From Josh Hartnett to Jared Leto to Michael Cera: "It" Boys Who Never Quite Were!

Super-stardom always looks so inevitable in retrospect: of course Ryan Gosling would make a name for himself in well-received indie movies like Lars and the Real Girl and Blue Valentine, while also finding popular success in movies like The Notebook and Crazy, Stupid, Love.

And with looks like Chris Evans', it was surely only a matter of time until he'd find a vehicle like Captain America that would give him the lead in a movie that's a big fat hit.

But is that true? Once you each a certain level and generate the "right" kind of buzz, is super-stardom inevitable?

As near as I can tell, Hollywood is still basically playing by the "three-flops-and-you're-out" rule: after a leading actor's breakthrough success, he gets about three more roles to prove himself.

If these movies flop, and if their name recognition is still high enough because of that initial break-through, they might possibly be able to gravitate to television, where they'll be given yet another chance to find the magic again. If that doesn't happen, they're out on their ear — with only the vague possibility of a Thomas Haden Church or Mickey Rourke-like comeback getting them up in the mornings.

The fact is, success in Hollywood is fleeting. It's not just that early promise sometimes fizzles: it usually fizzles. Those actors who become bona fide stars are the exceptions, not the rule. Truth is, Heath Ledger was just one Brokeback Mountain away from semi-obscurity (which is part of the reason why he took the risky role).

Other actors have their brief moment in the sun, but then just fade away. (And even these folks are the ones who won the lottery — the vast majority of actors don't even get a brief moment in the sun!)

Which, incidentally, is why I would NEVER want to be an actor. Entertainment Weekly can write all the tripe they want about how important it is for up-and-coming actors to "choose the right scripts" (as if anyone can ever predict from scripts which movies are going to end up hits!). The fact is, success is mostly random.

Or is it? Let's look back on a collection of "it" boys who were the cat's pajamas at the time of their introduction to the world, but who never quite made the next step forward.

Did these guys get a fair shake? Did they ultimately not have what it takes to "carry" a movie? Or were they simply unlucky that the projects they ended up in weren't well-received?

Jesse Metcalfe

If there's a poster-boy for It Boys Who Never Quite Were, it's Jesse Metcalfe, who made a huge splash on the first season of Desperate Housewives, mostly by taking off his shirt for his role as Gabrielle Solis' 17-year-old lawn boy. His success had less to do with his (wooden) acting, and more to do with Metcalfe's impressively chiseled body — and the shocking/provocative storyline about Gabrielle having sex with an under-age teen.

But after starring roles in film flops like John Tucker Must Die, Metcalfe pretty much just disappeared. Without nary a ripple, I might add.

The "good" news is, he's been cast as Christopher Ewing in an upcoming reboot of the Dallas nighttime soap opera.

Jared Leto

To me, deer-in-the-headlights-faced Jared Leto was always the least interesting thing in the short-lived 90s teen TV favorite My So-Called Life. (Proof there is no justice in the world? Whatever happened to Devon Ryan Gummersall?)

But Leto was pretty so, of course, he was pegged for stardom. Leto has worked steadily as an actor since then (and dated Cameron Diaz, which didn't hurt his profile), but two things have seemed to get in the way of a true breakthrough: (1) he never really seemed to want it, to be willing to play the game, and (2) he's openly, even proudly strange — which might be why he's more suited to the music scene, where he's finding more success lately.

Christian Campbell

Oh, Christian Campbell! I'm answering my own question about whether the system "works" in propelling its true talent to the top: definitely not always! Why? Because I think Campbell, the brother of Neve Campbell, has been totally screwed, career-wise. After his amazing break-out role in the 1999 movie Trick (where he was perfectly cast as the angelic Gabriel), Campbell deserved much bigger and better things.

But it never happened. His role as the gay son in the failed — and controversial — 2006 TV series The Book of Daniel was typical.

Want to see exactly what I've always seen in Campbell? Check out the campy parody musical Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical. It's hit-and-miss, but you'll be blown away by Campbell's wide-ranging talent (and, um, partial nudity).

Next Page! Which (surprising) American Pie actor has become a huge movie star?