Post by Brian GonigalPost by The Original Fat ElvisPost by The Original Fat ElvisShe left because she was on long enough to give her the delusion that she
was an actress and that she should act in movies. Kind of shows how
stupid
Post by The Original Fat Elvisshe is, I mean, how many ex-TV stars have succeeded in what she is
attempting.
Clint Eastwood (Rawhide)
Tom Hanks (Bosom Buddies)
James Garner (Maverick)
Sally Field (The Flying Nun)
Steve McQueen (Wanted: Dead Or Alive)
Jim Carrey (In Living Color)
Burt Reynolds (Dan August)
Demi Moore (General Hospital)
Michael Douglas (Streets of SF)
Denzel Washington (St. Elsewhere)
Danny DeVito (Taxi)
Johnny Depp (21 Jump Street)
Lots of SNL alums
Your point is valid, but some of your examples are a bit shakey. Steve
McQueen & Burt Reynolds had lots of work in Television before they hit it
really big, and they may have even had their own now long-forgotten series
at one point, but I'm not sure you could say they were really well known TV
"Stars", to the point where people might argue that it was foolish for them
to give up the success they'd earned in that field in order to try their
hand at movies. Michael Douglas was known at least as much for being Kirk
Douglas' son as for his role on Streets, and those family connections don't
hurt when you're trying to make it big in film. James Garner may have had
several notable movie roles, but I think he's still far & away best known as
Jim Rockford or Maverick (TV version). Tom Hanks had co-starred in a
splashy but short lived (and stupid) sitcom, I don't think he really had any
sort of massively successful TV career going that he had to put on hold in
order to make Splash. In any event, it does seem to be a somewhat easier
path for TV comedians to transfer to the world of goofy movie comedy,
Although if they're then able to sucessfully shift to more dramatic roles
like Hanks, Sally Field & perhaps Jim Carrey, that is a bit more impressive
than Rob Schnider getting to make Deuce Bigalow.
The best example I can think of of a TV star who really took a huge risk in
leaving a secure job as the star of a hugely succesful TV show for a movie
career and had it pay off big is George Clooney, although if you go by
critical aclaim / Oscar notice more than Box Office, Denzel Washinton might
have him beat.
Brian
The ADA roll, however, is not the "star" of the show. Rather, it's a
secondary roll, and has been used as a training ground, with the young
actors taking the roll learning from some truly superb actors, including
Waterston, and an awful lot of the guest stars, who have established
theater careers. And while they haven't gone on to huge careers in the
Hollywood sense, they have been able to do what they want, personally and
professionally, all of them have improved as they spent time in the roll,
and at least one, Jill Hennessey, has been quite successful
professionally, in her own quirky way, on stage, film and tv. They also
seem to develop a strong sense of professionalism - you don't here rumors
of divas and tantrums on the L&O set, as you do with many other shows.
Being filmed in NYC, L&O may not provide as many opportunities for the
actors involved to develop professional networks in Hollywood. But they
seem to develop good ties to the NYC theater world, and the film/tv
industry on the east coast. A different, and lower profile, success, but
also, perhaps, healthier for the people involved. The various L&O actors,
when interviewed, seem amazingly sane compared to their west coast peers.
Regular work on a tv show, not as a "star" but as a regular cast member,
is probably very good training for a young actor. Not the intense insanity
of a movie set, but steady work, requiring endurance and constant exposure
to new material. And on a set like L&O's, with exposure to truly great
actors from both the senior regulars and the guests pulled from the NYC
theater community, well, if they take full advantage of that, they'll do
well.
Ursula
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