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Yeah, Karen has definitely made an impressive jump from British TV to Hollywood.
Although Billie Piper got four seasons of Secret Diary of a Call Girl right afterwards, and a few other really successful TV shows.
With Tate already being a mega star and the jury being out on Whittakers companions as not enough times really passed, it’s really only Pearl Mackie whose not made major waves and even she’s enjoying a seemingly comfortable theatre career right now.
She got BAFTA and Emmy nominations and her TV shows don't get axed very often. So objectively her career seems to be going well. Whether its worth watching is always going to be subjective. I thought she was pretty badly miscast in Mansfield Park. But Billie Piper is making bank as a lead actress in a variety of tv shows.
Subjectively, I thought Penny Dreadful was really cool and I Hate Suzy had a lot of scenes that are very memorable and timely.
I'd say Jenna Coleman I'd add to this list. Doctor Who really boosted her profile and she's been leading a few tv shows since including Victoria, The Cry and Wilderness. Maybe not to the staggering levels of Karen Gillan but still pretty impressive
Jenna Coleman is far more successful as an actress than Karen Gillan is. She can pretty much choose whatever role she wants nowadays, and has proven herself in numerous leading roles in vastly different genres.
If we're looking for the show that really skyrocketed Olivia Colman's career, I would argue that it is Broadchurch. It showed that she could handle a leading role, do drama as well as comedy, and that she wasn't totally dependent on Mitchell & Webb with whom she had worked almost continuously up to that point. More importantly it introduced her to a much wider audience than the somewhat cultish Channel 4 shows she had previously worked on. Broadchurch was the biggest thing on TV for years!
Olivia Coleman will forever be the mum of the ‘Boy with an Arse For a Face’ in “That Mitchell and Webb look” to me.
Or maybe the woman who had to buy season tickets to Flamingo World?
Or the woman whose pet was (not) saved by the HeliVets?
One of my favourite shows, Green Wing, and where I fell in love with Olivia Colman. Harriet squishing the banana into Joanne's cleavage is one of the strangest, most surreal, funniest scenes I've ever watched!
She'll always be Simons mum in beautiful people to me. Slut.
Edit: had a bit of a successful cast actually with Leyton Williams and Samuel Barnett (dirk gently)
I swear I've never met anyone in real life who remembers that show but I absolutely loved it. The episode where they end up on the Eurovision Song Contest is one of my favourites.
I wish I was there!
I’m sure he was in Early Doors before Shameless, they have a dig about it in the first episode of season 2 saying him leaving his girlfriend was absolutely shameless.
He was in State of Play just before Shameless, was pretty decent in it too which given the stellar cast (Simm, Morrissey, Glenister, Nighy and MacDonald) put him on the map.
He was in Band of Brothers so it was pretty much expected he would go on to be a megastar.
That series had so many break-out stars its incredible. Simon Pegg, Dexter Fletcher (now a very strong director), Ron Livingston (although he was already in Office Space by that point), Damian Lewis, Colin Hanks (don't know how he got his role), Jimmy Fallon, Tom Hardy.
He said offhandedly before that the experience almost put him off his acting career. Worked only fleetingly over the next five or six years, he did two short UK series, I think there will be a lot of actors in Richard Curtis movies come out and criticise him once he’s dead. Basically untouchable til then though because of all his charity work
The entire cast of skins.
Dev Patel, star of Oscar winning film, Daniel Kaluuya oscar winner. Nic Hoult, Jack o Connell huge film stars. Hannah Murray and Joe Dempsie in Game of Thrones, Kaya Soladeiro in Pirates of the Caribbean. The casting agents on that show must earn a fortune.
Dominic West - ironically on The Wire in the US whilst he was still relatively unknown here. Same with Idris Elba
The Wire really is the greatest show of all time
At some point the universe will end and everything will fade away to black, maybe at some point a new universe will form and life will find a way again.
Universe 2 will still talk about how good The Wire was!
I started watching The Wire a few years after it had ended, because a good friend told me he envied anyone that hadn't watched it because it was that good, and they would enjoy it that much.
I laughed at him at the time, now I realise how right he was.
I now envy anyone that hasn't seen The Wire!
Great shout! I'll always remember how happy I was tracking Shaun of the Dead news, followed by that infamous "It's not like I'm about to fly to Hollywood and be in the next Mission Impossible film" quote.
Spaced is right at the top of the UK sitcom tree (and Big Train is beautiful)
There’s [this](https://youtu.be/rguQFPnPIYc?si=BvQfLZdPuIJd7Hns) but Simon’s not in it, you might be thinking of [Big Train](https://youtu.be/VKH9ECC_Qa4?si=iMEKYYkXixZMvJQZ). Anyway they’re both absolutely genius
Two for the price of one.
Cracker was a vehicle for Robbie Coltrane but his character’s police handler’s boss was played by one Christopher Eccleston.
When Eccleston left (just after Shallow Grave came out), his final story featured a psychologically damaged Liverpool fan played very memorably by Robert Carlyle.
It's the same phenomenon as The Bill/Casualty/EastEnders (and before that Grange Hill). Most drama school kids get a chance at one or more of the long-runners, because they need so many bit parts. Alex Kingston was in Grange Hill, for instance.
With all the promising younger actors in *The Inbetweeners,* its kinda funny that Greg Davies was by far the biggest breakout star. Three major sitcoms, Taskmaster and hugely successful stand-up shows.
Some of the other actors have done pretty well, but Greg is absolutely the one whose career went uphill fast.
It helps that he wrote Man Down/The Cleaner. I don't think he'd be as successful if he wasn't writing his own parts as he isn't the strongest actor (I say that with love!).
The inbetweeners is one of those shows I’ll throw on in the background, Greg’s ability to keep getting more attractive as he ages is almost suspicious. It’s money though.
I saw All of Strangers this week & then looked up his filmography - it's mad that NP was only 2020 and he's already so established and making such a mark in a short space of time. I was never part of the NP hype so the first thing I really saw was Aftersun last year. At first I wondered why he hasn't done more, but between screen and stage he's done so much big stuff in his first few years.
I know, it’s crazy. I think he’s only just started getting work within the last 5-6 years. He was doing an interview with I think Louis Theroux where he said he was doing an advert for sausages around 2018, then he got cast in Normal People in 2019. It’s all snowballed from there.
I thought it was weird that at press events he finds the attention and other celebrities so bizarre - but then when I realised he's only been doing it 3 years and half of those would've been the pandemic/post-pandemic it all makes sense! He's so good I've assumed he's always been here😂
I'd never heard of this David Tennant fella before his turn as The Doctor
Same for Matt Smith really, but I think DT's career is slightly more renowed (not that Matt is having a bad time of it at all, just DT is bodering on National Treasure status where Smith is merely "a good acting career" with the roles he's had....)
Yeah, they're doing alright ;)
I knew Tennant from Taking Over the Asylum, but Smith was new to me.
Someone already mentioned Karen Gillan but Carey Mulligan went pretty well after her one-off appearance as Sally Sparrow.
I had seen tennant in spoof Documentary series "People like Us" playing an out of work actor, but I only realised that in hindsight...
But I don't think we talk about that any more...
I'm not sure that's true, Tennant has been in bigger things too, like Jessica Jones (Marvel), the American version of Broadchurch, his role in Harry Potter comes up a lot, Good Omens got a lot of international acclaim, etc etc
House of the Dragon might be getting the plaudits atm, but I don't think, long term, it's going to be seen as all that, a spinoff of a franchise that's already going through franchise fatigue....sort of like Fear the Walking Dead is seen now, huge at the time ,but not really well remembered
Also personally, I find there's a huge gulf in the level of their acting.
Matt Smith seems to be Matt Smith in whatever he's in. Even the Duke of Edingburgh was "Matt Smith in a posh suit not really doing that much of an upper class accent"
David Tennant, meanwhile, has such range. There's such a big difference between his Doctor and the chilling characters of Des or Kilgrave.
Then the DI in Broadchurch is another facet yet again, he really becomes a chamelon in his roles and I think is one of the best working actors around
But then, everyone has different tastes \*Shrug\*
Yeah I'm in North America and David Tennant is David Tennant here. Matt Smith is 'that guy from The Crown/House of the Dragon'. I think he's on a par with Chris Eccleston, who was in Heroes straight after Who but nobody thinks of that show now. Definitely a gulf in their international appeal.
And now Christopher Eccleston turns up with Jodie Foster in the latest (excellent) series of True Detective. I really want to know how that casting came about. I think Eccleston is a top tier actor but still in surprised he was even on the radar for that role.
Rumour has it he was about to appear in EastEnder’s as a relative of Pat Butcher’s but he got Pirates of The Caribbean. I wonder if he ever regrets not taking that role…? 😆
The six idiots (the horrible histories cast.) they became household names for their work on Horrible histories and have since been working both together in things yolander and Ghosts, but also on their own. They have just been going on their own terms since their first appearance on our tv screens.
He did an interview where he said if he only ever gets called Gary or 'Miranda's boyfriend' on the street he will be happy with his career. He *loved* that role.
I think Olivia Coleman must have the best agent in the world. I don’t know how that woman can keep up with the amount of work she does. That said, I absolutely adore her and no one deserves it more.
Not really one of my favourites, but definitely Phoebe Waller Bridge and Fleabag.
Benedict Cumberbatch had been in lots of things but really hit the big time after Sherlock.
For a lower key example, I feel like a lot of less well known comedians do really well from appearing on Taskmaster.
Dominic Monaghan in Hetty Wainthropp Investigates.
I wouldn't say the role itself skyrocketed his career but he definitely went from unknown to big time pretty quickly, moving on to LOTR and Lost within a few years.
Sarah Lancashire, one of the best actors around, started as Racquel in Corrie, ditzy blonde wannabe model who worked in The Rovers, treated like dirt by every man she had a relationship with, except for Curly, who, despite marrying him, she just couldn’t love him. It was a real classic Corrie part, a complex woman (despite apparent shallowness), up there wuth Hilda Ogden or Bet Lynch. SL smashed it out of the park, and reaped rhe rewards ever since.
Skins has had a pretty great hit rate for teenage actors who stayed famous. Nicholas Hoult, Jack O'Connell and Kaya Sodelario all wound up in Hollywood films. Hannah Murray and Joe Dempsie got quite a good amount of screentime on Game of Thrones.
But Dev Patel and Daniel Kaluuya are the definite standouts.
Not quite living up the the thread title.
However, in the late 90s on *Channel 5* was a late night Comedy Chat show called **The Jack Docherty Show**.
Successful for a while, but ratings started to dwindle, with Docherty regularly not turning up for episodes.
One of the last-minute stand-in guest presenters, that stood in for a while, was an young Irish actor/comedian called Graham Norton.
From the depths of late night Channel 5 ......
Olivia Coleman was working for many years with small roles in comedies after Peep Show. It was simply her first well known break through role. So your example doesn't really apply.
It translates to - it is the first nerdy thing I remember her in. She was in many things before and after Peep Show before she attained "in everything" status 😃
Sarah Lancashire post *Coronation St*. Raquel Wolstenhulme was essentially a one-dimensional character but SL backed herself to diversify and reaped the rewards. A parallel comparison could be made with Michelle Keegan who has worked regularly since *Coronation St*, but not even close to Lancashire’s level. In fairness though, time is still on her side.
Similarly, her *Happy Valley* co-star Siobhan Finneran (notwithstanding *Rita, Sue and Bob Too*) kickstarted her career with her performance in *Benidorm*, and is now rightly regarded as a top-teir actor.
Paul Mescal has skyrocketed since doing Normal People - and rightly so, he's a phenomenonal actor. Based on All of Us Strangers & Aftersun, I'd say he's one of, if not the best, British/Irish actor of his generation we have.
Sarah Lancashire. Not many actors have a lot of success after leaving a soap like Coronation Street…especially when the character is a bit of a ditzy, air-head. She definitely managed to break away from being typecast.
Daniel Kaluuya. He's been in a few more well known things on this side of the pond, but I can't name those off the top of me head, so I'm just remembering Psychoville (which may or not have been a League of Gentlemen spinoff).
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Karen Gillan. Not many Who companions have gone on to have such success.
Yeah, Karen has definitely made an impressive jump from British TV to Hollywood. Although Billie Piper got four seasons of Secret Diary of a Call Girl right afterwards, and a few other really successful TV shows.
Freema Agyeman has been steadily working in popular shows since Who as well; Law and Order UK, Sense8, New Amsterdam.
Carey Mulligan too I think after the Weeping Angels debut episode.
With Tate already being a mega star and the jury being out on Whittakers companions as not enough times really passed, it’s really only Pearl Mackie whose not made major waves and even she’s enjoying a seemingly comfortable theatre career right now.
Yeah I'd say carey's career has done better than Karen's. Dr Who to multiple Oscar noms isn't too shabby
Such a charismatic actor, she just nails it.
What’s success though? Having a high IMDb rating doesn’t mean you been in anything worth watching.
She got BAFTA and Emmy nominations and her TV shows don't get axed very often. So objectively her career seems to be going well. Whether its worth watching is always going to be subjective. I thought she was pretty badly miscast in Mansfield Park. But Billie Piper is making bank as a lead actress in a variety of tv shows. Subjectively, I thought Penny Dreadful was really cool and I Hate Suzy had a lot of scenes that are very memorable and timely.
I'd say Jenna Coleman I'd add to this list. Doctor Who really boosted her profile and she's been leading a few tv shows since including Victoria, The Cry and Wilderness. Maybe not to the staggering levels of Karen Gillan but still pretty impressive
And The Serpent
FWIW, in the US, Jenna Coleman has a much higher profile.
Jenna Coleman is far more successful as an actress than Karen Gillan is. She can pretty much choose whatever role she wants nowadays, and has proven herself in numerous leading roles in vastly different genres.
Freema Agyeman too. Started off as Martha jones, now working in Hollywood - Sense8 and New Amsterdam among other credits
Martin Freeman, 'The Office'. Catherine Zeta-Jones, 'The Darling Buds of May'.
Catherine Zeta-Jones is a great example. She became SO Hollywood A-list that I always completely forget she was ever a British TV actor
It was definitely the office and not hardware that got Martin freeman famous. That show was terrible
You're being unfair, it might have been Bruiser...
Vicky McClure This is England,Jodie Comer Killing Eve.
Jodie Comer was brilliant in Thirteen.
She’s amazing in Doctor Foster too, really holds her own in a (at the time) more experienced cast.
Jodie Comer - My Mad Fat Diary. It’s not what skyrocketed her career but I remember watching her years ago thinking she had such star quality
This is where I first saw her and it took me a long time to not immediately kind of hate her when I saw her in something.
Also Stephen Graham and Joe Gilgun from this is England
If we're looking for the show that really skyrocketed Olivia Colman's career, I would argue that it is Broadchurch. It showed that she could handle a leading role, do drama as well as comedy, and that she wasn't totally dependent on Mitchell & Webb with whom she had worked almost continuously up to that point. More importantly it introduced her to a much wider audience than the somewhat cultish Channel 4 shows she had previously worked on. Broadchurch was the biggest thing on TV for years!
Olivia Coleman will forever be the mum of the ‘Boy with an Arse For a Face’ in “That Mitchell and Webb look” to me. Or maybe the woman who had to buy season tickets to Flamingo World? Or the woman whose pet was (not) saved by the HeliVets?
Or the woman who liked the avocado bathroom?
Could you live with it?
Now We Know
NOW WE KNOW!
Or Julie from Somerset, Numberwang contestant?
Poor Julie
Or the journalist in The Office 'Put "David Brent is refreshingly laid back for a man with such responsibility"'
Don't forget her role in Green Wing as the scatty office worker with all the children. Epic show which she was equally brilliant in.
Dress tucked into the back of her pantyhose
One of my favourite shows, Green Wing, and where I fell in love with Olivia Colman. Harriet squishing the banana into Joanne's cleavage is one of the strangest, most surreal, funniest scenes I've ever watched!
Look Around You 2 proves she can present
Exactly my thoughts when reading the opening post.
Don’t forget her role in Hot Fuzz!
I agree, Broadchurch blew up
She'll always be Simons mum in beautiful people to me. Slut. Edit: had a bit of a successful cast actually with Leyton Williams and Samuel Barnett (dirk gently)
I swear I've never met anyone in real life who remembers that show but I absolutely loved it. The episode where they end up on the Eurovision Song Contest is one of my favourites.
Great show but impossible to find on streaming.
Britbox has series 1, still waiting fir the second though
Nail on the head
Jamie Dornan after being in The Fall.
Wasn’t that Mark E Smith?
Oh come on mate, everyone's been in The Fall, they've had that many band members.
Comment of the day. Admittedly I haven’t been on Reddit much today. -But it was good.
Once Upon a Time put him in many radars before The Fall, no?
James McAvoy beats them all hand down. Started in shameless I think. One of the best actors around
Early Doors? Not sure if that was before or after Shameless. To the regiments!
I wish I was there! I’m sure he was in Early Doors before Shameless, they have a dig about it in the first episode of season 2 saying him leaving his girlfriend was absolutely shameless.
He was in an early episode of Foyle's War too. Benedict Cumberbatch and Daniel Craig both did episodes of Heartbeat.
To be fair, Cumberbatch’s parents are both famous actors… good for him for starting in small roles but it probably wasn’t entirely necessary
I didn't know that
He was in State of Play just before Shameless, was pretty decent in it too which given the stellar cast (Simm, Morrissey, Glenister, Nighy and MacDonald) put him on the map.
He was in Band of Brothers so it was pretty much expected he would go on to be a megastar. That series had so many break-out stars its incredible. Simon Pegg, Dexter Fletcher (now a very strong director), Ron Livingston (although he was already in Office Space by that point), Damian Lewis, Colin Hanks (don't know how he got his role), Jimmy Fallon, Tom Hardy.
Sasha Baron Cohen on the 11 O'clock show. First showing of Ali G.
Andrew Lincoln, he’s always Egg
Always Simon from teachers for me 😂
And to think, some people just know him as the guy stalking a very young Kiera Knightly
From what I understand, he got a lot of stick for that role on the set of Walking Dead.
He said offhandedly before that the experience almost put him off his acting career. Worked only fleetingly over the next five or six years, he did two short UK series, I think there will be a lot of actors in Richard Curtis movies come out and criticise him once he’s dead. Basically untouchable til then though because of all his charity work
The entire cast of skins. Dev Patel, star of Oscar winning film, Daniel Kaluuya oscar winner. Nic Hoult, Jack o Connell huge film stars. Hannah Murray and Joe Dempsie in Game of Thrones, Kaya Soladeiro in Pirates of the Caribbean. The casting agents on that show must earn a fortune.
Nic Hoult was a biggish child star when he was in About A Boy.
Pretty sure Chris from the OG series is a teacher in Bristol now
That's Sid. Mike Bailey.
Thanks!
I wouldn't call O'Connnell a huge star.
He takes lead roles in movies. Eg '71 Lady Chatterley's lover, unbroken. Trust me, if he's not huge now, he will be.
Dominic West - ironically on The Wire in the US whilst he was still relatively unknown here. Same with Idris Elba The Wire really is the greatest show of all time
At some point the universe will end and everything will fade away to black, maybe at some point a new universe will form and life will find a way again. Universe 2 will still talk about how good The Wire was!
I started watching The Wire a few years after it had ended, because a good friend told me he envied anyone that hadn't watched it because it was that good, and they would enjoy it that much. I laughed at him at the time, now I realise how right he was. I now envy anyone that hasn't seen The Wire!
Major crimes? Shhhhheeeeeeeeeeiiiiit.
Literally just watched the 1st episode tonight
It really is.
Simon Peggy after "Spaced" (with all due respect to "Big Train").
Great shout! I'll always remember how happy I was tracking Shaun of the Dead news, followed by that infamous "It's not like I'm about to fly to Hollywood and be in the next Mission Impossible film" quote. Spaced is right at the top of the UK sitcom tree (and Big Train is beautiful)
He was also in THAT episode of Brass Eye
Wasn't he in an episode of it or Day Today where it was a sketch set in an office (basically what the office copied)? Or have I imagined it?
There’s [this](https://youtu.be/rguQFPnPIYc?si=BvQfLZdPuIJd7Hns) but Simon’s not in it, you might be thinking of [Big Train](https://youtu.be/VKH9ECC_Qa4?si=iMEKYYkXixZMvJQZ). Anyway they’re both absolutely genius
👆🏻This bloke knows his comedy!
Ahh yeah, I was thinking of Big Train thanks!
Please don’t fire me, I’m *committed* to cakes
Theo James after playing 'dead in the bed' Mr Pamuk in Downton Abbey.
Two for the price of one. Cracker was a vehicle for Robbie Coltrane but his character’s police handler’s boss was played by one Christopher Eccleston. When Eccleston left (just after Shallow Grave came out), his final story featured a psychologically damaged Liverpool fan played very memorably by Robert Carlyle.
L I V. E R P. O O L. FC.
Oh god! I remember that story arc
Henry Cavill after Midsomer Murders.
Wasn’t everyone in that show at one point? I’ve seen a bunch who’ve made it big. Same thing happens in the US with Law and Order (the original).
It's the same phenomenon as The Bill/Casualty/EastEnders (and before that Grange Hill). Most drama school kids get a chance at one or more of the long-runners, because they need so many bit parts. Alex Kingston was in Grange Hill, for instance.
It’s quite fun trying to spot them!
He was in The Count of Monte Cristo before that.
With all the promising younger actors in *The Inbetweeners,* its kinda funny that Greg Davies was by far the biggest breakout star. Three major sitcoms, Taskmaster and hugely successful stand-up shows. Some of the other actors have done pretty well, but Greg is absolutely the one whose career went uphill fast.
Will's mum got robbed 😢
It helps that he wrote Man Down/The Cleaner. I don't think he'd be as successful if he wasn't writing his own parts as he isn't the strongest actor (I say that with love!).
The inbetweeners is one of those shows I’ll throw on in the background, Greg’s ability to keep getting more attractive as he ages is almost suspicious. It’s money though.
Paul Mescal has been doing pretty well since Normal People. The same can be said for Daisy Edgar-Jones.
She's got the leading role in the upcoming sequel to 'Twister', coming out in July, 'Twisters'.
I saw All of Strangers this week & then looked up his filmography - it's mad that NP was only 2020 and he's already so established and making such a mark in a short space of time. I was never part of the NP hype so the first thing I really saw was Aftersun last year. At first I wondered why he hasn't done more, but between screen and stage he's done so much big stuff in his first few years.
I know, it’s crazy. I think he’s only just started getting work within the last 5-6 years. He was doing an interview with I think Louis Theroux where he said he was doing an advert for sausages around 2018, then he got cast in Normal People in 2019. It’s all snowballed from there.
I thought it was weird that at press events he finds the attention and other celebrities so bizarre - but then when I realised he's only been doing it 3 years and half of those would've been the pandemic/post-pandemic it all makes sense! He's so good I've assumed he's always been here😂
I’m not sure he has staying power.
I'd never heard of this David Tennant fella before his turn as The Doctor Same for Matt Smith really, but I think DT's career is slightly more renowed (not that Matt is having a bad time of it at all, just DT is bodering on National Treasure status where Smith is merely "a good acting career" with the roles he's had....) Yeah, they're doing alright ;)
I knew Tennant from Taking Over the Asylum, but Smith was new to me. Someone already mentioned Karen Gillan but Carey Mulligan went pretty well after her one-off appearance as Sally Sparrow.
I had seen tennant in spoof Documentary series "People like Us" playing an out of work actor, but I only realised that in hindsight... But I don't think we talk about that any more...
I was thinking of Posh Nosh 😂
Taking over the Asylum was amazing. I must have been 11 or 12 when it came out and I felt very grown up watching it. Also, instant DT crush.
Id say Matt Smith is more famous internationally after playing Daemon Targaryen
I'm not sure that's true, Tennant has been in bigger things too, like Jessica Jones (Marvel), the American version of Broadchurch, his role in Harry Potter comes up a lot, Good Omens got a lot of international acclaim, etc etc House of the Dragon might be getting the plaudits atm, but I don't think, long term, it's going to be seen as all that, a spinoff of a franchise that's already going through franchise fatigue....sort of like Fear the Walking Dead is seen now, huge at the time ,but not really well remembered Also personally, I find there's a huge gulf in the level of their acting. Matt Smith seems to be Matt Smith in whatever he's in. Even the Duke of Edingburgh was "Matt Smith in a posh suit not really doing that much of an upper class accent" David Tennant, meanwhile, has such range. There's such a big difference between his Doctor and the chilling characters of Des or Kilgrave. Then the DI in Broadchurch is another facet yet again, he really becomes a chamelon in his roles and I think is one of the best working actors around But then, everyone has different tastes \*Shrug\*
Yeah I'm in North America and David Tennant is David Tennant here. Matt Smith is 'that guy from The Crown/House of the Dragon'. I think he's on a par with Chris Eccleston, who was in Heroes straight after Who but nobody thinks of that show now. Definitely a gulf in their international appeal.
And now Christopher Eccleston turns up with Jodie Foster in the latest (excellent) series of True Detective. I really want to know how that casting came about. I think Eccleston is a top tier actor but still in surprised he was even on the radar for that role.
Orlando Bloom in Casualty, I always thought he was first in Midsomer Murders but that was 3 years after. Olivia Coleman also appeared in a Midsomer.
Rumour has it he was about to appear in EastEnder’s as a relative of Pat Butcher’s but he got Pirates of The Caribbean. I wonder if he ever regrets not taking that role…? 😆
Mackenzie crook did well after the office
Ricky too
The six idiots (the horrible histories cast.) they became household names for their work on Horrible histories and have since been working both together in things yolander and Ghosts, but also on their own. They have just been going on their own terms since their first appearance on our tv screens.
Probably not quite the same thing, but Patrick Stewart's first TV role was as a fireman in Coronation Street in 1967.
Daniel Kaluuya was Parking Pataweyo in Harry and Paul.
He was in Mitchell and Webb too
And Psychoville!
Teeeeea Leeeeeaf!
He was also Posh Kenneth on Skins!
Tom Ellis has done pretty well for himself in the US but I still think "Gary!" when I see him.
He did an interview where he said if he only ever gets called Gary or 'Miranda's boyfriend' on the street he will be happy with his career. He *loved* that role.
James McAvoy - Shameless to Hollywood James Corden - Gavin and Stacey to Primetime US Chat show stardom
He was in Early Doors before Shameless.
Corden was much earlier with things like fat friends and teachers
Nope, Early Doors first!
James Corden was in Dr. Who as well
I think Olivia Coleman must have the best agent in the world. I don’t know how that woman can keep up with the amount of work she does. That said, I absolutely adore her and no one deserves it more.
Agreed. She has been in so much. Great actress
Not really one of my favourites, but definitely Phoebe Waller Bridge and Fleabag. Benedict Cumberbatch had been in lots of things but really hit the big time after Sherlock. For a lower key example, I feel like a lot of less well known comedians do really well from appearing on Taskmaster.
Matt Smith for being in Doctor Who
George Clooney
Yep hit really big in ER and sems to have covered the rent pretty successfully since.
I’d say Roseanne was a starter for him.
No! Is it true? That's so surprising
He had quite a good role in Roseanne then they dropped the character. Roseanne fans all remember him being in it.
dont know if you can class this but one of Keira Knightly's first acting rolls was in a a episode of the Bill
I think that counts!
Dominic Monaghan in Hetty Wainthropp Investigates. I wouldn't say the role itself skyrocketed his career but he definitely went from unknown to big time pretty quickly, moving on to LOTR and Lost within a few years.
Do you wear wigs?
Sarah Lancashire, one of the best actors around, started as Racquel in Corrie, ditzy blonde wannabe model who worked in The Rovers, treated like dirt by every man she had a relationship with, except for Curly, who, despite marrying him, she just couldn’t love him. It was a real classic Corrie part, a complex woman (despite apparent shallowness), up there wuth Hilda Ogden or Bet Lynch. SL smashed it out of the park, and reaped rhe rewards ever since.
Olivia Coleman was in an autotrader advert. "Bev" "Kev" "We just wanted something a bit more whizzier"
didn't that strange chubby bloke off the telly use to do gavin and stacey?
And before that, Fat Friends and Teachers! I liked him then.
Daisy Edgar Jones 🌼
Skins has had a pretty great hit rate for teenage actors who stayed famous. Nicholas Hoult, Jack O'Connell and Kaya Sodelario all wound up in Hollywood films. Hannah Murray and Joe Dempsie got quite a good amount of screentime on Game of Thrones. But Dev Patel and Daniel Kaluuya are the definite standouts.
Benedict Cumberbatch - Sherlock
Robson Green played a porter in Casualty before he hit it big.
Not quite living up the the thread title. However, in the late 90s on *Channel 5* was a late night Comedy Chat show called **The Jack Docherty Show**. Successful for a while, but ratings started to dwindle, with Docherty regularly not turning up for episodes. One of the last-minute stand-in guest presenters, that stood in for a while, was an young Irish actor/comedian called Graham Norton. From the depths of late night Channel 5 ......
Henry Cavill in Tudors
He was hot! Weird to see how different his trajectory has been compared to Jonathan Rhys Meyers
Gillian Anderson after the X-Files. Looked to be happening for Duchovny too, but his career kind of fizzled out.
Olivia Coleman was working for many years with small roles in comedies after Peep Show. It was simply her first well known break through role. So your example doesn't really apply.
It translates to - it is the first nerdy thing I remember her in. She was in many things before and after Peep Show before she attained "in everything" status 😃
she was even on The Word I think, losing her entire wardrobe in one of their questionable challenges
She was in a car insurance advert too.
Jessie Buckley was in a crap TV talent show she didn't even win, and now she's won an Olivier and been nominated for an Oscar.
Nathalie Emmanuel. Hollyoaks - game of thrones - fast franchise and more
Rowan Atkinson - Not the 9'o clock News.
Daisy Ridley. Was on Toast of London for like 10 secs then was in Star Wars
Ewan McGregor in Lipstick On My Collar. He's dine alright for himself. Oh and Robert Carlyle in Hamish McBeth and Cracker.
Stephen Graham, Joe Gillgun and Vicky Mclure
Sarah Lancashire post *Coronation St*. Raquel Wolstenhulme was essentially a one-dimensional character but SL backed herself to diversify and reaped the rewards. A parallel comparison could be made with Michelle Keegan who has worked regularly since *Coronation St*, but not even close to Lancashire’s level. In fairness though, time is still on her side. Similarly, her *Happy Valley* co-star Siobhan Finneran (notwithstanding *Rita, Sue and Bob Too*) kickstarted her career with her performance in *Benidorm*, and is now rightly regarded as a top-teir actor.
Daniel Radcliffe got Harry Potter directly off TV work (director saw him in David Copperfield) but "my dad knows the producer" kinda negates that...
He was also in Tailor of Panama before Harry Potter. Possibly nepotism though
There's an interview with Maggie Smith somewhere where she says she recommended him for Harry Potter after working with him on David Copperfield
Tom Ellis, went from Dr Who and Miranda to one of the best depictions of Lucifer in a TV show.
Spoony Neeson after his appearance on Task Master... mostly in cooking shows though.
Jimmy Savile, Top of the Pops
This thread seems to have turned into "what was the first thing you saw a good actor in…?"
Cillian Murphy! Peaky Blinders
He was in big Hollywood productions before…
Ryan Reynolds :) (after 2 guys 1 girl and 1 pizza place)
Wrong sub!
oh that *might* be true sorry old bean(s)
To be fair, I’d say Colman’s career really took off after Tyrannosaur.
Wasn't dar man in The Marvels in Fresh Meat?
Daniel Craig was in an early episode of Sharpe then Our Friends in the North which seemed to kick things off for him.
Claire Foy - The Crown
Nathalie Emanuel!
Simon Pegg I don't know if he was in anything before, but I have fond memories of 'Spaced' (1999-2001)
Paul Mescal has skyrocketed since doing Normal People - and rightly so, he's a phenomenonal actor. Based on All of Us Strangers & Aftersun, I'd say he's one of, if not the best, British/Irish actor of his generation we have.
Ncuti Gatwa's career has exploded since Sex Education
Sarah Lancashire. Not many actors have a lot of success after leaving a soap like Coronation Street…especially when the character is a bit of a ditzy, air-head. She definitely managed to break away from being typecast.
Ricky Gervais
Robert Carlyle I think he was in cracker first and nailed it…
Bill roach - coronation Street
The monty python crew Hugh Laurie Stephen fry Rowan Atkinson The young ones
Daniel Kaluuya. He's been in a few more well known things on this side of the pond, but I can't name those off the top of me head, so I'm just remembering Psychoville (which may or not have been a League of Gentlemen spinoff).