It's always interesting to see popular TV actors getting movie roles, but these roles don't always work out. There are countless cases of actors whose best work is on TV being mishandled when they get a chance on the big-screen. Some of the best TV actors of all time have been unable to replicate their success in movies. Often, this is because movies don't provide them with the kinds of roles that let them shine.

In the streaming era, TV shows and movies are starting to become more similar in some ways. This means that many great TV actors can easily transition to movies, and vice versa, but this isn't always so simple. Popular TV actors can come under increased scrutiny when they get major movie roles, simply because it's a change of pace for them that promises something different. This is why fans can feel so let down when the role doesn't amount to much.

10 Bryan Cranston - Godzilla (2014)

Cranston's Character Is Killed Off Just As Things Get Interesting

Bryan Cranston's two most famous TV roles - in Malcolm In the Middle and Breaking Bad - show that he can master both comedy and drama. His film career hasn't been as impressive, although he has minor roles in plenty of great movies. He seems to have found his way into Wes Anderson's rotation of regular cast , and he's set to appear in Tetris director Jon S. Baird's next movie, so he could have more success ahead of him.

Just like in Argo, Drive and Little Miss Sunshine, Cranston has a role that feels like it could be so much more.

Cranston's minor role in Godzilla roughly sums up how big movies have treated him so far. Just like in Argo, Drive and Little Miss Sunshine, Cranston has a role that feels like it could be so much more. His character is killed off far too soon, but if things had panned out slightly differently, he could have been the main character, and he might have been more interesting than Aaron Taylor-Johnson's Ford Brody.

9 Judy Greer - Jurassic World (2015)

Jurassic World Doesn't Let Greer Exercise Her Comedic Chops

Judy Greer has been a prolific actor since the 1990s, racking up over 150 credits in both movies and TV. She has had most of her success on TV, with unforgettable roles in comedies like Archer, Arrested Development and Two and a Half Men, along with dozens more voice-acting roles and one-off sitcom appearances. Only a handful of movies have played to her strengths, like 27 Dresses and 13 Going On 30.

Jurassic World is easily Greer's highest-grossing movie, but her minor role doesn't seem especially well suited for her. She plays the mother of Zach and Gray, and her role mainly consists of bickering with her sister Claire after she leaves her children in her care at the newly-opened Jurassic World. Her dialogue shows that Jurassic World's style of comedy is nothing like Greer's funniest work.

8 Peter Capaldi - The Suicide Squad (2021)

Capaldi Doesn't Get Many Roles In Big-Budget Blockbusters

Peter Capaldi is a brilliant comedic actor, as seen in his award-winning performance as foul-mouthed political operator Malcolm Tucker in The Thick of It. He also brings a lot of humor to his portrayal of the Doctor in Doctor Who, although this role also allows him to show a sensitive side. He has had a handful of noteworthy film roles, but nothing quite like 2021's The Suicide Squad.

The Suicide Squad represented such a change of pace for Capaldi that it feels like a let-down to see him leaving the party early.

The Suicide Squad features a star-studded ensemble cast, with Capaldi playing the Thinker, a strange scientist who has been working on Project Starfish for years. The Thinker is killed off before Capaldi has much of a chance to leave his mark, but his death facilitates the escape of Starro the Conqueror, which sets up the grandstand finale. Capaldi's minor role wouldn't be too much of a disappointment under any other circumstances, but The Suicide Squad represented such a change of pace for the actor that it feels like a let-down to see him leaving the party early.

7 Hugh Laurie - Holmes & Watson (2018)

Hugh Laurie Has Just One Scene In A Comedy That Needed More Of Him

Most people will recognize Hugh Laurie as the star of House, but the British actor was already a popular comedic actor in his home country before the medical drama. His roles in Blackadder, Jeeves and Wooster and Veep show his funny side, but he has also displayed his talent for drama with The Night Manager and All the Light We Cannot See. Unfortunately, there are precious few movies which give him the chance to shine.

Holmes and Watson pairs Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly together once again, but it's far from the crowdpleasing comedy of Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby or Step Brothers. Without Adam McKay to complete their comedic triumvirate, Ferrell and Reilly flounder in their Sherlock Holmes spoof. This makes Hugh Laurie's brief cameo seem like an even more egregious wasted opportunity. As Mycroft Holmes, he could have been a much bigger part of the story.

6 Alison Brie - Scream 4 (2011)

Brie's Character Is Stabbed Before She Can Fulfil Her Potential

Alison Brie is arguably most famous for her role as Annie in Community, and she has the Community movie coming up to put a bow on the cult sitcom. She has also had memorable TV roles in GLOW, Mad Men and BoJack Horseman, but it took her a while to get any notable movie parts. Scream 4 came out right in the middle of Community's run, but it didn't make the most of Brie's talents.

Since Scream 4, Brie has slowly started getting meatier and more interesting movie roles.

Rebecca Walters starts out as Sidney Prescott's publicist when she releases her self-help book, but she quickly becomes an interesting suspect once the bodies start piling up. Ultimately, Rebecca is stabbed in a parking garage before too long, cutting Brie's involvement short. Since Scream 4, Brie has slowly started getting meatier and more interesting movie roles, including in some movies that she has written and produced herself.

5 Jon Hamm - Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

Hamm's Tough Authority Figure Is A Bland Antagonist

Jon Hamm is best known for his starring role as Don Draper in Mad Men, but he has an impressive list of TV credits under his belt. Hamm has earned praise for starring in comedies like 30 Rock, dramas like Fargo and even one of the best episodes of Black Mirror. His film career has been something of a mixed bag, with a few scattered successes here and there, but very few movies which make the most of his talents.

Hamm appears in Top Gun: Maverick as Vice iral Beau Simpson, who goes by the call sign "Cyclone". He's a gruff embodiment of military authority, the kind of person who frequently butts heads with Maverick and waits for any slip-up so that he can send him packing. Hamm plays his part well, but Cyclone is a stock character who doesn't have too much to do, and he plays a similar role to Ed Harris' "Hammer". Still, it seems likely that Hamm will return for Top Gun 3.

4 Kim Cattrall - Crossroads (2002)

Cattrall Does Little More Than Show Her Face In Britney Spears' Road Trip Movie

Best known for her role as the sex-positive and salacious Samantha Jones in Sex and the City, Kim Cattrall has also had plenty of other TV roles. Before Sex and the City, she put together a career of single-episode appearances in a variety of different shows, from Charlie's Angels to Rugrats. She has since had a few more important parts, like her role as the narrator in How I Met Your Father.

Although Crossroads came at the height of her Sex and the City fame, she was given precious little to do.

Cattrall has also had some film roles, but very few have tapped into her considerable talents as a comedic performer. She features in a brief scene in the Britney Spears movie Crossroads. Although this movie came at the height of her Sex and the City fame, she was given precious little to do. Her appearance feels like a wasted opportunity, since her most dramatic moment happens off-screen.

3 Jim Parsons - Hidden Figures (2016)

Parsons Plays A Typical Stuffed Shirt In A Movie That Doesn't Need Him

Jim Parsons is frequently the funniest and most interesting element of The Big Bang Theory, so much so that the spinoff Young Sheldon digs into his character's backstory. His most prominent film role is arguably his voice role in the DreamWorks animated movie Home, but Hidden Figures gives him a high-profile live-action role. Like Sheldon in The Big Bang Theory, he plays another scientist.

His most prominent film role is arguably his voice role in the DreamWorks animated movie Home.

In Hidden Figures, Paul Stafford is the head of the Space Task Group at NASA's Langley Research Center. Parsons does a good job of capturing Stafford's dismissive nature and his egotistical drive to get credit, but it's a relatively minor role. Stafford is merely the face of prejudice at NASA, and another white man who feels entitled to tell the main characters what they can and can't do.

2 Lisa Kudrow - Analyze This (1999)

Kudrow Is Stuck On The Sidelines As Robert De Niro And Billy Crystal Take The Lead

Friends star Lisa Kudrow has had plenty of other starring roles in TV shows. In 2024 alone, she starred in AppleTV+'s Time Bandits and Netflix's No Good Deeds. Unfortunately, there are very few movies which bring the best out of her. She has unsatisfying roles in Booksmart, Easy A and many other movies. Her one big hit that shows what she's capable of is Romy and Michele's High School Reunion.

Analyze This isn't the only movie to waste Kudrow's talents, but it feels especially disappointing considering how well the tone and style of the comedy suits her. Billy Crystal plays a therapist to Robert De Niro's anxious, wailing gangster, while Kudrow is stuck on the sidelines as the therapist's fiancée. Crystal is in top form and De Niro delivers what is arguably his funniest performance, but Kudrow's character is a minor antagonist, and a burden to her future husband. Kudrow doesn't get the chance to deliver any of the movie's big laugh lines.

1 Matt Berry - Christopher Robin (2018)

Berry Needs More Live-Action Movie Roles In The Future

Matt Berry has been one of the funniest actors on TV for many years, starting with roles on British sitcoms like The IT Crowd and Toast of London before finding a much bigger international audience with What We Do In the Shadows. Despite his growing popularity, his noteworthy film roles have been few and far between. This is partly because his peculiar style of comedy seems better suited to short-form media, but it's also because a few of the movies he has appeared in don't seem to know what to do with him.

Despite his growing popularity, his noteworthy film roles have been few and far between.

Disney's Christopher Robin is a fun family adventure movie, with Ewan McGregor turning on the charms as an adult Christopher reunited with Winnie the Pooh and his other childhood friends. Matt Berry only appears briefly, but he's instantly one of the funniest parts of the movie. Without doing very much, Berry shows that he can get a laugh, and perhaps that his police officer character could have played a much bigger part.