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’ve probably noticed the push. They’re 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’t click with the crowd. These 20 actors had budgets, buzz, and big release dates, but never landed the star power they wanted.
20. Liam Hemsworth
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.
19. Daisy Ridley
Daisy Ridley hit Hollywood in 2015 as Star Wars‘ Rey, a pretty big role for a newcomer. But it didn’t launch her career the way everyone expected. She said in December 2017, “I found the hardest thing was everyone saying, ‘Your life’s going to change.’” It didn’t. After the final Star Wars film came Cleaner, Magpie, and The Marsh King’s Daughter. None of them were big hits.
18. Theo James
Hollywood nudged Theo James into brooding mode with 2014’s 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’s appeared in a number of big movies and TV shows (like The Gentlemen, The White Lotus and Osgood Perkins’ The Monkey) since, but none of them truly launched his career.
17. Joseph Gordon-Levitt
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.
16. Miles Teller
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’s had very high highs and very low lows. And he’s got the Fant4stic scars to prove it. But Hollywood just hasn’t managed to convince audiences that he has lead star power yet.
15. Chris O’Donnell
He played Robin and starred in forgettable hits like The Chamber and Vertical Limit. Chris O’Donnell was Hollywood’s polite attempt at a ’90s movie star. He wasn’t bad. He just never connected with audiences.
14. Orlando Jones
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’s dad on Abbott Elementary, reminding everyone he’s still got it. But he never quite made it beyond being a co-star in okayish movies.
13. Jai Courtney
Divergent. Insurgent. Terminator Genisys. I, Frankenstein. A Good Day to Die Hard. Suicide Squad. Yeah, it’s a long list of films, but Hollywood hasn’t listened. They keep giving Jai Courtney more roles. He’s basically the Sam Worthington of the 2010s. Execs sold him as the next big thing, but every movie proved he wasn’t.
12. Alex Pettyfer
For a season, Alex Pettyfer had everything needed to be Hollywood’s next big star: the looks, the roles, and the ego. After breaking out in Stormbreaker and I Am Number Four, he stepped away from YA leads and went straight for Magic Mike — where he and Channing Tatum reportedly couldn’t stand each other. His reputation tanked, and despite reinventing his career more than once since, he never had the box office to back up the hype. Hollywood forgives divas with box office clout, not newcomers with attitude.
11. Noah Centineo
Noah Centineo went from being called “the next Zac Efron” to “wait, is he still acting?” after milking the same charming-guy routine in too many forgettable rom-coms. To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before worked, but the rest? Not so much. Now he’s back in Street Fighter in 2026, probably his most interesting role yet.
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10. Jon Heder
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.
9. Charlie Hunnam
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’s minds. Fast.
8. Cara Delevingne
Supermodel-turned-actress Cara Delevingne exploded into popularity with Paper Towns, which led to her starring roles in Suicide Squad and Valerian – neither of which proved to be box office successes. She’s since found herself more comfortable working on TV, where she’s doing some excellent work in shows like Carnival Row. She’s just not the lead Hollywood thought she was.
7. Armie Hammer
Armie Hammer really had everything it took to be the next big deal in Hollywood. Why didn’t it happen? Well, you know the answer to that question. With the fame and the looks to thrive in Hollywood, Hammer’s career got derailed at its highest point following a series of disturbing allegations and box office bombs that stopped his meteoric rise.
RELATED: Armie Hammer Calls His Comeback Movie ‘Hateful’ and ‘Disgusting’
6. Josh Hartnett
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’t reach the heights Hollywood expected him to.
5. Ansel Elgort
The Fault in Our Stars and Baby Driver had him tracking toward leading-man status, and Spielberg handed him the lead in West Side Story. It underperformed at the box office despite critical acclaim, and the momentum never came back. He’s kept working, but Hollywood stopped positioning him as the next big thing.
4. Clive Owen
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 ‘Em Up underperformed at the box office, the silver screen actor quietly moved to television instead.
3. Taylor Kitsch
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.
RELATED: The Cast of John Carter: Where Are They Now?
2. Sam Worthington
Avatar should’ve made Sam Worthington a household name, but his subdued screen presence didn’t quite stick with audiences. Much like Jake Sully, Worthington’s leading career stayed in Pandora, where we saw him again in Avatar: Fire and Ash. Maybe he would’ve been more famous without the blue skin.
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1. Taylor Lautner
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?
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