Brendan Fraser will be in two big mother movies this year, Journey to the Center of the Earth (opening Friday) and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. He belongs to a curious list of actors in Hollywood who keep showing up in big movies, despite the fact that they’ve never really made good on the promise of becoming good actors.
It goes like this: A young actor, in his/her first or second movie, shows so much promise they’re touted as The Next [insert famous actor name]. “Despite being only 19 years old, Brendan Fraser has exploded on the scene in School Ties blah, blah…” Then, in spite of of a string of movies like Blast From the Past, every single summer these actors show up in another overly hyped movie.
Below are five top call actors that inexplicably keep starring in big movies. In making this list I noticed a couple hallmarks to spot actors who fit the criteria. One, if they weren’t reading lines when we see them onscreen, you get the sense they’d sound dumb. Also, think about roles they’re famous for, then switch out–say–Ben Affleck as oil-driller-turned-astronaut in Armageddon with Brendan Fraser. Would the movie have really changed? At all?
Ben Affleck - I think there’s a lot of suspicion around how much he actually contributed to the Oscar winning screenplay of Good Will Hunting. Nonetheless, he’s got the Oscar and we’ll be seeing him play the All-American guy who can cry beer again in the star riddled, He’s Just Not That Into You.
Josh Hartnett - Here’s a common occurrence: A good looking guy is cast in a movie like The Virgin Suicides to play an insensitive, slightly dopey high school heart throb. Then, when said actor delivers so well in that role, people apparently think he’s acting.
Julia Stiles - I just don’t even understand how this one happened. In high school, she’d be the new girl everyone wants to hang out with until you actually hang out with her. With Ethan Hawke’s Hamlet and later O, there was a sort of “I can do Shakespeare” card trick that apparently still pays off. She’ll soon play Esther Greenwood in the adaptation of Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar (the equivalent of Josh Hartnett playing Holden Caulfield in Catcher in the Rye).
Ryan Phillipe - He got two shots to redeem himself with Gosford Park and Crash (along with runner up for this list, Matt Dillon), Ryan is best cast as “their father” to Reese Witherspoon’s kids.
Jon Voight - In case you’re thinking Brendan Fraser is the father of the inexplicably famous actor list, I present Jon Voight. For all the film-o-philes yelling, “Not Joe Buck! He was nominated for Midnight Cowboy!” I refer you back to the explanation in the first paragraph of this post, and also remind you that Marisa Tomei has an Oscar. I also offer the above clip that’s been on this blog before for your viewing pleasure.
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