One does not simply walk on to the big screen! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for TV stars who were unable to achieve a similar level of success on the big screen.
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00:00I liked it. It's just that in most of my work, the laws of physics rarely seem to apply.
00:05Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for TV stars who were unable to achieve a similar level of success on the big screen.
00:12Did you learn nothing from my chemistry class?
00:14No. You flunked me. Remember?
00:18Number 20, Nathan Fillion.
00:20So, what you always wanted to do?
00:23Uh, Chippendales. Or the NFL. I'm not picky.
00:26Nathan Fillion has had a number of prominent runs on television.
00:29From the short-lived but much-loved Firefly, to the long-running Castle, and The Rookie.
00:34However, turning that into success on the big screen, well, it just hasn't happened.
00:39Sure, he's been in plenty of movies, but mostly in smaller and supporting roles,
00:43and nothing that in any way would have people thinking of him as a movie star rather than a TV one.
00:48Although, he has been cast as Green Lantern in the upcoming Superman reboot and the launch of the DCU,
00:53so maybe things will change after that, but we wouldn't swear to it by our pretty floral bonnet.
00:57See, this is another sign of your tragic space dementia.
00:59All paranoid and crotchety. Breaks a heart.
01:03Number 19, Misha Barton.
01:05So, uh, is this your first film?
01:10No, it's my 22nd.
01:12Yes, Misha Barton had a small part in Notting Hill, and was even in The Sixth Sense.
01:16But it wasn't her appearances in those two major blockbusters that got her named
01:19the It Girl of 2003 by Entertainment Weekly.
01:22And not just because both those films came out in 1999.
01:25Nope, Barton was the It Girl because of the OC.
01:28Her role as Marissa Cooper on the hit series brought her the recognition,
01:31the fame, and the Teen Choice Awards that she hadn't found in the movies before or since.
01:36Who are you?
01:38Whoever you want me to be.
01:41Okay.
01:42Number 18, David Caruso.
01:45You wanna get in some trouble?
01:46I'm up for that.
01:47David Caruso was relatively unknown in 1993,
01:50when he landed the role of Detective John Kelly in the new series NYPD Blue.
01:55The series was critically acclaimed and ran for 12 seasons.
01:58Caruso, however, only lasted 26 episodes.
02:01And crazy enough, that was his choice.
02:03The show made Caruso an instant star and a household name.
02:06And after the first season, he was ready to take that star power to the movie screen.
02:10Caruso left the show and in 1995 starred in two major films, Kiss of Death and Jade.
02:16Unfortunately for him, both films were awful and his big movie career never materialized.
02:21It took a few years, but he did find success back on TV with CSI Miami in the aughts.
02:26No friction burn, right?
02:27Means no seatbelt.
02:28So he might be our shooter?
02:29Yes, the question then becomes, why would you shoot your own pilot?
02:32Thank you, gentlemen.
02:33Number 17, Nina Dobrev.
02:35Okay, look, I'm sorry that I'm late, but at least give me a shot.
02:39The beautiful and talented Nina Dobrev first found some success playing Mia Jones for four seasons
02:44on everyone's favorite Canadian teen drama television franchise, Degrassi The Next Generation.
02:49She then saw a second round of fame come from her dual role as Elena Gilbert
02:53and Catherine Pierce on The Vampire Diaries.
02:55She has done movies also.
02:57The Perks of Being a Wallflower brought critical success
02:59and XXX Return of Xander Cage saw commercial success.
03:02But while Dobrev's talents have been appreciated on the small screen,
03:05they've never led to the same kind of success on the silver one.
03:08Anything you need, Becky can source it within the hour.
03:11Except for any sort of illegal drugs.
03:13Those I'll have within 15 minutes.
03:15Number 16, Josh Radner.
03:17Empire State Building Fun Pack number one.
03:18When construction began on March 17, 1930,
03:21the framework rose at a rate of four and a half stories per week.
03:24We definitely wouldn't call Josh Radner's TV stardom a flash in the pan,
03:28given that it lasted for nine years.
03:29But it definitely felt like it came just as quickly as it went away.
03:32Prior to 2005, Radner was primarily a bit player and a guest star.
03:36Then in 2005, he became the I in How I Met Your Mother.
03:40For nine seasons, we watched him fall in and out of love,
03:43searching for the one.
03:44And, well, this isn't the place to get into that disappointing finale.
03:48Radner has proved he is a talented actor,
03:50but he's only done it in small movies and short-lived TV shows
03:53since the end of that hit series.
03:54I know I don't have experience.
03:56And Miss Wolf's been here over a decade.
03:58It's yours.
04:00I'm sorry?
04:01Theater. It's yours.
04:03Number 15, Mary Louise Parker.
04:05She's not doing enough for women.
04:07Why would you lie?
04:08I'm glad you asked.
04:08Not half as glad as I am.
04:10Mary Louise Parker is an interesting one,
04:12because she initially made her name in the movies.
04:14With films like Fried Green Tomatoes and The Client,
04:17Parker was a recognizable name on movie posters in the 90s.
04:20However, it was in the 2000s, and on the small screen,
04:23that Parker saw her star rise to new heights.
04:26It started with her multi-season supporting role as Amy Gardner on The West Wing,
04:30but it reached its pinnacle with her starring role on the hit Showtime series,
04:34Weeds, which ran from 2005 to 2012.
04:37It was also those two shows, especially the latter,
04:40which account for most of Parker's critical acclaim,
04:42along with her award nominations and wins.
04:44Give me a little respect.
04:46I'm the biggest game in the private community of aggressive.
04:48Number 14, January Jones.
04:51Cadence, this is Paul Finch.
04:53Finch, meet my younger sister, Cadence.
04:55Nice to meet you.
04:56For January Jones, there have been three stages of her career.
04:59There was the time before Mad Men,
05:01the time during Mad Men,
05:02and the time after Mad Men.
05:04And if we're being honest,
05:05it's that second stage that saw her at the peak of her stardom.
05:08Sure, she offered good support as Cadence Flatterty in 2003's American Wedding,
05:12but it wasn't a star turn.
05:13Probably her most high-profile movie role was Emma Frost in 2011's X-Men First Class,
05:18which came about in the middle of her run on Mad Men.
05:20It was also during the series' run that she hosted Saturday Night Live.
05:24And all of her Emmy and Golden Globe nominations have been for,
05:26you guessed it,
05:27Mad Men.
05:28Who answers her own phone?
05:32Married women.
05:34Lots of women answer their own phones.
05:36Number 13.
05:37Shelley Long.
05:42Cheers is one of the most beloved sitcoms in TV history,
05:44and for five years,
05:45one of its biggest stars was Shelley Long.
05:48As one half of the tumultuous Sam and Diane coupling,
05:51Long saw her career take off,
05:52earning five Emmy nominations,
05:54and one win,
05:55and a bunch of movie offers.
05:56And her film career looked like it might be pretty big also
05:59after earning a Best Actress Golden Globe nomination for Irreconcilable Differences.
06:03She also starred in The Money Pit and Outrageous Fortune,
06:06all while still appearing on Cheers.
06:08However, after leaving the show at the end of the fifth season,
06:10Long's movie career never quite made it.
06:12Her most recognizable part since then was probably Dee Dee Pritchett on Modern Family.
06:24Number 12.
06:25Julianna Margulies.
06:27We don't want to take anything away from 2006 Snicks on a Plane
06:37or Julianna Margulies' performance in it.
06:39Still, despite her mega-stardom on television,
06:42Margulies never seemed to translate said stardom to the big screen.
06:45And speaking of her star power,
06:46did you know that she was originally supposed to die in the ER pilot?
06:50But she tested so well with audiences
06:52that the producers changed the story to have her live.
06:54She left the show in 2000,
06:56but nine years later,
06:57her appeal with TV audiences was still so strong
07:00that she came back to lead The Good Wife through seven acclaimed seasons.
07:09Number 11.
07:10Topher Grace.
07:18Topher Grace's career got off to a great start
07:20when he was cast as Eric Foreman on That 70s Show.
07:23That's right, that was Grace's first acting job.
07:25So to say he went from a total unknown to a TV star in just a year or two
07:29is pretty accurate.
07:30After he left the show in 2005,
07:32it looked like he was on the movie star path.
07:34His role in the well-received In Good Company
07:37put him front and center in the lead role.
07:39Then a couple of years later,
07:40he was Venom in Spider-Man 3.
07:42He was talented and likable,
07:43and some critics were even calling him the next Tom Hanks.
07:46Well, long story short, he wasn't.
07:52Number 10.
07:53Michael C. Hall.
07:56Most actors are lucky to get a part in one great television show,
08:02let alone have a starring role in two.
08:04One of which, Six Feet Under,
08:05is often talked about among the greatest of all time.
08:08And after that show ended in 2005,
08:10what did Michael C. Hall do?
08:11Well, just one year later,
08:13he was back on TV killing it in Dexter.
08:15Hall spent basically 12 consecutive years on our television screens.
08:19But after Dexter ended,
08:20he never really made the jump to movies in a way
08:22that would lead to big-screen stardom.
08:24Besides Game Night,
08:25Hall mostly appeared in smaller, lesser-seen films.
08:28But he found more TV success with the series Safe on Netflix
08:31and Dexter New Blood.
08:32He's also had a decent career on stage,
08:34performing in musicals such as Cabaret
08:36and Hedwig and the Angry Inch on Broadway.
08:46Number 9.
08:46Matt LeBlanc.
08:55Many TV stars leave a show or wait till after it's ended
08:58to try and make the leap to movies.
09:00Not Matt LeBlanc.
09:01LeBlanc decided to strike while the friend's iron was hot.
09:04And in fact, almost all of the movies he made
09:06were during his 10-year run as Joey Tribbiani.
09:09Remember Ed, the movie about a baseball-playing chimp?
09:11Well, well, LeBlanc probably wants to forget about it also.
09:15Then there was Lost in Space,
09:17which could have started his ascent to movie stardom.
09:19But with bad reviews and a minimal profit,
09:21the film's high hopes were never reached.
09:23He did appear in the Charlie's Angels movies,
09:25but it was a small part
09:27and it's been pretty much all TV for LeBlanc ever since.
09:45We assume we aren't the only ones who,
09:47when Laura Prepon showed up on Orange is the New Black in 2013,
09:50were like,
09:51It's great to see her again.
09:52What has she been doing since that 70s show ended?
09:54Well, we know she wasn't busy with a big-time movie career.
09:57Sure, she acted in a few films,
09:59but nothing that got much mainstream attention.
10:01Really, it looks like Prepon
10:02has mostly focused her talents on television.
10:04You may even remember she starred in two much-hyped
10:06but short-lived network shows,
10:08October Road and Are You There, Chelsea?
10:10before donning the prison garb in Orange is the New Black.
10:21Number seven, Matthew Fox.
10:30From Party of Five to Lost,
10:32Matthew Fox starred in over 250 episodes of television
10:35in the 90s and 2000s
10:37that many of us will never forget.
10:39However, when it comes to Fox in the movies,
10:41the struggle is remembering what films he's even been in.
10:44The biggest movie he was in was World War Z,
10:46but unfortunately for Fox,
10:48almost all his scenes were cut,
10:49leaving him just a few moments of screen time.
10:52After Lost ended,
10:53Fox was quoted as saying he was done with television.
10:55However, he was soon done with the movies also,
10:58as he hasn't even been in a film since 2015.
11:07Number six, Zach Braff.
11:09My question is this,
11:10if we're both singing along
11:12and knowing that otherwise I would never use the word,
11:14am I allowed to sing?
11:15No.
11:16See, that's good for me to know.
11:18I didn't know that.
11:18When it comes to Zach Braff,
11:20most of us probably think of two things,
11:22Scrubs and Garden State.
11:24The former is the awesome television show
11:26that made Braff a household name,
11:27and the latter is the film he got to make,
11:29probably because Scrubs had made him said household name.
11:32Braff had always wanted to be a filmmaker.
11:34He wrote and directed the film,
11:35and it was a critical hit as well as a commercial one,
11:38taking home 35 million bucks,
11:40and on just a 2.5 million dollar budget.
11:43Braff looked on the verge of a long and acclaimed movie career,
11:45but alas, no.
11:47Since Garden State,
11:48he hasn't starred in anything of note,
11:50and his next two directorial efforts
11:51received mixed reviews and little fanfare.
11:54Come on, what is wrong with you, man?
11:56Get it together.
11:57Number five, Taylor Kish.
11:59What are you doing?
12:01I lost my keys.
12:03You look like crap.
12:05Taylor Kish grew up playing ice hockey,
12:06but it was his role as a high school footballer,
12:09Tim Riggins, on Friday Night Lights that made him a star.
12:12And not just any star,
12:13the kind that The Hollywood Reporter listed as pushing
12:16or being pushed into taking over Hollywood as the new A-list.
12:19And that push came fast and hard
12:21after the end of Friday Night Lights.
12:23The year after the show ended,
12:24Kish starred in Oliver Stone's Savages
12:26and two mega expensive blockbuster wannabes,
12:29Battleship and John Carter.
12:31Two huge films like that had Kish all set up for A-list status,
12:34but instead, they both lost money for the studios,
12:37and John Carter's failure was so big,
12:39Disney canceled plans for two sequels.
12:40Leave your parking park.
12:42If you come here, stand behind me.
12:44This might get dangerous.
12:46Number four, Kaley Cuoco.
12:48Okay, well, guess I'm your new neighbor.
12:51Penny.
12:51Starring on one of the most popular sitcoms of the 21st century
12:54is going to make you rich and famous,
12:55and it did both those things
12:57for all of the main players on The Big Bang Theory.
12:59However, during the show's run and in the years since it ended,
13:02none of those stars has seen similar success in the movies,
13:05and that includes the lovely and talented Kaley Cuoco,
13:08whose movie career has been mostly secondary characters
13:10and lame rom-coms.
13:12But she did come back strong,
13:13stepping out of the penny mold with The Flight Attendant on Max,
13:16a series she starred in and also executive produced.
13:19Also, we'd be remiss if we didn't talk about her badass portrayal
13:22of the titular character in Harley Quinn.
13:24I want to be your partner in crime for reals.
13:27Can we talk about this later?
13:28If not now, when?
13:30Number three, Tom Selleck.
13:31Work the lock, work the lock, don't look at the dogs.
13:34You looked at the dogs.
13:36When it comes to Tom Selleck,
13:37we have to talk about Magnum P.I.,
13:39and not just because it's the show that made him a TV star,
13:42but because it's also partly to blame
13:43for why he didn't become a movie star.
13:45You see, around the time that Magnum was getting started,
13:48so too was George Lucas casting Raiders of the Lost Ark,
13:51and he wanted Selleck to play Indiana Jones.
13:53However, when CBS realized how in demand he was,
13:56they greenlit Magnum,
13:57and Selleck had to honor his contract,
13:59forcing him to turn down Raiders.
14:01Who knows what that would have done for Selleck's movie career,
14:03but as he put it in a 2021 interview,
14:06so I did Magnum.
14:07That's not so bad, is it?
14:08Like I said,
14:09funny the things a grown man will do for a living.
14:11Number two, David Duchovny.
14:13Actually, I'm looking forward to working with you.
14:16I've heard a lot about you.
14:17Oh, really?
14:19I was under the impression that you were sent to spy on me.
14:22The truth is out there,
14:24and it's telling us that David Duchovny
14:25has built an impressive TV resume,
14:27but on the silver screen,
14:29he never became the star leading man some predicted.
14:31From our first glimpses of Duchovny on the X-Files in the 90s,
14:34there was no doubting he had leading man potential.
14:37He could do drama and humor,
14:39and he wasn't a bad-looking man either.
14:40And while his movie career has had some memorable moments,
14:43it never really took off in the same way it did on TV.
14:45He even came back to TV and had more success
14:48with seven seasons of Californication,
14:50from 2007 to 2014.
14:52You know, it's true what they say about pot.
14:53It's very much a gateway drug.
14:57And it can be a gateway to some pretty cool things,
14:58but it can also lead to poverty, despair,
15:00stunted adolescence, man breasts.
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15:20Number 1. Aaron Paul
15:22A lot of money in it, huh?
15:24I don't know what you're talking about.
15:25No?
15:26Not a clue.
15:27It was Breaking Bad that transformed Aaron Paul
15:29from a supporting player to a legit television star.
15:32However, when his first big movie role broke bad,
15:35he never really got another shot at it.
15:37Breaking Bad ended in 2013,
15:39and the following year,
15:40Paul got top billing in the potential blockbuster Need for Speed.
15:43But as you may remember,
15:44the film didn't live up to its potential.
15:46And while it did gross a little over 200 million dollars,
15:49it was railed on by critics
15:50and consider a financial disappointment by the studio.
15:53Had it been a hit,
15:54maybe there would have been a sequel
15:55and Paul's film career would have been very different.
15:58But on the plus side,
15:59he was a voice on and executive producer of BoJack Horseman.
16:02Why so gloomy, roomie?
16:04First of all, we're not roommates.
16:05You are my houseguest.
16:06Well, we don't need to put labels on things.
16:08Which of these TV stars do you feel
16:10should have had a much bigger movie career?
16:12Let us know in the comments.
16:13You all right, Mike?
16:14Why have enemies when you can have friends?
16:17Did you enjoy this video?
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