Does Hollywood do "test balloon" movies to see how we react to actors before giving them a larger role?

Submitted by rdtthoughtpolice t3_11dq977 in movies

I wondered about this when Scar Jo did Lucy when the idea of a Black Widow movie was being discussed. It made me wonder if they did that movie to see how we reacted to her as a female action lead.

This recent "Emily the Criminal" made me wonder the same thing. Aubrey Plaza but not in a quirky role, instead in a more traditional female lead role.

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TeamStark31 t1_jaa5csm wrote

Not really, no. If an actor does have a surprise hit though, that will definitely land them other/better roles.

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Astro-Pal t1_jaa5gqd wrote

Buzz around an actor can often be spontaneous. It fluctuates with a cycle similar to the news. Once the buzz begins, then they start becoming elevated.

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Veszerin t1_jaa620z wrote

I think Lucy was after Scarlett Johannsson was already fairly well-established as an actress.

But in general, I do think it's rare for someone to get a lead part with little history unless it's a young character with plans for multiple movies. (E.g. Harry Potter). Because starting w/ someone who's already a star is expensive.

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Dove_of_Doom t1_jaa6je8 wrote

  1. Lucy was produced by French studios and distributed by Universal. They had no vested interest in the viability of a Black Widow solo movie.
  2. Lucy was a huge hit, yet it was seven years before Black Widow finally came out, so Disney clearly wasn't influenced by Johansson's success as a solo action star.
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Brunch_Hopkins t1_jaa76qd wrote

I don’t think Hollywood does this in the sense of studios - but I do think that actors and their agents probably look at projects in this way. Like ‘let’s see how you do in Lucy and show the town you can do this type of role and you’re not just the pretty lil thing and then we can try and work with Marvel on being a superhero’ - Not that this is what ScarJo did, but taking your example

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DrRexMorman t1_jaa7mty wrote

Lionsgate licensed Black widow from Marvel in 2004. It hired David Hayter to write a script and Avi Arad to direct it that year before passing on the project in 2006.

Scarlett Johansson was hired to appear as Black widow in Iron Man 2 in 2009.

In 2010, Kevin Feige told interviewers that he had "discussed" a solo Black widow film with Johansson.

Feige reiterated that he wanted to make a solo film featuring the character in a 2014 interview. He also said that he'd comissioned a treatment from Nicole Perlman (who wrote the first draft of Guardians of the galaxy 1 and Captain Marvel).

Lots of creatives pitched ideas for the project. Worth a read:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Widow_(2021_film)#Production

Ok?

We probably would have gotten a solo film about the character if Disney hadn't left Ike Perlmutter in charge of Marvel. Perlmutter - a comitted racist - didn't believe audiences would show up for a female super hero movie:

https://time.com/3847432/marvel-ceo-leaked-email/

He was wrong, in principle: people fucking love super hero movies.

>Lucy

Lucy was produced by a consortium of European production companies who believed in Johansson's ability to lead a film.

Johansson's agents probably used Lucy's performance as part of their negotiation for her salary for Black widow.

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WraithSeda t1_jaaa1cv wrote

Warner Bros. let the Wachowski's make The Matrix after they proved they can make/direct a movie by giving them Bound. They even had preliminary bullet-time tech in Bound. They did the movie band it led to getting The Matrix

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AnyNamesLeftAnymore t1_jaad7tt wrote

Probably not as much as it used to happen in the industry, but I still say that has to be what happened with Alden Erenreich having a bit part in Hail Caesar! to playing young Han Solo.

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cerberaspeedtwelve t1_jaahnu6 wrote

I know this happened with Will Smith. Before about 2010, it was very rare for a TV actor to successfully cross over into movies. Smith had just come off five years of doing The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, and it was a real surprise when Michael Bay cast him in Bad Boys (1995), which was a big hit.

Roland Emmerich then took a gamble casting him in pivotal role in Independence Day (1996), where Smith pretty much stole the show. After it became the top grossing movie of that year, Hollywood finally recognized Smith as a leading man, and he got top billing for Men in Black (1997) where he was acting opposite industry legend Tommy Lee Jones.

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Ccaves0127 t1_jaahsdk wrote

Hollywood isn't a singular entity. This isn't how it works at all. Actors audition for roles, sometimes they get chosen, and their profile has an impact on how likely the filmmakers discover them, that's it.

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FunWelcome t1_jaaidro wrote

I don't think Hollywood tests actors for roles by giving them roles. I think actors take roles in order to change their brand or to show they can play diverse roles.

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AdmirableTurnip2245 t1_jaap20h wrote

No, I don't think so. Movies are so expensive and difficult to make the idea that a studio would risk money with such a process is highly unlikely. What you're seeing though I believe is the result of type casting.

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phatpussygyal t1_jab61r9 wrote

Aubrey Plaza has been taking on some more mainstream, normal roles in movies and in interviews. I think she might be trying to change her persona, or our perception of it. Thought I was (not literally, obvi) the only person to notice this change in character for her.

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mnombo t1_jabk9mp wrote

Closest that comes to mind is Michael keaton as Beetlejuice before batman

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