10 Major TV Show Stars I Wish Were In More Movies

Some of my favorite TV show stars have not appeared in as many movies as I would like, largely due to the stratified filming schedules of the roles they are best known for. Some Hollywood movie actors have successfully switched to TV, and vice versa. However, the two modes of storytelling are drastically different and require different things from the actors, who need to be adept at conveying the character in limited screen time or drawing out an arc over possibly many years of TV.

Some great movie actors have never done TV when movies allow them to more easily sample a variety of genres and generally result in bigger cultural events. However, with epic fantasy and other genres blowing up in movies and TV in the past decade, there is more acknowledgment than ever of how the incredible talents of TV actors could transform movies. Based on their few movie roles or solely their TV work, there are many brilliant TV actors who I need to see at the Oscars one day.

10 Matt Smith

Known For Doctor Who (2005-2022) & House Of The Dragon (2022-Present)

Quite frankly, I want to see more of the entire cast of House of the Dragon when the show wraps up a few years down the line. Emma D’Arcy and Olivia Cooke are, of course, at the forefront of this, dazzling everyone with their impossible performances and interactions. D’Arcy saw their breakout with House of the Dragon, while Cooke starred in a variety of underrated movies before landing the role of the Green Queen. On the other hand, their co-star Matt Smith was already a massive TV from his tenures as the Doctor and Prince Philip.

Smith has gone from one acclaimed show to the next, filming some high-profile movies in between. Unfortunately, Morbius and Terminator Genisys aren’t the movies Smith deserved to be in, but he is a strong villain in Last Night in Soho, showcasing his potential for horror. House of the Dragon Seasons 3 and 4 is going to take up the next couple of years, but I am eager to see him land another movie that is actually good after. He would also be an amazing Shakespearean movie actor if another adaptation of one of the Bard’s plays came around.

9 Julia Louis-Dreyfus

Known For Seinfeld (1989-1998) & Veep (2012-2019)

Julia Louis-Dreyfus is one of the great comedy icons of our time, primarily known for the milestone sitcom Seinfeld and her Emmy-winning streak for Veep. The bulk of her career is her major sitcoms and TV guest star roles, with her movie roles mostly flying under the radar. She has shown some interest in voice acting, as Pixar was bizarrely able to recruit for A Bug’s Life when the studio was riding on the success of Toy Story. Decades later, Louis-Dreyfus made her Pixar return in Onward, while she also voiced a character in Disney’s Planes.

Overall, Louis-Dreyfus’ movie career has been pretty unremarkable. However, as of late, she has gradually been making herself known in the MCU. The character of Valentina Allegra de Fontaine shows how Louis-Dreyfus’ characteristic sharpness on screen perfectly transfers over to a different genre, opening up a world of possibilities for her in movies. Thunderbolts is coming soon, the first MCU movie where Valentina will be playing a major role, which could lead to more movies for this legendary actress.

8 Pedro Pascal

Known For Game Of Thrones (2011-2019), The Mandalorian (2019-Present), & The Last Of Us (2023-Present)

Pedro Pascal is one of the biggest rising stars of the past 10 years, suddenyl dominating the TV industry after making a lasting impression with his short arc in Game of Thrones. This took him to his next big TV show — Star Wars’ The Mandalorian — which took him to the biggest one yet. The Last of Us is one of the highlights of the rise in video game TV show adaptations, winning eight Emmys and earning nominations for three Golden Globes. However, Pascal now has a lot of movies on the horizon, possibly heralding a new era of his career.

While he has been in many movies, Pascal’s fame is still primarily ensconced in his TV work. What has the potential to change that is Gladiator II. Director Ridley Scott has been paying attention to the changes in the TV industry and brought multiple TV actors on board for his highly anticipated sequel. Pascal’s career has been a trajectory of one great TV show to the next, but it looks like this could become a series of amazing movies after Gladiator II and Fantastic Four — and everyone wants to see Pascal play more amazing characters.

7 Kelly McCreary

Known For Grey’s Anatomy (2005-Present)

A lot of the actors from Grey’s Anatomy seem like they haven’t done much else when their long tenure with the medical drama is the dominating image of them in the cultural zeitgeist. Besides Grey’s Anatomy, Kelly McCreary’s career is mostly brief TV appearances of a few episodes at the most. However, much like her character Dr. Maggie Pierce going for a once-in-a-lifetime new career opportunity, McCreary is venturing into new acting opportunities as she has officially departed Grey’s Anatomy as a regular.

McCreary currently does not have any planned upcoming projects. After Grey’s Anatomy, starring in some rom-coms would be an easy transition for her. Maggie is both an ambitious surgeon and a friendly person in the show, demonstrating McCreary’s ability to portray the meet-cute and the dramatic parts of a rom-com. On the other hand, it might be amazing to see McCreary launched into a new genre, such as action or historical fiction. Another famous TV show actress recently proved how satisfying it can be to see such a stark contrast between a celebrity’s major roles.

6 Sofía Vergara

Known For Modern Family (2009-2020) & Griselda (2024)

Sofía Vergara is primarily known for her role in the (mostly) light-hearted family sitcom Modern Family, a show she was with for 10 years. Vergara’s performance as Gloria is hilarious, contributing to the unconventional family dynamic of the three core, related families raising kids and overcoming life obstacles. Vergara’s career outside of Modern Family includes movies and TV shows such as The Simpsons, The Emoji Movie, Family Guy, Strays, Despicable Me 4, and This Is Me…Now.

These roles are a lot of voice-acting, in the form of cameos in TV shows or animated movies that weren’t all that good; Vergara could do much better in her movie career. A huge career milestone came for her with Griselda, a crime biopic miniseries showcasing the actress as an intelligent and ruthless queenpin. After this, I would love to see Vergara in a crime drama movie, or in another new genre to truly prove her versatility.

5 Ella Purnell

Known For Arcane (2021-2024), Yellowjackets (2021-Present), & Fallout (2024-Present)

Ella Purnell is arguably *the* up-and-coming TV star of the past few years, filming multiple hit series within an impressive short time. As a younger actress, Purnell snagged some movie roles that people would easily forget about; she is still somewhat known for Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, but her resume including playing the teen version of the title character in Maleficent is a surprising one. As of late, Purnell’s career has been a series of astounding successes.

While Yellowjackets and Fallout are popular series that showcase Purnell’s talent, Arcane is the true wild card, illustrating that a change in medium is not a problem for her. Purnell’s voice performance as the chaotic Jinx supports the story when Jinx’s actions will be the crux of the conflict in Arcane season 2. Purnell is too talented for people to not want to see her in high-profile movies, giving her the chance to show even more of what she can do.

4 Steven Yeun

Known For The Walking Dead (2010-2022) & Beef (2023-Present)

Steven Yeun is a widely beloved actor who rose to fame playing the most lovable character in The Walking Dead. In recent years, he has achieved more major accomplishments in TV with the acclaimed shows Beef and Invincible. As the latter is one of the points of pride of Prime Video’s adult animation department, Yeun also has the ability to switch between mediums. Overall, Yeun’s TV career has overshadowed his movie career — making it easy to forget that he was actually nominated for an Oscar a few years back for Minari.

Now, he is set to appear in the highly anticipated Mickey 17. Yeun’s movie repertoire also includes Jordan Peele’s Nope and Bong Joon-ho’s Okja. Yeun might be busy finishing up his most acclaimed shows for the next couple of years, but he should star in some more movies somewhere down the line. He could easily be among the biggest stars at the Oscars, and all of his longtime fans would love to see him win.

3 Anna Sawai

Known For Pachinko (2022-Present) & Shogun (2024-Present)

Anna Sawai also wowed everyone recently with her breathtaking performance in Shōgun as the reserved and clever Lady Mariko. While it took her career to the next level, this wasn’t Sawai’s first hit series. She is also known for the touching intergenerational drama Pachinko, which recently made a strong return with its second season. Sawai always gives understated and impactful performances and definitely deserves to be scouted by more TV producers for new series.

Her movie career doesn’t live up to her talents as much, including one forgettable outing with the Fast & Furious franchise and the poorly-reviewed Ninja Assassin. Shōgun‘s more recent release means that it will be considered at the next Golden Globes ceremony, upon which occasion Sawai certainly should be nominated, winning her more attention. I hope to see her in more well-written dramatic roles in the next few years, and winning all the awards for it.

2 Nazanin Boniadi

Known For How I Met Your Mother (2005-2014) & The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power (2022-Present)

Nazanin Boniadi is an underrated actress, whose career includes recurring roles in Counterpart, Homeland, and How I Met Your Mother. Her biggest movie to date is Hotel Mumbai, in which she stars alongside Dev Patel, Armie Hammer, and Jason Isaacs; the movie was well-received if overshadowed by coming out within a few weeks of Captain Marvel. Notably, Boniadi starred in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power as the thoughtful and brave single mother Bronwyn before her decision to not return for season 2.

Boniadi clarified her reasons for exiting Rings of Power as being “unrelated” to her focusing more on her activism work. Talking about her next movie A Mosquito in the Ear, Boniadi said (via Deadline): “I knew it would take a very special project to convince me to once again split my time between my day job and my calling as an activist.” Based on this, Boniadi probably isn’t going to be in a lot of new movies. However, I would still like to see more appreciation for the movies she does make when she is a great actress who chooses to tell stories that will make a difference in the world.

1 Kirby Howell-Baptiste

Known For The Good Place (2016-2020), Killing Eve (2018-2022), & The Sandman (2022-Present)

Kirby Howell-Baptiste is larger than life as the personification of Death in The Sandman, one of the best Neil Gaiman adaptations. It is not her first time playing a character caught up in the complications of the afterlife, as she was first seen as Simone, Chidi’s chipper temporary girlfriend in The Good Place. She has shown some great genre variety in her TV career with Killing Eve and Barry and even got the fun supporting role of Lucas’ agent, fed up with her client, in Scott Pilgrim Takes Off.

However, Howell-Baptiste’s performance as Death is something else, which is what really makes me want to see more of her. Dream’s sister carries the saddening weight of her role with her, yet she is gentle and loves each person she meets at the end of their life in her own way. Again, her career is mostly TV; but like many of her contemporaries, I would love to see her take on another ethereal role in a spectacular drama movie at least once.

Source: Deadline