Best "struggling actor" Movies of All Time

33 movies found (page 1/2):

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent(2022)

3.4/5 (with 793 votes)

Creatively unfulfilled and facing financial ruin, Nick Cage must accept a $1 million offer to attend the birthday of a dangerous superfan. Things take a wildly unexpected turn when Cage is recruited by a CIA operative and forced to live up to his own legend, channeling his most iconic and beloved on-screen characters in order to save himself and his loved ones.

Directed by Tom Gormican - With Nicolas Cage, Pedro Pascal, Sharon Horgan, Tiffany Haddish, Jacob Scipio, Neil Patrick Harris, ...

Body Double(1984)

| 1h 54min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller

3.4/5 (with 349 votes)

After losing an acting role and his girlfriend, Jake Scully finally catches a break: he gets offered a gig house-sitting in the Hollywood Hills. While peering through the beautiful home's telescope one night, he spies a gorgeous woman dancing in her window. But when he witnesses the girl's murder, it leads Scully through the netherworld of the adult entertainment industry on a search for answers—with porn actress Holly Body as his guide.

Directed by Brian De Palma - With Craig Wasson, Melanie Griffith, Gregg Henry, Deborah Shelton, Dennis Franz, Al Israel, ...

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Wish I Was Here(2014)

| 1h 47min | Drama, Comedy

3.3/5 (with 324 votes)

Aidan Bloom, a struggling actor, father and husband, is 35 years old and still trying to find a purpose for his life. He and his wife are barely getting by financially and Aidan passes his time by fantasizing about being the great futuristic Space-Knight he'd always dreamed he'd be as a little kid. When his ailing father can no longer afford to pay for private school for his two kids and the only available public school is on its last legs, Aidan reluctantly agrees to attempt to home-school them. Through teaching them about life his way, Aidan gradually discovers some of the parts of himself he couldn't find.

Directed by Zach Braff - With Kate Hudson, Jim Parsons, Ashley Greene, Joey King, Alexander Chaplin, Andrew Anderson, ...

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Christmas Encore(2017)

1h 24min | Romance / Love, Drama, TV Movie

3.0/5 (with 22 votes)

A struggling actress is cast in her last off (off) Broadway show - a modern take on “A Christmas Carol” - before giving up her dream and moving home. Instead, she finds romance with her director and a renewed passion for her craft and the city. But when the historic theater loses its lease and the show is set to fold, she and her cast mates are need of a Christmas miracle.

Faraway Eyes(2020)

| 1h 58min | Fantasy, Comedy, Romance / Love

2.8/5 (with 12 votes)

Michael, a struggling actor, dies right after a bad breakup. He finds himself awakening in a very bright room with a very strange lady and learns that he is in singles Purgatory, where he must find his soul mate in order to cross over to the other side. With limited time to find true love among other recently deceased single New Yorkers, Michael must navigate the new customs of a ghostly dating life... as if dating in life wasn't hard enough already.

With Nora Arnezeder, Andy Karl, Christina Ricci

In America(2003)

PG-13

| 1h 45min | Drama

3.6/5 (with 143 votes)

A family of Irish immigrants adjusts to life on the mean streets of Hell's Kitchen while also grieving the death of a child.

Directed by Jim Sheridan - With Samantha Morton, Paddy Considine, Emma Bolger, Djimon Hounsou, Sarah Bolger, Neal Jones, ...

Rent Amazon Instant Video | Rent Apple / iTunes Store | Buy Amazon Instant Video | Buy Apple / iTunes Store

Edwin Boyd: Citizen Gangster(2011)

| 1h 45min | Crime, Drama

2.9/5 (with 23 votes)

Based on a real WWII vet and family man turned bank robber. Disillusioned by his post war circumstances, Eddie Boyd is torn between the need to provide for his young family and an unfulfilled dream to head to Hollywood to become a star. He discovers a way to do both, robbing banks Hollywood style, but his dream leads him down a path of danger and tragedy.

Directed by Nathan Morlando - With Scott Speedman, Kelly Reilly, Kevin Durand, Joseph Cross, Brendan Fletcher, Brian Cox, ...

Next Stop, Greenwich Village(1976)

1h 51min | Comedy, Drama

3.3/5 (with 14 votes)

An aspiring Jewish actor moves out of his parents' Brooklyn apartment to seek his fortune in the bohemian life of Greenwich Village in 1953.

Directed by Paul Mazursky - With Lenny Baker, Shelley Winters, Ellen Greene, Lois Smith, Christopher Walken, Antonio Fargas, ...

'Tis the Season for Love(2015)

1h 24min | Romance / Love, TV Movie

3.0/5 (with 25 votes)

An out-of-work New York City actress returns home to the quaint small town she escaped 10 years before and finds a place far different than the hamlet she left. She suddenly finds performing possibilities and even romance that kind of blow her away.

Buy Apple / iTunes Store

I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With(2006)

1h 20min | Comedy, Romance / Love

2.7/5 (with 17 votes)

Life has its downs for James, living with his mom in Chicago at 39, an aging performer at Second City, eating and weighing too much. A woman he's been dating drops him, as does his agent, her brother. James turns down roles in local TV, roles that make him sad. Someone's remaking his favorite movie, "Marty," a role he'd love, but he doesn't even get an audition.

Directed by Jeff Garlin - With Sarah Silverman, Bonnie Hunt, Dan Castellaneta, Elle Fanning, Jeff Garlin, Jessy Schram, ...

Marlon Brando: An Actor Named Desire(2014)

1h 30min | Documentary, TV Movie

3.7/5 (with 5 votes)

In his early days as an actor, Marlon Brando (1924-2004) was a shy young man with theatrical ambitions, like many others; but his charisma and superb acting skills made him truly unique, so that the doors to the starry sky of Hollywood opened for him. However, his peculiar manners, political commitment and complicated love life always overshadowed his artistic success.

The Contract(1978)

1h 36min | Comedy

3.9/5 (with 5 votes)

Struggling actor Chih-Wen (Michael Hui) got a raw deal from his company, MTV Studios. He signed a binding 8-year contract with the studio and was only given one opportunity to perform live thus far. Soon, he received a better deal with a rival company, who promised a 5-year contract and better opportunities to perform and make money. Since he cannot start working for the new company because of his current 8-year contract with MTV, he and his scientist-aspiring brother (Ricky Hui), with the help of magician Shih-Chieh (Sam Hui), attempt to steal the contract from his ruthless manager.

Directed by Michael Hui - With Michael Hui, Samuel Hui, Ricky Hui

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I Ought to Be in Pictures(1982)

1h 48min | Drama, Comedy

3.5/5 (with 3 votes)

Grandmother has nothing to say when Libby tells her that she is off to LA to look up Dad, a Hollywood screenwriter. Grandmother has been in a New York cemetery for six years and Dad has been out of Libby's life for 16 of her 19 years. Libby arrives in LA on a Tuesday and phones Dad the one night that Stephanie, who does Jane Fonda's hair, stays over. Stephanie is there the next morning when Libby decides she needs to tell her story face-to-face.

Directed by Herbert Ross - With Walter Matthau, Ann-Margret, Dinah Manoff, Lance Guest, Martin Ferrero, Michael Dudikoff, ...

Deception(2003)

1h 28min | Drama, Mystery, Romance / Love

1.9/5 (with 2 votes)

Erin, a struggling actress, has little faith in men. She works for a detective agency, her job is to seduce married men and let their wives catch them in the act. But lately, Erin is been getting threatening phone calls and someone is trying to hurt her. Is it her boss, who's in-love with her? or is it a former "client" trying to get back at her? or maybe, this new man she's been seeing?

Directed by Richard Roy

Aliens, Clowns & Geeks(2021)

1h 30min | Comedy, Science Fiction

Out-of-work actor stumbles upon key to the universe, is drawn into intergalactic war between clowns and aliens.

Un tiempo precioso(2020)

1h 33min | Drama

- No description / details available yet. -

Matsumoto Tribe(2017)

1h 25min | Comedy

Confident that he’s the next great Japanese thespian, Matsumoto Fighter and his manager roam the streets of Shibuya to promote him. When he finds out that up-andcoming indie director Matsunaga Daishi is holding auditions for his latest film, Matsumoto pulls out all the stops to get in. Director Ninomiya Ken began this project as a Borat-esque mockumentary about the desperate measures aspiring actors take to break into show business. But when Fighter and his manager push the limits of their unsuspecting prey a little too far, fiction and reality begin to overlap in disturbing and surprisingly violent ways. Will Fighter finally get his big break, or will his dreams come crumbling down?

Dramatic School(1938)

| 1h 20min | Drama, Romance / Love

3.2/5 (with 2 votes)

Aspiring actress Louise Muban attends the prestigious Paris School of Drama during the day and works at a dreary factory assembling gas meters at night. She daydreams and "acts" her way through life, and her fellow students at school begin to suspect her stories are just that - fabrications. After Louise begins to weave an actual meeting with a debonair playboy into a fantasy of club dates and romance, her classmate Nana discovers the lie when she too meets the playboy. Nana sets a trap for Louise, and the result is an end to one fantasy and the realization of another.

Directed by Robert B. Sinclair - With Luise Rainer, Paulette Goddard, Alan Marshal, Lana Turner, John Hubbard, Henry Stephenson, ...

Show Me What You Got(2021)

1h 41min | Drama, Romance / Love

2.6/5 (with 4 votes)

Follows three young millennials as they form a wholehearted ménage à trois, each of them going through a moment of transition: Fun-loving Marcello from under the thumb of his Italian soap star father, soulful French-Iranian actor Nassim toward a more fulfilling career, and artist Christine through the grief following the death of her grandfather. The trio finds joy together by joining political protests, making art, and falling deeper into their unconventional love, until Marcello must return to Italy.

Directed by Svetlana Cvetko

Go, Masao!(2012)

1h 49min | Drama

2.0/5 (with 1 vote)

Go, Masao! describes the relationship between people and their dogs. Comedian Hideki Matsumoto and a labrador retriever named Masao are selected to appear on the travel corner segment of a TV animal program. Until Hideki Matsumoto and the labrador retriever Masao become popular, they help each other.

The Life I Want(2004)

2h 5min | Drama, Romance / Love

3.4/5 (with 4 votes)

A relationship develops between seasoned actor Stefano and his young, ambitious co-star Laura when they are cast as the two leads in a film. Stefano must deal with his growing jealousy when Laura's career begins to take off.

Directed by Giuseppe Piccioni - With Luigi Lo Cascio, Sandra Ceccarelli, Galatea Ranzi, Fabio Camilli, Gea Lionello, Roberto Citran, ...

We're Not Shooting a Film(2020)

1h 28min | Comedy

Kurt is a stage actor in Munich theatres. He has a critical view at our society and relationships become too close very fast. Often his attitude is upsetting his fellow men. “To change the world – start with yourself!” Kurt hires a camerawoman to make videos of his everyday life which hopefully enable him to solve his problems.

Love Is a Headache(1938)

1h 13min | Comedy, Romance / Love

3.5/5 (with 1 vote)

A press agent for a Broadway actress whose career is going downhill, attempts to get her some publicity by having her adopt two orphans, without her knowledge.

Directed by Richard Thorpe - With Barnett Parker, Fay Holden, Franchot Tone, Frank Jenks, Gladys George, Jessie Ralph, ...

The Bit Part(1987)

1h 27min | Drama, Comedy

Career counsellor Michael Thornton decides to change his career and become an actor. He dreams of performing Shakespeare but ends up in a television ad where only his hands appear on camera. He finds a friend in actress Mary McAllister (Nicole Kidman) until she is called to Hollywood to star in a horror feature. Katrina Foster plays Michael's understanding wife Helen, who supports him while he pursues his elusive dream.

Directed by Brendan Maher - With Chris Haywood

The Den(2023)

15min | Thriller, Drama

5.0/5 (with 1 vote)

A struggling actress becomes entangled in an abusive relationship with her idol at a cult-like New York theatre company.

Yaan Superstar(2023)

2h 14min | Comedy, Drama

A struggling Padhubidri actor's life is upended by the arrival of a Bangalore superstar.

Turn of the Blade(1994)

1h 25min | Horror, Drama, Mystery, Thriller

1.3/5 (with 1 vote)

The niece of a wealthy land developer stalks a married man and may also be trying to kill his actress wife.

A Relaxing Day(2007)

15min | Drama

Nina is a high-strung New York actress and Anton is a struggling actor who wants to change gears and start a family. Their relaxing day starts off beautifully (and humorously), but they realize that their feelings may be at odds.

Thriller Theater!(2011)

| 1h 39min | Drama, Comedy

4.0/5 (with 1 vote)

Thirty-something geek Tom Stewart has always loved cheap old horror and monster movies. He's decided to pursue a dream to create a horror host TV show in an age when infomercials are more important to local television stations than original programming. When TV60-WPM gives Tom his chance, his struggle begins, leading to unexpected and unwanted compromises in all aspects of his life. Before long, Tom wonders if the show's slowly growing success is worth the pain it takes to get there...but he doesn't have to shoulder the burdens alone. "Thriller Theater!" is a gently comedic feel-good movie about the struggle to find a balance between "real life" and the pursuit of one's creative dreams.

Introducing Parker Dowd(2015)