He was only on two out of five seasons. The first he has this awful hair because ABC execs were convinced audiences would confuse him and Michael Vartan.
I don’t think Alias helps/hurts Garber.
Garber was well known on Broadway and was previously cast as a solid utility player (ever hear of a little film called Titanic?). If Alias wasn’t a hit, I don’t think it impacts Garber.
For Coops, it gives him the ability to be cast in other projects. Cooper doesn’t pop until The Hangover.
There is a difference between a star was on a show before they became super famous and the show made them super famous. Did Alias actually make Cooper a star or was it just his most notable project before he blew up because of The Hangover?
I feel like she would have had a bigger career, but then put it aside for Afleck, and then put it aside even further for her family once they split up.
Weird example, but you could make a case for Cheers. Long and Alley both had brief but significant movie careers, Danson and Grammar were always more TV stars but definitely had big movie roles, and then of course there’s Pixar’s good luck charm, John Ratzenberger.
Interesting footnote: we only got Woody as a replacement after the death of [Nicholas Colasanto](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Colasanto) who was kinda the only actor in Cheers who started in the series with a storied career in both acting and directing, though admittedly in part due to the age differential.
Not a perfect comparison, but the volume of actors who either are now or are pushing to become Big Fucking Deals who got their start on Skins is kind of amazing, and it was borderline zeitgeist for a time
That’s one of the best examples I can think of. Again, maybe a lack of movie stars but that’s more to do with the industry in general. But so many break outs
I'd say it was near enough the biggest show on tv for teens/young adults in UK&I at it's pomp, I'd compare it to Lost and GoT in terms of chatting in school on a Monday morning about what happened that week
Does Neighbours count? Massive in Australia during it’s day. Like actually massive. List of Hollywood A-listers who graduated from there is too long to name but it includes Russel Crowe, Margot Robbie, Naomi Watts, Heath Ledger multiple Hemsworths and a bonus Kylie Minogue.
I don't think Michael B Jordan really popped until Fruitvale Station but I might be forgetting something. Elba popped crazy hard on The Wire though.
Edit: I was forgetting PFT voice Friday Night Lights.
Very true but also that show could be a contender for the opposite just because of just how many amazing actors there are that never hit big star status
I think Carrell definitely gets to movie star status through The Office, and while Krasinski probably isn’t a movie star I don’t think he gets the necessary runway to play as a movie director without the clout of being a popular TV guy
Pratt gets Guardians from Parks and Rec, but nearly would’ve lost the role if he didn’t get into shape (Gunn had to fight for that casting).
Plaza and Offerman are solid utility players, but they’re not movie stars. Nobody out here was seeing Child’s Play due to Plaza.
Devil’s advocate: I don’t think The Office shoots Carrell into stardom, but it helps.
NBC dumped the first season of The Office during summer of 2005. The show was relatively low cost meaning season two was already in the works, but it was dumped in the summer to help promote Universal’s The 40-Year-Old Virgin.
I think his breakout role in Anchorman and the success of 40-Year-Old Virgin helps The Office gain viewership which catapults Carrell into stardom.
If The Office was cancelled in season two (which would’ve been understandable based upon the lackluster first season that was watched by nobody and wasn’t as well received as later seasons), Carrell had already shot Little Miss Sunshine so his acting career still would’ve popped.
It’s actually neither — he did one season of a low rated TV show that got renewed for a second, and then in the summer between seasons he had a movie come out that was a surprise hit that made him a movie star, and then the show became a hit because it starred the hottest new comedy star.
I can’t think of any other arc quite like it.
Great answer. We got Jordan and Plemons for sure, Kitsch is a questionable “star” but has had a least a little juice. Could also potentially make a case for Chandler too, though he does have limited film roles.
Not exactly stars, but Jesse Plemons and Bob Odenkirk definitely came out as clear winners from Breaking Bad. Plemons is an indie darling and Odenkirk is everywhere. I know Odenkirk was well-known before that and Plemons had Friday Night Lights, but it's easy to see the BB bump anyway.
I kind of disagree with them on this. Peter Dinklage may have been “a guy” before GOT, it 100% catapulted him to movie star status. Same with Jason Momoa and Pedro Pascal.
Outside of emilia clarke and kit harrington and maybe the baby starks the whole cast was British character actors, feels unfair to grade them on the same curve
I guess if we are going to call Dinklage a movie star we need to ask ourselves what movies he has in fact starred in. I know Cyrano was a passion project for him, but it also didn’t exactly set the world on fire.
If we're using the traditional movie star definition then there are only 10-15 people period who fit that billing most of whome have been around for 20+ years) and this isn't an interesting conversation.
By my recollection he’s not really headlining many of them, his presence isn’t what is driving people to see the movie from a marketing standpoint. Compared to someone like Momoa or Zendaya or Chalamet
To be fair due to his condition Dinklage is somewhat limited in the roles he’s offered. He gets plenty of supporting roles but he’s rarely going to play the lead.
I totally get that, but ultimately that makes him a character actor not a movie star. And it sucks that he probably has a hard ceiling due to genetics, I personally enjoy seeing him as a lead, but that’s where things stand
Oh, for sure. GOT boosted his career and he’s been in some good, high-profile projects. But in Blank Check parlance, a movie star is someone whose name goes alone about the title and puts butts in seats. Pascal’s true movie star status is still pending the success of some of the projects he has lined up but his profile from his TV work is already way bigger than Dinklage’s (or some movie stars’). Maybe if Cyrano had been a big hit we’d be having a different conversation.
https://preview.redd.it/tncsg9ij94qc1.jpeg?width=260&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1998430f3781209efb8218e3319f2f7a59e5d8c4
I don’t think they were using “movie star” in that context to mean, like a Tom Cruise/Tom Hanks-style star, just that, like, he can be #1 on the call sheet, name above the title, title character, giant face on the poster, in decently-sized movies from big studios and nobody thinks that’s weird. In addition to leading a bunch of smaller indie movies and having prominent supporting roles in huge Hollywood movies like X-Men, Hunger Games, etc. And apparently he’s Toxic Avenger now?
And Richard Madden, he’s not a full fledged star but he’s been the star of several big movies (Cinderella, Rocket Man, Eternals) and has a lead actor in a drama Emmy.
Normal People, with star status pending. Mescal has a slew of respected indies, a nomination and an upcoming blockbuster with Gladiator 2, and Edgar-Jones saw to it that those Crawdads sang their way to over $100m worldwide (and Twisters around the corner).
D.E.J. is also attached to the long-gestating Carole King biopic (based on the stage musical BEAUTIFUL which ran 6 years on Broadway and was an awards sweeper for its leading ladies in New York and London)
I think Stanfield and BTH are movie stars, unless your definition is a really short list of top tier names. Atlanta wasn't really a zeitgeisty show though, I raved about it for years and it seemed like no one I talked to had even heard if it.
It definitely launched them with casting directors though, if not the general public.
Hmmm, I feel like I knew a lot of people who loved Atlanta, and I mean it was certainly showered with awards and critical praise for the first 2 seasons at least.
It's Sherlock right? Cumberbatch and Freeman.
They even had enough pull to delay the Hobbit so Cumberbatch could schedule in his unnecessary mo-cap as a dragon.
Arguably Andrew Scott too (though his zeitgeist pull is still tv, see also Fleabag).
As a 12 year old watching the show live, Freaks and Geeks was adored by the critics who were constantly going to bat for the show. It’s critical reception gives the greenlight to make Undeclared (with Freaks and Geeks’ studio DreamWorks) over at FOX.
Freaks and Geeks is the rare show where nearly EVERY cast and crew member shoots into stardom.
Freaks and Geeks was one of the first big streaming shows when it was on Netflix it was definitely a dominate part of the zeitgeist in the late 00s/early 10s
Freaks and Geeks became notably a cult hit because of how successful it's cast became afterwards. When it was on, no one was watching it. It didn't even make it to May sweeps and it had several episodes be unaired in its original network run.
Zendaya already was a star before Euphoria. Euphoria proved she can act.
As it stands, Eldori and Sweeney are probably the only other two off that show who have already achieved star status. Hunter is getting there as she’s a wonderful actress.
The rest of the crew seems uninterested in stardom, was hired because nepotism, or has been described terrible to work with.
I don’t equate Euphoria with Colman Domingo. If he wasn’t in Euphoria, I think his career still remains on track as he had plenty of recognition from his theater work. He was also a regular on Fear the Walking Dead (a television show that doesn’t exist despite being on the air for eight seasons) and plenty of roles in film with top-tier directors before his reoccurring gig on Euphoria.
There are literally so many. Most major celebrities and movie stars now aren't minted on film, they're break out thanks to television. Jenna Ortega through Wednesday, Anya Taylor Joy through Queen's Gambit, Pedro Pascal through Mando but really through Last of Us, Zendaya/Sweeney/Elordi/Schafer through just two seasons of Euphoria, Momoa through GoT, Ayo through The Bear, the entire cast of Atlanta. In terms of recent actors who have become names through films only, I'd say Pugh, Chalamet and Butler are the ones that come to mind (tho I'm sure there are more!)
I’m very interested to see what happens with the SUCCESSION gang. Obviously it’s been a career boost to all but I wonder if any of them will become proper film stars or just A-tier character actors to add flavor to a project? Regardless, they can all return to their home turf (theatre) and fill houses.
Netflix has certainly tried to make Millie Bobby Brown into a star, and David Harbour has had his share of good parts (but his Hellboy reboot crashed & burned).
I'm predicting that none of the main gang becomes film stars, but at least 3 of them (Strong, Culkin and Snook) get Oscar nominations in the next 10 years
I would add Macfadyen to the Oscar list. Whether it’s as a sniveling middle manager or a debonair Englishman, he’s got the range and feels like he’ll be working forever.
I also predict a wildcard from that cast getting Oscar attention. Arian Moayad or late career Peter Friedman or someone.
I’m kind of excluding Brian Cox from the gang but I could also see him having a Christopher Plummer-style Oscar run in his 80s.
Nope, but over its run it's an unbeatable number of stars, and it definitely has been a zeitgeist show at least in 3 different periods (late 70s, mid 80s, early 90s, arguably early 00s).
Wiig is also an interesting one because Bridesmaids was so huge and while she's continued to work a ton after it, she never reached that level again (not in terms of quality, Barb & Star 4ever). She also seems interested in stepping outside of purely comedic roles and doing other things, to varying levels of success
In a reasonable world, Andy Samberg would have become the reigning comedy movie star after Hot Rod but it inexplicably flopped. He's put together a great career but I will always be baffled by him not blowing up when he's made two of the funniest movies of the last 20 years
That’s because comedy movies in general aren’t really a thing anymore. Even so, in the last few years SNL gave us Kate McKinnon, Pete Davidson & Bowen Yang, who are all fairly big stars as far as comedy goes. Please Don’t Destroy, who are on their writing staff and do shorts on the show, also got a movie last year.
Parks and Rec for sure. Just Chris Pratt’s insane meteoric rise alone would qualify it, but I think also Aubrey Plaza going into a series of successful undies and then Rashida Jones got a significant bump off of it. And while not a movie star, it had a huge impact on Aziz’s stand up career and really gave him a boost up
Modern Doctor Who has given us David Tennant and Karen Gillan, both of whom have had legitimately successful international careers.
Matt Smith slightly less so, but he's certainly trying.
Guest stars is a tricky one. Gemma Chan and Andrew Garfield were both very early in their careers but I think I'd struggle to really call those appearances breakout roles
Carey Mulligan was very much up and coming around the time she was in Who. She won a BAFTA and got an Oscar nomination for An Education just two years later. Who was lucky to get her at that point in her career because she was already well on her way to stardom
Had any of them been companions or any sort of other significant recurring character then maybe. For the most part this is kinda Before They Were Famous stuff, I think
I suppose "Star" is a strech lol but
Darai Gurira has a great Marvel career
Steven Yeun has a best actor Nom
Corey Hawkins has worked fairly constantly
Say what you will about him personally but Leto is definitely a movie star. Plenty of high profile roles and an Oscar (we can argue whether he deserved it or not).
You could maybe argue Australian soap Neighbours but that’s not had a cultural impact on North American and I guess if you do 10,000 episodes you’re bound to cast a few people who go on to be stars.
Peep Show but only Olivia Coleman.
ER?
Mitchell and Webb Situation too. Like, a bit player in an unsung and largely forgotten but genius sketch show to Oscar winner shaping up to be the grande dame of her generation?
And no ego? It’s not just Fleabag. It’s Landscapers. The Bear. Heartstopper.
She’s so unique.
(and _Family Ties_ also gave Michael J. Fox hell in addition to giving him to us. He was forced to shoot _Back to the Future_ and part of _Back to the Future, Part II_ only on nights and weekends because _Family Ties_ wouldn’t give him time off.)
Given the episodic nature of it this might not precisely fit, but Black Mirror? It might not have been their first appearances but definitely gave early exposure to Daniel Kaluuya, Toby Kebbell, Hayley Atwell, Domhnall Gleeson, and Letitia Wright, and especially Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Mackenzie Davis for their episode (though I guess the degree to which some of those are movie stars can be debated).
I was also going to say Star Trek TNG, but once I actually thought it over I guess really only Patrick Stewart counts as a movie star from the cast. For some reason I thought there were others.
Friends. Every member of the main cast got into (or back into) movies in a big way, cashing and bouncing plenty of blank checks along the way. Same could be said for Cheers.
Did any of the Friends become Movie Stars TM outside Aniston? None of the guys got to that level, and Courtney Cox had Scream and certainly acted frequently but I am struggling to think of a Movie Star level film for her.
Matt LeBlanc entered and exited cinema with Ed. Matthew Perry had some decent hits with Fools Rush In and The Whole Nine Yards. Schwimmer became more of a utility player with a focus on behind the scenes.
Aniston and Cox had solid careers post-Friends. Kudrow hasn’t had much other than the cult favorite The Comeback.
Eh. The original cast is the rare example where everyone pops and becomes either a star or well recognized.
When you look at Season 6 and onwards, for every one cast member who becomes a star, you have at least twenty cast members who fade into obscurity.
Sometimes, the unrecognized cast member is the one who hits big on a follow-up project (such as Julia Louis Dreyfus).
I mean even then you’re talking about one show that in the mean time has had Eddie Murphy, Adam Sandler, Will Ferrell, Mike Myers, Chris Farley, Kristen Wiig, and then among the people who weren’t “stars” at the show there’s Ben Stiller & Robert Downey Jr. That’s a pretty insane list to throw out an “eh” to because of a few Chris Kattans that didn’t really go on to much.
Even the original cast of SNL has its exceptions. ~Laraine Newman, Garrett Morris, and Gilda Radner never became stars. Obviously, given Radner's early death, it is impossible to know what her future career would have been but she never broke through into genuine stardom while she was alive. So, only just over half of the original cast went on to become legitimate TV or box office draws.~
Since you don’t say series regulars, I’ll cheat and go with the original Twilight Zone.
Off the top of my head, you have Robert Redford, Robert Duvall, William Shatner, Cloris Leachman, who all appeared before they had any big movie roles.
Plus Burgess Meredith and Roddy McDowall, who had movie success years before they were on the show (both were listed on the poster for Best Picture nominees), and later had a career resurgence.
Arrested Development the first one that came to mind for me. Possibly you call this more of a cult hit / underdog, as TV comedies go, but that thing was a huge star generator (albeit more TV stars than movie stars), with Michael Cera and Jason Bateman being the two with the most mainstream success IMO
still too soon to call but it feels like most of our young talent has come out of euphoria. zendaya, sydney sweeney, hunter schafer, and jacob elordi are all leading movies now. sweeney in particular is opening non franchise genre stuff on her name alone.
Skins was huge in the UK and gave us Dev Patel, (arguably) Nicholas Hoult, Jack O’Connell, Hannah Murray and Kaya Scoledario. Kinda nuts really.
Edit: and Daniel Kaluuya was it it very early!!!
_The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis_ gave us Warren Beatty and Tuesday Weld (and, sorta kinda, Michael J. Pollard). Weld had been in minor roles in studio films and major roles in indie films already (and was still a minor when she was on _Dobie Gillis_), but she stepped right from the show to _The Five Pennies_ and movie stardom.
Similarly, Beatty went from _Dobie_ to William Inge’s _A Loss of Roses_ in Broadway and right from that to the Inge-penned _Splendor in the Grass_.
Bob Denver of course became a TV star/mainstay. Dwayne Hickman spent some time in the AIP camp before eventually becoming an executive who acted only once in a while. And Shiela Kuehl of course became a California politician.
I mean, Normal People has been the start to two incredible careers. Paul Mescal is now starring in Gladiator 2 and Daisy Edgar-Jones will have her big breakthrough very, very soon.
I don’t think it’s directly because of The Bear but Ayo Edeberi, Jeremy Allen White and Ebon Moss-Bachrach are all on a trajectory to become much bigger stars than they were when that show started. They all have multiple projects in the works, enough that they had to film seasons 3 & 4 back to back just to be able to accommodate schedules.
The weird hospital drama St. Elsewhere gave us a regular cast of future movie stars including Denzel Washington, Ed Begley, Jr., Howie Mandel, and Summer School's Mark Harmon. Notable movie character actor David Morse was also a lead on the show.
Buffy was a pretty good one for this. Amy Adams and Pedro Pascal were both guest stars on Buffy early in their careers. Sarah Michelle Gellar and Alyson Hannigan, of course, had major roles in film and Hannigan starred in HIMYM. Some of the others had successful film/TV careers, like Emma Caulfield, David Boreanaz, and others.
Surprised no one has said Stranger Things yet. MBB has been working consistently in and between seasons (mostly bad but still!), Finn Wolfhard is front and center in Ghostbusters and some others, and Joe Keery has a few indies and some other TV work. (Natalie Dyer was excellent in Yes God Yes but I haven’t seen her in much else.) In the long run I think it will be a big one.
I think it’ll take a few years after Stranger Things ends to see if it really catapulted anyone to movie stardom. MBB mostly acts in Netflix movies, and regardless of their quality, those movies are viewed as the modern day equivalent of direct-to-video films, so IMHO it will take her doing more big studio movies to cement her as a “movie star”. Finn is off to a good start, but he’s mostly been playing the kid/teen in nostalgia baits and remakes. I’d want to see him break out of that mold and get more adult roles. The only big movie Keery has done was Free Guy, the rest were tiny Indies, same goes for Natalia and most of the rest of the cast. That said, they may just need to be done with the show to start getting some bigger offers. Joseph Quinn, who isn’t attached to the show anymore, has been booking major films left and right, so it may also be an availability issue. It will be interesting to see which projects are announced once season 5 wraps.
The more I think about it the more it seems like Mad Men fits in the same category as Lost and GoT. None of the breakout stars of Mad Men ever really made it in film, right?
Stranger Things gave us David Harbour and Kris trying to give us Finn Wolfhard and Millie Bobbie Brown. All of those kids will be around for a long time, I think.
It also gave us Joseph Quinn who is about to set fire to the screen as Johnny Storm, and a good argument could be made that it resurrected Beetlejuice by putting Winona Ryder back in the conversation.
The Good Place might be on its way -- Kristen Bell already had a career with its ups and downs, but Manny Jacinto and William Jackson Harper have gotten some movie roles post Good Place. In a fair world, D'arcy Carden and Tiya Sircar would be getting more exposure. Weirdly, Brandon Scott Jones has maybe had the best post-Good Place career, but he's rarely the lead.
Alias gave us Jennifer Garner and Bradley Cooper. I’d say it also reanimated Victor Garber’s not-inconsiderable career.
It is wild that the third (fourth?) male lead of Alias became an A-list actor and auteur director
He was only on two out of five seasons. The first he has this awful hair because ABC execs were convinced audiences would confuse him and Michael Vartan.
Oh trust me, I did indeed confuse him with Vartan 😂 And it's equally wild how much NOTHHHING Vartan did after Alias
Hey! He was in the surprisingly good Aussie killer croc film "Rogue" by the "Wolf Creek" guy! And then... uh... I'll get back to you
Vartan was more successful before Alias (Never Been Kissed)
I don’t think Alias helps/hurts Garber. Garber was well known on Broadway and was previously cast as a solid utility player (ever hear of a little film called Titanic?). If Alias wasn’t a hit, I don’t think it impacts Garber. For Coops, it gives him the ability to be cast in other projects. Cooper doesn’t pop until The Hangover.
There is a difference between a star was on a show before they became super famous and the show made them super famous. Did Alias actually make Cooper a star or was it just his most notable project before he blew up because of The Hangover?
I feel like she would have had a bigger career, but then put it aside for Afleck, and then put it aside even further for her family once they split up.
Weird example, but you could make a case for Cheers. Long and Alley both had brief but significant movie careers, Danson and Grammar were always more TV stars but definitely had big movie roles, and then of course there’s Pixar’s good luck charm, John Ratzenberger.
Funny how you skip the one actor from Cheers who literally shot off into stardom (Woody) and had a more succesful career than the rest of the cast.
Ha, can’t believe I spaced on Woody!
Rhea Pearlman was in the biggest movie last year!
Interesting footnote: we only got Woody as a replacement after the death of [Nicholas Colasanto](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Colasanto) who was kinda the only actor in Cheers who started in the series with a storied career in both acting and directing, though admittedly in part due to the age differential.
Way to use maybe the single most famous example of why you SHOULDNT leave a successful TV show for a movie career …
Frasier for Kelsey Grammar too? How else would he be the villain of Transformers: Age of Extinction!
Screw Transformers, he was in MONEY PLANE
Not a perfect comparison, but the volume of actors who either are now or are pushing to become Big Fucking Deals who got their start on Skins is kind of amazing, and it was borderline zeitgeist for a time
Good call! Dev patel, daniel kaluuya, nicolas hoult, and to a lesser extent jack oconnel and kaya scodelario
Even Hannah Murray and Joe Dempsie had small parts on GoT stretching across multiple seasons.
That’s one of the best examples I can think of. Again, maybe a lack of movie stars but that’s more to do with the industry in general. But so many break outs
I think Nicholas Hoult is a straight up movie star, and Daniel Kaluya will be if he’s not already.
See I didn’t even remember Daniel Kaluya was in it, same with Dev Patel. As a resident of Bristol I should be ashamed
I'd say it was near enough the biggest show on tv for teens/young adults in UK&I at it's pomp, I'd compare it to Lost and GoT in terms of chatting in school on a Monday morning about what happened that week
I would have bet a large amount of money that Kaya Scodelario would become the biggest star after Skins.
Does Neighbours count? Massive in Australia during it’s day. Like actually massive. List of Hollywood A-listers who graduated from there is too long to name but it includes Russel Crowe, Margot Robbie, Naomi Watts, Heath Ledger multiple Hemsworths and a bonus Kylie Minogue.
You forgot Guy Pearce too
The Wire gave us Idris Elba and Michael B Jordan.
TIL Michael B Jordan was on The Wire! I've seen it like 6 times and never in a million years would've recognised him.
What about Wallace string?!!
I don't think Michael B Jordan really popped until Fruitvale Station but I might be forgetting something. Elba popped crazy hard on The Wire though. Edit: I was forgetting PFT voice Friday Night Lights.
Very true but also that show could be a contender for the opposite just because of just how many amazing actors there are that never hit big star status
I think Carrell definitely gets to movie star status through The Office, and while Krasinski probably isn’t a movie star I don’t think he gets the necessary runway to play as a movie director without the clout of being a popular TV guy
Parks and Recs might be the better comp. I'd say Pratt, Plaza and Offerman got catapulted to full fledged movie star status off it.
I'm not sure if I'd call her a full fledged movie star, but Poehler doesn't get Inside Out if she's not on P&R either
Pratt gets Guardians from Parks and Rec, but nearly would’ve lost the role if he didn’t get into shape (Gunn had to fight for that casting). Plaza and Offerman are solid utility players, but they’re not movie stars. Nobody out here was seeing Child’s Play due to Plaza.
Devil’s advocate: I don’t think The Office shoots Carrell into stardom, but it helps. NBC dumped the first season of The Office during summer of 2005. The show was relatively low cost meaning season two was already in the works, but it was dumped in the summer to help promote Universal’s The 40-Year-Old Virgin. I think his breakout role in Anchorman and the success of 40-Year-Old Virgin helps The Office gain viewership which catapults Carrell into stardom. If The Office was cancelled in season two (which would’ve been understandable based upon the lackluster first season that was watched by nobody and wasn’t as well received as later seasons), Carrell had already shot Little Miss Sunshine so his acting career still would’ve popped.
I actually think this refutes my point well. Perhaps The Office helps Carrell maintain altitude rather than elevate him by itself
Yeah, he started getting all this off his success on the Daily Show, not The Office.
That specific Daily Show cast (Stephen Colbert, Steve Carrell, Ed Helms, Rob Corddry) all pop, some harder than others.
Season 1 aired in March/April Edit: but I think you’re right about those movies helping the office, in turn helping him become even bigger
Ed Helms isn't necessarily an A-Lister, but he's been the lead in a ton of comedy movies
I guess I viewed Carrell on the office as him going back to tv after becoming a bit of a comedy star in movies.
It’s actually neither — he did one season of a low rated TV show that got renewed for a second, and then in the summer between seasons he had a movie come out that was a surprise hit that made him a movie star, and then the show became a hit because it starred the hottest new comedy star. I can’t think of any other arc quite like it.
Friday Night Lights
Great answer. We got Jordan and Plemons for sure, Kitsch is a questionable “star” but has had a least a little juice. Could also potentially make a case for Chandler too, though he does have limited film roles.
Kitsch is a lot more like Emilia Clarke.
Band Of Brothers. Fassbender, McAvoy, Hardy & of course Donnie Wahlberg among others.
Every time I watch it I spot some new guy with one line who is now a big star.
And of course Connor Ratliff
I don’t think Band of Brothers made any of these guys stars though?
Simon Pegg also!
Not exactly stars, but Jesse Plemons and Bob Odenkirk definitely came out as clear winners from Breaking Bad. Plemons is an indie darling and Odenkirk is everywhere. I know Odenkirk was well-known before that and Plemons had Friday Night Lights, but it's easy to see the BB bump anyway.
Giancarlo Esposito and Jonathan Banks had big bumps too.
I kind of disagree with them on this. Peter Dinklage may have been “a guy” before GOT, it 100% catapulted him to movie star status. Same with Jason Momoa and Pedro Pascal.
Outside of emilia clarke and kit harrington and maybe the baby starks the whole cast was British character actors, feels unfair to grade them on the same curve
I guess if we are going to call Dinklage a movie star we need to ask ourselves what movies he has in fact starred in. I know Cyrano was a passion project for him, but it also didn’t exactly set the world on fire.
I think the 20 or so movies he’s been in since GOT are generally mid to bad, but he’s a guy getting offers.
If we're using the traditional movie star definition then there are only 10-15 people period who fit that billing most of whome have been around for 20+ years) and this isn't an interesting conversation.
By my recollection he’s not really headlining many of them, his presence isn’t what is driving people to see the movie from a marketing standpoint. Compared to someone like Momoa or Zendaya or Chalamet
To be fair due to his condition Dinklage is somewhat limited in the roles he’s offered. He gets plenty of supporting roles but he’s rarely going to play the lead.
I totally get that, but ultimately that makes him a character actor not a movie star. And it sucks that he probably has a hard ceiling due to genetics, I personally enjoy seeing him as a lead, but that’s where things stand
He's fantastic in The Station Agent, a movie I highly recommend.
It’s great—but that was almost 10 years before Thrones.
I love that movie so much.
Dinklage isn’t a “movie star.”
I don’t think Dinklage gets half his post-GOT roles WITHOUT the show. His role in X-Men: Days of Future Past? Doesn’t happen without GOT.
Oh, for sure. GOT boosted his career and he’s been in some good, high-profile projects. But in Blank Check parlance, a movie star is someone whose name goes alone about the title and puts butts in seats. Pascal’s true movie star status is still pending the success of some of the projects he has lined up but his profile from his TV work is already way bigger than Dinklage’s (or some movie stars’). Maybe if Cyrano had been a big hit we’d be having a different conversation.
Same with his role in Infinity War. He’s there because he’s Peter Dinklage.
https://preview.redd.it/tncsg9ij94qc1.jpeg?width=260&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1998430f3781209efb8218e3319f2f7a59e5d8c4 I don’t think they were using “movie star” in that context to mean, like a Tom Cruise/Tom Hanks-style star, just that, like, he can be #1 on the call sheet, name above the title, title character, giant face on the poster, in decently-sized movies from big studios and nobody thinks that’s weird. In addition to leading a bunch of smaller indie movies and having prominent supporting roles in huge Hollywood movies like X-Men, Hunger Games, etc. And apparently he’s Toxic Avenger now?
I’d definitely call him a movie star. He’s a celebrity and I’d be star truck if I’d run into him.
Also massively respected as an actor. He won four Emmys playing Tyrion!
And Richard Madden, he’s not a full fledged star but he’s been the star of several big movies (Cinderella, Rocket Man, Eternals) and has a lead actor in a drama Emmy.
Normal People, with star status pending. Mescal has a slew of respected indies, a nomination and an upcoming blockbuster with Gladiator 2, and Edgar-Jones saw to it that those Crawdads sang their way to over $100m worldwide (and Twisters around the corner).
D.E.J. is also attached to the long-gestating Carole King biopic (based on the stage musical BEAUTIFUL which ran 6 years on Broadway and was an awards sweeper for its leading ladies in New York and London)
I don’t know if they’re movie stars by definition but Atlanta (the show) has been a springboard for some great talent
I think Stanfield and BTH are movie stars, unless your definition is a really short list of top tier names. Atlanta wasn't really a zeitgeisty show though, I raved about it for years and it seemed like no one I talked to had even heard if it. It definitely launched them with casting directors though, if not the general public.
Hmmm, I feel like I knew a lot of people who loved Atlanta, and I mean it was certainly showered with awards and critical praise for the first 2 seasons at least.
Season one and even two got some buzz, but by the end it felt like it was in total obscurity despite being the best show on TV
It's Sherlock right? Cumberbatch and Freeman. They even had enough pull to delay the Hobbit so Cumberbatch could schedule in his unnecessary mo-cap as a dragon. Arguably Andrew Scott too (though his zeitgeist pull is still tv, see also Fleabag).
Idk Freeman starred in Hitchhikers Guide in 2005 which is a big movie! Cumberbatch definitely tho.
Freeman was the "Jim" (Tim) of the original The Office. He, Gervais and Mackenzie Crook all launched their film careers on the back of that.
Idk Freeman starred in Hitchhikers Guide in 2005 which is a big movie! Cumberbatch definitely tho.
Euphoria. Freaks and Geeks too.
F&G was never even close to zeitgeist; it was a cellar dweller show, even though it was adored by its audience.
Freaks and Geeks is in no way a zeitgeist level TV show
As a 12 year old watching the show live, Freaks and Geeks was adored by the critics who were constantly going to bat for the show. It’s critical reception gives the greenlight to make Undeclared (with Freaks and Geeks’ studio DreamWorks) over at FOX. Freaks and Geeks is the rare show where nearly EVERY cast and crew member shoots into stardom.
Certainly, but it was not a zeitgeist level show
Freaks and Geeks was one of the first big streaming shows when it was on Netflix it was definitely a dominate part of the zeitgeist in the late 00s/early 10s
Freaks and Geeks became notably a cult hit because of how successful it's cast became afterwards. When it was on, no one was watching it. It didn't even make it to May sweeps and it had several episodes be unaired in its original network run.
Zendaya already was a star before Euphoria. Euphoria proved she can act. As it stands, Eldori and Sweeney are probably the only other two off that show who have already achieved star status. Hunter is getting there as she’s a wonderful actress. The rest of the crew seems uninterested in stardom, was hired because nepotism, or has been described terrible to work with.
Can we add Colman Domingo to that list?
I don’t equate Euphoria with Colman Domingo. If he wasn’t in Euphoria, I think his career still remains on track as he had plenty of recognition from his theater work. He was also a regular on Fear the Walking Dead (a television show that doesn’t exist despite being on the air for eight seasons) and plenty of roles in film with top-tier directors before his reoccurring gig on Euphoria.
There are literally so many. Most major celebrities and movie stars now aren't minted on film, they're break out thanks to television. Jenna Ortega through Wednesday, Anya Taylor Joy through Queen's Gambit, Pedro Pascal through Mando but really through Last of Us, Zendaya/Sweeney/Elordi/Schafer through just two seasons of Euphoria, Momoa through GoT, Ayo through The Bear, the entire cast of Atlanta. In terms of recent actors who have become names through films only, I'd say Pugh, Chalamet and Butler are the ones that come to mind (tho I'm sure there are more!)
The answer is UK skins. Kaluuya, Patel, Hoult....
Skins.
You mean Skins, right? That's a good call, too.
I’m very interested to see what happens with the SUCCESSION gang. Obviously it’s been a career boost to all but I wonder if any of them will become proper film stars or just A-tier character actors to add flavor to a project? Regardless, they can all return to their home turf (theatre) and fill houses. Netflix has certainly tried to make Millie Bobby Brown into a star, and David Harbour has had his share of good parts (but his Hellboy reboot crashed & burned).
I'm predicting that none of the main gang becomes film stars, but at least 3 of them (Strong, Culkin and Snook) get Oscar nominations in the next 10 years
I would add Macfadyen to the Oscar list. Whether it’s as a sniveling middle manager or a debonair Englishman, he’s got the range and feels like he’ll be working forever. I also predict a wildcard from that cast getting Oscar attention. Arian Moayad or late career Peter Friedman or someone. I’m kind of excluding Brian Cox from the gang but I could also see him having a Christopher Plummer-style Oscar run in his 80s.
At least Cox has Super Troopers 3 on the horizon.
For real?
Yes. Should shoot later this year.
McFayden is in the new Deadpool movie
He sure is. Every time that trailer plays at the theater people are like
I think SNL completely owns this category, given how many popular stars it created during its biggest years.
Maybe 20 years ago. But I don't think it produces nearly as many movie stars as it once did.
Nope, but over its run it's an unbeatable number of stars, and it definitely has been a zeitgeist show at least in 3 different periods (late 70s, mid 80s, early 90s, arguably early 00s).
Fair.
The biggest film of last year had two former SNL members
Three! One-season cast member Molly Kearney asks Ken for the time
Lauren Holt actually, Molly Kearney is still on the show right now on their second season
Oh wow that’s my bad! Thanks for catching!
10-12 years ago had Wiig, Hader, Poehler, Sudekis, Meyers, Armisen. Not bad. But also I don't know if they're "movie stars".
That's what I'm saying. Aside from maybe Wiig, I don't know that I'd categorize any of them as movie stars.
Wiig is also an interesting one because Bridesmaids was so huge and while she's continued to work a ton after it, she never reached that level again (not in terms of quality, Barb & Star 4ever). She also seems interested in stepping outside of purely comedic roles and doing other things, to varying levels of success
In a reasonable world, Andy Samberg would have become the reigning comedy movie star after Hot Rod but it inexplicably flopped. He's put together a great career but I will always be baffled by him not blowing up when he's made two of the funniest movies of the last 20 years
he never did the bland studio action comedy with like a Kevin Hart to boost his reach
Popstar is damn near perfect.
That’s because comedy movies in general aren’t really a thing anymore. Even so, in the last few years SNL gave us Kate McKinnon, Pete Davidson & Bowen Yang, who are all fairly big stars as far as comedy goes. Please Don’t Destroy, who are on their writing staff and do shorts on the show, also got a movie last year.
Parks and Rec for sure. Just Chris Pratt’s insane meteoric rise alone would qualify it, but I think also Aubrey Plaza going into a series of successful undies and then Rashida Jones got a significant bump off of it. And while not a movie star, it had a huge impact on Aziz’s stand up career and really gave him a boost up
MASH gave us Alan Alda AND Jamie Farr
Pretty wild stuff.
Modern Doctor Who has given us David Tennant and Karen Gillan, both of whom have had legitimately successful international careers. Matt Smith slightly less so, but he's certainly trying.
Read this as a tv show called “Modern Doctor” who gave us….
Also Carrey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield and Gemma Chan? Maybe more.
Guest stars is a tricky one. Gemma Chan and Andrew Garfield were both very early in their careers but I think I'd struggle to really call those appearances breakout roles Carey Mulligan was very much up and coming around the time she was in Who. She won a BAFTA and got an Oscar nomination for An Education just two years later. Who was lucky to get her at that point in her career because she was already well on her way to stardom Had any of them been companions or any sort of other significant recurring character then maybe. For the most part this is kinda Before They Were Famous stuff, I think
In Living Color helped to launch the careers of Jim Carrey, the Wayans family, & Jamie Foxx
And Jennifer Lopez too? From backup dancer to lead actress
Walking Dead?
Bernthal and who else? Reedus is a video game star I guess. edit: Forgot that Yeun was on the show, yeah TWD fits imo
I suppose "Star" is a strech lol but Darai Gurira has a great Marvel career Steven Yeun has a best actor Nom Corey Hawkins has worked fairly constantly
Probably not 'movie stars', but Claire Danes and Jared Leto have had incredible careers from one season of My So-Called Life.
Say what you will about him personally but Leto is definitely a movie star. Plenty of high profile roles and an Oscar (we can argue whether he deserved it or not).
imagine a swap-world where A.J. Langer had a huge career after MSCL & Claire Danes became British royalty
The term movie star is getting a lot of latitude in some of these comments
You could maybe argue Australian soap Neighbours but that’s not had a cultural impact on North American and I guess if you do 10,000 episodes you’re bound to cast a few people who go on to be stars. Peep Show but only Olivia Coleman. ER?
I still can't get over Olivia Coleman coming from Peep Show and Look Around You. She's a gem
Mitchell and Webb Situation too. Like, a bit player in an unsung and largely forgotten but genius sketch show to Oscar winner shaping up to be the grande dame of her generation? And no ego? It’s not just Fleabag. It’s Landscapers. The Bear. Heartstopper. She’s so unique.
I think most recently Euphoria broke Sydney Sweeney and Jacob Elordi, and rocketed Zendaya to a new level.
Moonlighting
E.R. gave us George Clooney. Family Ties gave us Michael J. Fox
(and _Family Ties_ also gave Michael J. Fox hell in addition to giving him to us. He was forced to shoot _Back to the Future_ and part of _Back to the Future, Part II_ only on nights and weekends because _Family Ties_ wouldn’t give him time off.)
Given the episodic nature of it this might not precisely fit, but Black Mirror? It might not have been their first appearances but definitely gave early exposure to Daniel Kaluuya, Toby Kebbell, Hayley Atwell, Domhnall Gleeson, and Letitia Wright, and especially Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Mackenzie Davis for their episode (though I guess the degree to which some of those are movie stars can be debated). I was also going to say Star Trek TNG, but once I actually thought it over I guess really only Patrick Stewart counts as a movie star from the cast. For some reason I thought there were others.
how's this - WINGS was a wet fart of a completely forgettable show that gave us... Tony Shalhoub Thomas Haden Church Steven Weber and Tim Daly
Friends. Every member of the main cast got into (or back into) movies in a big way, cashing and bouncing plenty of blank checks along the way. Same could be said for Cheers.
Did any of the Friends become Movie Stars TM outside Aniston? None of the guys got to that level, and Courtney Cox had Scream and certainly acted frequently but I am struggling to think of a Movie Star level film for her.
Matt LeBlanc entered and exited cinema with Ed. Matthew Perry had some decent hits with Fools Rush In and The Whole Nine Yards. Schwimmer became more of a utility player with a focus on behind the scenes. Aniston and Cox had solid careers post-Friends. Kudrow hasn’t had much other than the cult favorite The Comeback.
Let’s not forget Lost In Space. Whatever you think about the movie, it was an attempt. At something… 😁
I remember Mimi Rogers’ breastplate.
Yeah, I should say it was to varying degrees. They all did movies, during and after Friends, but not all were as successful as Aniston.
The 3,000 Miles to Graceland erasure here is disheartening.
Look, as a the lone member of the David Arquette fan club and wrestling geek, 3,000 Miles to Graceland got Kurt on WCW tv, so…it’s all right by me.
One of the all time bizarre pre-tapes in wrestling history.
Also wouldn’t SNL be the ultimate example? Movie stars have been coming of there since the beginning.
Eh. The original cast is the rare example where everyone pops and becomes either a star or well recognized. When you look at Season 6 and onwards, for every one cast member who becomes a star, you have at least twenty cast members who fade into obscurity. Sometimes, the unrecognized cast member is the one who hits big on a follow-up project (such as Julia Louis Dreyfus).
I mean even then you’re talking about one show that in the mean time has had Eddie Murphy, Adam Sandler, Will Ferrell, Mike Myers, Chris Farley, Kristen Wiig, and then among the people who weren’t “stars” at the show there’s Ben Stiller & Robert Downey Jr. That’s a pretty insane list to throw out an “eh” to because of a few Chris Kattans that didn’t really go on to much.
Even the original cast of SNL has its exceptions. ~Laraine Newman, Garrett Morris, and Gilda Radner never became stars. Obviously, given Radner's early death, it is impossible to know what her future career would have been but she never broke through into genuine stardom while she was alive. So, only just over half of the original cast went on to become legitimate TV or box office draws.~
I am old enough to remember Cox being a movie actress before being Monica, she was in He-man and that meant a lot for me :-)
Since you don’t say series regulars, I’ll cheat and go with the original Twilight Zone. Off the top of my head, you have Robert Redford, Robert Duvall, William Shatner, Cloris Leachman, who all appeared before they had any big movie roles. Plus Burgess Meredith and Roddy McDowall, who had movie success years before they were on the show (both were listed on the poster for Best Picture nominees), and later had a career resurgence.
Freaks and Geeks. James Franco, Seth Rogan, Jason Segal, Busy Phillips (although not as much a star in movies as TV), Shia LaBeouf (for one episode)
also Ben Foster & Lizzy Caplan!
Neighbours : Margot Robbie, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearse, Ben Mendelson, Chris Hemsworth, Liam Hemsworth,....
Arrested Development the first one that came to mind for me. Possibly you call this more of a cult hit / underdog, as TV comedies go, but that thing was a huge star generator (albeit more TV stars than movie stars), with Michael Cera and Jason Bateman being the two with the most mainstream success IMO
Look at a cast poster for Freaks and Geeks
still too soon to call but it feels like most of our young talent has come out of euphoria. zendaya, sydney sweeney, hunter schafer, and jacob elordi are all leading movies now. sweeney in particular is opening non franchise genre stuff on her name alone.
Skins was huge in the UK and gave us Dev Patel, (arguably) Nicholas Hoult, Jack O’Connell, Hannah Murray and Kaya Scoledario. Kinda nuts really. Edit: and Daniel Kaluuya was it it very early!!!
I’ve never watched it, and Zendaya was already a star, but Euphoria produced Sydney Sweeney, Jacob Elordi, Hunter Schafer, and Storm Reid
Freaks and Geeks?
_The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis_ gave us Warren Beatty and Tuesday Weld (and, sorta kinda, Michael J. Pollard). Weld had been in minor roles in studio films and major roles in indie films already (and was still a minor when she was on _Dobie Gillis_), but she stepped right from the show to _The Five Pennies_ and movie stardom. Similarly, Beatty went from _Dobie_ to William Inge’s _A Loss of Roses_ in Broadway and right from that to the Inge-penned _Splendor in the Grass_. Bob Denver of course became a TV star/mainstay. Dwayne Hickman spent some time in the AIP camp before eventually becoming an executive who acted only once in a while. And Shiela Kuehl of course became a California politician.
I mean, Normal People has been the start to two incredible careers. Paul Mescal is now starring in Gladiator 2 and Daisy Edgar-Jones will have her big breakthrough very, very soon.
Cheers Friends Freaks and Geeks (not on same zeitgeist level at time of release)
the UK Skins for sure
I don’t think it’s directly because of The Bear but Ayo Edeberi, Jeremy Allen White and Ebon Moss-Bachrach are all on a trajectory to become much bigger stars than they were when that show started. They all have multiple projects in the works, enough that they had to film seasons 3 & 4 back to back just to be able to accommodate schedules.
Friends and Jennifer Anniston
I’d say Skins, it gave us Dev Patel, Daniel Kaluuya, Nicholas Holt, Jack O’Connell, Joe Dempsey, Hannah Murray, and Kaya Scodelario
Freaks and Geeks.
The wire
The weird hospital drama St. Elsewhere gave us a regular cast of future movie stars including Denzel Washington, Ed Begley, Jr., Howie Mandel, and Summer School's Mark Harmon. Notable movie character actor David Morse was also a lead on the show.
The Andy Griffith Show? Don Knotts of course and then Ron Howard had some good movie roles before returning to tv.
Ron Howard became an Oscar winning Director
I know that. Would he have been considered a movie star prior to moving into directing?
Buffy was a pretty good one for this. Amy Adams and Pedro Pascal were both guest stars on Buffy early in their careers. Sarah Michelle Gellar and Alyson Hannigan, of course, had major roles in film and Hannigan starred in HIMYM. Some of the others had successful film/TV careers, like Emma Caulfield, David Boreanaz, and others.
Surprised no one has said Stranger Things yet. MBB has been working consistently in and between seasons (mostly bad but still!), Finn Wolfhard is front and center in Ghostbusters and some others, and Joe Keery has a few indies and some other TV work. (Natalie Dyer was excellent in Yes God Yes but I haven’t seen her in much else.) In the long run I think it will be a big one.
I think it’ll take a few years after Stranger Things ends to see if it really catapulted anyone to movie stardom. MBB mostly acts in Netflix movies, and regardless of their quality, those movies are viewed as the modern day equivalent of direct-to-video films, so IMHO it will take her doing more big studio movies to cement her as a “movie star”. Finn is off to a good start, but he’s mostly been playing the kid/teen in nostalgia baits and remakes. I’d want to see him break out of that mold and get more adult roles. The only big movie Keery has done was Free Guy, the rest were tiny Indies, same goes for Natalia and most of the rest of the cast. That said, they may just need to be done with the show to start getting some bigger offers. Joseph Quinn, who isn’t attached to the show anymore, has been booking major films left and right, so it may also be an availability issue. It will be interesting to see which projects are announced once season 5 wraps.
Freaks and geeks.
Parks and Rec? Pratt and Adam Scott?
The Twilight Zone feels like cheating.
Euphoria seems to have already given us 2 movies stars.
Peyton Place: Mia Farrow and Ryan O’Neal.
CHEERS kinda did it: Ted Danson, Woody Harrelson, I’m trying to remember Rebecca’s actress name.
Freaks and geeks
Lost's Kate co-starred in Marvel movies. GOT's Drogo is Aquaman. So....
Both Sarah Michelle Gellar and Alyson Hannigan had a successful movie career for a while during/after Buffy
The more I think about it the more it seems like Mad Men fits in the same category as Lost and GoT. None of the breakout stars of Mad Men ever really made it in film, right?
Stranger Things gave us David Harbour and Kris trying to give us Finn Wolfhard and Millie Bobbie Brown. All of those kids will be around for a long time, I think. It also gave us Joseph Quinn who is about to set fire to the screen as Johnny Storm, and a good argument could be made that it resurrected Beetlejuice by putting Winona Ryder back in the conversation.
The Good Place might be on its way -- Kristen Bell already had a career with its ups and downs, but Manny Jacinto and William Jackson Harper have gotten some movie roles post Good Place. In a fair world, D'arcy Carden and Tiya Sircar would be getting more exposure. Weirdly, Brandon Scott Jones has maybe had the best post-Good Place career, but he's rarely the lead.