Big-name Actors Need Some Bench Time

Illustration by Reagan Eshleman

When was the last time you saw a Tom Holland film, an Anne Hathaway film, a Robert Pattinson film, or, dare I say it, Zendaya? For all of these actors, the answer is probably “very recently,” and I have personally seen each of them in two to three different films over the past few months. That’s insane. This constant casting of big-name actors in films is deeply reflective of the current challenges the industry is facing and its impact on audiences.

The most concerning thing about this casting trend is the question we’re all asking when we realize it: What’s happening to new actors? It feels like now more than ever, there are people, young and old, making huge sacrifices to pursue their passion for acting. So where are they going? When I think about recent times when I’ve seen new faces on screen, I think about independent films or TV shows that ended up having a one-season run. What does new talent need to do to end up on the big screen if every role is taken by people we’ve seen time and time again?

The film that stands out to me when thinking about this whole thing is The Odyssey. I didn’t quite understand why everyone in Hollywood needed a role in it, including the actors named at the start of this article. They all come from different backgrounds and have different looks and accents, so it didn’t make sense to me why they were all in this Greek mythology story. Their presence in the film completely overpowered the story. Every Penelope scene had me distracted by the fact that I was watching Anne Hathaway, or Andy Sachs, or Mother Mary. I was losing track. How are you going to put Tom Holland and Zendaya in the same film, not give them any contact, and expect me not to think about that the entire time?

Casting every famous person who was in that film was not a mistake. But why does Nolan do it? The only reason I can think of is a desperate desire to get everyone to go to cinemas like they used to. Maybe the only reason people go to cinemas anymore is familiarity. We would set aside time in our schedules and pay to go watch a movie with a random combination of famous people, or a book adaptation, or a video game adaptation, but we’re much less likely to do the same for a film we know nothing about, no matter how compelling the story might be. This is clearly deeply harmful to the good stories that exist out there and the immensely talented people who are more than capable of telling these stories.

For those of us who are surrounded by people navigating this industry, the solution to this is easy: watch your friends’ films, support the making of them, and promote them. It’s harder to think of what can be done about it within Hollywood, but all I can hope is that someday soon, films will be taken over by fresh faces and actually immerse me in their stories. But for now, I’ll accept that Tom Holland’s face will slowly be etched in my brain for the foreseeable future.