The Top 10 Big Name Actors on the Market for Cheap

Actors will do anything just to land the big break. Tom Cruise got noticed while dancing in his underpants to the tune of “Old Time Rock and Roll” by Bob Seger in the movie Risky Business. He then got an even better opportunity as the hotshot naval jet pilot in Top Gun. Leonardo DiCaprio was already lucky to get plum roles even during his teen years with movies like This Boy’s Life. To top that off, he landed the lead role in Titanic, which turned out to be one of the biggest-grossing and most-awarded films of all time.

However, there have also been actors who have been given huge breaks but who have simply failed to reel in the audience and money. They are big-name actors in their own rights already, as they would not have been given a chance if they were not popular. However, for some reason, they just fail to connect with the movie-going public. As a result, these actors now come in quite inexpensively....

Here now is a list of the top 10 big name actors on the market for cheap.

10. Josh Hartnett

Josh Hartnett was already starring in movies like Pearl Harbor, O, Black Hawk Down, 40 Days and 40 Nights, Hollywood Homicide, Sin City, The Black Dahlia, Lucky Number Slevin and 30 Days of Night. Some of the movies even earned decent revenues in the box office. His downfall, however, was when he turned down the role of Superman in the mid 2000′s. Though the planned Brett Ratner’s movie never got made, Hartnett alienated a lot of people for his decision. He has since focused on indie-style movies.

9. Stephen Dorff

Stephen Dorff starred in movies like The Power of One, Judgment Night, Backbeat and SFW. Many placed him with the likes of Johnny Depp and Mickey Rourke. He even starred in the Aerosmith video called “Cryin’” with a young Alicia Silverstone. He was considered arrogant, however, and even dissed his own movie. His stock sank, and he soon was making movies that went straight to DVD.

8. Gretchen Mol

Gretchen Mol had prominent roles in movies like Rounders, Celebrity, Donnie Brasco and Music from Another Room. She was even dubbed as the Girl of the 90′s by Vanity Fair. Unfortunately, observers felt that her build up was premature and even placed impossible expectations on Mol. What’s worse is that the story of how she was discovered turned out to be a concoction made by Harvey Weinstein, who claimed that Mol was a hat-check girl in a New York restaurant when she was first spotted to be an actress.

7. Skeet Ulrich

Skeet Ulrich was cast in films like The Craft, Scream, The Newton Boys, Chill Factor and Ride with the Devil. Unfortunately for him, the last three movies did not do that well at the tills. He has reinvented himself as a television actor, appearing in hit series like Jericho, Law & Order: Los Angeles and the pilot episode of Homeland.

6. Alex Pettyfer

Alex Pettyfer has appeared in movies like Stormbreaker, Wild Child, Tormented, I Am Number Four, Beastly, In Time and Magic Mike. He seemed to be destined for stardom as he was linked with movies like Jack The Giant Slayer, The Bourne Legacy, The Hunger Games and The Paperboy. His attitude, however, turned off a lot of producers and colleagues. He exhibited bad behavior on the set of his films to a point that he was excluded from the press tour of Magic Mike.

5. Sam Worthington

Sam Worthington starred in huge box-office hits like Avatar, Clash of the Titans and Terminator Salvation. For some reason however, he failed to capitalize on the success of these movies and was instead stuck in forgettable flicks like Texas Killing Fields, Last Night, Man on a Ledge and even Wrath of the Titans. Worthington is now back to doing indie movies like The Keeping Room and For the Dogs.

4. Taylor Lautner

Taylor Lautner is best known for his role in The Twilight series of five movies from 2008 to 2012. Though he has also appeared in other movies, his other claim to fame is probably being an ex-boyfriend of music star Taylor Swift. He built a female fan base as a result of his role in the Stephenie Meyer-based movies. Lautner failed to capitalize on that however by appearing in Abduction, the initial production from his own company called Tailor Made Entertainment.

3. Colin Farrell

Colin Farrell first caught the eyes of the critics and the public with his performance inTigerland. He was also in Minority Report and S.W.A.T., before his career nosedived with the huge flops Alexander and Miami Vice. He however came back with In Bruges, but again, he disappointed his producers with flops like Fright Night and Total Recall. He was also in the forgettable movies Seven Psychopaths and Dead Man Down.

2. Taylor Kitsch

Taylor Kitsch became a critical and fan favorite because of his role in the cult TV show Friday Night Lights. Producers thought he was ready for the big time and immediately cast him in two big-budget movies, namely John Carter and Battleship. The two movies were released only a couple of months apart in 2012, and unfortunately for Kitsch, both films bombed big time in the box office. He’s still young though, and he salvaged a measure of pride by the relative success of Savages. Instead of appearing in lead roles for giant action movies, he has taken roles in smaller movies like Lone Survivor, The Grand Seduction and The Normal Heart.

1. Ryan Reynolds

Ryan Reynolds had a big year in 2009, with roles in X-Men Origins: Wolverine,Adventureland and The Proposal. He followed it up with three promising films, namely Buried,The Change-Up and Green Lantern. All three movies disappointed in the box office. He then appeared in R.I.P.D., which also flopped big time. He was also the lead voice in the animation film Turbo, however that unfortunately not do as well either. Producers have since taken back their offers for Reynolds to lead star in Highlander and Deadpool.