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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."
Not sure abou the origional 3.
The second triogy was weak at best.
The material gave the actors little to work with. There performances like the movies are forgettable.
The animated series has more drama and passion.
Lucas isn't writing the screenplay anymore. You're all safe.
"Anakin, make love to me like you did by the lake on planet Wumpumpsefukit!" (or whatever the hell the actual line from Episode 2 was)
With lines like that, no wonder a world-class actress like Natalie Portman ended up looking like a wooden talentless hack. But actually the only talentless hack here was Lucas.
Well ok that's a bit harsh. Lucas has talent but not when it comes to writing dialogue that doesn't completely suck ass.
Well I guess its a contradiction from a certain point of view.
I gotta disagree with you on Hamill. Every person I personally know who tried acting got a comercial or a traveling stage show or something a few times but ended up quitting after 5 years or less and now has a different job.
Mark Hamill did a lot better than just sign autographs. He had a good number of small roles in the 80s and 90s (check imdb) and most actors would kill to have a bit part on a few shows. He is also a pretty successful voice actor.
His career is in the top 1% of people who try to be actors. Harrison Ford's career is in the top 0.00001%. That's the difference, in my opinion.
Seriously, hot grits aside, her body of work peaked when she was 13 in Leon. She and Scarlett Johannsen (and Mila Kunis, too, for that matter), are simply part of the long Hollywood tradition of elevating talent-deficient but attractive starlets to superstar status before unceremoniously dumping them in favor of the next generation of bimbos.
Now that this group is getting well into its thirties, I expect we will be seeing less and less of them, as the Megan Foxes and Jennifer Lawrences of the world take their turn in the spotlight. But hey, I guess not every female star can be a Meryl Streep or a Helen Mirren.
One could say that Ewan McGregor and Liam Neeson have done ok since then. Whatever one might think of Natalie Portman's acting chops [1] she has a fairly impressive body of work. Mark Hamill has been extremely busy since Star Wars, albeit often voicework. Carrie pretty much destroyed her career with drugs and alcohol, but managed to come back. As far as Hayden and Jake, enh. I think they both struggled as actors, so no surprise there.
[1] I submit that a lot of the woodenness in the prequels was directly linked to Lucas as a director, and not necessarily reflective of the actors themselves. A good director can get amazing performances out of a poor actor (Stanley Kubrick directing Ryan O'Neal in Barry Lyndon) and a poor director can get a leaden performance out of any actor. (Lucas directing pretty much anyone in any star wars film.) Portman was terrible in all the Star Wars films, but so was pretty much everyone else.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
What's the alternative to being Mark Hamill?
Statistically speaking it's being the guy who drives the tractor in scene 13. Seriously.
My sister is a fairly serious actress in the theatre. She's good enough that she had sufficient paid work to get her union card in NYC. She's considered moving to LA, because most of her acquaintances in the craft in LA actually act as their primary gig; but they don't actually get to do the shit she considers acting (ie: develop characters). They are extras, and on a really good day they get a line and become a glorified extra. They have the talent to be better then most movie stars, but that's really common in LA. To get the good roles you need somebody whose important in the business to tell all his other important buddies you aren't slightly-above-replacement-level-talent, you;re an amazing actor who just needs a good break.
So if you have a photogenic, somewhat talented (but not great), client with few of the connections that would allow him to grab a really great role; you damn well get him to take six figures to act in Star Wars. He's likely to not have a career after that unless he's got a great contact in the business whose willing to vouch for him to directors, but he wasn't likely to get any roles at all without that contact anyway.
Carrie was a well known crack whore, obviously she didn't get much work, to busy getting high. Natalie was mostly just there for the tits, but played pissed off pretty well, doesn't matter, child actors have to skip their 20's anyways. Hamil played the moody mental misfit quite well just like himself.
Ford and the droids and the minor support cast were the only ones getting anything actually done in the movies. Everyone else either got waxed by the script or waxed themselves out of any future. Darth don't count because a facemask isn't something you can see and hire later. Lucas is more concerned with the story than with individual performance, or backing that story with strong performance.
So yeah, 3po r2 and Han won out.
They have the talent to be better then most movie stars, but that's really common in LA.
I don't believe it. I believe they think they are more talented than movie stars, but that thinking is common in LA. It's the actor version of the Dunning–Kruger effect.
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
Another nugget is that many big-name stars (say, Tom Cruise) are ditzes extraordinaire with very little talent.
The hell he's not talented. I actuallt realised this watching the credits of "tropic thunder" and saw his name and it took me a while to figure out who it was. If an actor can hide his presence when he's right in front of you (it was not a tiny role), then they have talent. He also has excellent comic timing.
Don't confuse "bad films", "roles I don't like" and "IRL personality I don't like (seriously he's batshit)" with "bad actor".
SJW n. One who posts facts.
Actors only appear as good as the writers write them,
Explain "the Patrick Stewart show" er, I mean ST:TNG. There was some pretty ropey writing in there at times. I mean really pretty ropey indeed. Patrick Stewart was much, much more capable in carrying even terribly writing than any of his co-stars.
He crtainly acted far better than the writing in some episodes, but nonetheless despite the writing he was still able to carry the role.
SJW n. One who posts facts.
A talented actor doesn't guarantee a movie will be good. On the other hand a bad or mediocre movie doesn't mean the actors are bad. For instance, on seemed to realise that Jean Claude van-Damme could act until he did JCVD. Evidence says he can act, even if he only ever got case in poe-faced bet-em-up roles.
SJW n. One who posts facts.
I find it harms willing suspension of disbelief when watching US shows. I sit there thinking 'really, everyone in this low-income school has a personal trainer and stylist? And these people manage to have perfect hair as soon as they wake up or after running through the mud?' Actually, the UK isn't immune from the last part: Sean Bean in Shape has magic hair that is immune to mud, gunsmoke, and everything else the napoleonic wars can throw at him. No matter how dirty his face and uniform get, his hair always looks as if he's just come from the hairdresser.
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