13 Stars Who Had Everything to Go Right, But Were Hostage to a Single Character

Every year, in Hollywood alone, more than 500 films of the most varied genres are recorded. While some of them generate millions in profits for their producers, others don’t even make it to the big screen. And something similar can happen to actors: while some reach stardom and receive important roles, others only receive secondary and completely inexpressive characters. It can also happen that an actor or actress is strongly attached to a role, and no matter how many works he has before or after, in the minds of viewers his appearance will always be related to the image of that particular performance. Actors who had everything to work out, but ended up being stuck in the image of just one character are the subject of this post.

O awesome.club found some talented artists who, unfortunately, ended up becoming hostages to a single image. Check out!

Your role in American Pie — The First Time Is Unforgettable 1999, in which she acted as the mother of the character Stifler, was responsible for world fame. However, she has worked for both film and television since the 1980s and continues to record to this day — though not for the lead roles.

The actress herself believes that she should have stopped acting after the recordings of American Pie and not having performed “like all these burly women”. And she continues: “90% of the offers I get are to play women who have had a lot of plastic surgery and are married to rich men.”

In 1987 the movie was released Dirty Dancing: Hot Rhythm. Jennifer Grey, who was 27 at the time, played the character Frances Houseman, 17, nicknamed Baby. Her performance earned her a Golden Globe nomination, but it was the only successful work of her entire career. After this performance, the actress did not receive offers for leading roles.

In the early 1990s, Jennifer had two rhinoplasty surgeries that radically changed her appearance. “I walked into the operating room like a celebrity and left like a nobody. It’s like I’m being protected by one of those witness protection services or I’m actually going invisible.” Despite this, Jennifer continues to record to this day, despite only acting in sporadic roles for some series.

Director Paul Verhoeven’s film Showgirls (1995), in which Elizabeth Berkeley played her most famous role, was immediately panned by critics upon release. The critics’ attacks ended up being confirmed at the time by the fact that the actress received the Golden Raspberry award (a kind of “Oscar” in reverse, for the worst films and actors) for her performance. However, over time, the film ended up gaining a cult status and 21st century critics recognized not only its artistic merits, but also the good work of the actors.

However, Elizabeth never managed to achieve and consolidate her fame. These days she mostly records for a few series episodes and devotes a lot of time to charity activities.

The first film of the trilogy alien hit the big screen in 1979 and after its debut, success came quickly to Sigourney Weaver. Her role as Ellen Ripley earned her a few awards and nominations, including for an Oscar.

Although the last movie in the Alien trilogy was only released in 1997, the actress had already filmed at least 10 movies before it. But to most viewers at the time, she was (and still is) Lieutenant Ripley. Other than that, the actress is considered a veteran of the roles of heroines and a lot of action. By the way, in 2021 and 2023 the sequels to the legendary film will be released avatarin which she will also act.

Rowan Atkinson or Mr. Bean is certainly known to everyone, even those who don’t like film and television. The first season of the series, which tells the adventures of a clumsy and very funny Englishman, was released on British screens in 1990, and its last season aired 5 years later. The series turned out to be incredibly popular — each episode gathered, on average, 20 million people in front of televisions.

However, unlike the other protagonists in this post, Rowan Atkinson rarely left the image of the iconic Mr. Bean, even while he was playing other characters, such as agent Johnny English.

Tobey Maguire’s film career began in 1993 with the film A Man’s Awakening, in which he played opposite Robert De Niro. But the real world fame only came to the actor after the recordings for the trilogy of Spider man, in which the actor gave life to the protagonist and superhero Peter Parker. The last film in the trilogy was released in 2007. Since then, Maguire has practically never shot for the big screen, despite not having left the film industry. These days he’s on the other side of the cameras — he’s dedicated to film production.

even the recordings of Dr. Casa, LarBritish actor Hugh Laurie was not well known outside Britain, despite having acted in the series The Black Adder (no Portuguese version, 1982-1983) and Jeeves and Wooster (no Portuguese version, 1990-1993), in which he played opposite Stephen Fry. In 2004, Laurie accepted the invitation to star in the television series about the doctor Gregory House. This work made him famous first in the US and then worldwide. Apart from that, it also won him two Golden Globes. In addition to acting, Laurie is a professional musician and writer — her novel The Gun Dealerlaunched in 2006, became bestseller🇧🇷

Jodie Foster began filmmaking during her childhood and received her first Oscar nomination at age 14 for director Martin Scorsese’s film. Taxi Driver: Taxi Driver (1976), when he did not win the award. The achievement only came years later with the film accusedreleased in 1988. Despite this, the real world fame only came to the actress after her performance in the film The Silence of the Lambs (1991), which won him a second statuette of the main film awards. In the film, Foster gave life to the character Clarice Starling.

And despite the fact that the actress recorded a lot after this film, the role of Clarice became the image by which all movie fans recognize Foster. Nowadays, the famous works as a film director and producer.

Jim Parsons only started recording for the cinema in his adult life: he acted for the first time in a movie in the year 2004, when he was 30 years old. However, his theater career had started 10 years earlier. He gained worldwide fame with his performance in the series. The Big Bang Theory (2007-2019), in which he gave life to the genius Sheldon Cooper. He played this role so brilliantly that even those who have never watched an episode of the series are able to recognize him from the character, who gained great fame and even became a meme on the Internet.

The show’s final season aired in 2019, and according to rumors, the reason for its ending would be Jim himself, who was supposedly tired of this role, despite its huge success.

Samantha Jones, a performance by Kim Cattrall, was probably the most striking character of the famous series sex and the city (1998-2004). Despite the difficulties in her relationship with actress Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim played brilliantly in the role of her best friend on the series. And, for many viewers, the character turned out to be more interesting than the main protagonist Carrie Bradshaw, played by Sarah. However, the actress refused to shoot for the 3rd feature in the franchise. “When they called me and offered me the role, I said, ‘Thanks, but no. That’s enough for me,’” she said.

In addition to sex and the city, Kim’s career includes more than 90 other works for film and television. Other than that, she is still acting in the theatre, working both in the US and Britain.

One of the most shocking films of the 90s, lolita (1997), brought Dominique Swain to worldwide fame, despite having a limited run. However, even after her performance in this film, which was a film adaptation of the work of Russian writer Vladimir Nabokov, Dominique was never able to repeat such success, despite having acted in several other films afterwards.

Bryan Cranston is one of those actors whose fame only came at an advanced age. He started recording in the first half of the 80s. However, the most famous role – Walter White, from the series Breaking Bad (2008-2013) – was only offered when he was 52 years old. The image of the Chemistry teacher who suffered from cancer and turned into a criminal earned Bryan 4 Emmy awards and 1 Golden Globe statuette for best actor in a drama series.

Do you know other actors who have also become hostages to the image of a single character? Tell us in the comments section.