{"id":2252772,"date":"2026-01-27T13:34:32","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T13:34:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2252772"},"modified":"2026-01-27T13:34:32","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T13:34:32","slug":"20-actors-hollywood-tried-to-make-happen-but-we-just-didnt-buy-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/20-actors-hollywood-tried-to-make-happen-but-we-just-didnt-buy-it\/","title":{"rendered":"20 Actors Hollywood Tried to Make Happen (But We Just Didn\u2019t Buy It)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Hollywood keeps chasing the next big actor. But when they fail to connect with audiences, the studios sometimes continue to push the actors into roles anyways. You\u2019ve probably noticed the push. They\u2019re the actors who appear on movie posters, in interviews and are constantly in big roles, even when nobody really cares for them. What they fail to realise is that sometimes an actor just doesn\u2019t click with the crowd. These 10 actors had budgets, buzz, and big release dates, but never landed the star power they wanted.<\/p>\n

20. Liam Hemsworth<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n\"Liam\"LiamImage Credit: Netflix\n<\/div>\n

At 19, Liam Hemsworth hit Hollywood chasing a dream his brothers made look easy. You met him in The Last Song in 2010, then he fought aliens in Independence Day: Resurgence, shot arrows in The Hunger Games. Chris gets the love, but Liam gets the side-eyes.<\/p>\n

19. Daisy Ridley<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n\"Daisy\"DaisyImage Credit: Lucasfilm\n<\/div>\n

Daisy Ridley hit Hollywood in 2015 as Star Wars\u2018 Rey, a pretty big role for a newcomer. But it didn\u2019t launch her career the way everyone expected. She said in December 2017, \u201cI found the hardest thing was everyone saying, \u2018Your life\u2019s going to change.\u2019\u201d It didn\u2019t. After the final Star Wars film came Cleaner, Magpie, and The Marsh King\u2019s Daughter. None of them were big hits.<\/p>\n

18. Theo James<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n\"Theo\"TheoImage Credit: Netflix\n<\/div>\n

Hollywood nudged Theo James into brooding mode with 2014\u2019s Divergent, a franchise that showed up late and caught the Hunger Games leftovers. You probably remember the stare. It worked. It also boxed him in. He\u2019s appeared in a number of big movies and TV shows (like The Gentlemen, The White Lotus and Osgood Perkins\u2019 The Monkey) since, but none of them truly launched his career.<\/p>\n

17. Joseph Gordon-Levitt<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n\"Joseph\"JosephImage Credit: Applet TV+\n<\/div>\n

For a stretch, Joseph Gordon-Levitt was everywhere. In 2012, he showed up as Robin in The Dark Knight Rises and swapped faces with Bruce Willis in Looper. You probably still link him to Inception or 500 Days of Summer, but his filmography actually runs much deeper. He started young with A River Runs Through It, hit sitcom gold on 3rd Rock from the Sun, then rode an indie-friendly wave into the late 2000s. But the momentum slowed down quickly after Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, The Walk, and Snowden struggled to land. Hollywood stopped trying to make him a huge lead a long time ago.<\/p>\n

16. Miles Teller<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n\"Miles\"MilesImage Credit: Netflix\n<\/div>\n

When he was just 23 years old, Miles Teller landed his first feature, Rabbit Hole, after Nicole Kidman picked him from a lineup. A few years later, Whiplash turned him into a stress test for audiences. Fame hit super fast. Too fast, some would say. A series of bad interviews gave him a bad rep. And it stuck until 2022. Thankfully, Top Gun: Maverick reminded people why he was a good actor. Fifteen years in he\u2019s had very high highs and very low lows. And he\u2019s got the Fant4stic scars to prove it. But Hollywood just hasn\u2019t managed to convince audiences that he has lead star power yet.<\/p>\n

15. Chris O\u2019Donnell<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n\"Chris\"ChrisImage Credit: Warner Bros.\n<\/div>\n

He played Robin and starred in forgettable hits like The Chamber and Vertical Limit. Chris O\u2019Donnell was Hollywood\u2019s polite attempt at a \u201990s movie star. He wasn\u2019t bad. He just never connected with audiences.<\/p>\n

14. Orlando Jones<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n\"Orlando\"OrlandoImage Credit: Apple TV\n<\/div>\n

Evolution, Double Take, The Replacements. Yeah, Orlando Jones owned the early 2000s. Then he vanished faster than an alien under shampoo. He popped back as Anansi in American Gods and Gregory\u2019s dad on Abbott Elementary, reminding everyone he\u2019s still got it. But he never quite made it beyond being a co-star in okayish movies.<\/p>\n

13. Jai Courtney<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n\"Jai\"JaiImage Credit: Shudder\n<\/div>\n

Divergent. Insurgent. Terminator Genisys. I, Frankenstein. A Good Day to Die Hard. Suicide Squad. Yeah, it\u2019s a long list of films, but Hollywood hasn\u2019t listened. They keep giving Jai Courtney more roles. He\u2019s basically the Sam Worthington of the 2010s. Execs sold him as the next big thing, but every movie proved he wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

12. Alex Pettyfer<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n\"Alex\"AlexImage Credit: Warner Bros.\n<\/div>\n

For a season, Alex Pettyfer had everything needed to be Hollywood\u2019s next big star: the looks, the roles, and the ego. Unfortunately, he just didn\u2019t have the career to back it up. After Magic Mike, where he and Channing Tatum reportedly couldn\u2019t stand each other, his reputation tanked. Hollywood forgives divas with box office clout, not newcomers with attitude.<\/p>\n

11. Noah Centineo<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n\"Noah\"NoahImage Credit: Warner Bros.\n<\/div>\n

Noah Centineo went from being called \u201cthe next Zac Efron\u201d to \u201cwait, is he still acting?\u201d after milking the same charming-guy routine in too many forgettable rom-coms. To All the Boys I\u2019ve Loved Before worked, but the rest? Not so much. Now he\u2019s back in Street Fighter in 2026, probably his most interesting role yet.<\/p>\n

10. Jon Heder<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n\"Jon\"JonImage Credit: \tParamount Pictures\n<\/div>\n

Following Napoleon Dynamite, Hollywood tried to turn Heder into a mainstream comedy icon with movies like Blades of Glory and The Benchwarmers. Nobody was buying that. Instead, Heder was a better fit for smaller indie roles and TV appearances. Lesson learned.<\/p>\n

9. Charlie Hunnam<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n\"charlie\"charlieImage Credit: Warner Bros.\n<\/div>\n

On paper, Charlie Hunnam had everything to be a huge star. In fact, his breakthrough performance as Jax Teller in Sons of Anarchy convinced the industry he was destined to become a leading man. However, the lukewarm reception of his roles in Pacific Rim and King Arthur: Legend of the Sword changed everyone\u2019s minds. Fast.<\/p>\n

8. Cara Delevingne<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n\"cara\"caraImage Credit: FX\n<\/div>\n

Supermodel-turned-actress Cara Delevingne exploded into popularity with Paper Towns, which led to her starring roles in Suicide Squad and Valerian \u2013 neither of which proved to be box office successes. She\u2019s since found herself more comfortable working on TV, where she\u2019s doing some excellent work in shows like Carnival Row. She\u2019s just not the lead Hollywood thought she was.<\/p>\n

7. Armie Hammer<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n\"Armie\"ArmieImage Credit: IMDB\n<\/div>\n

Armie Hammer really had everything it took to be the next big deal in Hollywood. Why didn\u2019t it happen? Well, you know the answer to that question. With the fame and the looks to thrive in Hollywood, Hammer\u2019s career got derailed at its highest point following a series of disturbing allegations and box office bombs that stopped his meteoric rise.<\/p>\n

6. Josh Hartnett<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n\"Josh\"JoshImage Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures\n<\/div>\n

You saw Josh Hartnett everywhere soon after Pearl Harbor, popping up in Hollywood Homicide, then stealing scenes in Sin City. Fame chased him, but he never really chased it back. Hartnett, now in his mid-40s, is doing great work again. He just didn\u2019t reach the heights Hollywood expected him to.<\/p>\n

5. Alex Pettyfer<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n\"Alex\"AlexImage Credit: Lionsgate\n<\/div>\n

After his roles in Stormbreaker and I Am Number Four, the actor distanced himself from YA narratives and went straight for Magic Mike, after which his acting career lost steam. Despite reinventing his career multiple times, Pettyfer never became as big as Hollywood would have wanted. <\/p>\n

4. Clive Owen<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n\"Clive\"CliveImage Credit: Sony Pictures Releasing\n<\/div>\n

Clive Owen could have been huge. Children of Men positioned him at a high level, opening doors to more action-heavy roles. But when movies like Shoot \u2018Em Up underperformed at the box office, the silver screen actor quietly moved to television instead.<\/p>\n

3. Taylor Kitsch<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n\"Taylor\"TaylorImage Credit: Walt Disney\n<\/div>\n

The breakout success of Friday Night Lights launched Taylor Kitsch straight to the big screen. Unfortunately, it also landed him in back-to-back flops like John Carter and Battleship, which seriously hurt his shot at becoming a top-tier leading man. We just never really see him carry a film anymore.<\/p>\n

2. Sam Worthington<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n\"Sam\"SamImage Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures\n<\/div>\n

Avatar should\u2019ve made Sam Worthington a household name, but his subdued screen presence didn\u2019t quite stick with audiences. Much like Jake Sully, Worthington\u2019s leading career stayed in Pandora, where we saw him again in Avatar: Fire and Ash. Maybe he would\u2019ve been more famous without the blue skin.<\/p>\n

1. Taylor Lautner<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n\"Taylor\"TaylorImage Credit: Summit Entertainment\n<\/div>\n

From teenage heartthrob to action star, Lautner meant to become a big deal, rivaling even the biggest names in the biz at the time. Unfortunately, his role as a teenage werewolf with an aversion to wearing shirts stuck with him, even when he wanted to pursue more serious roles. Where is he today?<\/p>\n

RELATED: 10 Moments That Show Henry Cavill\u2019s Love for Nerd Culture<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.fortressofsolitude.co.za \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hollywood keeps chasing the next big actor. But when they fail to connect with audiences, the studios sometimes continue to push the actors into roles anyways. You\u2019ve probably noticed the push. They\u2019re the actors who appear on movie posters, in interviews and are constantly in big roles, even when nobody really cares for them. What […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2252773,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25173],"tags":[25538,21751],"class_list":["post-2252772","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artists","tag-actors","tag-celebrities"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/20-Actors-Hollywood-Tried-to-Make-Happen-But-We-Just.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2252772","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2252772"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2252772\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2252774,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2252772\/revisions\/2252774"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2252773"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2252772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2252772"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2252772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}