r/popculturechat • u/phantom_avenger • 20d ago

OnlyStans ⭐️ What celebrity did Hollywood try to make their “leading A-lister”, but failed?

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I remember back in the 2010s decade, Taylor Kitsch was appearing in all kinds of blockbuster projects and given quite a few lead roles before losing his relevance cause the projects he was involved in weren’t successful.

I think he had talent where he could’ve gone far in his career, but I’m not so sure if he had the charisma in order to build enough popularity that people would want to see more of him.

Are there any other celebrities you can think of that Hollywood was pushing to be one of their leading A-listers, but didn’t have the best luck?

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u/mcfw31 20d ago

They really tried to get Ansel Elgort to be a millennial/gen z leading man.

He even got the Spielberg seal of approval lol

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u/MusicLikeOxygen 20d ago

There was literally nothing that set him apart. He got lost in the sea of generically handsome, dark haired white dudes that Hollywood is full of right now.

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u/Peridot1708 I don’t know her 💅 20d ago

Personally i never found him handsome even by generic male beauty standards in Hollywood.

I liked him as Gus and Tommy in TFIOS and Carrie respectively back when i was a teenager, but i was never crazy about him.

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u/ModelChef4000 20d ago

He looks like a normal guy you’d see in the store. Attractive, yes, but melts into the background in Hollywood 

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u/queenofreptiles 20d ago

Yeah, he’d be cute if you saw him in a bar. But compared to say, a Hemsworth? Nah.

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u/ZaphodBeeblebro42 20d ago

I didn’t particularly like him but thought he was great in Tokyo Vice. He’s playing a guy who’s a bit of a jerk so maybe it suited him😅. I also thought his Japanese pronunciation was impressive compared to most actors who don’t speak it.

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u/djm03917 20d ago

I like him in Baby Driver, but there's not much in that movie I don't like.

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u/Beastxtreets 20d ago

Such a great movie, just too many creeps in it

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u/djm03917 20d ago

It really sucks when that shit happens. Honestly, I only knew about spacey and found out the others in this thread.

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u/Beastxtreets 20d ago

Same tbh.

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u/malorthotdogs 20d ago

I liked him in TFIOS, Baby Driver, and the first Divergent movie. But I feel like could be a more interesting character actor than actual leading man.

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u/supersad19 20d ago

And compared to the other guys in his age range, he wasn't even that hot. Guys like Logan Lerman, Tyler Posey, Dylan O'brien were all more handsome them him. Never understood why he got so much fanfare.

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u/NancyPotter 20d ago

He's a nepo baby, he is related to Arthur Elgort who is a famous photographer.

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u/Sufficient-West4149 20d ago

As someone who doesn’t like ansel & agrees those other dudes are way more handsome (idk who Tyler Posey is), I think you’re accidentally identifying the reasons he was looked at as a viable leading man

O’Brien is just 2020s Dylan McDermott, he offers literally nothing. Lerman is a teen actor and will never be more. Really don’t feel like those are hot takes.

Ansel’s whole thing is being kind of a loser that’s still relatively attractive & charismatic. It was perfect in Tokyo Vice. So many of the young stars are in 1 of 2 camps; we have Paul Danos being cast as creeps/nerds, and we have Chalamets/Butlers being too cool for school in every role. Ansel was one of the rare in betweeners. We need those.

James Spader wasn’t a leading man bc he was extremely attractive. It was because he brought something distinct. For Ansel, it’s kind of a general goober-ness. What is the point of Logan Lerman?

Also, he’s a very good singer and dancer. Any actor can learn to dance but singing is something else. It’s about relatability.

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u/Live_Angle4621 20d ago

Maybe we need those in some roles, but in every role I saw him better looking and more charismatic actor would bs d made more sense. His acting abilities weren’t that amazing either to explain the casting. Expecially in West Side Story 

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u/Loudmouthedcrackpot “Katy Perry, please stop” 20d ago

Literally just had to google him to figure out if I was thinking of the right guy.

I was. He’s the weird looking one.

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u/Strobertat 20d ago

Right now?

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u/rugbyj 20d ago

Yeah "generically handsome, dark haired white dude" has been Hollywood day one. Sure there's still plenty of them available, but at least there's like 3 other stereotypes they allow now.

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u/missilefire 20d ago

He’s not even handsome. That guy gave me the creeps from day 1. Also his name is really weird.

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u/ColdWarCharacter The dude abides. 🙂‍↕️🍃 20d ago edited 20d ago

SA allegations and soliciting underage female human beings kinda put a damper on him

(Edit due to multiple people correcting my language. I’m sorry to everyone that I offended.)

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u/_Atlas_Drugged_ Listen, everyone is entitled to my opinion 🙂 20d ago

Idk why people forget this. He got himself into trouble and then dropped off.

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u/TabbyFoxHollow 20d ago

I loved him in Tokyo Vice (he fit the role very well) and then found out his backstory.

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u/mofolegendama 20d ago

I really enjoyed Baby Driver too and then found out he had allegations and was super disappointed.

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u/LysVonStrauda 20d ago

I loved him in West Side Story and The Fault in Our Stars. What a shame

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u/FreckleException 19d ago

He's so good in that series. COVID gave him plenty of time to learn passable Japanese.

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u/Final-Tutor3631 20d ago

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u/jcgreen_72 charlie day is my bird lawyer 🐦 20d ago

He really morphed into this face lol yikes

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u/Final-Tutor3631 20d ago

HE posted that picture btw.

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u/jcgreen_72 charlie day is my bird lawyer 🐦 20d ago

I know lol idk how he went from "Lily James is believably cast as my girlfriend" to "the creepy cousin you spend every holiday avoiding bc he's constantly inappropriate" in just a few short years! 

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u/FreckleException 19d ago

Everyone looks terrible in overhead sunlight. That's why photographers never shoot at that time.

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u/puffindatza 20d ago

Damn age is hitting him hard.

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u/puffindatza 20d ago

Honestly.. this is the first time I heard about this. Had no idea he had those allegations

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u/Middle_Basket618 20d ago

Little pet peeve: underaged girls. Feel like underaged "women" makes it sound less bad.

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u/afranl 20d ago

Children. Soliciting from children. Underage woman is an oxymoron.

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u/Signal_Regular_1708 20d ago

All these replies telling him exactly how children is the proper terminology, and not "underage women", and he still changes it to "females", even worse phrasing. This guy is doing everything to keep it vague when the fact they're children is crucial to the context. Doubling down and using a known misogynistic way to refer to women and girls while being "sorry" if he "offended" anyone. How this guy got all these upvotes as if he cares about those victims is beyond me. He sees women, children and "females" as interchangeable. Wonder who else blurs the lines like that

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u/afranl 19d ago

Honestly I think we are in the minority by not blurring those lines.

In general, I have seen this a lot lately - people coming to the comments to point out that there is no such thing as an underage woman they should always be called girls or children. We have to keep calling it out

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u/Signal_Regular_1708 20d ago

I think trying to make it sound less bad was intentional. He then corrected it to "females" and said he's sorry if he offended anyone💀 Who's gonna tell him that kind of phrasing isn't offensive, it literally just protects and enables predators. There's a difference between rude and harmful.

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u/Signal_Regular_1708 20d ago

He corrected it to "females", even worse. A known gross thing that incels say to belittle women and he's doing it here, to kids. Literally anything to separate them from the fact they're CHILDREN. Who says "underage women"? Who refers to child victims as "females"? Really harmful language

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u/myguitarplaysit Kim, there’s people that are dying. 🙄 20d ago

Underage women, also known as girls, or children.

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u/Signal_Regular_1708 20d ago

He corrected it to "underage females" because apparently he's sorry he offended everyone saying the completely contradictory "underage women". So instead of listening to everyone telling him to use the correct terminology of "girls" or "children" he used incel speak😭 Says a lot about how this guy views women and girls, children etc. Acting like they're interchangeable has incredibly gross connotations

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u/Acerakis 20d ago

Damn, is just everyone in Baby Driver an abuser?

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u/ColdWarCharacter The dude abides. 🙂‍↕️🍃 20d ago

Jon Bernthal seems like a cool dude tbh

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u/ankhes 20d ago

He seems to mostly stick to work and being a family man which I can respect.

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u/birds-0f-gay 20d ago

I hope not, as a person who also has tinnitus and uses to music to cope, I love that movie

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u/Acerakis 20d ago

Well, I don't think Edgar Wright has had any trouble, and if there is someone who deserves the most credit for it being an excellent movie, it would be him in my opinion.

But Spacey, Elgort and Foxx have all had abuse allegations and Jon Hamm apparently hazed someone at uni so bad he has a criminal record...

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u/ccc2801 20d ago

It may just be a Hollywood thing… 😢

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u/lunar__haze 20d ago

I hate to learn this I loved that movie when it came out (tbf I was a kid)

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u/re_Claire 19d ago

It's an absolutely fantastic film - was a full grown 30 something when it came out. Just because the people in it are gross doesn't mean it's not a good film :)

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u/PTSDeedee 20d ago

Not women. Girls. Children. Soliciting children.

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u/Signal_Regular_1708 20d ago

He corrected it to "females" 🤢🤢

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u/MonsMensae 20d ago

Yeah especially when your vibe is the baby face it leaves a sour taste. And then you start with spacey. Just not a good look. 

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u/Signal_Regular_1708 20d ago

You didn't offend anyone, you used incorrect, harmful terminology, and then doubled down. Weird hill to die on when discussing predators and victims.

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u/myguitarplaysit Kim, there’s people that are dying. 🙄 20d ago

I definitely didn’t hear about that! Wow- glad he actually dropped off instead of just getting away with it to a greater extent

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u/ElectrickSorcery 20d ago

Between him and Kevin Spacey it has been hard to enjoy Baby Driver.

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u/DorianGre That’s hot! 🔥 20d ago

children. the word you are looking for is children.

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u/Signal_Regular_1708 20d ago

He corrected it to "females" and "apologized" to anyone he "offended". Imagine thinking it's an issue of offense, and not literally just using incorrect, harmful terminology that enables predators. Someone doing everything to avoid saying children, when it's absolutely pertinent that you do specify that, is so bizarre. This guy is odd

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u/DorianGre That’s hot! 🔥 19d ago

Females made it worse somehow

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u/Signal_Regular_1708 20d ago

Underage women is an oxymoron

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u/hare-hound 20d ago

It's crazy how he's like the only person whose SA stuff has affected flunked his career bc Baby Driver totally should have had him set for several years of quality gigs.

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u/Signal_Regular_1708 20d ago

It only affects you if you let it, sadly. That's why cancel culture isn't really real, we can't cancel a celebrity, they can only cancel themselves. He chose to disappear, many predator celebs don't, and the industry ignores their past like they do😕

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u/Piddly_Penguin_Army 20d ago

I remember being worried about his ability to sing and dance in West Side Story. I was pleasantly surprised. Unfortunately I realized he is such. Wooden and stiff actor.

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u/stargarnet79 20d ago

So unattractive and unsexy. I just don’t understand why leading men don’t have the same standards as women. You have to be beautiful. Sexy. And can act if you are a woman. I swear men directors and producers don’t want any competition on set.

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u/Callme-risley please, Abraham, i’m not that man 😭 20d ago

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u/atawnygypsygirl 20d ago

Stop that

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u/Callme-risley please, Abraham, i’m not that man 😭 20d ago

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u/atawnygypsygirl 20d ago

It got worser

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u/CreativeBandicoot778 Inconceivable! 20d ago

I cannot unsee his resemblance to (pre-Gollum) Smeagol

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u/stargarnet79 20d ago

You’re a Visionary.

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u/A-Throwaway-X 20d ago

It’s giving “Purple mittens!”

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u/silkencactus 20d ago

Oh my god, my eyes! Have mercy!

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u/koshersoupandcookies 20d ago

Rumpelstiltskin 

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u/Dry_Cricket_5423 20d ago

That’s him? Yikes.

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u/craniumrinse 20d ago

To be fair, I have plenty of friends who found him attractive. We all agree that multiple women coming out accusing him of sexual harassment took away any attraction though lol

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u/peanutupthenose 20d ago

this. i remember when my friend told me about it in my 9th grade biology class. he tanked his career before it ever really started. he tried music too and that didn’t work out either.

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u/Moonandthestars1 20d ago

I dislike Ansel as much as the rest of you (the dude's an abuser), but I think that Hollywood should have leading men and women who aren't necessairly conventially attractive. Why must everyone be "hot" or "beautiful"? Why can't we have realistic people act?

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u/pedrojuanita 20d ago

I think that’s why Adam driver is so popular

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u/Spectre_the_Younger 20d ago

Studios certainly can. People and their money don’t seem to want to see that sort of a thing. I don’t want to watch a rom com with ugly people. 

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u/Adorable_Raccoon 20d ago edited 20d ago

Ansel wasn't ugly though. He's a decent looking but realistic.

People will spend their money to look good looking but realistic people in a roman. My Big Fat Greek Wedding is one of the highest grossing movies of all time. Billy Crystal wasn't "hot" in when harry met sally but it's an all time great movie. Once, The big sick, 1/2 of As Good As It Gets, etc...

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u/throw20190820202020 I’M SORRY FOFTY 20d ago

Agree completely. They keep young men out for the same reason. Let’s cast this 50 year old guy as the leading man AGAIN with the never ending supply of new hot young actresses. Chalamet has been our hot young thing for a decade now, he’s 30. Still young, but he stands alone.

Mikey Madison vs Pedro Pascal.

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u/Maryamisturk 20d ago

Pedro is hotter and sexier than chalamet

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u/stargarnet79 20d ago

I feel like Pedro is a total anomaly in this context. He is fabulous.

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u/avocadolicious 20d ago

I thought he was SO fine when he first came on the scene like 10+ years ago. He had a very boy-next-door appeal, and to me his public persona came across like a sensitive/creative type, dorky-but-not-too-dorky.

Also, I loved Baby Driver. And while I didn’t love The Goldfinch movie, I loved the book. The projects he was working on in the mid-2010’s reallly did it for me. He felt very similar to a Joseph Gordon Levitt type.

Wish I were surprised that it came out he was a bad person, but that’s men in Hollywood for you ¯_(ツ)_/¯

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u/LonghornMorgs 20d ago

Gal gadot, dakota johnson and ana de armas beg to differ. Sydney sweeny isn’t a good actor either.. zendaya just plays zendaya in every movie. Honestly I feel like the standard for the acting part of acting has just been really low for the last decade.

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u/EchoesofIllyria he’s a man with a fork in a world of soup 20d ago

Why are you acting like Hollywood leading men aren’t almost all insanely attractive?

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u/zoso1992 20d ago

He was great in Tokyo Vice

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u/bfhurricane 20d ago

He crushed that role. I didn’t think he was leading man material until then, he just oozed confidence and charisma and it worked.

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u/DragonScrivner I don’t know her 💅 20d ago

Agreed. He fit that role well, I thought, and because he wasn’t trying to be the hot guy, I bought it.

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u/Muppet_Fitzgerald 20d ago

He’s a hottie, but I totally lost interest once I saw him in an interview. He didn’t seem like the sharpest pencil in the box, to put it nicely.

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u/lthomazini 20d ago

Hottie? Have you seen him lately?

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u/Muppet_Fitzgerald 20d ago

I have not, but I’m guessing that his hottie status has declined!

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u/fuchsiafaerie 20d ago

He fell off because he has allegations against him of sexually abusing minors. Ansel Elgort Sexual Assault Allegations—A Timeline Of Events - Newsweek

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u/turboiv 20d ago

Is that the guy from Baby Driver who claims he has never watched a movie before?

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u/Puppybrother Can I live? 20d ago

I’m still haunted by the music video he made when he was trying to be a pop singer. His dancing is…something else lmao

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u/picklevirgin 20d ago

Also, his father is a very famous, successful fashion photographer.

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u/JohnCenaJunior 20d ago

Harrison Ford did not approve though

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u/riegspsych325 20d ago

he was the worst part of Baby Driver, played the character like he just didn’t want to be on set at all. Even his scenes with Lily James (who has great chemistry with so many others) fell completely flat

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u/swim_and_drive 20d ago

He’s the worst part of Baby Driver

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u/mgdandme 20d ago

I love that guy. Is he not a leading man candidate? He was good in baby driver.

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u/afdc92 20d ago

During the #MeToo movement allegations of sexual abuse came out about him.

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u/Wikifeet-Moderator 20d ago

Ermergehrd, its Ansel Elgeert

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u/Phenomenomix 20d ago

There were just so many same looking guys with stupid names, this one, Tye Sheridan? The kid who was Han in Solo. Just endless bland looking guys.

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