TV actors that successfully transitioned to movies?

[Riv86672]

Robin Williams (Mark & Mindy)

John Travolta (Welcome back Kotter)

George Clooney (The Facts of Life, ER)

Ryan Gosling (The Mickey Mouse Club)

Shailene Woodley (The Secret Life of the American Teenager)

Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Third Rock from The Sun)

Leonardo DiCaprio (Growing Pains)

Melissa McCarthy (Mike and Molly)

Zac Efron (High School Musical)

Also, too many SNL cast regulars to list, from the original cast till today.

Special mention to Dwayne Johnson, one of Hollywood’s highest paid and busiest actors. He could be seen on TV every week, electrifying millions (and millions) of ppl on the soap opera that is pro wrestling.

[Jim Kelly]

Dick Van Dyke
Sally Field
Burt Reynolds
Laurence Fishbourne
Ryan Reynolds
Eugene Levy
Catherine O'Hara

[DrNewGod]

The thread title is "successfully transitioned into movies" so...

Hm. Fair point.

[marshal88]

morgan freeman from children's program the electric company to an academy winning actor on the big screen

[j9ac9k]

Note that the British market for actors are very different from the one in the USA. There is nothing unusual in a Danish, Swedish, or British actor moving fluidly between theatre, tv, and movie roles, and I think that's true for a lot other European countries.

Absolutely. Idris Elba, Benedict Cuberbatch, Helen Mirrin and Martin Freeman are certainly examples of this.

[DrNewGod]

Note that the British market for actors are very different from the one in the USA. There is nothing unusual in a Danish, Swedish, or British actor moving fluidly between theatre, tv, and movie roles, and I think that's true for a lot other European countries.

I've noticed that. Seems there is a smaller, more frequently seen crowd of British Thespians. Anybody know if there are fewer channels for an actor to find work in the UK?

[Geraldofrivia]

Brie Larson - (United States of Tara, Raising Dads)
Gal Gadot also did Israeli TV shows

[Captain Smith]

The Rock - being on wrestling is basically a TV star.
Robert Redford - did TV shows
Clint Eastwood

[Hybrid]

John Goodman (Roseanne)

Surprised we all missed this one.

[Mister Mets]

I've noticed that. Seems there is a smaller, more frequently seen crowd of British Thespians. Anybody know if there are fewer channels for an actor to find work in the UK?

The shows are a lot shorter so it is less of a commitment.

Prime Suspect was 2-3 episodes per season, with massive gaps between later seasons.

The first season of Luther was 6 episodes. The majority of the later seasons were four, and the show has come out in 2010, 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2019.

[CliffHanger2]

Eddie Murphy
Tom Hanks
Martin

[Takachulo]

Jennifer Lawrence
Leo DiCaprio
Ryan Gosling

Honestly, the list of movie stars who haven't worked in TV is probably shorter.

[KOSLOX]

Michael B. Jordan and Idris Elba

[From The Shadows]

No one mentioned Claire Danes and Ray Romano (The latter was just recently in The Irishman).

Also, Denzel Washington? I think he did a couple TV Movies before any major motion pictures like A Soldiers Story then he went back to TV with St Elsewhere then back to major motion pictures again.

[j9ac9k]

Adam Driver - from "Girls" to "Star Wars" and lots of movies now.

Robin Willams - from Mork to super-movie stardom.

Pierce Brosnan - from Remington Steel to Bond and beyond...!