#taylor use to sing about him as the reencarnation of paul newman robert redford and carey grant

[a-queen-of-the-clouds]

I would actually LOVE to explain why I think Joe’s career never took off. Because it IS bewildering when you consider his first project was literally the lead in an Ang Lee film. And I think it comes down to a few things

His desire to be uninteresting during press. This is actually the #1 reason why. Being good at press can really help an actor overcome a mediocre project. He never wore interesting clothes or showed much of his personality during press. Everything we learned about him was through Taylor.

he didn’t pick lead roles until it was too late. Every lead role he had after his debut was after folklore and the re-emergence of Taylor as an it girl celebrity so his name was tied to her more than ever. Fun fact: I think this is the reason Lily Gladstone chose to go for the leading actress is because it’s much harder for mostly unknown actors to make the jump from supporting to leading. She wanted her future roles to be leading roles. Once you establish yourself as someone that can lead, you can take on supporting (like Leo in Django or RDJ in Oppenheimer).

He’s not good looking enough to offset the fact that he’s a good but not great actor. Jacob Elordi is a good actor (he has only okay accent work and has been pretty 1 note so far), but his pretty face and long limbs will always get my attention. Josh O’Connor very easily passed as a Prince Charles lookalike, but he is so dynamic as a performer, I am seated for his work too.

I actually agree with all of this! Fwiw, I was joking about his team being the reason, he got good opportunities so that was obviously not the case (i do believe his team sucks when it comes to handling press about the breakup tho)

The number 1 reason you mentioned is the one that makes me the most furious because he never even tried. All his press is SO BORING! And what makes me angry is that I have the theory that he was kind of relying on being Taylor's boyfriend to do the promo for him, which is ironic considering that he hated getting associated with her, but honestly what else did he have in his favor? We know nothing about him besides that! He went to fucking Kelly Clarkson, the most charismatic woman on tv right now, and made zero (0) effort to come across as likable.

Another thing I believe plays a factor is, as you said, going for lead roles too late, especially not being attached to a cultural phenomenon. Look at all his peers: Andrew Scott, Paul Mescal, Jacob, and Josh... They all have in common being part of insanely popular TV shows. And the thing is that he was supposed to have his big moment with Conversations with Friends, but... It just sucked, lol. Tbf that wasn't completely his fault. I loved the book! But it was not tv adaption material, and the script didn't let him do much, which also put into evidence that he is not that good of an actor because his costar did a much better job.

He could've gotten better at his craft with more opportunities. For example, I think Jacob can keep growing because he is getting tons of great work that, if he is serious enough, will make him a more seasoned performer. (He also has so much charisma, i wish i could climb him and kiss him but i digress). But i believe Joe's window of opportunity already passed and he didn't take advantage of it.

He also fumbled the greatest woman to ever lived and no one is going to forgive him for it 🤷‍♀️ Sucks to be him.