so Dorff is on my mind right now. And of course those vapor cigarette commercials he’s doing. I’d really like to dig in to that era more.
Here’s a follow-up on Mary Stuart Masterson. She will be a guest star on “The Good Wife” episode scheduled for Nov 24. Her last TV appearance was on the Sept 9, 2012 episode of “Touch” with Keifer Sutherland. She appeared with Keifer in her first movie “At Close Range” back in 1985. She delivered her fourth child in Oct 2012.
Cool. Thanks for the update.
I just bought one of my all-time favorite movies on Blu-ray, the cinematic classic Jaws, which made me wonder to myself the all-important question: What The Hell Happened To Richard Dreyfuss? He starred in some of the biggest, most iconic films of the 70’s: American Graffitti, which was not only one of the biggest hits of ’73 but a pop cultural phenomenon. Then in ’75 came Jaws, which broke box office records and became the biggest grossing blockbuster of all time at that time. If it’s possible, he even outdid himself in ’77, when he starred in Close Encounter of… Read more »
Post-Oscar Underachievers:15 Academy Award Winners Whose Follow-Ups Did Not Hold Up: http://styleblazer.com/120232/post-oscar-underachievers15-academy-award-winners-whose-follow-ups-did-not-hold-up/11/ Richard Dreyfuss was awarded an Oscar for Best Actor in 1977 for the The Goodbye Girl. From there he became Hollywood’s perennial everyman actor up through the mid-90s. A string of poorly received comedies like Krippendorf’s Tribe and The Crew led him away from the A-list in the latter part of the decade. After a brief hiatus, Dreyfuss re-emerged as a character actor whose appearances range from Oliver Stone’s W. to horror camp like Piranha 3D. The latter film saw him reprise a role that, for most people,… Read more »
Love Jaws. Love Dreyfus. He’s so prickly. You’re right, he would definitely make for a great article. I will have to keep him in mind in the long term. He’s a little outside of my sweet spot. Once you start getting back into the dark ages of the 70s, things like clips and photos become harder to come by. Which is one of the reasons I tend to focus on people from the 80’s and 90’s. I’m sure you have seen some of the footage of interviews Dreyfus did after filming Jaws prior to its release. He trashed the movie.… Read more »
I think you can argue that Dreyfuss was as big- or even bigger star- than you could normally expect. The Seventies was the Golden Age of non-traditional leading men- Dreyfuss, Hoffman, Donald Sutherland -even Pacino and Jack Nicholson might have been character actors in a different time.
Lets face it- if Keifer looked like his dad- I doubt he would have been the lead in 24.
I would love to see one on Dreyfus!
He’s come up from time to time. He’d be a monster article. For one, he’s had a very long career. But also, he loves to run his mouth.
Since you did articles on both Mel Gibson and Rene Russo, how about some features on their Lethal Weapon co-stars Danny Glover and Joe Pesci?
You know what I think could be the reason for their downfalls from Glover to doing mainly supporting roles and activist work, and Pesci only showing up occasionally on the big screen following the fourth film in the series? Gone Fishin’ happened. That film’s failure probably could be the reason we rarely heard from them nowadays.
Gone Fishin’ certainly didn’t help. I forgot that movie even existed. Given enough time, I’ll complete the Lethal Weapon crew.