Poll: Favorite unlucky actor

Who is your favorite unlucky, continuously unemployed actor? This is the actor that’s everywhere but can never get a steady gig because people keep killing him/her off  or keep canceling his/her shows. And although you know they have the stuff, they haven’t had a steady gig or a steady leading role on a show lasting longer than two seasons in the past couple years. For some, refusing to tether themselves to one leading role is deliberate, but for some it isn’t.

I identified a couple for the CliqueClack gang and asked them to identify a few more. Of course in our conversation we discovered that half of the people we nominated already had new jobs. But, I’ll still keep them on the list, because with their track record … hey, you never know. …

An: Hey guys, who is your favorite out of work actor? Here are a couple off the top of my head:

• Scott Foley. He’s the perfect boyfriend on Scrubs, Cougar Town and Gray’s Anatomy but somehow people always break up with him, forcing him to move to a new gig.
• Dylan McDermott. He’s mad talented and has charisma for miles, but dude cannot catch a break with a steady gig.
• Benjamin Bratt  is awesome, hot, hunky, gorgeous and smoldering; But ever since leaving Law and Order to co-star in Catwoman he hasn’t had stable gig on network or cable.
• Tracie Thoms. I loved her in Wonderfalls and Cold Case. But, Harry’s Law is its own cold case. And, Thoms proved the only reason to watch the fully canceled Wonder Woman.
• Mark Valley. He has the looks, the abs and the charisma from Keen Eddie to Human Target to Harry’s Law. There’s no difficulty getting him on TV, just keeping the shows he stars in on.

Any other suggestions or votes for/against?

Bob: Foley is going to be a regular on True Blood next season … Is there a qualification to “unemployed?” Because one season of TB is hardly a secure job.

Also, Ivey nominates Anna Camp.

…and Aryeh nominates Michael Ealy.

Julia: I love Natalie Morales (was Wendy on Middlemen, most recently seen in White Collar and as Tom’s short-term girlfriend Lucy on Parks and Recreation). There’s just something so sassy and fun about her.

Jaylen: Yes, Michael Ealy has a USA show coming up, and Benjamin Bratt is currently a regular on Private Practice. He took Audra McDonald’s spot. Here’s one … what about Alfre Woodard?

Debbie: Maybe change the name to “actor we’d like to see get a steadier gig” or something like that. ‘Cause then I can unabashedly second your nomination for Mark Valley, who needs a steady role like Keen Eddie‘s Eddie or Christopher Chance … not a law show!

An: Alfre Woodard’s a good one. At the same time, I don’t quite take her attempts at TV seriously, since she only did Desperate Housewives. I still see her as film actress dabbling in TV like Larry Fishburne (yeah, I said Larry) or Christian Slater. Technically, Christian Slater might qualify for this poll since his last three TV shows have hit the toilet.

Chuck: Slater’s last show, Breaking In, was cancelled and then renewed so he’ll still be employed too. I would have nominated Bret Harrison because I loved both The Loop and Reaper, and then he popped up briefly on the second season of V, then went to the Slater show so he still may not have really caught a break even though the show was renewed.

Fox also renewed Harrison’s The Loop for a second season, then never put it on the schedule and finally just cancelled it and burned the episodes off when no one was looking.

Bob: Speaking of Larry Fishburne, how about Gina Torres?

Ivey: Gina Torres is a regular on Suits. Bob’s right, I’d nominate Anna Camp … if she wasn’t recurring on The Good Wife right now.

My more obviously-Dorv nomination would be Bradley Whitford. Played my all-time favorite TV character in Josh Lyman, but has had little luck since (The Good Guys? … Please).

A couple of more, for food for thought (Though doesn’t fit the “keeps getting killed off” criteria):  Katee Sackoff, James Callis, Stockard Channing, Janel Maloney, Kelli Williams, Max Martini, and Dennis Haysbert.

Brett: Once again we look north of the border, to our friendly Canadian neighbors, to find Melanie Merkosky. She had her first break appearing as Megan in one of my favorite shows, Slings & Arrows, which ended after her season. Then she was cast in Runaway. Unfortunately, the show was canceled after two episodes. She then got close to a regular TV gig when she was the star of Harper’s Globe, the web companion to Harper’s Island. There has been a lot of success online, as one of the regulars in lonelygirl15, and currently the star of Continuum.  But she has yet to land a regular gig on a successful series. And when she does, I’ll watch it. Even if it’s a cop/doctor/lawyer show starring someone from BSG produced by JJ Abrams.

I’m tempted to add Paula Marshall to the list. She has worked a ton, but most of it has been spent bouncing from show to show. For some bizarre reason, when she gets the lead gig on a show, it just doesn’t work out. I think shows starring her average around 17 episodes to air. And it boggles me, because she’s been in a bunch of great stuff. Perhaps the silver lining there is that when she’s doing guest stints, she’s always great. Jenny on Sports Night and Sonja on Californication, for example.

Ivey:  Couple more: Jaime Ray Newman and what is Sabrina Lloyd doing these days?

An: I’m going to add Judy Greer to the list. I’d like to see her starring in a regular role on TV like with Miss Guided. Instead, she’s the best friend on the deservedly canceled Mad Love, a voice on Archer, and playing ever single cameo character on Two and a Half Men.

Rachel: Michael B. Jordan (The Wire, FNL, Parenthood). Although I know I saw previews for something he is going to star in soon.

Kona: Wait? Does this mean he’s really gone from Parenthood? I love this guy so much. He’s been great on all three of those shows.

Brittany: I of course second the love for Mark Valley. I’ve also got to go back to my all-time favorite actor, Robert Patrick. He’s popped up in guest roles since the end of The Unit, but I would really love to see him in another regular role.

Andre Braugher‘s available now that Men of a Certain Age got cancelled.

And I think I’ll always have a soft spot for Linden Ashby.

Poll expires by Friday, January 27 at midnight.

Clacked by An Nicholson
on Jan 23, 2012 @ 10:00 EST5EDT