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Why More 'Star Wars' Actors Don't Become Stars
HughPickens.com writes: When you become an actor, landing a role in a movie as big as Star Wars may seem like a dream come true. But Tatiana Siegel and Borys Kit report at The Hollywood Reporter that six movies in, the Star Wars franchise has only spawned one megastar: Harrison Ford, unusual for a series of this magnitude. Neither Ewan McGregor nor Liam Neeson was helped by the franchise and the list of acting careers that never took off is even longer, from original stars Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher to Jake Lloyd (young Anakin Skywalker) and most notably Hayden Christensen, whose star was on the rise when he nabbed 2002's Attack of the Clones. Even Natalie Portman, who already had a hot career before Episodes I-III, admitted she struggled after the exposure. "Everyone thought I was a horrible actress," says Portman. "I was in the biggest-grossing movie of the decade, and no director wanted to work with me."
So what's the problem? "When you sign up for this, you're signing your life away, and you're keeping yourself from any other franchises out there," says an agent whose client is one of the stars of Episode VII. "They will not let you be in another franchise. They're going to be cranking out a new movie every year. These actors never get to read the script before signing on. They don't even know which [subsequent] one they are in. And then they become known for that role, and it's hard to see them in [another] kind of movie." Still, agents keep pursuing roles in the upcoming films even though newcomers can only command a meager $65,000 to $125,000 for Episode VII. "It secures all involved a place in film history," says agent Sarah Fargo, "and guarantees a huge global audience, enhancing an actor's marketability."
So what's the problem? "When you sign up for this, you're signing your life away, and you're keeping yourself from any other franchises out there," says an agent whose client is one of the stars of Episode VII. "They will not let you be in another franchise. They're going to be cranking out a new movie every year. These actors never get to read the script before signing on. They don't even know which [subsequent] one they are in. And then they become known for that role, and it's hard to see them in [another] kind of movie." Still, agents keep pursuing roles in the upcoming films even though newcomers can only command a meager $65,000 to $125,000 for Episode VII. "It secures all involved a place in film history," says agent Sarah Fargo, "and guarantees a huge global audience, enhancing an actor's marketability."
It's true that George Lucas was forced to pay a fine over this, but basically your post is nonsense. To quote Wikipedia, that infallible source of wisdom:
Many major American motion pictures have done away with opening credits, with many films, such as Van Helsing in 2004 and Batman Begins in 2005, not even displaying the film title until the closing credits begin. Similarly, Welles's Touch of Evil originally waited until the end to display the title as well as the credits; however, Universal Studios took the film out of his hands, and his vision was not restored until 1998. Had Universal not wrangled Touch of Evil away from Orson Welles, it might very well have been the first film to follow this practice.
George Lucas is credited with popularizing this with his Star Wars films which display only the film's title at the start.[1] His decision to omit opening credits in his films Star Wars (1977) and The Empire Strikes Back (1980) led him to resign from the Directors Guild of America after being fined $250,000 for not crediting the director during the opening title sequence.[2] However, Hollywood had been releasing films without opening credits for many years before Lucas came along, most notably Citizen Kane, West Side Story, 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Godfather.
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Mark Hamil has had a renowned career as a voice actor. Among other roles, his work as the voice of the Joker in the DCAU in the 90's has received universal praise over the years.
True enough. Famously, "I love you"-"I know" was ad-libbed by Ford. There was also an occasion where Ford said to Lucas, "George, you can type this shit but you sure can't say it!"
Agreed. Crappy movies. I personally think 5 and 6 weren't as good as 4 (and I seriously hate giving them those numbers because the first one was never intended to be episode 4 at the start).
Harrison Ford basically got lucky be being put into Raiders not long after. Carrie Fisher had some personal issues that derailed things for awhile. Mark Hamill was ok, but honestly he wasn't all that great an actor in Star Wars. James Earl Jones already had a decent name and Star Wars didn't hurt it any. Alec Guinness was already big before this movie, at least in the UK.
A big snag is that the Star Wars movies aren't great for showcasing talent. Too many characters, everone's basically part of an ensemble and can't stand out from the crowd, it's action oriented rather than oriented towards good dialogue or situations that might highlight good acting. Raiders did so much more for Harrison Ford because he was clearly the star and got all the good lines.
Alec Guinness was already big before this movie, at least in the UK.
Seriously? Lawrence of Arabia? The Bridge on the River Kwai? Doctor Zivago? Great Expectations? Our man in Havana? I think Sir Alec was big all over the place, even before Star Wars. He just offered to help, because he was their only hope.
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Natalie Portman and (by most accounts) Hayden Christenson are actually good actors, but you wouldn't know it from the Star Wars prequels. When you have direction that lousy and a script/dialog that lousy, even the most talented actor is going to look bad. According to TFS, Portman even complained that after the Prequels, everyone thought she was a bad actress.
You can't judge an actor by a single movie. Cruise really is a good actor, that's one reason he's had such a long career. Too bad he's also badshit insane with that Scientology crap.
He gave the principal actors 1% of the first movies or a very profitable continuing income source. Takes away some of the motivation to work. https://uk.yahoo.com/movies/ho...