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Comment by bobdvb | Hacker News Reader

I think I'd disagree with the assertion about Elijah Wood, Deep Impact was a pretty big film and he had a key role in that. He also had many other roles before that in some pretty notable films, especially The Faculty and heck, he was playing alongside Kevin Costner in 1994!

Perhaps I am just old, and a keen film watcher, but I wouldn't describe him as a lesser known actor at that point in his career.

Also, Sean Bean has long been a well known supporting actor. Anna Karenina, Goldeneye, Patriot Games, etc. But I would concede that he's very much more well known in the UK because of his TV roles, especially Sharpe which ran for 7 series. Again, not a lesser known actor if you're playing the bad guy in a Bond film.

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I'm genuinely puzzled by this assumption - that the top talent pool largely begins and ends with the best known actors. I'm not debating their obvious talent but I am confident that the industry limits who gets to be well known. One way is by excluding actors who aren't immensely attractive.

> assumption - that the top talent pool largely begins and ends with the best known actors.

I don’t think anyone is making this assumption, and certainly not me.

What I’m saying is that in a show with such a big budget, not a single actor is well known or even decently known. That’s unusual and not a good sign. It’s possible that this show is unique in that it has all great actors and is not paying a ton for them. Certainly it’s possible.

But try to think of another show with even a moderate budget that was awesome with an entire cast of “unknowns.”

There are some movies, Kids comes to mind with a new director, writer, and stars like a then unknown Rosario Dawson and Chloe Sevingny. But that budget was like $400k and I think if they had had $40M they would have had different actors.

Babylon 5 managed okay with little known actors and mediocre effects.

For people like Elijah Wood, I would say that before he was working. Deep Impact was hokey, The Faculty was essentially a Class of 84/99 retread.

They're alright, but just that.

He was a notable child actor who was trying to transition into more adult roles. I'd say he was known, but not the first person you'd ever think of.

Lord of the Rings changed that. It made him an "actor". From there, he got a lot more work and he was able to influence what he worked on.

Elijah Wood was famous as a child. That doesn't really translate into adult roles.

I mean, seriously, look at Wil Wheaton or that Home Alone kid.

Often child actors (like Wil, for example) don’t actually want to be actors and it’s just overbearing parents making them do it. Naturally, for many of them, as soon as they reach adulthood and gain more control over their lives, they don’t continue a career in acting.

That's possible (although it is entirely possible Wil is misremembering what he said in elementary school to his mother). But I also think it's hard to make the transition. Who did it successfully?

Even Neil Patrick Harris needed a "big break" as an adult to get back into acting.

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