In just a few short weeks Netflix is dropping its next big-budget action-thriller The Gray Man, starring in the film are Hollywood A-Listers Chris Evans and Ryan Gosling.
The pair are sure to bring a memorable performance to the role, but that’s nothing new for them. They, along with several other A-Listers, have a habit of producing quality TV and movie options for their fanbases. With all this content being pumped out by studios it’s natural to forget the projects these actors and actresses have completed.
Matthew McConaughey – Larger Than Life
Fans could be easily forgiven for not immediately recalling Matthew McConaughey’s character in 1996’s Larger Than Life. The lead of the film is Bill Murray and it tells the story of him attempting to find the elephant his father left him a good home.
The movie did not receive any critical acclaim, but that doesn’t mean Matthew McConaughey’s efforts should be forgotten. He played a minor antagonistic character, Tip Tucker, who was a fast-talking truck driver with a load of conspiracy theories and a quick entertaining temper.
Sebastian Stan – Once Upon A Time
Sebastian Stan is one of the many MCU actors with a past that dips into a variety of projects. His role as Bucky Barnes has been at the forefront of his career for so long now it’s easy to overlook one of his characters on the Disney fairytale anthology tv series.
Stan’s small role on the show didn’t go without appreciation. It remains one of the best filler episodes of the Once Upon A Time series and for good reason. His take on the Mad Hatter reeled the audience in because he grounded the character so well with heartfelt emotion.
Scarlett Johansson – Eight Legged Freaks
Scarlett Johansson has been acting since the tender age of nine. That means there are decades worth of movies to sift through on her acting resume, making it easy to forget the giant mutated spider-centered film she played a role 2002.
Eight Legged Freaks is one of the funniest B-movie sci-fi horror flicks to watch. Johansson took the part of Ashley Parker, a young rebellious teenager living in the town of Prosperity, Arizona alongside some seriously intimidating arachnids. Easily a film made for those who favor older and cheesy science fiction films.
Kristen Stewart – Panic Room
There’s more than one reason this part doesn’t come to mind for moviegoers. Say Kristen Stewart’s name in conversation, and one of the first films to come to mind is the Twilight film franchise. Another reason, in part, is the cast of this film with lead Jodie Foster alongside Forest Whittaker and even Jared Leto.
Panic Room tells the story of a mom and daughter, played by Foster and Stewart, who are trying to survive the night against three men breaking into their home. The story is suspenseful and more complex and meaty than most run-of-the-mill action thrillers because it lends the audience to sympathize with characters other than the main protagonists.
Henry Cavill – The Count of Monte Cristo
With so much success these past few years as Superman and Geralt of Rivia, Henry Cavill is a prime example of how so many popular current pop culture projects can overshadow their beginnings.
The Count of Monte Cristo is one of the best period dramas of the 2000s. It’s the swashbuckling adventure of Edmund Dantes bent on a mission of revenge. Cavill’s role is small in comparison to others, as he plays Dantes’ son, but he’s in the film enough for fans to recognize his young face when they see it.
Bradley Cooper – Reality of Love
Bradley Cooper’s most easily forgotten role is an interesting case as the film has two titles instead of one. It was released as an ABC Family Original TV movie in 2004 under the title I Want to Marry Ryan Banks. Now it can also be found under the name Reality of Love.
Cooper plays the role of talent manager to his famous friend Ryan Banks, who signs up for a bachelor-type dating show. It is everything film lovers would expect from a 2004 romantic comedy. Meet cutes, miscommunications, and misunderstandings as Cooper falls in love with the lead contestant on the show.
Nicole Kidman – The Others
Nicole Kidman’s work in The Others isn’t mentioned often enough. The movie was considered a box office success but takes a back seat in comparison to her other films. It’s no wonder really as Kidman regularly plays in so many popular movies and tv shows
Even though The Others was released over twenty years ago, this ghostly story still holds up. Kidman plays a dutiful mother trying to keep her children as healthy as possible in the face of a disease that makes sunlight harmful to them.
Ryan Gosling – Young Hercules
Take a scroll back through Ryan Gosling’s acting credits, and this gem will be found. The 1998 tv series ran for approximately a year with a whopping fifty episodes with Gosling playing the titular character Hercules.
The plot centered around the young demigod at a training academy, and it possesses all the charm and cheesiness one would anticipate from a 1990s TV show. Despite its terrible CGI creatures, cheap-looking props, and stilted dialogue that could be made for any high school-centered teen drama, it is an excellent nostalgic adventure awaiting anyone who decides to watch it.
Chris Pratt – The O.C.
Ryan Gosling wasn’t the only one with a tv show that isn’t often remembered. One of Chris Pratt’s first roles was in the fourth season of the beloved teen drama The O.C. It’s been overshadowed in recent years by his stardom as Starlord in The Guardians of the Galaxy but it deserves some recognition nonetheless.
Pratt’s character was no Andy Dwyer, but he was still lovable. He played Che, an environmental and animal rights activist who formed a friendship with one of the show’s “core four,” Summer Roberts. His run was only nine episodes but Pratt did an excellent of incorporating charm and quirk to a role that would have been lackluster without him.
Jake Gyllenhaal – Bubble Boy
Jake Gyllenhaal has built a career on taking some intense and complex characters. Fans can watch the eery and unnerving Louis Bloom in Nightcrawler to the more recent strained and determined Joe Baylor in The Guilty. It makes it easy to forget the 2001 film Bubble Boy.
It doesn’t make the list for one of Jake Gyllenhaal’s best movies but it is by far his goofiest role. The main character, Jimmy Livingston, has no immune system and has lived the entirety of his life at home. The movie is one of those quintessential early 2000s comedies with situational humor as the lead character is traveling thousands of miles in a plastic bubble.
