35 Actors People Thought Were Going To Blow Up, But Ended Up Going “Nowhere”

Recently, Reddit user TheBilliard asked the good people of r/moviecritic, “Who’s an actor you thought would blow up but ended up going nowhere?” Here are their top-voted opinions (which you may or may not agree with!):

1. Claire Forlani — “She was a victim of Harvey Weinstein. He squashed her career.”

Universal / ©Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection

—skootch_ginalola

“I was like 13 when Mallrats came out, and I had the hugest crush on her. I remember thinking, Please, let me marry someone as pretty as her. I can report that 30 years later, I surely did.”

—bdubwilliams22

2. Clive Owen — “I thought Clive Owen was skyrocketing to superstardom, but then his career just plateaued. He just disappeared into a series of lesser-known projects. And then, out of the blue, I saw him promoting one mini-series a year, it seems.”

©Universal / courtesy Everett Collection

3. Mia Sara — “When Ferris Bueller’s Day Off came out everybody was saying how Mia Sara (who played his girlfriend) was destined for stardom. I even remember Siskel and Ebert saying how she was going to be the next big thing. She had a few small roles but never blew up like many predicted.”

4. Gemma Arterton — “She was a lead in Clash of the Titans and Prince of Persia and was even a Bond girl but her career just faded.”

5. Paula Patton — “She had some solid roles, but after seeing her play Jane Carter in Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol, I genuinely expected her to start paving her way as a big-time actress. When she didn’t return for the following M:I film, things only started to go downhill, and I barely even hear about her anymore.”

6. Michael Biehn — “He really should’ve had more important roles than he did after his appearances in The Terminator and Aliens, but alcoholism held him back, I guess.”

7. Aaron Eckhart — “He was the second best actor in The Dark Knight after Heath Ledger IMO, but after that, he has mostly done shitty action movies.”

8. Summer Glau — “I thought she was amazing in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, but since then, she’s only had smaller roles.”

9. Tia Carrere — “She was one of my first on-screen crushes when I was a kid watching Wayne’s World. Then True Lies, but I don’t remember her on anything else.”

10. Dacre Montgomery — “He’s still young but I figured he’d be getting big roles by now.”

11. Anson Mount — “He is phenomenal as Captain Pike on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.”

12. Sean William Scott — “He could have been the first Ryan Reynolds, not sure what happened, but pretty sure it was his MTV Cribs that soured him on everyone.”

13. Olga Kurylenko — “I rewatched Quantum of Solace recently and thought her performance was excellent. She had a great character and the movie was far better than I remembered too.”

14. Lizzy Caplan — “I adored her in Mean Girls, and she was so good in Masters of Sex.”

15. Michael Pitt — ” I always thought Micheal Pitt was gonna be huge.”

16. Taylor Kitsch — “After John Carter, then Lone Survivor, I thought he was going to be in everything.”

17. Aaron Paul — “Dude was remarkable in Breaking Bad and then did a couple of shitty movies because studios knew they’d make bank off his name, and now he’s just kinda disappeared.”

18. Matt Bomer — “I went to high school with him. He’s had a very successful career; I just thought Bomer would be an A-lister someday, like a Brad Pitt-level star. Now he’s doing voice work and maybe going back to TV.”

19. Leighton Meester — “She was not only drop-dead gorgeous but the best actor on Gossip Girl.”

20. Patrick Fugit — “He was so good in Almost Famous and then just disappeared.”

21. Alicia Vikander — “I mean specifically after Ex Machina and her Oscar win the same year for The Danish Girl. Tomb Raider wasn’t a big hit, and I completely forgot she was in Jason Bourne. From what I read, she started a family with Michael Fassbender and has done some more movies, but nothing huge.”

22. Sam Witwer — “He needs more live-action roles.”

23. Wes Bentley — “After American Beauty I thought Wes Bentley would be a huge star, but drugs derailed his career. Wes did bounce back, but still.”

24. Leelee Sobieski — “She wanted to raise her children, which is a very noble reason to quit the medium.”

25. Emile Hirsch — “To say he’s gone ‘nowhere’ might be a little harsh, but early on with movies like The Girl Next Door, Alpha Dog, and Into the Wild, I thought he was gonna end up being pretty big.

26. Michael Shannon — “I’m shocked Michael Shannon hasn’t blown up in a big way. I feel like he was on his way, and then chose Zod in the Snyderverse, which didn’t pan out. I think he’s an amazing actor, though, and will keep getting work into his golden years.”

27. Eric Bana — “Twenty years ago he was skyrocketing with Black Hawk Down and Troy. But unfortunately, he never became that A-list actor he should have been.”

28. Skeet Ulrich — “I was always surprised he didn’t have a big-time career. He always gave a top grade performance in his younger years. I think his resemblance to Johnny Depp hurt him in the long run. The studio executives figured as he got older, his appeal would fade away.

29. Joel Kinnaman — “After watching The Killing, I was surprised that he pivoted into action roles. He seems better suited for drama.”

30. Moon Bloodgood — “Always thought Moon Bloodgood was headed for stardom. Her name alone seemed destined for greatness”

31. Haley Joel Osment — “I’m still holding out for Haley. He absolutely stole the show in everything he was in as a kid. I can see he does a lot of voice acting, but I wish he could somehow get a really solid role in something sneaky good in film festivals or something to give him a chance at a resurgence.”

32. Charlie Hunnam — “He’s definitely still around, but his last good movie was in 2019, and it looks like he’s going back to television roles with no current or upcoming movies coming out for him. So I’d say he didn’t blow up as a movie star like most/some/myself predicted after Sons of Anarchy.”

33. Joey Lauren Adams — “You know, weirdly, it was decades before I realized that Chasing Amy didn’t star Renée Zellweger.”

34. Tessa Thompson — “She seemed to be on the verge a few years ago and now? Nothing.”

35. Finally, Karl Urban — “I thought Karl was going to be the next big thing in action movies, but it just didn’t happen.”

Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.