TV News

From Tube to Film: TV Stars Gone Hollywood

Written By TVOvermind Staff on January 24th, 2011 at 1:28 pm

A Dubious Transition

Jennifer Aniston
Aniston is probably the most successful of the Friends cast to make the move to the big screen, although her success in movies could be debated. Aniston made her debut in television in the tail end of the 1980s and her first big TV role was on the television series based on the movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. After that she starred in a show called Muddling Through and then caught her big break on Friends, which was a huge success that aired for 10 years. Since the show ended (and even during its run), Aniston starred in a variety of films, most of them romantic comedies. Movies such as The Break Up and Marley and Me have been moderately successful, but she’s also starred in a few flops, such as The Bounty Hunter and The Switch. Despite her less than stellar box office success, Aniston keeps getting cast in starring roles. The question is whether or not she’ll hit it big at the box office one of these days or not.

Katie Holmes
Remember when Katie Holmes was television's sweetheart? What happened? Sure, it's easy to blame Tom Cruise, but the critical venom spewed at Holmes over the past few years runs deeper. It's her often flat delivery, her seeming lack of range. Winning the Golden Raspberry for "Worst Supporting Actress" in Dark Knight takes its own kind of effort. Unfair? Perhaps, but can you even name one of her movies besides the Batman flick? There was a solid six minutes or so in Wonder Boys, but there was also The Gift, Teaching Mrs. Tingle, Abandon, The Singing Detective, Pieces of April and First Daughter. Yeah, I don't remember those either. Unfortunately for Holmes, her best work to date may not be seen by most of the country, as her take on Jackie Kennedy is still being shopped around after being repressed by The History Channel.

Kevin James
Can you believe King of Queens ran for almost a decade? After movies like Paul Blart: Mall Cop and I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, many of us wished it was still running. But however you feel about James, his schtick is successful at the box office. He's the cuddly buffoon, the fat guy who sucks with the ladies (Hitch), the guy next door you invite over for a beer to watch the game. His everyman appeal lends a certain vulnerability that confounds critics and delights studio execs. For some people, there's still nothing funnier than seeing a fat guy on a Segway.

Katherine Heigl
Heigl appeared in a few movies in the early 1990s, including starring in My Father the Hero. But she subsequently spent many years in television before returning to the big screen. She had starring roles in Roswell, then spent a few years doing television movies before taking another starring role in Grey’s Anatomy, which really made her a household name. But it was her starring role in the movie Knocked Up that cemented her as a movie star. At least until her sometimes superior attitude got in the way, and her choice in starring roles led to movies like Killers and The Ugly Truth, neither of which were terribly successful. Her role on Grey’s Anatomy has ended and her public reputation has been a little tarnished. Heigl hasn’t hit movie stardom quite yet and it’s tough to say whether she will if she, like Aniston, continues taking roles solely in mundane romantic comedies. Heigl’s made a dubious transition to the big screen, but she may hit it big if she learns to keep her mouth shut and pick some more dramatic roles. After all, we know she can do drama from Grey’s Anatomy.

Ashton Kutcher
Kutcher will always be the joker. He created the joker persona on screen with Kelso and solidified it off-screen by producing and hosting Punk'd on MTV. However, Kutcher is much more layered than we might think. It seems that Ashton had more than one transition in his career and he is not ready to stop playing the Hollywood chameleon on and off screen. From model to TV actor then shifting to full-fledged movie star and finally into a successful producer, Kutcher is everywhere. He consolidated his film career with Butterfly Effect, Just Married and What Happens in Vegas, which were three of his most successful films, but these movies came out earlier in his career and his last films were left to be desired. It's true that Kutcher's transition into movies needs a box-office gold but his true success is his transition from Kelso into a Hollywood player.

Kristen Bell
Kristen Bell is one of the lucky ones. She exploded on screen as one of the most beloved characters in the television universe and ended it with a legion of dedicated followers. Veronica Mars is one of the most underrated television series out there and its premature cancellation pushed Bell to make the jump into movies way too soon. Bell was still green and did not have the chance to truly shift and take on more mature roles before she was pushed into film. Her character on Veronica Mars was everything but typical. A great element to have on TV, but it makes the transition into film a bit more difficult. She decided first to explore her comedic side by being the woman in the Judd Apatow crew with Forgetting Sarah Marshall, a role she brought back in Get Him to the Greek. Then, she decided to shake things up and tried the romantic comedy route but the material she chose was not up to par. Whether she takes the dramatic or romantic route, Bell needs to showcase her talent in a box-office success or a critically acclaimed film, something she hasn't had since Forgetting Sarah Marshall.