Vulture has published its ranking of the year's 100 most valuable stars, compiled by comparing their ability to draw money at North American and international box offices, adding critical and public assessments, their tally of awards, the number of mentions on social networking sites and their presence in the media: an exhaustive comparison to bring us to this result.
Robert Downey Jr. heads the 2013 list. Since he plays the hero of one of the most succesful movies from that year, a first place result for 'Iron Man' is logical. Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Sandra Bullock and Brad Pitt make up the rest of the top five, with Jessica Chastain, Benedict Cumberbatch and Carey Mulligan among the new entries.
Nevertheless, ten actors and actresses have slipped off the list compared to last year. What has happened to them, and why are they not as popular as before? Their low box-office performances or the small number of projects have been decisive factors for their slide. Let's review these ten fallen stars:
The Fallen Ten
- Jaden Smith: Will Smith's son has had very little time on the big screen to talk about failure, but it must be said that his father is quite noticeably doing everything possible to turn him into a first-rate actor, whether we like it or not. For now, it is costing him his success. The poor performance of 'After Earth' makes us forget that 'The Karate Kid' wasn't that bad. We preferred the younger Jaden.
- Blake Lively: Without a series to star in, and without a starring role to maintain her status as an important celebrity, Lively is currently undergoing a slump. And she's not having much luck in her attempts: the actress went through the casting process for 'Silver Linings Playbook', 'The Great Gatsby' and 'Gravity', none of which she featured in.
- Gwyneth Paltrow: Though the actress is part of the blockbuster of the year, 'Iron Man 3', she only plays a secondary role. Although her comedy 'Thanks For Sharing' has been a hit for her in the US, it is doubtful that we will see much more of her in Marvel stories, so her future is somewhat uncertain.
- Jim Carrey: It may well turn out that 'Dumb and dumber To' represents a return to form for the actor, but 'The Incredible Burt Wonderstone' was clearly not a success. With this failure and the controversy over his refusal to promote 'Kick-Ass 2', public interest in Carrey is not exactly at its peak.
- Sam Worthington: The star of the highest grossing film in history has gone on to feature in small fry action movies, and his attempt at blockbusters (take 'Wrath of the Titans', for example) have not reached a high enough standard to consider him a box office draw. The sequels to 'Avatar' are his hope of changing that.
- Katherine Heigl: The title of "America's new sweetheart" went to poor Heigl's head, and to her ego too. In the end nothing came of it: her latest romantic comedies have proved a turn-off for audiences' money, forcing her to concentrate on creating a TV series and even trying crowdfunding.
- Gerard Butler: Who would have thought that behind Leonidas was actually hidden Prince Charming? Though he has not gone particularly far with his forays into love stories, he has not made a return to the action genre either. Has be become a one-hit wonder?
- Sacha Baron Cohen: There is no denying that Cohen is finding new opportunities in his career, like appearing in movies as prestigious as 'Les Misérables', but his histrionic creations, 'The Dictator' being the most recent, have lost their blockbuster power, each earning progressively less. Studio executives continue to have faith in him, but it seems the public is having trouble taking him seriously. Without the Freddie Mercury biopic, he would be in an even more difficult position.
- Kate Beckinsale: Beckinsale wanted to become a regular face in action cinema like many others, and has drawn comparison to Milla Jovovich. Nonetheless, while on the one hand she continues to draw audiences with relative success thanks to the 'Resident Evil' series, on the other she has not proved able to choose a film that is a hit in cinemas. Executives have given her the same score as debutante Quvenzhané Wallis, who is only ten years old.
- Keanu Reeves: Reeves is a regular on this kind of list of stars who aim high but don't manage to take off. The actor has been trying to find his place since his last triumph, 'The Matrix'. Some personal troubles have delayed his triumphal return, but consequently viewers have gradually been forgetting about him. Martial arts hasn't been a better choice for him, either.
These are only ten in a range of examples of promising stars failing to shine, or actors experiencing a slow patch in their careers. They have all slipped off this year's list of the most valuable, but we hope they'll be able to return soon. There will be many more examples of fallen stars. Who would you put on the list of the least valuable?