Christian Slater is a Gen X icon for good reason. When you think of his influential movies, your first thought is probably Heathers. The appeal of the black comedy endures well into the 21st Century, having even inspired a musical based on it in 2010. Talk of a sequel has been happening for years, but Winona Ryder poured cold water on that rumor last year.

Another Slater-led movie from the era that won’t likely ever get a sequel is one of my favorite movies of the ‘90s, Pump Up the Volume. Though it never had the success of Heathers or other Slater movies like True Romance or Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves, the 1990 movie was a huge influence on me, personally, in ways I didn’t even realize at the time. A recent rewatch, which I rented on VOD with my Prime subscription for the first time in years, highlighted that.

In High School, I Wanted To Be HHH

In the movie, Slater plays a mild-mannered high school student named Mark Hunter whose alter ego is a pirate radio station host called “Happy Harry Hard-on.” His show plays kick ass music and in between cuts by Above The Law, Richard Hell and the Voidoids, and Leonard Cohen, HHH espouses wisdom that, in my then-teenage mind at least, seemed profound and insightful. On some levels, that still works, though it does come across to my now-adult mind as a little simple and childish.

Still, at the time, the character was an idol of mine. Like Lloyd Dobler holding up his boom box in Say Anything and Dante Hicks’ quips in Clerks, HHH spoke for a generation. These were our slacker heroes who helped define Generation X. More than those other two, though, HHH had a really cool gig, playing cool records in the middle of the night on his illegal low-band radio station that inspired his school to revolt. What teenager doesn’t aspire to that, as silly as it seems, once you grow up? I outgrew that rebelliousness, but the movie still left a lasting mark.

Offering My Opinions To The Public And Playing Cool Music For My Friends

Two things I am lucky enough to do these days are things HHH does throughout the movie. I have a job that allows and encourages me to speak my opinion on things, especially pop culture, like, say, the effects of ‘80s and ‘90s movies on my life. I am fortunate to get paid to write about what I love and about things I want other people to love, or at least be open to. Sure, it’s not quite as philosophical as HHH in Pump Up The Volume, but still, I love doing it.

The other thing I love doing in my personal life is discovering new music, or old Gen X music I somehow didn’t know, and playing it for my friends, hoping to get them excited for it. I love playing DJ in any gathering. I make an endless number of playlists for every occasion. I put a lot of time (some would say too much time) into curating a listening experience for something as simple as a backyard BBQ or a concert pre-party. If I’m at a bar, I’ve been known to spend too much money on the jukebox, playing deep cuts and overpaying to make sure I can keep cutting the line so I don’t have to hear “Don’t Stop Believin’” again (I’ve really come to loathe that song, but that’s not Journey’s fault).

Looking back, something I tend to do without a longing for nostalgia, there are a bunch of influences from Gen X pop culture that have shaped my career and personal life, and Pump Up The Volume seems to have had a bigger effect than I realized until recently.

Spoilers below for the eighth episode of Dexter: Original Sin, so be warned if you haven’t yet watched on Showtime or with a Paramount+ subscription.

Whenever Dexter: Original Sin kicked off with the bonkers current-day follow-up to New Blood’s not-so-deadly ending, revealing Michael C. Hall’s character will survive long enough to lead the upcoming Dexter: Resurrection spinoff, it upended my expectations for how much the prequel would compare to Showtime’s O.G. hit. But then everything slotted right into familiar places, with Patrick Gibson mugging his way through a well-cast ensemble of quasi doppelgängers investigating curiously connected murders. In fact, it looks like its first serial killer antagonist is ALSO the same…somehow.

That’s right, with the episode “Business and Pleasure,” Dexter creator Clyde Phillips seemingly delivered the gobsmacking reveal that the as-yet-unsolved killings of the so-called NHI Killer were perpetrated by none other than Brian Moser, Dexter’s half-brother (or full brother, technically) who made the Morgan family’s life hell back in 2006 when Season 1 aired. If so, that could easily shape out to be the wildest twist of anything hitting the 2025 TV schedule.

Harry Discovered Brian Moser's Mental Hospital Records

This episode ended with the biggest future-guiding catalyst of both Dexter and Brian's lives, as it relayed the events directly leading to the siblings being locked up and traumatized inside that infamous shipping container with their mother Laura. So it perhaps makes sense that this installment would also offer up proof that Brian made his return to Dexter and Harry's lives much earlier than anyone could have predicted.

Upon discovering the murdered body of psychiatrist Paul Petrie, whose car was involved in previous murders, Christina Milian's Laguerta makes this potentially intriguing comment to Christian Slater's Harry:

Not that Brian Moser was ever considered to be Harry's son. In fact, that's the whole problem here, as the detective soon discovers after stumbling across Brian's records in Dr. Petrie's boxes of files. All Dexter's brother needed, at least in theory, was to be adopted by the same family as his only surviving family member. It's something he talked about in therapy often enough, anyway, as evidenced by some of the info Harry was reading.

So there's a way to read Laguerta's comment as if she were speaking out Brian's own wishes. Not that I think he would have been a morally aligned gentleman as Harry's son. After all, Dexter still turned into a killer, albeit one with justice as a guiding light. And since Harry didn't ever stop Dexter, who's to say how his code would have affected Brian?

To be sure, Dexter: Original Sin didn't abjectly confirm that Brian Moser is the NIH killer in the way that the series has made it abundantly clear that Patrick Dempsey's Cpt. Spencer is responsible for kidnapping and harming his own son. But it absolutely feels like that's where this is headed, especially with the Miami Chills ice truck appearing just two episodes prior. Plus, Clyde Phillips' description of the prequel as being a "family show" only adds thematic fuel to the fire.

How Will The Show Explain Brian's Involvement Without Dexter Learning Anything About Him?

If the O.G. series hadn't taken such efforts to make its secret-sibling twist such a jaw-dropper, with neither Dexter nor Debra being the wiser about Brian's identity or connection to their lives, then this Original Sin twist would be easier to sit with. But I can't readily foresee how Harry is going to pull off the multi-step act of A.) solving the NIH killer in a way that keeps Brian out of it, B.) finding a way to stop Brian from murdering more people without arresting him, and C.) stopping Dexter (and others) from finding any further clues and connections.

The only way I can picture this playing out both cleanly and successfully is if Brian realizes that Harry is onto him, and he voluntarily stops committing his lethal crimes, which would make Harry feel safer about shielding his identity from others. Perhaps Brian doesn't even realize that Dexter is now working for Miami P.D., and learning that info will cause him to rethink his priorities.

Otherwise, the creative team could easily end up muddying these characters' histories by showing Harry and Brian meeting up and having a direct conversation about Laura's death and their familial connections. It would be cool to see Harry sharing a full explanation for why he only adopted Dexter instead of both, and I guess Dexter's visions of his father in the flagship series wouldn't be so tainted if the whole idea is that Harry thought Brian was no longer a threat, and thus died with that secret in his heart.

All that said, I'm still wary about this franchise doubling up on Brian Moser as a Season 1 antagonist, but will be all the more impressed if all those twisted pieces do indeed fit together without a whole lot of narrative glue being slapped on it.

Dexter: Original Sin's Episode 9 Trailer Is Focused On Debra And Spencer

When it comes to promoting the penultimate episode of its first season, Dexter: Original Sin isn't giving fans much to chew on by way of Brian Moser teases. Instead, the trailer looks like it's setting up a potentially calamitous "Take Your Sister To Work Day" for the splatter expert and the rabble-rousing Debra.

Although I guess it could be quite the fortuitous experiement for the family, with Sarah Michelle Gellar's character possibly serving as the inspiration that gets Debra to join Miami P.D. instead of hooking up with more shady dudes. Check out the trailer below!

For all that I can't grasp how the NIH killer reveal will turn out, I also have zero clue where this show is going with Cpt. Spencer and his Lunchables-munching victim/son. But I wouldnt' be surprised if it's all connected somehow.

Dexter: Original Sin streams new episodes on Paramount+ on Fridays, with the linear airings hitting Showtime on Sunday nights at 10:00 p.m. ET.

Below are spoilers for the series Dexter, as well as the sequel series Dexter: New Blood and the first episode of Dexter: Original Sin, which premiered as part of the 2024 TV schedule. If you still need to catch up, you can check it out with a Paramount+ subscription with a Showtime addition.

If you've ever seen Dexter, then you likely know that the show itself revolves around the titular character as he takes out evil people to satisfy his dark urges. Still, from the beginning of the series, he's pretty much devoted his life to killing people, not even bothering to suppress his desires anymore. I'd always wondered how this happened and how his father never seemed to stop him But instead encouraged him. However, Original Sin's Christian Slater explained it perfectly.

Through Dexter: Original Sin, fans really get an inside look into the eponymous killer's life as a young man and more specifically, his relationship with his father, Harry, played by Christian Slater. Prior to the series premiere, I had the chance to talk to Slater on behalf of CinemaBlend and asked if Harry ever really had any intention of stopping Dexter, since he seems to give in during the first episode.

Slater, however, said that Harry did have the desire to curb his son's behavior at one point and that Dex did attempt to channel his urges in other ways, like medical school and hunting. However, at a certain point, he had to just "surrender" because nothing was working. Slater explained the situation as follows:

On the first episode of Original Sin, viewers see Dexter kill his first victim, and he and Harry talk about it later. Of course, when Harry is alone, he cries, because he knows this is only the beginning of his son's murderous path. And, now, Dexter is free to do whatever within his code, because Harry permitted him – and that means more freedom bit by bit.

For those who may not remember, Harry was more like an apparition on the original Dexter (which is one of the best Showtime shows). The character -- played by James Remar on the parent series -- was already deceased at that point in the timeline. Thankfully, Original Sin really allows the writers to expand more on Dexter and Harry's relationship and, now, I totally understand why Harry didn't do much. As you can see, it's because he had already done so much before but, when only one approach works, you sometimes have to give in.

I'm eager to learn more about the franchise's lore from this spinoff prequel. Clyde Phillips said he created Dexter: Original Sin because of the team he had behind him. Needless to say, I'm finding this expansion of the story and characters to be awesome – and I'm relishing the fantastic Michael C. Hall's resurrection return following New Blood. I'll have to wait for further details as the new episodes air, of course. But, for now, I'm content with what's been revealed and thankful for Christian Slater clearing up a major point for me.

Be sure to grab Paramount+ with Showtime to watch Dexter: Original Sin. You can also watch episodes live on Showtime when they air on Sunday at 10 p.m. ET.

Unless we are talking about Mission: Impossible–M:I 8 is currently filming or the long-delayed Top Gun: Maverick–Tom Cruise isn’t known for making very many sequels to his flicks. But, according to one former cast member, there is one film in his oeuvre that he is shocked never got a follow-up. The former cast member in question is Christian Slater, who co-starred along with Cruise and Brad Pitt in one of the best films of the 90s, the film adaptation of Anne Rice’s novel Interview With The Vampire. According to the Heathers alum, he’s shocked that he and the Risky Business star never got a second bite at the neck, playing a vampire in a sequel.

Christian Slater Reflects on The Missed Sequel Opportunity

It's hard to believe it's been nearly three decades–the movie turns 30 this year–since we were first mesmerized by one of the most iconic vampire performances on screen. In an interview shared on Comicbook.com’s Chris Killian’s Instagram, Christian Slater discussed how he and Cruise were reflecting on the project. The pair expressed a mutual astonishment over the movie's lack of a sequel despite their roles becoming fan favorites. He recounted:

For my money, even three decades since its release, Interview With The Vampire is still one of the best vampire movies ever committed to celluloid. Upon release, it was a critical and financial success, becoming one of the highest-grossing R-rated horror films of 1994, and grew to become a goth cult favorite. Not to mention, it introduced the broader world to actress Kirsten Dunst, a role Cruise helped the young actress secure thanks to some very practical advice.

The Enduring Legacy of 'Interview With the Vampire'

Tom Cruise's electrifying turn as the vampire Lestat was central to the film’s success. Initially, Anne Rice, the source material's author, hated Cruise’s casting in the role. However, his performance won her over and helped cement the film's place in cinematic history. Despite this success and the buzz around it, plans to continue Lestat's story with Cruise in a sequel never came to fruition. While the potential for a direct follow-up to this beloved film sparked plenty of discussions, ultimately, those plans remained just out of reach, leaving fans to wonder what might have been.

There was anticipation over a sequel starring the Top Gun A-lister, yet various factors, including rights issues, changes in production companies, and creative decisions, led to a different path for the book to screen adaptations of Rice's novels.

The next film in the series, Queen of the Damned, starring the late singer and actress Aaliyah, was released in 2002, but it did not involve Tom Cruise. Instead, Stuart Townsend took over the role of Lestat. The film combined elements from the second and third books of Rice's series, The Vampire Lestat and Queen of the Damned. Still, it diverged significantly from the source material and did not continue directly from where Interview left off.

Interview With The Vampire is enjoying a second adaptation and return to screens as a television series, which is gearing up for its second season on AMC.

The Possibility Of A Sequel With Cruise

The ending of Interview with the Vampire set the stage perfectly for a sequel. It left audiences reeling from its final twist and introduced a new narrative thread with Daniel, the San Francisco reporter who becomes enthralled with Louis's tale of the undead. As Christian Slater hinted in the recent interview, the setup was ideal for a follow-up. Yet, despite the ripe storytelling potential, a direct continuation wasn't in the cards. Could a sequel with Cruise still happen? As the interviewers and Slater point out, Tom Cruise barely looks like he's aged since the last time he put on the Vampire Lestat's fangs. So, never say never.

Christian Slater's most recent work, another book adaptation, the series The Spiderwick Chronicles, is available now for free on The Roku Channel. Be sure to check out our 2024 movie schedule to see what upcoming horror movies are heading to a screen near you.

All of us have those influential movie theater experiences that define who we are going forward, but I have to say, Christian Slater has a particularly good story on the subject. The actor, who has famously played some of the most Gen X movie characters over the years, told CinemaBlend that he actually witnessed Jaws on the big screen at the age of five. That’s right… five!

Steven Spielberg’s Jaws is well-noted for being thought of as one of the best of the best in filmmaking, with Quentin Tarantino once dubbing it the “greatest movie ever made” to our own podcast, ReelBlend. Here’s Christian Slater’s experience with the iconic shark flick:

As Slater shared, he doesn’t think his mother really had any idea what they were about to witness with Jaws when she took her young son to the movie theater at the time. The actor spoke about the memory while we chatted with the actor about influential movies to him over the years. Here’s what else he said:

Like so many kids who grew up in the ‘70s and ‘80s like Christian Slater, he got to witness a golden age of Steven Spielberg films! The actor spoke on the subject while promoting his latest role in The Spiderwick Chronicles, which is now streaming for free on The Roku Channel. The fantasy series geared toward kids is based on the book series of the same name and has Slater playing the villainous ogre Mulgarath.

The Spiderwick Chronicles series was originally produced by Disney+ before the streaming service decided not to move forward with it (after it had been filmed), and Roku ended up saving it for their platform. The series follows a trio of siblings who move into their ancestral home, only to find an invisible world of magical creatures inside and surrounding it. One has to wonder if one of Slater’s own roles will and has been one child’s early experience with storytelling as Jaws was his with the moviegoing experience!

Along with Slater’s leading role in The Spiderwick Chronicles, the actor is also part of Netflix’s Unfrosted, which is the story of how Pop-Tarts toaster pastries were invented. He stars in the movie alongside Jerry Seinfeld, Melissa McCarthy, Amy Schumer, James Marsden, Max Greenfield, Dan Levy, Hugh Grant and more. The movie will be available to stream with a Netflix subscription on May 3.

Fame is a tricky thing, and sometimes the biggest stars in the world can lose it all. Personal problems, changing times, and other factors can lead to a once-promising career disappearing almost over night. These stars, however, reversed their trajectories and came out on top after enduring rough times, in this list of actors who made remarkable career comebacks. 

Robert Downey, Jr.

Robert Downey, Jr was one of the most promising young actors in Hollywood in the 1980s, starring in films like Less Than Zero, Chaplin, and Natural Born Killers. In the mid-90s his life went infamously went off the rails with substance abuse problems. When it looked like he'd thrown it all away, he cleaned up and his fame exploded as he became one of the highest-paid actors in the MCU.

Jane Fonda

Jane Fonda has had a few ups and downs in her career. After breaking out as a star in the '60s, she was later shunned by many for her notorious trip to North Vietnam during the war. She rebounded and starred in hits like 9 to 5 and On Golden Pond. In 1991, Fonda married Ted Turner and completely stepped back from acting. She didn't appear in anything at all until after their divorce in 2001, but roared back to prominence in the 21st Century. 

Rob Lowe

As a member of the "Brat Pack" in the 1980s, Rob Lowe was on top of the world. That all came crashing down when a videotape of Lowe in a compromising situation was leaked. His hard partying had caught up to him, and though he got sober in 1992, he would spend much of the decade playing smaller roles or in direct-to-video movies. In 1999 he landed the role of Sam Seaborn in The West Wing and was once again on top, where he's stayed ever since. 

John Travolta

In the late '70s, there was no bigger star than John Travolta. From Welcome Back, Kotter to Grease and Saturday Night Fever, Travolta was in some of the biggest pop culture touchstones of all time. Then the '80s came and his career hit a serious lull. While he was in the hit Look Who's Talking and its sequels, it was 1994's Pulp Fiction that vaulted Travolta back to the top. 

Natasha Lyonne

In the late '90s, Natasha Lyonne was one of a group of budding stars in American Pie and other movies like Slums Of Beverly Hills before health and addiction problems derailed her career. Thankfully for all of us she came out of those those stronger and has since starred in fantastic shows like Orange is the New Black and Russian Doll. 

Brendan Fraser

Brendan Fraser winning the Oscar for 2022 The Whale capped off one of the greatest comeback stories in Hollywood history. His work had all but completely dried up in the late '00s and 2010s, but his career has had the most incredible resurgence in the 2020s. 

Winona Ryder

Winona Ryder defined "movie star" for late Gen Xers in the '90s, but after her infamous arrest for shoplifting in 2001, her career nosedived and she didn't appear in a movie for about three years after. For the next decade or so, she worked steadily but didn't regain her star power from early in her career. That changed when she starred in Stranger Things, starting in 2016, and she once again became a huge star. 

Dave Chappelle

In 2003 Dave Chappelle debuted Chappelle's Show on Comedy Central and it became a massive hit. Despite the network throwing tens of millions of dollars at the comedian to keep the show going, he turned it down and walked away. Chappelle stayed away for most of the next decade before reviving his standup career, and while Chappelle continues to garner controversy, it's safe to say he's as big as ever. 

Betty White

When Betty White died in 2021 she was mourned by millions. The beloved actress had been a television star since the 1940s, but not all of those years were in the spotlight. After early success in the '50s in Life with Elizabeth and other sitcoms, White's career hit a lull for more than a decade. She returned to the big time with her role on The Mary Tyler Moore Show in the '70s, The Golden Girls in the '80s, and then later with Hot in Cleveland in the 2010s.

Ke Huy Quan

There is no more heartwarming story than that of Ke Huy Quan's resurgence. the actor, who first found fame as a child in The Goonies and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, completely disappeared from Hollywood. For twenty years, he appeared in not one TV show or movie, before returning in 2021 with a role in Finding ʻOhana, and then winning an Oscar for his performance in 2022's Everything Everywhere All At Once. 

Michael Keaton

Michael Keaton was a controversial choice when he was cast as Batman in Tim Burton's Batman in 1989, but it shows just how famous he was at that time. After Batman Returns, Keaton's star faded and he starred in a run of films to mixed reviews. In 2014 Keaton starred in the very meta Birdman, as a former superhero star looking to regain his fame. It worked, at least for Keaton. 

Katharine Hepburn

Anyone with a career as long as Katharine Hepburn's is bound to have some slow periods. The most amazing fact of the legendary actress' career was the 34-year span between Best Actress Oscars. She won in 1934 for Morning Glory and then again in 1968 and 1969 for Guess Who's Coming to Dinner and The Lion in Winter, respectively. She would win her fourth 13 years later in 1982 for On Golden Pond. 

Mickey Rourke

In the 1980s Mickey Rourke starred in a string of hits. Eventually, though, his reputation as being difficult to work with overshadowed his performances and he was left in the Hollywood wilderness until triumphantly returning to his past glory in 2008 with The Wrestler.

Sidney Poitier

Sidney Poitier was one of the biggest stars of the '50s, '60s, and '70s. Then came the '80s, when he stepped away from acting and concentrated on directing, to mixed reviews. In 1988 he turned back to acting and had a wonderful late career resurgence with films like Shoot To Kill and Sneakers. 

Jason Bateman

In the 1980s it looked like Jason Bateman was a surefire bet to be a huge star. Then the '90s came and his career pretty much dried up. He had some guest spots on TV shows, but little else. He was all but forgotten. In 2003, Fox debut a show you may have heard of, Arrested Development, with Bateman as the star, and he's been huge ever since. 

Keanu Reeves

It's hard to remember a time when Keanu Reeves wasn't one of the biggest stars in the world, but after his success in the '90s and early '00s with The Matrix and Speed and more, he starred in a slew of commercial and critical failures. Thankfully for Reeves fans everywhere, John Wick came along and Reeves was back on top of the mountain, where he still is. 

Drew Barrymore

Drew Barrymore almost became a Hollywood child star casualty after her string of hits as a kid in the 1980s. She had a rough childhood that led to substance abuse problems as a teenager. Against the odds, she got through it all and became an even bigger star on the other end. 

Neil Patrick Harris

Neil Patrick Harris first got famous as a child prodigy playing a prodigy on Doogie Howser, MD. After the sitcom ended in 1993, he struggled to regain that popularity. That is, until he played a fictionalized version of himself in Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle in 2004. Soon after he landed the role he's best known for, Barney Stinson on How I Met Your Mother. 

Matthew McConaughey

Most of Matthew McConaughey's early career was made up of starring roles in rom-coms. In 2009 the Lincoln Lawyer star took a two-year acting hiatus to re-evaluate his career. He emerged in 2011 by taking on more serious roles and leaving his rom-com leading man reputation behind. Since the so-called "McConaissance," McConaughey's become on of the most acclaimed actors of the 21st century. 

Nicolas Cage

By 2009 Cage was one of the biggest action stars in Hollywood, and one of the highest-paid actors in the business, but it seems he couldn't curb his spending and ended up in debt to the IRS and other creditors. As a result, Cage seemingly took every job offered to him, and he put out an immense catalog of straight-to-video movies that few people have ever watched. Finally, in 2022, Cage revealed he was finally debt-free and started being more selective with his roles. this led to acclaimed roles in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent and 2023's Dream Scenario.

Mandy Moore

Mandy Moore's career started like a comet as a singer in the late '90s which she parlayed into an acting career. That career slowed way down in the early 2010s, only to be revived in a massive way with her starring role on the NBC hit This Is Us. 

Christian Slater

With starring roles in Heathers, Pump Up The Volume, and Gleaming The Cube, Christian Slater became a Gen X icon. He scored a number of high-profile roles in big-budget movies in the '90s, before work started drying up in the early 2000s. He returned to Hollywood prominence with his award-winning role in Mr. Robot and has maintained it ever since. 

Luke Perry

Luke Perry was one of the biggest television stars of the 1990s as part of the cast of Beverly Hills, 90210. After the show ended though, his star faded some. That is, until he was cast in the CW's Riverdale and he was discovered by a whole new generation of fans. Tragically, Perry died in 2019 at age 52. 

Christina Ricci

Childhood success for Christina Ricci didn't immediately translate to success as an adult. She's always worked steadily, but her fame never quite reached the heights of her early career in The Addams Family. That changed in 2021 with Showtime's Yellowjackets. 

Michelle Yeoh

Michelle Yeoh first found international fame with her roles in the James Bond movie Tomorrow Never Dies and Crouch Tiger, Hidden Dragon. She maintained a level of success, but she exploded to new heights with her Oscar-winning turn in 2022's Everything, Everywhere, All At Once. 

Neve Campbell

Neve Campbell was huge in the '90s with her starring role in the show Party Of Five and movies like The Craft and Wild Things. In the early 2000s, she starred in the Scream franchise, but hit a lull after that. Recently, she's been back on top with roles in The Lincoln Lawyer and Twisted Metal. 

Channing Tatum

Fans might not think that Channing Tatum has never had a career lull, but he has actually had a couple. He's always had to fight the idea that he's all looks and little substance (which is far from accurate), and that has affected his career at different points. He's always rebounded with strong performances like the one in Foxcatcher, however. 

Jennifer Lawrence

Jennifer Lawrence's career hasn't really had a financial downturn, her lull was completely her choice. After a couple of poorly reviewed films and becoming the most famous victim of the iPhone hacking scandal, Lawrence stepped away from acting for two years in 2019. She triumphantly returned in the great movie Don't Look Up in 2021. 

Patrick Dempsey

Patrick Dempsey was first famous for starring in teen comedies like Loverboy and Can't Buy Me Love. He bounced around for a few years after that, working steadily but hardly a star. That changed in a big way when he landed the role of Derek "McDreamy" Shepherd in 2005 on Grey's Anatomy. 

Marlon Brando

The 1960s weren't kind to Marlon Brando. After establishing himself as a bonafide star and one of the finest actors of the 20th century in the '50s, his mercurial nature earned him a reputation as difficult to work with. A string of box office failures didn't help. Famously, he pushed hard to get the role of Vito Corleone in The Godfather, and wow, was that the right move! He won an Academy Award and reminded everyone how great an actor he was. 

David Carradine

Leave it to Quentin Tarantino to help revive a star's career like he did with John Travolta. David Carradine was huge in the 1970s as the star of Kung Fu, and while he always found work, it took until Kill Bill in 2003 that he found that same level of fame again. 

Kiefer Sutherland

After becoming one of the biggest teen idols of the '80s, Kiefer Sutherland spent most of the '90s in smaller, supporting roles. In 2001, however, he landed the role of Jack Bauer in 24 and it became the part he's most known for, becoming a television icon over the run of the show. 

Fame, as they say, is fleeting, and these actors prove there can always be a second act in Hollywood. 

The chupacabra — a carnivorous creature with purported sightings that date back to the 1970s, before its name was coined in the mid-’90s — has inspired several movies of the horror variety, as one might expect. However, director Jonás Cuarón (son of Alfonso, with whom he co-wrote Gravity) is taking a different approach with the urban legend that is more “E.T.” than “evil” with the new Netflix original movie, Chupa.

It follows a shy teenager who, while visiting his relatives in Mexico, discovers and befriends the young and surprisingly friendly eponymous creature, which he vows to hide and protect from a scientist who wants to capture him for nefarious purposes. Before (or even after) you use your Netflix subscription to check out this heartwarming family adventure, see who is playing these human characters in the Chupa cast, along with a refresher on where else you might have seen them previously.

Demián Bichir (Chava)

As Chava — whose grandson finds the titular creature from Chupa in his own shed — we have Demián Bichir, who has dealt with strange creatures before, but of a more violent nature. For instance, he was in one of the Alien movies (2017’s Covenant), became a part of the Conjuring Universe franchise with The Nun in 2018, played the human antagonist of 2021’s MonsterVerse movie crossover, Godzilla vs. Kong, and played the lead of the Let the Right One In TV show cast for Showtime. 

The Academy Award nominee’s (for 2011’s A Better Life) versatile career also includes FX’s thought-provoking crime drama The Bridge, Paul Feig’s 2013’s action-comedy The Heat, Oliver Stone’s Savages from 2012, and Quentin Tarantino’s star-studded 2015 Western, The Hateful Eight. 

Christian Slater (Richard Quinn)

Starring as Richard Quinn — the scientist searching for Chupa — is another actor who has appeared in the Tarantinoverse (specifically in 1993’s True Romance), starred in a few westerns (1990’s Young Guns II, most notably), and had an encounter with an undead bloodsucker (1994’s Interview with the Vampire): Christian Slater. 

The Golden Globe winner (for the title role of the acclaimed hit series, Mr. Robot) is also best known for the darkly comic 1988 high school movie Heathers, a more grounded coming-of-age dramedy called Pump Up the Volume from 1990, and director John Woo’s 1996 action thriller, Broken Arrow. More recently, he starred in one of Peacock’s best true crime titles, Dr. Death, leant his voice to the Netflix animated sci-fi comedy, Inside Job, and appeared in FX’s Fleischmann is in Trouble cast in a recurring role.

Evan Whitten (Alex)

Alex — the boy who finds and befriends the creature he names Chupa — is played by Slater’s Mr. Robot co-star, Evan Whitten, who made his acting debut in the 2017 short, Years Later, before his guest appearance on Nickelodeon’s Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn, and uncredited role in the Nicole Kidman-led Destroyer in 2018. 

That same year, he appeared in an episode of The Rookie and landed a recurring role on hit medical drama, The Resident, and, in 2020, played Daniel Zovatto’s younger self on Penny Dreadful: City of Angels, starred in movies Dino Dana: The Movie and Words on the Bathroom Walls, and had a starring role of Fox’s short-lived technophobic thriller, Next. The following year, he was in two episodes of ABC’s Big Sky and starred in Ana Lily Amirpour’s Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon.

Ashley Ciarra (Luna)

As Alex’s cousin, Luna, we have Ashley Ciarra, who is making her feature film debut with Chupa, which is also her first screen acting credit in general. The young actor previously studied dance of various styles, from ballet to jazz.

Nickolas Verdugo (Memo)

Also making his feature film debut here is Nickolas Verdugo, who plays Luna’s younger brother, Memo. The young actor previously landed his first acting gig, however, in 2022, with an episode of the dystopian YA Snapchat series, Breakwater, and can be seen next on Johnny Knoxville, Eric Andre, and Gabourey Sidibe’s upcoming practical joke show, The Prank Panel.

Adriana Paz (No Character Name Provided)

Also starring in the cast is Adriana Paz, who is tight with Jonás Cuarón’s family, having starred in his uncle, Carlos’, 2008 dramedy, Rudo y Cursi, early in her career before making her English language debut the following year with a small role in the horror film Not Forgotten. 

She returned to horror not long after by starring in one of the 26 morbid segments of the 2012 horror anthology movie, The ABCs of Death and later played the title role of the 2014 Mexican dramedy, Hilda, before making a small appearance in an otherwise huge, English-language blockbuster: the 2015 James Bond movie, Spectre. Some of Paz’s most notable credits as of late include the 2018 drama No One Will Ever Know, the Paramount+ original TV show Coyote, and Netflix’s 2021 Spanish import, This is Not a Comedy.

Gerardo Taracena (No Character Name Provided)

Fellow Mexican-born Chupa cast member Gerardo Taracena made his English-language acting debut in 2001 with (ironically) The Mexican, starring Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts, before appearing in one of Tony Scott and Denzel Washington’s many collaborations, Man on Fire, in 2004 and playing the lead of director Mel Gibson’s period action epic, Apocalypto, two years later. 

He acted alongside Gibson in 2012’s Get the Gringo before starring on History Channel’s 2015 miniseries, Texas Rising, and landing a recurring role on Queen of the South in 2016. His previous experience working on a Netflix title includes playing Pablo Acosta on Narcos: Mexico and the 2022 racing drama series, Pedal to the Metal.

Julio Cesar Cedillo (No Character Name Provided)

Julio Cesar Cedillo actually has many credits in common with a few of his Chupa co-stars — namely Demián Bichir (The Bridge), Adriana Paz (Coyote), and Gerardo Taracena (Queen of the South and Narcos: Mexico) — but has led an impressive career outside of those projects with roles in movies like Cowboys & Aliens, The Mist, The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, and Sicario, to name just a few. 

He also appeared opposite the Walking Dead cast for a Season 3 episode, appeared in another Netflix movie — the star-studded Western, The Harder They Fall — in 2021, and is starring in a more intense creature feature in 2023: the upcoming horror movie, The Black Demon.

Cuarón has followed in his father’s footsteps quite well by putting together an impressive ensemble for his latest directorial feature. See the Chupa cast in action by logging in to stream the film on Netflix now.

Since the early '60s, Pop-Tarts have been the go-to breakfast dish for anybody needing a quick meal before heading out the door. I guess it was only a matter of time before a movie was made, though who would've thought it would come decades later from Jerry Seinfeld? The iconic comedian directed Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story, which will eventually become available to anyone with a Netflix subscription, and in addition to being a part of it, he's also brought on some famous stars. 

The cast list for Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story is unbelievably stacked. A look down this list will show a who's who in comedy and get readers excited for this upcoming movie. Let's dive in and talk about some of the big names who will take part in this comedy movie. Full disclosure, we don't know the roles any of these actors and actresses are playing, but seeing them all together has me very excited about this project. 

Jerry Seinfeld

Comedian Jerry Seinfeld will star in Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story, which highlights the competition between Post and Kellogg's to produce a breakfast pastry in the early 1960s. Seinfeld is most known for his self-titled hit series, as well as his successful stand-up career. 

Melissa McCarthy

Melissa McCarthy is, without a doubt, one of the funniest women working in film. Whether it's Spy, Bridesmaids or any of her other notable movies, McCarthy is always on point with her ability to seamlessly meld quick wit with physical comedy. Hopefully all of that is happening in Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story, but we can only wait and see. 

Jim Gaffigan

Stand-up comedian Jim Gaffigan might be primarily known for his stage work, but he's had a pretty healthy career in both film and television. Readers might remember his TV Land series The Jim Gaffigan Show or some of the various other movies and shows he's played a small role in, one maybe you've heard some of his voice work over the years, like as Thunderbolt in Stargirl Season 2.

Amy Schumer

Amy Schumer turned down doing the Barbie movie, but she'll be in Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story in an undisclosed role. In addition to a highly-successful career in stand-up comedy, Schumer has found in just about every aspect of entertainment from film and television. 

Hugh Grant

Hugh Grant is an acting icon, and while he may not be the first person that comes to mind in a traditional comedy, he's had roles in quite a few entertaining ones over the years. One of my favorites had to be his recent cameo in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, but there are many other examples worth checking out. 

James Marsden

With Westworld officially in the rearview, James Marsden is in the cast of Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story. Marsden's career in film and television spans everywhere from X-Men to Enchanted. Having him aboard is a gift, and I expect his role will be a good one. 

Jack McBrayer

Jack McBrayer has come a long way from his days on 30 Rock, though a lot of the things folks love about his role on that comedy show are still present in some of his more recent works. I don't know officially what to expect from McBrayer, but I wouldn't be surprised if his positive-leaning Southern charm he's known for is on full display in whatever role he's been given. 

Thomas Lennon

It's hard to see Thomas Lennon and not see anything other than Lieutenant Jim Dangle of Reno 911. It's a credit to Lennon that his character has had the sort of longevity to still be relevant in 2023, though I'm sure we'll see him play someone entirely different in Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story. 

Adrian Martinez

Actor Adrian Martinez has popped around Hollywood on the film and television side in various roles since the early '90s. 2023 will be a big year for him with an appearance in Renfield, and it's possible we'll see Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story arrive then as well. 

Bobby Moynihan

Saturday Night Live veteran Bobby Moynihan has been added to cast of Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story. This is just another notch in the belt for Moynihan's growing film career and his already-impressive string of television roles. Given the amount of voice-acting the actor's done in recent years, I almost wonder if he might be a spokesperson for Pop-Tarts or something along those lines in this upcoming movie. 

Max Greenfield

Between his roles on New Girl and The Neighborhood, it's easy to see why any comedy would want to bring on Max Greenfield. He's a natural talent who also proved he has some dramatic acting skills, as well with projects like The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story. Hopefully he'll get a solid role in this film to further open up his career to other big roles. 

Christian Slater

Christian Slater's film and acting credits can't be summarized in a brief blurb, but luckily, he's enough of a household name we shouldn't have to run down the list. Suffice it to say that everyone should be thrilled he's in Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story, regardless of what he's doing. 

Sarah Cooper

Stand-up comedian Sarah Cooper will join the cast of Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story, and she's definitely one of the up-and-coming talents on this cast list. Anyone unfamiliar with her work should certainly check out her Netflix special Sarah Cooper: Everything's Fine to get ready for her upcoming performance in this movie. 

Rachael Harris

Lucifer fans should know actress Rachael Harris quite well, as she spent years on the main cast as Dr. Linda Martin. She's also had roles on numerous acclaimed comedies like Frasier and Ghosts, so she can bring a lot to this comedy film. 

Cedric Yarbrough

Cedric Yarbrough has done quite a bit in Hollywood throughout his career, though I daresay he's held any roles quite as prolific as his role as Deputy Jones on Reno 911. Now he's a part of Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story, and hopefully ready to wow the world with whatever he'll be doing in this comedy. 

Maria Bakalova

Bulgarian actress Maria Bakalova really burst out into Hollywood following Borat Subsequent Moviefilm and has slowly worked her way to larger roles in Hollywood. Her role in this movie is on the heels of her role as Cosmo the Spacedog on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, so 2023 could be a big year for the actress. 

Kyle Dunnigan

Stand-up comedian Kyle Dunnigan will appear Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story, and he'll join a lot of former co-stars in the process. Dunnigan was known for his role as "Craig" on Reno 911 and was a writer on Inside Amy Schumer. Suffice it to say he probably had a lot of friends on set. 

Peter Dinklage

Actor Peter Dinklage has jumped through a lot of genres in his career and proven he can do anything from fantasy projects like Game of Thrones to comedy outings like Elf. There's no telling what he'll be up to in Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story, but knowing Dinklage's talents, I'm sure it'll be good. 

Jon Hamm

Jon Hamm is rolling right on from his role in Top Gun: Maverick into Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story. It's quite a genre jump for Hamm, but no doubt the Emmy-winning actor is game for whatever the comedy brings his way.  

John Slattery

John Slattery will join his former Mad Men co-star in Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story. Though we know little about his role, Slattery is electric in almost any role he's taken on, and I wouldn't expect this comedy to be any different for him. 

Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story will stream on Netflix, but we're still waiting for an official release date. Hopefully, the movie will be as satisfying as a warm Pop-Tart, and it's hard to believe it won't be with this talented cast. 

We live in a world where franchises dominate Hollywood, and that means not only endless remakes and reboots but quite often the production of sequels to projects that are years, even decades old. A sequel to Top Gun became one of the highest-grossing movies of all-time last year, and one of Cruise’s former co-stars in a different project, Interview with the Vampire, wouldn’t be against revisiting his old character, because he'd like to know what happened to him. 

Christian Slater recently appeared in the Disney+ series Willow, which picked up the story of the cult classic movie more than 20 years later. I recently had the chance to talk to Slater following the Willow first season conclusion and, as an actor who’s been making movies for many years, I asked if there were any of his old characters he might want to check in on. He suggested his character, the titular Interviewer in Interview with the Vampire, had his story left open-ended, and he admitted to being curious about what happened next. He explained…

While several of Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles books have become film adaptations, there was technically never a direct sequel to Interview with the Vampire starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt. As such, the final scene, where, Cruise’s Lestat bites Christian Slater’s character, is never directly followed up on. 

Based on the fact that Slater’s character specifically asks to be turned in the previous scene, it seems likely that the choice that he made was to become a vampire. Also, it has to be said that if the character chose not to be turned, it wouldn’t make for much of a movie.

There is one particularly interesting reason why following up on the ending of Interview with the Vampire movie would be potentially interesting which is that the movie ends differently than the original novel, while Christian Slater’s character does play an ongoing role in the larger franchise, and does eventually become a vampire, it happens quite differently in the books.

As such, a follow-up on the character today would almost certainly see Slater’s character in a very different place. This would allow for essentially a completely original story. So maybe an Interview with the Vampire legacy sequel isn’t that bad an idea. The fact that Interview is now a TV series likely means the rights situation would make such a film complicated to make at best, but if modern Hollywood has taught us anything, it’s never too late to return to a popular franchise.

The following contains spoilers for Disney+'s Willow.

The long anticipated sequel series for Willow on Disney+ saw popular characters return and a number of brand new characters get introduced. Beyond question one of the most fun new additions to Willow was Christian Slater’s character Allagash, a friend, and in some ways the series proxy, for Val Kilmer’s missing Madmartigan. Allagash’s fate is left ambiguous in the series but Christian Slater has been thinking about what exactly happened to his character.

We meet Allagash as a prisoner of some oddly cultured trolls in Willow and he stays behind to fight them off so the rest of our heroes can escape. He’s hopelessly outnumbered, and he's ultimately overwhelmed, but we never actually see him die. Is he dead? Alive? A prisoner once again? Something else?

I had a chance to speak with Christian Slater and I asked the actor if he had any idea what exactly happened to Allagash after his final scene ends. He says that has been a topic of conversation between himself and producer and writer Jon Kasdan. Slater explained…

The finale of Willow teases not only that we could get more of the Disney+ series, but specifically that two more seasons could be in our future. While there’s certainly no guarantee that we will see Allagash again, keeping his fate ambiguous was clearly an intentional choice to at least lave that possibility open.

In many ways Allagash is the show’s Madmartigan, since Val Kilmer was unavailable to reprise his role. We’re told the two were friends and Allagesh is, like Madmartigan, clearly a skilled swordsman , who might also be slightly insane. However, Slater implied that of the many possible futures for Allagash, it’s possible that he won’t necessarily end up playing the hero. The actor continued…

Allagash does ultimately help in the end, but there is certainly some questions left open as to exactly what hi motives are. Slater indicates that maybe Allagash has some ulterior motives for the decisions he makes. 

The first step to seeing what happens with Christian Slater’s character is actually getting another season of Willow. Clearly, Willow works as a series, but at this point nothing has been confirmed. Streaming series renewals are sort of a black box so when we’ll even learn whether or not more Willow is coming is unknown. Allagash is just one of the questions that Season 1 of Willow left us with, hopefully those next two seasons will come sooner rather than later.

Thirty-four years after Willow Ufgood first protected baby Elora in 1988’s Willow, the new Disney+’s limited series Willow has returned us to the universe . While the show sees Warwick Davis’ return as the titular character and Ron Howard is on board as a producer, there’s also tons of new talent that came with the show, including none other than beloved actor Christian Slater. Despite his notoriety, this is no timid role, and he walked away with a few battle scars from set. 

We spoke with Slater at the red carpet world premiere for Willow, and he revealed the following about an injury he sustained while filming one of the show’s many fight scenes:

There are worse on-set injuries than a black eye, but it is pretty hilarious that Christian Slater was so caught up in the scene he didn’t notice getting hit hard enough that a bruise would form. Imagine going to remove your set makeup only to realize it was an actual black-and-blue mark. 

In the series, Slater’s character Allagash is no stranger to fighting, and the moment we meet him he’s already embroiled in action. As the actor himself said, it was a lot of work, but he is proud of what was accomplished. 

Ever since the epic first Willow trailer was released, people have been stoked on the resurgence of the fantasy universe. While Disney+ may seem like an odd platform to some, the producers have assured audiences that it makes all the sense in the world. For a long time, director John M. Chu was on board to lead the project. Although that didn’t come to fruition, even he has given the show his stamp of approval, calling showrunner Jake Kasdan to weigh in after leaving the project. 

As previously noted, Ron Howard – the director of the original Willow – is behind the scenes on the series as a producer while Warwick Davis returns to lead the cast. But Davis and Christian Slater aren’t the only noteworthy names involved. It boasts a stellar cast that includes the return of Kevin Pollack as Rool, as well as Tony Revolori and a slew of other talent that you’ve likely seen before.

You can watch Willow on Disney+ right now, and you can also check out the video of our interviews with Jake Kasdan and the entire cast. If fantasy isn’t your thing, not to worry, as there’s plenty more streaming content to come throughout December on Disney+.

The FX on Hulu brand has given audiences some incredible shows since FX+ was given a fresh coat of paint and new name in early 2020, with shows like Reservation Dogs, Under the Banner of Heaven, and The Bear being considered some of the best offerings on TV right now. The latest addition to the library, Fleishman Is in Trouble, has all the trappings of the brand’s next big hit, thanks to its story (based on Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s 2019 novel of the same name), style, and a tremendous collection of actors with all kinds of accolades.

If you have watched the first two episodes of the 2022 TV show, which premiered on November 17, 2022, or you are planning on catching up later on, there’s a good chance you are wondering where you’ve seen the members of the Fleishman Is in Trouble cast before. Well, you’ve come to the right place because we’re about to break it all down now…

Jesse Eisenberg (Toby Fleishman)

Jesse Eisenberg leads the Fleishman Is in Trouble cast as Toby Fleishman, a recently-divorced 40-year-old doctor in Manhattan who is getting used to the app-based dating world and a single parent after his wife ups and leaves without notice.

Throughout his career, Eisenberg has played an intelligent and overly-ambitious billionaire in The Social Network and an over-the-top version of Lex Luthor in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, respectively, while also playing more sincere characters in titles like The Squid and the Whale, Adventureland, and the Zombieland franchise. The new FX on Hulu miniseries is Eisenberg’s first major TV role since his days on Get Real more than 20 years ago.

Claire Danes (Rachel Fleishman)

Multi-time Golden Globe and Primetime Emmy winner Claire Danes appears in the Fleishman Is in Trouble cast as Toby’s ex-wife Rachel, who, after years of marriage, decides she needs something new and different from life.

Danes is no stranger to the medium of TV, as she first rose to prominence on the quintessential ‘90s series My So-Called Life, and then later on with the decorated Showtime original series, Homeland. She has also appeared on Temple Grandin, Master of None, and The Essex Serpent over the years. Danes’ film credits include Baz Luhrman’s reimagining of Romeo + Juliet, The Hours, Shopgirl, and The Family Stone, to name only a few.

Lizzy Caplan (Libby Epstein)

Taking on the role of Toby’s best friend Libby Epstein (who also provides the show’s narration) is Lizzy Caplan, who brings years of experience to the Fleishman Is in Trouble cast.

Just like the co-stars listed above, Caplan got her start in show business on TV, with a four-episode run on Freaks and Geeks, the short-lived dramedy series that helped launch the careers of some of today’s biggest stars. Over the years, Caplan has landed leading roles on Party Down, Masters of Sex, and Castle Rock, to name just a few. She’s next set to take on the role of Alex Forrest in the upcoming TV-adaptation of Fatal Attraction.

Adam Brody (Seth Morris)

Adam Brody appears in the Fleishman Is in Trouble cast as Seth Morris, one of Toby’s best friends who helps guide him through the post-divorce life.

Brody, who came into prominence with his portrayal of Seth Cohen on the Fox teen drama series The O.C., following appearances on shows like Grounded for Life and The Sausage Factory, has continued to be a go-to name over the years. Movies like Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, Sleeping with Other People, Promising Young Woman, and Ready or Not have all featured the actor in some capacity. He is next set to reprise his role of the superhero version of Freddy Freeman in the upcoming Shazam! Fury of the Gods.

Christian Slater (Archer Sylvan)

Christian Slater appears on Fleishman Is in Trouble as Archer Sylvan, a character Deadline described as being a “Tom Wolfe-esque” figure who writes an article about the dissolution of marriage, reflecting the show’s central conflict.

Slater is mostly known for appearing in movies like Heathers, True Romance, Interview with the Vampire, and Stephen King’s Dolan’s Cadillac, but he has more than a few TV credits to his name that are worth mentioning. First, there’s his decorated performance on Mr. Robot that earned him a Golden Globe and multiple nominations, but he has also appeared on Dr. Death, The West Wing, Alias, and a few dozen other programs going back to the early 1980s.

Josh Radnor (Adam Epstein)

Josh Radnor also joins the Fleishman is in Trouble cast as Libbey Epstein’s husband, Adam. 

Whenever Radnor’s name (or face) comes up, it’s hard not to instantly think of Ted Mosby, the character he played for nine seasons on the CBS sitcom, How I Met Your Mother. After that, he landed a major role on Grey's Anatomy. Randor’s other TV credits include Rise, Hunters, Mercy Street, and Six Feet Under, to name a few. He has also popped up in movies like Liberal Arts, Social Animals, and Not Another Teen Movie.

Michael Gaston (Dr. Bartuck)

Taking on the role Dr. Bartuck, Toby’s overbearing boss, is Michael Gaston. 

Throughout his career, Gaston has appeared on shows like Five Days at Memorial, Jack Ryan, For Life, The Leftovers, Mad Men, Jericho, The West Wing, and a few dozen others, including brief, one-off roles on shows like Law & Order and The Sopranos. His film work includes W., Inception, First Reformed, and Cop Land, to name just a few.

Meara Mahoney-Gross (Hannah Fleishman)

Meara Mahoney-Gross appears on Fleishman Is in Trouble as Hannah, the daughter of Toby and Rachel who finds herself caught in the middle of her parents’ divorce and new lives.

Mahoney-Gross has only been acting for a few years, but she has already appeared in movies like The Tender Bar and Don’t Look Up.

Maxim Swinton (Solly Fleishman)

Maxim Swinton shows up on Fleishman Is in Trouble as Solly, the young son of Toby and Rachel.

Over the course of the past few years, Swinton has made appearances on shows like Halston, NOS4A2, Blindspot, Bull, and The Blacklist: Redemption, to name a few.

The first two episodes of Fleishman Is in Trouble are currently available to stream if you have a Hulu subscription, and new episodes are set to premiere every Thursday through the end of the year.

There is a broad spectrum when it comes to the development time of Stephen King adaptations. Some projects are able to come together lightning quick – like John Carpenter’s Christine, which hit theaters just eight months after the 1983 novel arrived on bookstore shelves. Arguably the most notable title at the other extreme is The Stand, which spent 16 years in various forms of pre-production before becoming a miniseries in 1994, but Dolan’s Cadillac is another King project that had a devil of a time getting into principal photography.

Based on the novella of the same name, Dolan’s Cadillac’s journey through development hell can be traced back to February 2001 when it was reported that two big stars were attached to an adaptation set to be directed by up-and-coming director Stacy Title. Per The Hollywood Reporter (via ABC News), Kevin Bacon was negotiating to play the film’s protagonist, the mononymous Robinson, while Sylvester Stallone would play the eponymous, villainous Dolan.

The stars didn’t align on that iteration of the project, and Dolan’s Cadillac sat on a shelf for three years. It seemed like it might get a second life in April 2004 when Freddie Prinze Jr., speaking at the London premiere of Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (via Lilja’s Library), revealed that he had signed on to be in the film opposite Gabriel Byrne… but that didn’t work out either, and by September 2005 it was reported that Stephen King had taken the rights back.

It wasn’t until the spring of 2008 that a new adaptation of Dolan’s Cadillac finally got some legs underneath it, specifically in the form of Wes Bentley and Christian Slater making deals to play the leads. The project still had to deal with behind-the-scenes issues, as director Erik Canuel was replaced by Jeff Beesley about a month prior to the start of filming, but the movie did get made.

After so many years of development, the adaptation of Dolan’s Cadillac never made it to theaters, having to settle for a DVD release in April 2010 – but can it at least be said that the juice was worth the squeeze quality wise? That’s the big question I’ll be answering in this week’s Adapting Stephen King.

What “Dolan’s Cadillac” Is About

Stephen King’s “Dolan’s Cadillac” – which can most easily be found in the 1993 collection Nightmares & Dreamscapes – owes a great deal to Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado.” Like that 19th century short story, it’s a prototypical revenge tale that sees the protagonist get satisfaction by entombing the individual who has wronged them.

As for specific inspiration, King credits the impetus to write the piece to a passing thought while stuck in traffic amid some road construction. He writes in the “Notes” section of Nightmares & Dreamscapes that he was stuck behind a “big green Cadillac Sedan DeVille,” and he observed that the massive car could actually fit in the excavated asphalt where some kind of large piping was being installed. The idea of embedding such a vehicle in a highway was too good an idea to shelve, and he quickly began developing a story around it.

Unfortunately, Stephen King ran into two significant roadblocks (pun intended) as he was creating “Dolan’s Cadillac.” The first was a matter of technical details, as he underestimated the knowledge of physics that would be required in order to pull off the plot point he was aiming to execute. The writer refers to himself as “an extremely lazy sod when it comes to research,” but fortunately he got assistance from his brother, Dave King – a child prodigy who inspired the genius character Howard Fornoy in the short story “The End Of The Whole Mess.”

King’s sibling not only gave him the required lessons about arc of descent, but even explained how the story’s protagonist could utilize machinery that is often left at roadwork sites.

The second roadblock “Dolan’s Cadillac” faced making its way to publication was Stephen King’s own early dissatisfaction with what he had written. Its new home became the cardboard box of “Bad Old Stuff” he keeps in what he refers to as the “Hallway of Doom” behind his office, but it only stayed there a few years. A request from a friend to publish something of King’s as a limited edition printing led him to dig out “Dolan’s Cadillac” and reevaluate it. He made some revisions to what he had written for that printing, and made more for its inclusion as the first story in Nightmares & Dreamscapes.

The aforementioned protagonist in the novella is Robinson: a school teacher who is well past losing it when he is first introduced, and only further continues to see his sanity unravel over the course of the story. His madness is driven by a man referred to only as Dolan: a powerful west coast crime lord who ordered that Robinson’s wife, Elizabeth, be killed after she witnessed him commit a crime and agreed to testify in court.

Robinson stalks Dolan for seven years trying to figure out how to get his revenge, the challenge being that the villain is always surrounded by two armed body guards and drives around in an armored Cadillac. Familiarizing himself with the criminal’s schedule – particularly his trips between Las Vegas and Los Angeles – the unhinged educator gets a job working for a Nevada roadwork crew so that he can ultimately execute a plan to build a fake detour trap for Dolan and bury him alive inside his own car.

How Jeff Beesley’s Dolan’s Cadillac Differs From Stephen King’s Novella

“Dolan’s Cadillac” sports a simple narrative told in the first person. Robinson tells his own experience from his own perspective in linear fashion – first vaguely recapping the circumstances that led to his wife’s death before recounting how he went about planting the titular vehicle below a highway stretching from Las Vegas to Los Angeles.

Jeff Beesley’s adaptation, written by Kingdom Hospital’s Richard Dooling, not only opts to nix the “lone man’s spiral into madness” idea with Robinson (Wes Bentley) by mixing in numerous scenes centering on Dolan (Christian Slater), but there is also a significant number of straight deviations from the source material – starting with the fact that the Cadillac in the novella is gray/silver, while it’s made to be black in the film.

Reminiscent of the 1998 adaptation of Apt Pupil, Dolan’s Cadillac significantly cuts down the full breadth of the story, as everything seems to happen within the span of a single year rather than seven. In addition to speeding up Robinson’s revenge planning, it means that a number of elements from his story are deleted – including him slowly losing his hair, going to the gym to get stronger and prepare himself for the harsh roadwork, and slyly consulting with a math teacher colleague about the proper dimensions for his highway setup.

These subtractions include room for additions in the film – including Robinson purchasing a giant gun with the intention of straight-up assassinating Dolan. The character thinks about doing this in the novella, but he comes to the conclusion that trying to shoot the villain would end with him likely failing and being killed. The movie version of Robinson actually goes to Dolan with his gun in hand, but the antagonist’s business rivals beat him to the punch. He watches as a group of gangsters open fire on the Cadillac, and none of the bullets puncture the truck’s armor. Out of ammo, the men are then killed by Dolan’s bodyguard (Greg Bryk), and Robinson learns first hand why going the gun route is a bad idea.

Also original to the film is a sequence in a roadside bathroom where Dolan confronts Robinson after realizing that he is being stalked. In the novella, Robinson keeps a safe distance at all times, only getting close to his target when the Cadillac is in the ground.

We never actually learn what kind of criminal operation that Dolan operates in Stephen King’s novella, but Dolan’s Cadillac takes a different route by taking an immensely unpleasant dive into the world of human trafficking. We actually see the crime that Elizabeth (Emmanuelle Vaugier) witnesses – which involves a group of girls being murdered in the back of a box truck – and the movie repeatedly feels the need to show details of the day-to-day operation.

Another notable addition is continued communication between Robinson and an FBI agent named Fletcher (Al Sapienza) – which ends up providing the film with a different ending than the source material. While Robinson plots his revenge in the movie, Fletcher continues to pursue Dolan through legal means. In the third act, while the protagonist is burying the car, the agent calls and explains that they finally have enough evidence to arrest Dolan and put him away forever. This call doesn’t come, however, until the last slab of asphalt has been placed over the Cadillac’s sunroof.

Stephen King’s story doesn’t have this ironic conclusion. Instead, the novella ends with Robinson, his body having mostly recovered from the insane strain of the roadwork, returning to Dolan’s burial site and urinating on it.

Is It Worthy Of The King?

The principal strength of Stephen King’s work has always been his phenomenal gift for character development, and that’s an important quality that’s missing in “Dolan’s Cadillac.” The perspective of a man whose sanity is swirling down the drain is interesting (far better done in Pet Sematary), but Robinson is a generic revenge-seeking protagonist otherwise, and we know nothing about Dolan outside of his penchant for crime and having beautiful women on his arm. The story solely exists to execute the idea of a Cadillac being buried in a highway trench… and limited material shows even more cracks when translated into a new medium.

Jeff Beasley’s Dolan’s Cadillac is a deeply unpleasant film. The choice to expand Dolan’s role in the story is an understandable one, but the approach backfires. The idea is for the audience to understand Dolan’s evil, but the script and Christian Slater’s performance excessively overshoot the mark. You know he’s a horrible person when he doesn’t blink twice about a box truck of women being killed, and it just feels gross when there are subsequent scenes of Dolan judging the looks of trafficked women and going on racist tirades when he gets pissed at his business associates.

Helping absolutely nothing is the performance by Wes Bentley, who lacks anything resembling nuance in his turn. The script doesn’t provide him any favors, but there is no sense of descent into madness provided – at one point he simply clicks from numb and broken to maniacal and insane.

It can at least be said that the ironic ending in the film provides a more flavored conclusion than Stephen King’s novella, but otherwise it’s really difficult not to qualify it as one of the worst King movies ever made.

How To Watch Jeff Beesley’s Dolan’s Cadillac

People have free will, and thus can spend their time in life however they so choose. This in mind, I can tell you not to waste your time watching Dolan’s Cadillac, but the option is available if the interest exists. On digital, you can rent or purchase the movie on Google Play, and you can actually watch it for free on Amazon Prime Video via FreeVee (though you’ll have to sit through commercial interruptions). Those of you who are physical media collectors and/or trying to build the Ultimate Stephen King collection can find the film on Blu-ray (and the release is widely available).

Adapting Stephen King will be switching back to the CinemaBlend television section next week as I’ll be digging into what exists as the second longest-running King adaptation of all time: the Syfy series Haven, which is based on the 2005 novel The Colorado Kid (…sorta). Look for the piece on Wednesday, and in the meantime you can read all of my previous columns by clicking through the banners below.

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If you consider yourself a fan of either TV or film, then chances are you’ve probably heard of Christian Slater. The veteran actor is known for a number of notable productions, whether it be his big-screen debut in 1985’s The Legend of Billie Jean or for his turn as the titular character in the acclaimed series Mr. Robot. The actor has become somewhat of a pop culture staple, so much so that Chris Evans’ recent tweet about his love of the actor went viral. Although getting a shoutout from Captain America didn’t earn Slater a place in the Marvel family, it now seems he’ll be joining the Star Wars universe for a new Disney+ project.

Lucasfilm has been keeping Star Wars fans covered with plenty of content on Disney+, with The Mandalorian arguably being the biggest draw. However, the studio has also satisfied the appetites of those looking for animated fare, including The LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special. Well, Lucasfilm and Disney+ are now keeping the holiday trend going, as they’ve announced LEGO Star Wars Terrifying Tales, a dark side-centric Halloween special.

According to the official synopsis, the story will follow star pilot and Resistance leader Poe Dameron (voiced by Jake Green) and lovable droid BB-8 after the events of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. The duo will find themselves on the Volcanic planet of Mustafar (which Revenge of the Sith fans should be familiar with), where they discover that a member of the Hutt family is transforming Darth Vader’s former compound into a Sith-themed resort. Of course, this is a Halloween special and, as such, the two Resistance members, Graballa the Hutt and new friend Van will be treated to three spine-tingling, dark side stories courtesy of Darth Vader’s assistant, Vaneé.

So you’re probably wondering where Christian Slater fits into LEGO Star Wars Terrifying Tales story. Well, he’s confirmed to be playing a character named Ren, though no further details were given on the role. But it is possible that Ren is someone viewers will meet through the aforementioned stories. It’s only speculation at this point but, through the cast list, we do know for sure that we can expect to see the returns of Darth Vader (voiced by Matt Sloan) and Emperor Palpatine (voiced by Trevor Devall). And it sounds like there’s also a deeper mystery at play in the story. To get an idea of what the special is going for, check out the teaser poster down below:

The LEGO Star Wars brand has been one of the most beloved aspects of the wide-reaching franchise for years now. Fans like myself have come to appreciate the lighthearted humor and fun that comes with the brand’s unique take on the galaxy far, far away. And it’s not always about humor, either. In fact, the holiday special actually broke new ground for Star Wars as a whole by introducing time travel and multidimensional madness. You can see how things played out in that special by streaming it on Disney+, which you can sign up for using this link.

While we’ll still have to see a bit more to get a feel for the special, Christian Slater is definitely a solid addition to the cast and the Star Wars franchise as a whole. It would’ve honestly have been nice to see him join the live-action side but, at the very least, there’s a greater chance that this project will truly allow him to flex his comedic muscles.

You’ll be able to hear Chrstian Slater at work when LEGO Star Wars Terrifying Tales hits Disney+ on October 1st.

There has been so much focus on the release of the Zack Snyder cut of Justice League that it’s easy to forget the director has another project in the works. Snyder has been working on Army of the Dead, the upcoming Netflix horror film. It was announced last month that the movie’s universe was expanding and that Netflix had greenlit a spinoff anime series starring Dave Bautista and Omari Hardwick. Now, Justice League’s Joe Manganiello and others have also joined the cast of Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas.

True Blood alum Joe Manganiello is reuniting with Zack Snyder for his Netflix project, joining a talented cast of actors that includes Mr. Robot’s Christian Slater, The Witcher’s Anya Chalotra, American Gods’ Yetide Badaki, The Blacklist’s Harry Lennix, 13 Reasons Why’s Ross Butler, Vanessa Hudgens, Jena Malone and more.

Zack Snyder will also be working again with Christina Wren, who played Major Carrie Farris in Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. That is a pretty impressive voice cast if I do say so myself! In addition to directing the Army of the Dead movie, Snyder will also direct two episodes of the anime series.

Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas will be about the origin story of Dave Bautista’s Scott Ward and his crew in the immediate aftermath of the zombie outbreak in Las Vegas and will follow their journey as they try to figure out what caused it. Meanwhile, the plot of the film will follow the mercenaries as they plan a heist in the quarantine zone of Vegas.

The anime series marks the second project that is being spawned from Zack Snyder’s movie. The other is a prequel film that will be directed by Matthias Schweighöfer, who is playing Ludwig Dieter in Army of the Dead. The actor will also star in the prequel movie, which is centered on his character. The film does not yet have a title. Zack Snyder sounds pretty pumped about these projects. Here’s what he had to say about it:

Joe Manganiello played the villain Deathstroke in Justice League, appearing very briefly in a post-credits scene where he spoke to Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor about starting their own league to take on Batman, Superman, and the rest of the Justice League.

The actor’s appearance in the film was meant to be the first of many in the DCEU. There were also plans for a standalone Deathstroke film, but DC and Warner Bros. seemed to go in a different direction. While I doubt that Joe Manganiello will reprise his role as Deathstroke, it’s nice to know that he’ll at least get to work with Zack Snyder again in some capacity.

Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas does not yet have a scheduled premiere date, but stay tuned to CinemaBlend for updates. Meanwhile, Army of the Dead is set to debut at some point in 2021 on Netflix. For more on what to watch, be sure to check out our 2020 fall TV premiere guide.

Spoilers ahead for the Season 2 premiere of Dirty John on USA.

Dirty John is back, and it is totally different. Among the changes are new stars. Amanda Peet and Christian Slater taking over the reins from Connie Britton and Eric Bana. Season 2 tells the tale of Betty Broderick and her ill-fated marriage to Dan Broderick, and Peet and Slater are surprisingly likable in their unlikable respective roles.

Anyone slightly familiar with true crime is probably familiar with the subject of Dirty John’s second season. After a painful divorce, Betty Broderick murdered her ex-husband, Dan, and his new wife, Linda, in November of 1989. The Season 2 premiere’s first half ends with the reveal of what Betty did without much detail, while the second half is all about the lead up to the killings.

Dirty John does itself a lot of favors by casting two incredibly charismatic actors in the lead roles for its USA debut. (The previous season was on Bravo.) The casting results in giving Betty and Dan their best representation. This is a complicated story, and it is only going to grow more so in the weeks to come. After a hit season that dealt in more clarity, Season 2 gets murky.

Amanda Peet makes for an incredibly compelling Betty in Dirty John’s Season 2 premiere. Peet is believable in all respects, from playing Betty as a loving homemaker to a distraught wife whose life is being ripped away from her by a husband she still loves. Peet’s Betty is struggling to accept that her husband has no compassion left for her.

It is tough not to feel Betty’s plight. Dirty John never stops reminding viewers that what they are watching is how Betty comes to rationalize what is going to happen. Amanda Peet has many impressive scenes throughout the Season 2 premiere, and none of them are more powerful than her monologue to the doctor. In it, she explains Dan’s power and his influence.

Speaking of Dan, the always-charismatic Christian Slater puts on a likable turn as Dan Broderick. As presented in Dirty John’s Season 2 premiere, Dan is not an entirely vindictive person. Even if he does seem a lot like one.

He does share a laugh with a sad Betty over an old inside joke of theirs, making her think there is hope for some sort of reconciliation. Dan has not had a change of heart, though.

In the earlier scene where Dan has Betty committed, Christian Slater portrays Dan as cool as a cucumber, resolved to what he has to do but taking no pleasure in it. That said, Dan lacks compassion for his wife and the sacrifices that she has made for him and their family. Dirty John works hard to bring it home.

In related news, Christian Slater is not done with true crime. He is set to star in the TV adaptation of Wondery podcast, Dr. Death. I look forward to seeing what he does there and continues to do as Dirty John Season 2 moves ahead.

Unlike the first season, there is no real “dirty” at this point. Or at least, no one that matches the archetype of Season 1’s subject – John Meehan, who was a criminal con-man whose last crime of many was an attempted abduction. In this sense, the Broderick saga is a surprising case if the anthology’s two seasons wished to have something in common. As Dirty John progresses in its second season, it may make more sense.

As for Amanda Peet and Christian Slater, they should bring their best as Season 2 chronicles what unraveled between the Brodericks. New episodes of Dirty John Season 2 air Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on USA. It is one of this summer’s premieres. The first season of Dirty John is currently streaming on Netflix, along with lots of 2020 premieres.

Fifty Shades’ Jamie Dornan has landed his next power-hungry role on a new TV show. He will be shaking things up from his time as Christian Grey. The actor will star in a new show that is part of a rising TV trend. Dornan has boarded the upcoming television adaptation of a podcast.

Jamie Dornan will star in the lead role of Dr. Christopher Duntsch in the television adaptation of Wondery’s Dr. Death. For reference, Dr. Death is a podcast that tells the true story of Dr. Christopher Duntsch. Now to some background regarding the real-life character and the series’ premise.

Dr. Christopher Duntsch (Jamie Dornan) was a rising star in the Dallas medical community. He was creating a successful neurosurgery practice in the area. However, there was a big issue. He performed complicated, routine spinal surgeries, and yet patients were leaving his care worse off than when they came in. They were either rendered maimed or…dead. Hence, the title.

Dr. Death does not have a broadcast home yet. The series is currently getting the shopping treatment at networks and streamers, per Variety. You would think that it would find a home quickly considering the star-power at hand.

Jamie Dornan said that he would not take another job like Fifty Shades of Grey again and he is staying true to that. The actor, who has revealed that he is shy in real life, is no stranger to television. Before becoming a sensation with his high-profile role in the erotic drama franchise, Dornan starred on The Fall.

In the thriller series (currently streaming on Netflix), Jamie Dornan played Paul Spector, a deranged psychopathic serial killer. Now, Dornan will play a doctor who took an oath to do no harm, only to wreak a lot of it. I think Dornan's performance on The Fall was one of his best, so adding another television series to his repertoire is an exciting prospect for him.

Dr. Death comes on the heels of the successful run of another Wondery podcast adaptation -- Dirty John. The first season of the anthology series bowed last year. Dirty John starred Connie Britton and Eric Bana in the lead roles. The series will be moving from Bravo for its second season.

Maybe Dirty John and Dr. Death can end up on the same network? Just a thought. They would be great shows to have air back-to-back.

Starring opposite of Jamie Dornan will be Alec Baldwin and Christian Slater. Baldwin and Slater will both play surgeons that are determined to bring down Dornan’s “Dr. Death.” All around a great trio of talent to lead the series.

Dr. Death has yet to find a home or get a premiere date, so stay tuned. You can currently catch Jamie Dornan in the TV series The Fall on Netflix, among other premieres. For more television options, check out this summer’s premieres.

James Franco is arguably the hardest working man in Hollywood. Not only is he regularly appearing as an actor in other people's work but he's writing, directing, and producing seven projects that are in various stages of production, too. So when Christian Slater was cast to star opposite James Franco in the crime thriller King Cobra, which revolves around the rise and fall of gay porn star Brent Corrigan, he knew that he'd have his work cut out matching his fellow actor. But this only brought out the competitive side of Slater, especially when it came to the more intimate scenes in the movie.

According to Page Six, Christian Slater made this admission at a Q&A before the recent premiere of King Cobra, revealing that he decided to improvise while filming some of the gay sex scenes so that he could have his moment, and to stop James Franco from usurping him. Christian Slater recalled:

Justin Kelly, who wrote and directed King Cobra, which is based on Andrew E. Stoner and Peter A. Conway's novel Cobra Killer, found the time to elaborate on Christian Slater's improvisation during some of the film's more intimate scenes. During one particular moment between Slater and Garrett Clayton, who plays gay porn star Brent Corrigan in King Cobra, Kelly explained that Slater "pushes him up against the closet door" in a scene that wasn't written or planned. In King Cobra Slater can even be seen wearing a facial to prepare for his scene. Not that kind of facial you sexual minded reprobate. This kind:

King Cobra sees Christian Slater star as Stephen, a gay porn producer who discovers the young stud Brent Corrigan (Garrett Clayton), and looks to turn him into a bona-fide gay porn star. However aspiring producers Joe (James Franco) and Harlow (Keegan Allen) try to buy Brent's contract so that they can make their own movies with the actor, which is obviously something that Stephen is against. This, as you probably guessed, leads to some issues between the group.

King Cobra is based on real-life events that if you research will give away some of the pivotal points of the film. Instead, just take a look at its trailer below, which suggests that it's a merging of Boogie Nights and _Spring Breakers. _

If that looks like your kind of jam then you're in luck, because King Cobra is now in cinemas.

It’s been more than 25 years since the black comedy Heathers debuted. In the late 1980s, the movie took the lighthearted themes of John Hughes' movies and looked at the topic of high school popularity through the darkest of lenses, turning teenage suicide into it’s own popularity contest. The movie has remained popular to this day, not only because of the rock-solid performances of its two leads, who went on to become stars in their own right, but also because of the strong supporting performances of the rest of the people who made Westerberg High seriously the most terrible high school ever. Let's catch up with the cast of this dark classic, to see what happened to them after Heathers:

Winona Ryder

Winona Ryder was the female lead in Heathers, playing the "desperate to fit in until she wasn’t" character, Veronica. Heathers wasn’t quite the actresses first film, but it was close. Her first movie had been 1986’s comedy/drama Lucas. Ryder then went on to play the role of the goth daughter Lydia in Beetlejuice just a year before Heathers was released. She went on to have a stellar career in the '90s, which included Best Actress Oscar nominations in back-to-back years for 1994’s The Age of Innocence and 1995’s Little Women. She’s been less front and center in recent years, but she’s still had major parts as Spock’s mother in J.J. Abrams first Star Trek film, as well as the role of The Dying Swan in Black Swan. She’ll next be seen in Netflix’s new series Stranger Things.

Christian Slater

Heathers was very likely the first place you saw Christian Slater, unless you were an avid watcher of soap opera in the 1980’s or happened to catch his skateboard movie Gleaming the Cube that opened in the U.S. just a couple months before Heathers did. Heathers was a launching point for the man, however, as he went on to memorable roles in Pump Up The Volume, Young Guns II and the role of Will Scarlet in Kevin Costner’s accent-less Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. His most popular role to date is probably that of Clarence Worley in the Tony Scott-directed, Quentin Tarantino-written, True Romance. In recent years, he’s been building his career in television and, after a couple of false starts, he’s found success on USA’s Mr. Robot which has been renewed for a second season.

Shannen Doherty

The first, and by far the most successful of our three Heathers. Heather Duke was the schemer. If you watched TV in the 80’s, you probably saw Shannen Doherty, and she’s been acting since she was 10 and had guest roles on various series in the years leading to Heathers. It would be a couple of years, however, before Doherty would go on to star in Beverly Hills 90210, when she would really begin to get noticed. She made the decision to leave the show before it had finished it’s run to pursue other things. Doherty would return to TV for the series Charmed, but would again take off early. Doherty has continued to work, though not in much that you’d likely notice beyond appearing as a contestant on Dancing with the Stars. In her next role, she’ll be playing the mother of a young Charles Bukowski in James Franco’s film about the early life of the troubled poet.

Lisanne Falk

Heather McNamara was the slightly spacey member of the Heathers troop of girls. She was the cheerleader (how cliched). Falk was actually a child model growing up, and acting was a secondary concern. Following Heathers, she also had a role in Say Anything… which was released shortly thereafter. She co-starred alongside Winona Ryder again in the anthology film Night on Earth in 1991, but her career has been quiet since a short film in 2002.

Kim Walker

Heather Chandler was the queen of the high school in the film Heathers. Although her character didn’t last long, succumbing to the world’s worst hangover cure, she still set the mold as the prototype high school mean girl. She, like Lisanne Falk, had a small role in Say Anything…. She spent the 1990s doing a variety of TV guest appearances. Unfortunately, she would never get another chance to make her mark in a major film. She was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 1999, and passed away in 2001 at the age of 32.

Glenn Shadix

Glenn Shadix has one of those faces that’s simply memorable and you’ll recognize again and again after that. He played the priest in Heathers who lamented all the dead teenagers and the society that "told its youth that the answers can be found in the MTV video games." If you didn’t first see him here, than you likely saw him alongside Winona Ryder in Beetlejuice. Since then, he’s gone on to do countless movie, TV and voice-over roles. You probably didn’t know Shadix was the voice of the Mayor of Halloweentown in The Nightmare Before Christmas. Unfortunately, the reason you haven’t seen his memorable face in recent years is because he passed away in 2010 due to head trauma from a fall.

Patrick Labyorteaux

Ram was one of the quintessential dumb jocks of 1980’s comedy. Pretty much every stereotype you could pin on the high school football player character was in the man portrayed by Patrick Labyorteaux. The actor was already an acting veteran by the time Heathers came around, after playing the part of Andy Garvey for four years on the Little House on the Prairie series. Following Heathers, Labyorteaux would do a variety of TV and film roles until he spent 10 years as a television institution as Lt. Bud Roberts on the NBC/CBS series JAG.

Phill Lewis

If I told you Phill Lewis played Dennis in Heathers, your response would likely be, "Who?" and "What now?" Dennis is the guy who’s putting together the yearbook and discusses giving Heather Chandler’s suicide note it’s own spread with Veronica. Remember now? Now Phill Lewis has had a solid career doing several different films and TV shows over the years but you definitely recognize him if you spend any time on The Disney Channel. While he’s done a number of guest roles and voiceovers for Disney over the years in 2005 he began playing the role of Marian Moseby on The Suite Life of Zack and Cody. Between that series, it’s follow up The Suite Life on Deck, and the fact that Disney Channel shows cross over more than the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Lewis has continued to play the character, as recently as this past March.

John Ingle

John Ingle who played the principal of the high school looked old enough even then to have had a long career prior to Heathers. In point of fact, it was one of his first films. His career would go to cover numerous television appearances including over 450 episodes of General Hospital as Edward Quartermaine. The other notable place you might have heard him, before his death in 2012, was in animation. His voice acting work was extensive and would include voicing the father of Cera the triceratops in 12 separate sequels to The Land Before Time.

Hacking is a pretty hot button topic right now, thanks to all of the news featuring the Sony hacks and the release of the now-defunct flick The Interview. Apparently, USA is ready to jump onto that hacking bandwagon via a brand new series about the topic. This week, the network announced that it has signed on for a hacking drama that will oddly be called Mr. Robot. It’ll star none other than former heartthrob Christian Slater.

Mr. Robot is expected to follow a young hacker named Elliot, who will be played by 24’s Rami Malek. Elliot has major social problems, but he will be handy with a computer, and in the series will end up using his hacking skills for good rather than evil, protecting the individuals he cares about. However, eventually he will be contacted by the titular Mr. Robot (Slater), who will introduce him to an underground group of hackers with more sinister intentions.

Slater’s had a rough go in recent years. His last series was the short-lived Mind Games, which failed after just a few short episodes. Prior to that an ABC pilot, Influence, failed to move forward. His most recent TV endeavor happens to be Breaking In, a Fox comedy that was canceled at the end of its first season before subsequently being picked up for Season 2 (at the end of the second season, it was also canceled). Slater’s still in pretty high demand, at least in the TV realm, but if he couldn't make a TV show with Steve Zahn work, I have no idea what will. Still, Mr. Robot definitely has a timely premise, which should help the drama.

At the very least, USA seems to be pretty stoked about the drama. Earlier this year, the network announced five projects that were in the works. Among these was Stanistan, the brand new pilot set to star Dexter’s Jennifer Carpenter, Colony headlining Lost’s Josh Holloway and The Walking Dead’s Sarah Wayne Callies, Evil Men and Queen of The South. You would think Stanistan and The Colony would be pretty high-profile projects, but Mr. Robot has been the first series pickup from the five, so I’m assuming there’s something pretty special there.

The series comes from True Detective executive producer Steve Golin, so that may have helped. Sam Esmail and Chad Hamilton will also executive produce. Ten episodes will be produced for Season 1. Currently, USA is staying mum on when Mr. Robot will premiere.

We’ll keep you posted as Mr. Robot and—hopefully—a few of the other new USA Network projects will begin moving forward.

Don’t you love when TV gets things right, such as allowing more and more Archer to keep existing in our lives? The booze-reeking FX series traveled to this year’s Comic-Con with a few updates about where Season 6 is going to take this quick-witted ragtag group of spies. It’s a pretty familiar place, and some familiar faces will be joining the cast for guest roles.

As Deadline reports, Sterling Archer (the Emmy-nominated H. Jon Benjamin) and his less talented co-workers will be heading back to their old dependable headquarters ISIS next year. A digitized version of ISIS, anyway. You may recall the building took a small downturn when it was demolished and taken over just as Archer Vice was kicking off. It’s being rebuilt, and it’ll have a brand new visitor hanging out in the lush offices.

Yes, Lana (Aisha Tyler) will have her and Archer’s baby Abijean at her side. And then there's Archer, who spends the opening episode bonding with a Japanese despot “amid bombs and blasts on a stranded island.” I wonder if that has anything to do with the arms and coke dealer Slater, played by Christian Slater. The actor will reprise his role in at least one episode, and Slater presumably won’t fall for any more of Archer’s shit this go-around. “Classic Rando!’

As well, the show will see Fargo breakout star Allison Tolman joining the cast in a guest-starring role next season as Pam’s sister. That should be super interesting, as Pam, voiced by Amber Nash, is definitely my favorite Archer character. She’s one of the most purely and unapologetically gluttonous people on TV. Her coke addiction during Archer Vice is still one of the TV highlights of 2014. Talking about the shift back to Archer’s traditional storyline, creator Adam Reed said the cause was a simple one: they ran out of cocaine.

During the Q&A, Reed also entertained questions about possible Archer crossover episodes. The Season 4 premiere memorably featured Benjamin playing Archer as Bob Belcher, the actor's character in Fox’s Bob’s Burgers. The animation during that opening was so amazing. Reed shot down a Walking Dead meet-up, but didn’t immediately balk at reaching out to other FX series like The Strain and The Americans. I dare not think of how cool either of those scenarios would be.

Will Archer try to become a good father? Or even a bad father? Find out when Archer returns to FX in 2015.

Following tonight’s primetime Olympic footage, NBC will air a special debut presentation of the upcoming sitcom About A Boy. The single camera comedy is an adaptation of Nick Hornby’s beloved book About A Boy. It was created for the screen by Parenthood and Friday Night Lights showrunner Jason Katims, and the network is clearly hoping it, along with Growing Up Fisher, will push NBC into a new era of comedy. Unfortunately, there’s just one little elephant in the room.

Lead actor David Walton, who is undeniably handsome, charismatic and likeable, has been down this road before—like more than five times before, and every single time, the show in question hasn’t exactly stuck around. Was he the problem with those cancelled programs? No. He continues to get work, but for whatever reason, he just can’t buy a hit where he’s a lead character. And he’s not the only one. Hollywood is filled with wonderful talents who keep taking cracks at television shows, only to see every effort come up a little short.

Here are six actors who just can’t break through on television, regardless of how hard TV executives keep pushing them.

Geoff Stults

Many of us would probably like to believe that Fox’s short-lived series The Finder marks the beginning of handsome leading man Geoff Stults’ problems on television. In truth, he’s been the kind of guy that always gets work, but never manages to entice an audience for more than a season or so. After a successful stint as a side character on 7th Heaven in the mid-2000s, Stults began nabbing bigger roles, starring in the 2007 ABC drama October Road and the 2010 drama Happy Town.

After those programs failed to gain any traction, the man hopped networks for the aforementioned The Finder, a sort-of spinoff for Fox’s hit, Bones. That gig raised the actor’s profile for TV aficionados and helped him to nab a pretty big role on Ben & Kate (cancelled) and Enlisted (likely to be cancelled). Which means that thus far, Stults’ most impressive role has been on October Road, which actually did manage to nab a second season on ABC. He has the self-assurance and acting finesse to make it with the right role, but for whatever reason, it just hasn’t come along yet.

Kyle Bornheimer

Kyle Bornheimer has a loveable face and goofy charisma. Because of this, it’s a little sad to see him on this list, but man, the dude cannot make a series work. His best bid was his first big series, Worst Week, which aired on CBS way back in 2008 opposite How I Met Your Mother and Two and a Half Men. It’s easy to see why Worst Week had trouble competing with those big comedies, but it was pulling at least 8-9 million viewers an episode…

…which is better than we can say for his more recent starring gigs. Back in 2011, Bornheimer played ½ of one of the couples in, um, Perfect Couples. That obviously didn’t turn out well, getting replaced by The Paul Reiser Show on NBC after a paltry three episodes. Then, there were the forgettable midseason replacements Romantically Challenged and Family Tools. In the man’s defense, he’s extremely watchable on television, and with the right project, maybe one day he’ll be able to write himself off of this list. It’ll have to be one hell of a project, though, because he doesn’t exactly have any momentum going.

David Walton

Walton is really, really good at playing dudes who have a little heart beneath their cocky exteriors, but thus far, his career as a television actor has been a disappointing series of cancellations. He first broke out on the Mike White comedy Cracking Up, which lasted six episodes. He then appeared on Heist, Quarterlife and 100 Questions, none of which lasted a full season. Later, he teamed with poor Kyle Bornheimer to play ½ of one of the other couples in, um, Perfect Couples, but as you read in the last entry, that was a failure too, as was Bent.

A few of those shows didn’t exactly get a very good push from the network and were in danger of cancellation before they even premiered, but some of the others were given multiple chances to succeed. Walton is too good to be best known for the forgettable movie Fired Up for the rest of his life. Hopefully, About A Boy is the one that finally gets him over the top.

Laura Benanti

Laura Benanti is a veteran in the acting world, receiving a Tony for her work in the Broadway musical Gypsy. Her transition into television hasn’t seen the same success, however. Her first big TV gig, Starved, aired in the same block as It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, but the audience didn’t translate over and the show was cancelled. Other small roles followed until Benanti landed in the limelight with The Playboy Club, a glitzy period drama set in the 1960s in the swaggy atmosphere of Chicago’s famous nightclub. That one only lasted three episodes before NBC buried its head in shame and cancelled the drama.

However, NBC really seemed to like Benanti’s onscreen presence, hiring the actress the following year to star in Go On, a funny and irreverent comedy starring Matthew Perry (who has had his own troubles on TV lately). Go On did decently in the ratings at NBC, but in a mad frenzy, NBC purged most of its comedy lineup last spring, leaving Benanti without a job. Luckily, she isn’t the sort of woman who must be a lead or go bust. She’s found steady work on Burn Notice and in The Sound Of Music Live! since then, but she still hasn’t found the pilot that turns her into a bonafide TV star. At least she always has her theater cred to fall back on.

Minka Kelly

Minka Kelly has been a great supporting player on a lot of great television shows like Parenthood and Friday Night Lights. There’s something about her smile that just lights up the room. It led Yankees great Derek Jeter to take notice en route to a multiple year relationship, and it led the CW to snag her for a pilot called Body Politic back in 2009. Unfortunately, that effort apparently didn’t turn out so well because it never saw the light of day. Two years later, ABC hired her to topline its glitzy Charlie’s Angels reboot. Tons of money was poured into advertising and promotional appearances, but the ratings were horrible and it was axed almost immediately.

Now, Kelly has found a steady job on Almost Human. Great news, right? Well, maybe not. Ratings have been aggressively mediocre thus far, and predictions are flying in that it may not see a second season. That’s too bad too considering, unlike the majority of the shows on this list, that one seems to have actually found an invested fanbase.

Christian Slater

Wait, what? Really? Christian Slater? Undoubtedly the most famous person on this list, Slater has opened more than his share of good movies. He’s hosted Saturday Night Live and could not walk into any busy, well lit bar in America without being at least vaguely recognized by someone. That being said, his track record on TV is actually quite poor. In 2009, ABC convinced him to topline The Forgotten. They gave the show 17 episodes, a heavy marketing push and even a new female lead, but a second season wasn’t in the cards. Two years later, he tried his hand again, this time with the vehicle Breaking In. It premiered as a midseason replacement and got extended into the following year, but when it returned, ratings were horrible and it was quickly cancelled.

Next week, Slater will return alongside veteran actor and all-around badass Steve Zahn in Mind Games. The show will follow two brothers who use a combination of manipulation and science to solve the problems of their paying clients. It actually sounds pretty good, but given it hasn’t exactly been advertised at full blast and is premiering in February, I probably wouldn’t get my hopes up too much.

It’s been awhile since we heard about Kyle Killen’s Influence pilot, which seems to be alive and well over at ABC. Steve Zahn was already cast as the lead in the pilot and now he has been joined by Christian Slater, who will also star in the pilot.

When Influence was first announced last fall, the put-pilot project was described as a weird drama that would follow a bipolar man and his con-man brother who team up to handle problems for a variety of clients. The two men are described as having a special set of skills, and will use “manipulation” and “motivation” to achieve ends. It all sounds a little strange, but fans shouldn’t expect anything less from Killen, who has created both Lone Star and Awake.

In the series, Zahn has already signed on as the bipolar brother, leaving Slater to take on the role of the slick ex-con, Ross. According to Deadline, Ross is only recently out of prison and has come up with a business scheme that he feels will make millions. He’s also described as a ladies man, which may or may not affect his ability to make the scheme fully applicable. He served a prison sentence for fraud, and overall he sounds like a fraud, but a potentially likeable one.

Slater most recently appeared on the small screen in Breaking In. That program just ended last summer and for a while it seemed like the actor would probably be sitting out this pilot season. So far, the castings seem right for this pilot, but we’ll have to wait and see whether or not Influence moves forward at ABC.

One of the weirdest casts imaginable has been assembled to front one of the weirdest concepts possible. Freefall Film is putting together an indie pic called Guns, Girls, & Gambling, a crime thriller in which Elvis impersonators, Indians, cowboys, a 6-foot-tall blonde assassin, a frat boy, a corrupt sheriff, and a prostitute pursue a stolen Indian artifact. It sounds kind of like It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World on acid.

So to make the whole thing even weirder THR says the movie will star the unlikely mix of Gary Oldman, Dane Cook, and Christian Slater. Cook is the corrupt sheriff, Oldman is some sort of “mega-contender” (whatever that is) and Slater is a guy who gets drunk and accidentally becomes an Elvis impersonator. At least Christian has Elvis experience. He played an impersonator in 3000 Miles to Graceland.

That leaves Indians, cowboys, the 6-foot-tall blonde assassin, the frat boy, and the prostitute. Based on what we know of their casting decisions so far, I’m going to guess they’ll cast for those parts, in order: Don Rickles, William H. Macy, Carrot Top, Jeff Goldblum, and Betty White. That sounds about right.