When was the last time a Broadway star became a film star?

It's a stretch, but Anna Kendrick? Tony & Drama Desk noms for High Society.

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Hugh Jackman, Nathan Lane?

I wouldnt say Nathan Lane is a movie star personally.

If you take his work in London and Australia into account he was the last theatre star probably to make it big.

Agreed. He wasn't a Broadway star.

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I was willing to stretch it because both Travolta and Swayze played leads in a hit Broadway show, then became major film stars.

None of the people you cited as examples are movie stars.

Hey, I'll go one further ... when was the last time a Broadway performer (even from the chorus, like Shirley Jones or Shirley MacLaine) became a movie star?

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Travolta was a standout in "Over Here!"

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"Hey, I'll go one further ... when was the last time a Broadway performer (even from the chorus, like Shirley Jones or Shirley MacLaine) became a movie star?"

How would you define a "movie star?" Name above the title? Just any lead role? In any movie, including low-budget indie film? How rigorous do you want to be on that?

I don't know. That's a good question, newintown.

When I think of "movie star," it's someone who is a major player on screen, either leading or supporting, who adds either a box office boost or a few awards to the shelf, just by being in the film.

They are mostly leads, but not all, and not always. For example, I would call Morgan Freeman a major movie star, but he isn't always the lead. He adds a "boost" (financially, critically, or with awards) by being in a film.

De Niro is like that now. Even somebody like Maggie Smith.

(And Freeman, De Niro, and Smith are almost always given star billing, even in smaller roles, which says something about their worth to a film.)

But I suppose, if you get rid of all the vague definitions, it's usually a leading performer in films who carries a movie and attracts a built-in audience, just by being in the film. (That covers some crappy actors, too, but hey, that's Hollywood!)

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Updated On: 4/25/13 at 09:41 AM

best12bars, well he played lead roles in a some pretty high profile films... I would consider him a movie star.

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Updated On: 4/25/13 at 09:48 AM

Hugh Jackman has the most interesting theatre-to-movies background. While it is true that he was introduced to international audiences via the West End, it was at a Royal National Theatre restaging of a landmark American musical (Oklahoma!) and where he earned an Olivier nod for his lead role. Not only that, he was discovered in this theatrical production by two bigtime Hollywood producers, Lauren Shuler Donner, lead producer of the FOX XMEN franchise and pushed for his casting in the Wolverine role, as well by Harvey Weinstein who eventually cast him in Kate and Leopold.

By the time, Oklahoma! was ready for its Broadway revival, Hugh was no longer available for the role of Curly as he had become the major actor in the XMEN franchise then.

So, he is one example of where the theatre directly opened doors for an actor to another branch of the performing arts. Ironically, his Hollywood fame opened doors for the first Australian musical to appear on Broadway, The Boy from Oz.

There's no question that Hugh's theatre career lead to his film stardom. I was thinking "Broadway" with this thread, but I'll bet there are other performers out there who were discovered in theatre outside of Broadway (international, regional, summer stock, etc.) who have become film stars.

I know Jennifer Garner did summer stock (years later) at the same theatre I worked at, and started doing films and TV not long after.

There are stories I've heard of Hollywood agents venturing into the fly-over states to see one of their "star" clients in a regional production, only to discover an unknown talent, who then becomes either a film, TV, or Broadway star.

If you add all of those stage-to-screen stories, I'm sure it's a broader pool.

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Just my personal opinion of course, but I think Patrick Wilson counts as a movie star. While I don't quite go as far as believing his name alone would sell a film to many but his fans at this point in his career, I do think that his name adds solid cred to any film.