The Sword and Laser discussion

77 views
TV, Movies and Games > Any big name actors NOT done SFF?

Comments Showing 1-15 of 15 (15 new)    post a comment »
dateUp arrow    newest »

message 1: by Trike (new)

Trike | 11197 comments I was trying to think if there are any famous actors who haven’t been in any Science Fiction or Fantasy movies or TV shows. So far I haven’t found one.

I thought maybe Daniel Day-Lewis, but it turns out early in his career he was on an SF TV series. (And let’s be honest, his glorious mane of hair in The Last of the Mohicans is supernatural enough on its own to count as two.)

I then turned to actors who are famous despite having their careers tragically cut short, and the literal poster boy for that group is James Dean, who only made 3 feature films. But like DDL, he was in an early SF TV series when he was starting out.

Can you think of any?


message 2: by Tassie Dave, S&L Historian (last edited Jul 04, 2020 08:50PM) (new)

Tassie Dave | 4076 comments Mod
Marilyn Monroe

Edit: I forgot about Monkey Business. That's SFF

mmm. You may be right :-?


message 3: by Trike (new)

Trike | 11197 comments Yeah, I love Monkey Business, which also gets us the super-famous Ginger Rogers and Archibald Leach.

Even John Wayne did a supernatural Horror movie back in the day, and I’d also include the various religious movies he did as Fantasy.

And if we assume most musicals fall under Fantasy, that gets a whole slew of famous folks.


message 4: by Tassie Dave, S&L Historian (new)

Tassie Dave | 4076 comments Mod
Trike wrote: "And if we assume most musicals fall under Fantasy"

We've had this discussion before ;-) You assume, Most other people don't :-)

Unless there is a fantastical element, Breaking out into song and dance, while it would appear weird in real life, does not require any magic.


message 5: by John (Nevets) (new)

John (Nevets) Nevets (nevets) | 1903 comments Charlie Chaplin ? I mean his physical slapstick comedy involves things unlikely to happen in real life, but I wouldn’t call it fantasy.

I admit to not having seen a ton of his movies, but a quick review of his Wikipedia article didn’t reveal anything obvious.

If you wanted current actors, this gets more difficult.

Al Pachino? Dick Tracey is the only thing I can think of, and as stylistic as it is, I’m not sure it is truly fantasy.


message 6: by Trike (new)

Trike | 11197 comments Pacino played the devil in The Devil’s Advocate and was in the sci-fi film S1M0NE.

Chaplin wrote, directed and starred in Modern Times, which is Science Fiction. For instance, the boss oversees the employees via video surveillance and communicates through giant flatscreen TVs — in 1936, nearly 15 years before television was even a thing.

Similarly, Buster Keaton was a time traveler in the original Twilight Zone. However, I don’t see anything SFF for Harold Lloyd. He might be our unicorn!


message 7: by Phil (new)

Phil | 1452 comments Maybe Katharine Hepburn.
The problem I'm having is that almost everything I watch is SF&F so all the actors that come to mind are from those things.


message 8: by Trike (new)

Trike | 11197 comments Phil wrote: "Maybe Katharine Hepburn.
The problem I'm having is that almost everything I watch is SF&F so all the actors that come to mind are from those things."


I thought that would be a good one, but Hepburn was in Spitfire, playing a girl who has magical healing abilities. Desk Set might be sci-fi, but I haven’t seen it.


message 9: by Tamahome (last edited Jul 07, 2020 12:18PM) (new)

Tamahome | 7220 comments I think Desk Set has a supercomputer that's supposed to replace the office workers. Wow, the trailer makes it look really wild. I just remember it being a mild breezy comedy. Spencer Tracey plays a computer geek with glasses I think, against type for him. Maybe I'll watch it with my Mom tonight.


message 10: by Phillip (new)

Phillip Murrell | 367 comments Audie Murphy did close to 50 movies after leaving the army. I think all of them were westerns with a few war movies thrown in.


message 11: by Chris K. (new)

Chris K. | 415 comments My first thought was Bette Davis, but she did Return From Witch Mountain for Disney.


message 12: by Trike (new)

Trike | 11197 comments Phillip wrote: "Audie Murphy did close to 50 movies after leaving the army. I think all of them were westerns with a few war movies thrown in."

Oh yeah, he’s definitely a contender.

I wonder if Trunk to Cairo is sci-fi or just a thriller? It’s a secret agent thing dealing with nuclear bombs, but in 1965, so hardly a stretch.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061123/...
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trunk...

Directed by Menahem Golan, of Golan-Globus fame.


message 13: by Sean Lookielook (new)

Sean Lookielook Sandulak (seansandulak) | 444 comments Sidney Poitier unless you count Sneakers (1992) as sci-fi for the tech MacGuffin (I don't).


message 14: by Trike (new)

Trike | 11197 comments Sean Lookielook wrote: "Sidney Poitier unless you count Sneakers (1992) as sci-fi for the tech MacGuffin (I don't)."

I personally consider the religious epics to be Fantasy, so he gets slotted there for The Greatest Story Ever Told, but I’m not going to gainsay anyone who feels differently.

That movie in particular sweeps up so many old time stars that it’s practically a clearinghouse for this topic.


message 15: by Calvey (new)

Calvey | 279 comments Trike wrote: "his glorious mane of hair in The Last of the Mohicans"

I watch it just for the hair...


back to top