I was on the Gabrielle Union website, when it struck me. Gabrielle was just a supporting character on She's All That, yet she seems to have had better luck with mainstream films than Rachael. Rachael has been more consistant in the amount of films made, but for the most part they have been either straight-to-DVD/video or box office bombs. Gabrielle, while not having been in many mainstream films since SAT, at least has been in films that people go to. I have heard about My First Wedding for many months, but mainly through this website, no other outside source. Out of the blue for the past month or so I have seen a poster and a newspaper spread about Gabrielle Union doing a remake of The Honeymooners.I have nothing against Gabrielle Union, it is just that Rachael is just as talanted as(if not more)Gabrielle,yet Rachael is appearing to be relegated to cult status.
She has done two films with Parker Posey,is she getting career advice from Parker? It seems like Rachael is going down Parker's career route, which is to be in many good quality indies, then do some crappy mainstream films like Scream 3 and Blade:Trinity.

I've never heard of this Gabrielle Union so she can't exactly be mainstream.

I forget that not every actor in America is known to the whole world. Maybe in America, Rachael is a small fish in a big pond. Where as outside of America, Rachael is a much larger fish in a much smaller pond.
BTW, if you have seen She's All That, Gabrielle portrays the taller of the African-American girls, the one really supports Laney. I think Gabrielle's character is the one that is instrumental in Laney's being nominated for Prom Queen.

Cheers - I know who you mean now. Never seen her in anything else that I can remember tho.

You're right about the press coverage tho - we only get told about stars when they actually come over here to promote movies, etc.

There's no doubt.....it would be cool seeing Rachael get into mainstream films more often.....then more people would get to see her...

Maybe Rachael gets into indie films and small series because she has other commitments in her life at the moment.....who knows

perhaps rachael prefers it the way it is right now - as i think parker does. better to do respected indie films than lame big-budget stuff imho - although i expect they pay the bills.
personally i don't regard an actor as being any better purely because they have starred in some blockbuster movie - sandra bullock, julia roberts, catherine zeta jones etc have all done that, and i think they're hopeless.
i don't reckon she lies awake at night dreaming of stardom. just my opinion.

I agree totally - theres a big difference between a good "movie star" and a good actor/actress.

For instance the likes of Will Smith is a huge movie star but an awful actor.

quote:

Originally posted by nina:
i don't reckon she lies awake at night dreaming of stardom. just my opinion.

Rachael has mentioned before that she wants to be an actress, not a star. Even though my first posting was about Gabrielle Union being in more mainstream films than Rachael, not only would I like to see more mainstream films starring Rachael, I would like to see more films starring Gabrielle also. Two other former co-stars of Rachael's, Tara Reid(little talent) and Rosario Dawson(lots of talent), have been in movies that for the most part have been equal to their talent(the exception being Rosario in ALEXANDER). I just hope that if given the chance to be in more mainstream films, Rachael and Gabrielle take take them.

I just saw a movie that John Waers wrote and directed called CECIL B. DEMENTED. It was a satire that basically condemned Hollywood for putting out shlocky films and the viewing public for paying to watch the shlock, therefore enouraging the making of more shlock. I then had an epiphony, maybe it is good that Rachael has been doing more indies than mainstream films. This probably has been obvious to everyone else, but being so infatuated with Rachael, it is frustrating to have to work to see or buy Rachael's films/DVD's. I know wht those of you outside of the USA are thinking,"poor spoiled American, now you know what we have to go through just to watch anything of Rachael's ".

I don't know if this is Rachael's reason or not, but there are a lot of actors who make good money and act for a long time in smaller roles, thus keeping more of their privacy than a huge Hollywood icon would have.

also it may be that rachael is one of those 'unlucky' actors who will never make it into 'mainstream'/big budget films. it does seem to me that hollywood isn't willing to take the chance with someone different these days - the best hope of making it is to be part of some unexpected success - take keira knightley in bend it like beckham who was virtually unheard of before that, and now gets offered major roles in bigger films. so unless something similar happens then sadly rachael might always be that 'indie actress'.
personally i can't quite work it out - for example: parker posey is close to brilliant in many of her roles [best in show, waiting for guffman etc]and still she's hardly known by the masses. ditto rachael in josie and she's all that [even though i have to admit i don't care much for the film]- she seemed to be tettering on the edge of stardom and then...

yep it could quite easily be that she's turned down roles that would have made her more of a success or equally it could be that hollywood doesn't think she's able to carry something with a little more 'meat'. maybe her size and her angelic look [swoon] fool the studios into thinking just that.
at least she does work and she does appear in some interesting films, but nevertheless i'd love to see her make it big and earn the money she deserves - coz there's a hell of a lot in the industry that don't
whatever she'll always have my support - ok so it's just buying her dvds and watching them over and over again - but my heart's in the right place

There is no corelation between talent and popularity in Hollywood. Also, while I think Keira Knightly is quite good, she is not a major star by any means.

In addition, most people go in and out of popularity cycles. Only a select few endure for very long periods.

i wouldn't rate knightley as even average. how would you distinguish between a film star and a major film star?

love actually as of feb' 2004 has grossed $60,000,000 in the USA and £36,000,000 in the UK
pirates of the caribbean as of dec' 2003 has grossed $652,000,000 worldwide
king arthur as of oct' 2004 has grossed $158,000,000 worldwide

since she had major roles in the above i'd say that makes her a major star and a cert [at the moment] at getting 'bums on seats'

i'm not even singing her praises - i really don't think she's that good, but my point is she seems to be liked by many and is being offered more major roles. like i said rachael is not - take the success of she's all that [especially in the USA] and then take a look at the next few movies she starred in - sally, get carter and antitrust - none of them were box office successes by any means. yes it's wrong, but it's a fact.

if rachael does want the success [as in making big bucks] then i'm afraid it's not exactly going all that well. she's a fine actress and adorable, but the fact is she's still relatively unknown - save her 'cult' following of fans with heaps of common sense

hoping that will change very soon

quote:

Originally posted by nina:
like i said rachael is not - take the success of she's all that [especially in the USA] and then take a look at the next few movies she starred in - sally, get carter and antitrust - none of them were box office successes by any means.

Actually Sally went straight to DVD in America.But
you have a good point, Texas Rangers,Get Carter,Antitrust,and Josie and the Pussycats either bombed or had a thin profit margin. Blow Dry did make it to a muliplex here in the Kansas City,MO area but didn't receive good marketing.

I just found out that Gabrielle Union has a pilot that has been picked up called "Night Stalker" it is going to be on Thursdays at 9 P.M. on ABC and her co star will be Stuart Townsand. I only metion this because it may be a hopeful sign that Head Cases will be picked up.If you are interested Night Stalker is simular to X-files except that Stuart and Gabrielle play newspaper reporters, not FBI agents. It is a remake of a '70's series called Kolchek:Night Stalker.

quote:

how would you distinguish between a film star and a major film star?

I would base it on the amount of press coverage they receive vs. the gross profits of their films. By your formula, Kenny Baker would be one of the biggest stars of all time, since he has been in all six Star Wars films and I won't even try to fathom the amount of money those have (and will continue to) grossed over time.

i agree, and that's why knightley is a major star - lots of media coverage and a main player in some very successful films.
kenny baker is neither the star of the star wars films or an attractive, as knightley is to some, young person who is liked by many [including the media] for being just that.

big movies or not, popular or not popular... we still love her just the same, right?

feel sad for saying this, but for now I don't think marrying an unknown actor helped. She seemed to get more press from who she was dating earlier in her career -during its blossem. Only Charlize can pull of being the partner of an unknown actor and still be HUGE.

I think the bombs that came after Shes all that, scared her and her agent and she decided to lay low and progress as an actress with indies (perhaps parker helped her on the indie train after josie?)

One can never say if that path helped or killed her career, because at the time I don't think movie execs were willing to bank on her with their big movies with her poor form of current hits. In another twist she could have landed big successful roles in a row - portman like.

However remember RLC is not in it for the money or fame, and I believe she's had no regrets in her film career...(....well perhaps tempo...)

I just like her to be at least in one very big movie. It's not very funny or easy to tell your friends about her who don't even know her, then counting up 20+x films she participated and all responses are "dunno". So I always have to tell: well, she already shared the screen with main stream actors like Sylvester Stallone and Angelina Jolie in certain movies - ah yes!... to get enjoyable responses.