{"id":10641,"date":"2018-11-28T05:00:19","date_gmt":"2018-11-28T10:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/?p=10641"},"modified":"2019-01-12T14:39:57","modified_gmt":"2019-01-12T19:39:57","slug":"three-named-actors-of-the-90s-a-survey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/three-named-actors-of-the-90s-a-survey\/","title":{"rendered":"Three-Named Actors of the &#8217;90s: A Survey"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">It\u2019s a specific kind of agony: You\u2019re holding court at a party and synopsizing your favorite episode of <i>Clarissa Explains It All<\/i>. Naturally, everyone is interested, but then you go and accidentally call Melissa Joan Hart \u201cMelissa Michelle Gellar.\u201d The party guests\u2019 faces fall. It\u2019s bad. They\u2019re looking at you the way Tom Everett Scott looks at a stranger on the street who\u2019s asking if he\u2019s Seann William Scott.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">No one can be sure what was in the water between 1990 and 2000 that made so many teenage and twentysomething actors elect to go by three-part names. The economy was strong, and people were tossing around extra Thomases and Patricks like dot-com shares, I guess. Sure, you had Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tommy Lee Jones, and Jamie Lee Curtis in the mix the prior decade, but the guide below covers a more specific wave of actors \u2014 performers who launched their careers (and also sometimes ended them) in youth-oriented \u201890s films and shows while also forcing us to learn their middle names.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The questions at the heart of this guide are less about why the three-name trend caught on and more about the results. Did that third moniker help anyone in these ranks? Could anyone have improved their stage name with a simple, common sense tweak? And how closely did the actors\u2019 parents consider the future genre work of their infants when uttering for all to hear, \u201cWe shall call her Jennifer \u2026 no, wait \u2026 Jennifer Love\u2026\u201d?<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3 class=\"p4\"><strong><span class=\"s1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/smg.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10645 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/smg.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"280\" \/><\/a>Sarah Michelle Gellar<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>You Know Her From:<\/b><span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>Slaying vampires in a very self-aware way. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>High Point:<\/b> It\u2019s gotta be <i>Buffy<\/i>. No other actor on this list solidified the success of an entire TV network with their work. They changed The WB\u2019s name to The CW in 2006, but \u201cThe SMG\u201d should\u2019ve at least been on the table. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Low Point<\/b>: It may well be <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=qwaVmaa1iKY\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"s2\">this clip<\/span><\/a> where she leaves an entire open-air cupboard of fresh fruit unused in a <i>Good Morning America<\/i> snack demonstration! Tell me that\u2019s not more upsetting than <i>Cruel Intentions.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Sarah Michelle Gellar shares 3 delicious and simple snacks for kids\" width=\"760\" height=\"428\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/qwaVmaa1iKY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>A Role Worth Revisiting<\/b>: In the interest of full disclosure, I was going to put SMG reprising the role of Kathryn in the 2016<i> <\/i>reboot of <i>Cruel Intentions<\/i> on NBC as her low point, but then I thought more about it. Reprising a teen movie\u2019s only surviving character nearly 20 years later is kind of a boss move, even if the pilot was never picked up.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Did Her Career Survive the \u201890s? <\/b><i>Buffy<\/i> ran until 2003, but that\u2019s where her stardom ran out.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Was the Name Triad a Net Positive or Negative? <\/b>Let\u2019s call it a slight positive. \u201cSarah Michelle Gellar\u201d at least rolls off the tongue.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Was There Any Good Reason to Go by Three Names?<\/b> There is some reason. \u201cSarah Gellar\u201d just isn\u2019t a star actor\u2019s name. It\u2019s the kind of consonant-driven, German-American name you\u2019d see on a gym manager\u2019s magnetic nametag in Cleveland. \u201cMichelle\u201d sweetens the deal just enough.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>How Much of Her Name Could We Fashion From Gift Shop Keychains? <\/b>2\/3<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Did She Ever Act with Another Three-Name Actor? <\/b>C\u2019mon.<b> <\/b>SMG being in <i>I Know What You Did Last Summer<\/i> with Jennifer Love Hewitt is the kind of coincidence that launches stupid article ideas like this one.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>How Much Can We Improve the Full Name by Changing One Part? <\/b>In honor of her long and happy marriage to <i>I Know What You Did Last Summer<\/i> co-star Freddie Prinze Jr. and also her proud decision not to take his last name, let\u2019s leave hers mostly intact and just call her Sarah Michelle Gellar Jr. <\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3 class=\"p4\"><strong><span class=\"s1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Jenniferlovehewitt.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-10646\" src=\"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Jenniferlovehewitt.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"201\" height=\"280\" \/><\/a>Jennifer Love Hewitt<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><span class=\"Apple-converted-space\"><b>You Know Her From:<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><i>Party of Five<\/i> and being the \u201890s answer to Ann-Margret. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>High Point<\/b>: Looking too closely at the politics of <i>Can\u2019t Hardly Wait <\/i>(1998) won\u2019t do it any favors, but it does offer one of the few Jennifer Love Hewitt roles with legitimate room to act and acknowledge that she might have an onscreen identity outside of men sexualizing her. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Low Point<\/b>: <i>Jewtopia<\/i> (2012) should not be the name of a movie. And I\u2019m not sure whether it\u2019s better to have a bit part in <i>Jewtopia<\/i> or a starring part, but JLH had a bit part in this rom-com about a man pretending to be Jewish to win over a woman.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>A Role Worth Revisiting<\/b>: JLH often played the role of \u201chuman woman singer\u201d in her early career. Here she is doing a song from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=xluO0bygL88\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"s2\"><i>The Hunchback of Notre Dame II<\/i><\/span><\/a>. Glad they went with Roman numerals on that one, as long as we\u2019re talking about names. Feels right.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Jennifer Love Hewitt - I&#039;m Gonna Love You (Music Video)\" width=\"760\" height=\"570\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/xluO0bygL88?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Did Her Career Survive the \u201890s? <\/b>Yes, but it was never the same after <i>Party Of Five <\/i>ended in 1999. After that, Hewitt is probably the only actor here who, in the moment, embraced the trashy kitsch that appears on so many of the IMDb pages that inspired this article: the hyper-sexualized music videos, taking off her clothes in random episodes of <i>Ghost Whisperer,<\/i> <i>Confessions of a Sociopathic Social Climber<\/i>, <i>Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties<\/i>!<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Side note, I love that in the early 2000s, Fox split the cast of <i>I Know What You Did Last Summer<\/i> onto two parallel paths: They could either be in two Scooby-Doo movies like Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr., or they could be in two Garfield movies like Love Hewitt. Pick your live-action, pet-based, intellectual property poison. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Was the Name Triad a Net Positive or Negative? <\/b>Probably positive. The name fits her well.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Was There Any Good Reason to Go by Three Names? <\/b>\u201cLove\u201d is everything to JLH. It\u2019s what makes her sound like a teenage country singer who\u2019s decorated her cherry-red guitar with sequined hearts. It\u2019s crucial.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>How Much of Her Name Could We Fashion from Gift Shop Keychains? <\/b>1\/3, but you could probably find LOVE emblazoned on something in a different part of the gift shop.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Did She Ever Act with Another Three-Name Actor? <\/b>She was in <i>Can\u2019t Hardly Wait <\/i>with both Melissa Joan Hart and Sean Patrick Thomas. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>How Much Can We Improve The Full Name by Changing One Part? <\/b>In honor of the <i>Boy Meets World<\/i> episode where she played a character with this name, let\u2019s go with \u201cJennifer Love Fefferman.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3 class=\"p4\"><strong><span class=\"s1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/sjparker.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-10647\" src=\"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/sjparker.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"280\" \/><\/a>Sarah Jessica Parker<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>You Know Her From:<\/b> <i>Sex and the City <\/i>and enough lesser rom-coms to fill the biggest bookshelf at Goodwill.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>High Point<\/b>: Did I say earlier that Sarah Michelle Gellar was the only person in this guide to help solidify a TV network\u2019s standing? Well, <i>Sex and the City<\/i> was HBO\u2019s first bona fide hit in 1998, so what do I know. Parker\u2019s high point is unquestionably playing Carrie for six years and two unbelievably lucrative movies. (I\u2019m a Charlotte though; are we still making that reference?)<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Low Point<\/b>: <i>Did You Hear About the Morgans?<\/i> I pray you did not.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>A Role Worth Revisiting: <\/b>It\u2019s easy to forget SJP appeared in an intriguing run of films in the \u201890s, working with Tim Burton and David Mamet. All due respect to <i>Ed Wood, <\/i>Parker is terrific in Mamet\u2019s little-remembered <i>State and Main<\/i> as the Hollywood sex symbol who develops a self-conscious streak mid-production of Philip Seymour Hoffman\u2019s movie \u201cabout the quest for purity.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Did Her Career Survive the \u201890s? <\/b>The two <i>Sex and the City <\/i>movies (2008 and 2010) grossed almost three-quarters of a billion dollars. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Was the Name Triad a Net Positive or Negative? <\/b>Tough to say! The name Sarah Parker, while ordinary, actually packs a nice four-syllable punch. It\u2019s simple, almost deceptively simple, like Amy Adams or Julia Roberts. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Was There Any Good Reason to Go by Three Names?<\/b> I don\u2019t know, man. I like the name Sarah Parker! <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>How Much of Her Name Could We Fashion from Gift Shop Keychains? <\/b>2\/3. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Did She Ever Act with Another Three-Name Actor? <\/b>Nobody from this list, but she did star with Thomas Haden Church in her HBO return, <i>Divorce<\/i>. Those two have enough names for another whole person! Jessica Haden. I\u2019d watch her HBO show. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>How Much Can We Improve the Full Name by Changing One Part? <\/b>The only glaring flaw of \u201cSarah Jessica Parker\u201d is that it can never live up namewise to \u201cCarrie Bradshaw.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3 class=\"p4\"><strong><span class=\"s1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/mjhart.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-10648\" src=\"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/mjhart.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"280\" \/><\/a>Melissa Joan Hart<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>You Know Her From: <\/b>Explaining it all and talking to that cat puppet for six years of her life. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>High Point<\/b>: Melissa Joan Hart is not exactly Daniel Day-Lewis, but she did manage to pull off the transformation from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=odQpuuJb4OE\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"s2\">Pearl Jam fanatic<\/span><\/a> to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=NZUmIE9gYI8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"s2\">Britney Spears fanatic<\/span><\/a> over the course of her two hit TV shows. Although if you watch that <i>Clarissa<\/i> clip, it\u2019s unlikely she\u2019s ever actually heard Pearl Jam.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Low Point<\/b>: Clarissa, do you need me to explain to you why you shouldn\u2019t be in the <i>God\u2019s Not Dead<\/i> films? MJH plays the lead in <i>God\u2019s Not 2: Didactic Boogaloo<\/i> \u2014 a history teacher who\u2019s punished by the godless liberal bureaucracy for encouraging one of her students to read the Bible.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Clarissa Explains Pearl Jam &#039;93\" width=\"760\" height=\"570\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/odQpuuJb4OE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>A Role Worth Revisiting<\/b>: Unfortunately, MJH\u2019s filmography is kind of a wasteland of cable movies and Sabrina spin-off projects. So maybe we just hand this honorific off <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=AiUaJIxbm1Y\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"s2\">to a montage of Salem the Cat<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=AiUaJIxbm1Y<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Did Her Career Survive the \u201890s?<\/b> Basically no. Once <i>Sabrina the Teenage Witch<\/i> was done in 2003, so was MJH. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Was the Name Triad a Net Positive or Negative? <\/b>The big problem with the name \u201cMelissa Joan Hart\u201d is that it\u2019s one of the few ways you can make someone named \u201cMelissa\u201d sound like she\u2019s 85 years old. I can\u2019t imagine that helped her career. On the other hand, <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Melissa_Joan_Hart%23cite_note-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"s2\">Wikipedia says<\/span><\/a> her father was \u2014\u00a0wait for it \u2014 a \u201cshellfish purveyor\u201d when she was growing up? Mad respect. All shellfish purveyors have the right to make their kids\u2019 names sound old as the mighty sea itself. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Was There Any Good Reason to Go by Three Names?<\/b> None. Melissa Hart is a better name.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>How Much of Her Name Could We Fashion from Gift Shop Keychains?<\/b> 2\/3<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Did She Ever Act with Another Three-Name Actor? <\/b>In fact, she played the uncredited part of \u201cYearbook Girl\u201d in<i> Can\u2019t Hardly Wait <\/i>with Jennifer Love Hewitt and Sean Patrick Thomas. This girl is deeply into <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=34gftf8i5Qw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"s2\">yearbooks<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Can&#039;t Hardly Wait Clip 1\" width=\"760\" height=\"570\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/34gftf8i5Qw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>How Much Can We Improve the Full Name by Changing One Part? <\/b>Shellfish-Purveyor Joan Hart<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3 class=\"p4\"><strong><span class=\"s1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/spthomas.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-10649\" src=\"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/spthomas.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"280\" \/><\/a>Sean Patrick Thomas<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>You Know Him From:<\/b>\u00a0Teaching Julia Styles how to break dance in <i>Save The Last Dance <\/i>(2001) and\/or teaching Selma Blair the cello in <i>Cruel Intentions <\/i>(1999). Sean Patrick Thomas just has a teaching spirit. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>High Point<\/b>: It\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Bb2XlqE9OUg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"s2\">this scene<\/span><\/a> in <i>Cruel Intentions<\/i> where SPT goes toe to toe with Christine Baranski in a darkly comedic showdown of racial malice and cluelessness. He gets canned as the in-house cello tutor, and then Muhammad Ali-style chants his way down a penthouse hall that is ironically decorated with what look to be African carvings and busts.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Cruel Intentions (3\/8) Movie CLIP - The Black Man is Gone (1999) HD\" width=\"760\" height=\"428\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Bb2XlqE9OUg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Low Point<\/b>: He\u2019s impaled through a door by Michael Myers in 2002\u2019s <i>Halloween: Resurrection<\/i>. Considering Busta Rhymes receives the distinct honor of engaging Myers in open hand-to-hand combat just minutes later and\u00a0<i>survives<\/i>, let\u2019s call this Thomas\u2019 nadir.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>A Role Worth Revisiting<\/b>: He\u2019s a competent and undersung straight man in the first two <i>Barbershop<\/i> films. It\u2019s critical role in movies defined by their outsized performances. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Did His Career Survive the \u201890s?<\/b> The last 10 years have been lean, but <i>Barbershop: The Next Cut<\/i> had him in a near-starring role as recently as 2016. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Was the Name Triad a Net Positive or Negative? <\/b>Probably negative. Thomas may have his subtle charms, but he\u2019s ultimately a generic character actor. Having the most generic name on this list couldn\u2019t have helped.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Was There Any Good Reason to Go by Three Names? <\/b>\u201cSean Patrick Thomas\u201d is no better or worse than \u201cSean Thomas.\u201d This is a rough one.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>How Much of His Name Could We Fashion from Gift Shop Keychains? <\/b>3\/3! You can\u2019t teach that. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Did He Ever Act with Another Three-Name Actor?<\/b> Quite famously with Sarah Michelle Gellar in <i>Cruel<\/i><b><i> <\/i><\/b><i>Intentions.<\/i> <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>How Much Can We Improve the Full Name by Changing One Part?<\/b> Anything would help. Maybe \u201cSean Patrick Flannery\u201d if that&#8217;s not taken? <\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3 class=\"p4\"><strong><span class=\"s1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/tescott.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-10650\" src=\"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/tescott.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"280\" \/><\/a>Tom Everett Scott<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>You Know Him From:<\/b>\u00a0Making the unilateral decision to change the tempo of \u201cThat Thing You Do\u201d at the Mercyhurst College talent show, and the rest is fake history. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>High Point<\/b>: There\u2019s not an entry in this guide that hinges on a single work more than Tom Everett Scott playing Guy Patterson in 1996\u2019s <i>That Thing You Do! <\/i>During the right rewatch, it\u2019s still hard to believe that successfully capturing the charm and innocence of a young Tom Hanks in a movie directed by Tom Hanks didn\u2019t launch him to stardom. But then there\u2019s this: One of the most impressive things about Tom Everett Scott is that he earnestly and repeatedly lets Guy Patterson play the fool. The character is humbled by the cold ways of capitalism, adulthood, and pop culture, and Scott\u2019s ability to act like a disappointed bobblehead isn\u2019t exactly the kind of fast-talking righteousness that tends to mint young male stars.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Low Point<\/b>: Scott had a worthless part in the worthless movie <i>Van Wilder <\/i>(2002). TES is the editor of the university newspaper who assigns Nicole Richie\u2019s character a profile of Van Wilder (Ryan Reynolds), the coolest dude on campus. Find me the cynical, sleep-deprived aspiring college journalist who thinks Van Wilder is hip; I\u2019ll wait. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>A Role Worth Revisiting<\/b>: He played Emma Stone\u2019s husband in the setup to <i>La La Land\u2019s <\/i>climactic, what-might-have-been fantasy. The only reason this stands out is because Scott visits Ryan Gosling\u2019s jazz club, and enjoying jazz clubs is paramount to his character in <i>That Thing You Do!<\/i> Just hypothetically, if you were to <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TomEScott\/status\/810345565548482561\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"s2\">make this joke to Scott on Twitter<\/span><\/a> in December 2016, he would be very chill about it.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Del Paxton at a booth in the corner\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/XLLLWVzKpi\">https:\/\/t.co\/XLLLWVzKpi<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Tom Everett Scott (@TomEScott) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TomEScott\/status\/810345565548482561?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">December 18, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Did His Career Survive the \u201890s? <\/b>Like numerous folks mentioned here, Scott ended up on network procedurals after he stopped being cast in studio films in the early 2000s. It bears mentioning he played a recurring role as a governor on <i>Law and Order<\/i>. Probably a governor up to no good. Hard to imagine an ethical governor recurring on <i>Law and Order<\/i>. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Was the Name Triad a Net Positive or Negative? <\/b>If you\u2019re searching for reasons his career didn\u2019t pan out, the name probably didn\u2019t help. It\u2019s a backup quarterback\u2019s name for sure.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Was There Any Good Reason to Go by Three Names? <\/b>The name \u201cTom Scott\u201d is a great reason to sandwich \u201cEverett\u201d into the middle.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>How Much of His Name Could We Fashion from Gift Shop Keychains? <\/b>Almost certainly 2\/3. We could maybe go 3\/3 with \u201cEverett\u201d if it was an Alabama gas station in 1970. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Did He Ever Act with Another Three-Name Actor? <\/b>He appeared in a 2005 episode of <i>Criminal Minds<\/i> with Jennifer Love Hewitt. Also, he was in an <i>Inherit The Wind <\/i>television remake with the great George C. Scott, who I have to believe was Tom Everett Scott\u2019s father. I refuse to look up whether this is true. (It is not true.)<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>How Much Can We Improve the Full Name by Changing One Part? <\/b>It\u2019s the \u201cScott\u201d that\u2019s the problem here. \u201cTom Everett McCauley\u201d sounds sophisticated. Or he could go \u201cTom Cat Scott\u201d and no one would forget his weird ass ever. <\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3 class=\"p4\"><strong><span class=\"s1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/seann-william-scott-lethal-weapon-3-20045045.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-10651\" src=\"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/seann-william-scott-lethal-weapon-3-20045045.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"280\" \/><\/a>Seann William Scott<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><span class=\"Apple-converted-space\"><b>You Know Him From:<\/b>\u00a0T<\/span>aking every bro role Vince Vaughn discarded from 1997 to present and from playing Stifler four times. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>High Point<\/b>: For me, it\u2019s <i>Role Models<\/i>, the 2008 David Wain comedy that managed to age Scott\u2019s manchild persona into something both sincere and absurd. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Low Point: <\/b><i>Balls Out: Gary The Tennis Coach<\/i> is probably the Stifler shtick at its thinnest. Here\u2019s the synopsis of this 2009 non-theatrical release: \u201cA high school janitor has not recovered from his failed career as a tennis pro. He begins coaching his beloved sport to a group of misfits and leads them to the Nebraska State Championships.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">As a native Nebraskan, I\u2019m vaguely insulted on behalf of our proud Andy Roddick-led state history with tennis. As a native of this world, this movie should not exist.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>A Role Worth Revisiting<\/b>: In a Season 9 episode of <i>It\u2019s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, <\/i>Scott plays \u201cCountry Mac\u201d \u2014 the soulful, easy-going, unselfconscious bro that the gang all wishes \u201cCity Mac\u201d actually was. He\u2019s brilliant. Between this and the <i>Goon <\/i>movies, Scott deserves credit for working through some alternating shades of the dude who loves his beers and biceps.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Did His Career Survive the \u201890s?<\/b> For sure. <i>American Pie <\/i>was 1999, but the bulk of his other work came in the early 2000s. And just this year, Scott took over the white-guy role in TV\u2019s <i>Lethal Weapon<\/i>. This apparently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tvguide.com\/news\/lethal-weapon-clayne-crawford-seann-william-scott-reactions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"s2\">outraged some fans<\/span><\/a> of TV\u2019s <i>Lethal Weapon, <\/i>and I will be glued to the Nielsen ratings this fall to find out if they come around on Seann.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Was the Name Triad a Net Positive or Negative?<\/b> His body of work makes me feel like Scott\u2019s name should be Roy Hendricks or Derek Dinwiddie. \u201cSeann William Scott\u201d likely did little for his career.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Was There Any Good Reason to Go by Three Names? <\/b>This one\u2019s for the best. \u201cSeann Scott\u201d by itself is bizarre. The \u201cWilliam\u201d is a suitable buffer. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>How Much of His Name Could We Fashion from Gift Shop Keychains?\u00a0<\/b><\/span><span class=\"s1\">2\/3, unless there was a misprint at the Sean factory.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Did He Ever Act with Another Three-Name Actor?\u00a0<\/b><\/span><span class=\"s1\"><i>Southland Tales<\/i> (2006) with Sarah Michelle Gellar, but that\u2019s not nearly as weird as The Rock being in <i>Southland Tales<\/i>. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>How Much Can We Improve the Full Name by Changing One Part? <\/b><\/span><span class=\"s1\">I present to you \u201cSeann Williamm Scottt.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3 class=\"p4\"><strong><span class=\"s1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Jonathan-Taylor-Thomas.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-10652\" src=\"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Jonathan-Taylor-Thomas.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"280\" \/><\/a>Jonathan Taylor Thomas<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><span class=\"Apple-converted-space\"><b>You Know Him From:<\/b>\u00a0B<\/span>eing on the cover of every issue of Tiger Beat magazine between 1994 and 1998. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>High Point<\/b>: There exist multiple, multi-part montages from different YouTube accounts of \u201ccute\u201d Randy Taylor moments, so <i>Home Improvement<\/i> is the answer.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Low Point<\/b>: Just now when I discovered he didn\u2019t do Young Simba\u2019s singing in <i>The Lion King <\/i>(1994). I was going to give him so much credit for the indelible vocal leap in \u201cjust can\u2019t WAIT to be king.\u201d Now that credit goes to singer and voice actor Jason Weaver.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>A Role Worth Revisiting<\/b>: Sometimes the most compelling moments in these actors\u2019 IMDb narratives is when they try to step into more adult parts. That\u2019s when it becomes as clear as a blonde streak through a middle part that it\u2019s just not happening. That moment for JTT is in\u00a0<i>Speedway Junky<\/i> (1998), in which he plays a street hustler named Steve. You can watch <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=gvovx1l_4mU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"s2\">this clip<\/span><\/a> for the instant recognition that <i>that<\/i> baby face and <i>that<\/i> permanently pubescent-sounding voice are not going to take up River Phoenix\u2019s mantle.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Speedway Junky Clip\" width=\"760\" height=\"570\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/gvovx1l_4mU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Did His Career Survive the \u201890s? <\/b>Not really. It also doesn\u2019t seem like JTT especially wanted to be an actor as he got older, as is his right. In recent years, he\u2019s worked only on Tim Allen-related projects, appearing a few times on <i>Last Man Standing. <\/i>What a life.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Was the Name Triad a Net Positive or Negative?<\/b> Jonathan Taylor Thomas is the quintessential three-name \u201890s actor because his is the only appellation here that sharply communicates something with all three parts. Say it slowly: \u201cJonathan Taylor Thomas\u201d evokes someone very adorable, very white, and who almost certainly has a stage parent herding him to his next engagement. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Was There Any Good Reason to Go by Three Names? <\/b>Seventy percent of boys in the \u201890s were named Taylor. Is that a reason?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>How Much of His Name Could We Fashion from Gift Shop Keychains?<\/b> 3\/3 with a bullet.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Did He Ever Act with Another Three-Name Actor? <\/b>Nope. It\u2019s your life, JTT, but you shouldn\u2019t have quit acting before squaring off with another three-namer. Jennifer Love Hewitt could have done Nala\u2019s singing voice in a straight-to-video <i>Lion King <\/i>sequel or something.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>How Much Can We Improve the Full Name by Changing One Part? <\/b>If you were trying to engineer from scratch a cute little blond boy who never acts meaningfully past the age of 16, you name that kid Jonathan Taylor Thomas. There\u2019s no other name. <\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3 class=\"p4\"><strong><span class=\"s1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/npharris.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-10653\" src=\"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/npharris.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"280\" \/><\/a>Neil Patrick Harris<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><span class=\"Apple-converted-space\"><b>You Know Him From:<\/b> <\/span><i>Doogie<\/i> <i>Howser M.D.<\/i>, <i>Hedwig and the Angry Inch<\/i> on Broadway, and that distant friend of yours who still thinks it\u2019s cool to drop a<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>\u201cLegen \u2026 dary.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>High Point<\/b>: It\u2019s a safe pick, but Harris playing Barney Stinson for a decade on <i>How I Met Your Mother<\/i>, 10 years after <i>Doogie Howser<\/i>, is akin to Ron Howard doing <i>The Andy Griffith Show<\/i> and then <i>Happy Days<\/i>. It\u2019s a kind of TV stardom continuity we may never see again in the splintered age of streaming. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Low Point: <\/b>Tough one. I think you have to go looking not just for the worst work, but the moment in his career where the child actor phase threatened to sink him. Let\u2019s go with <i>Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle<\/i>, where NPH\u2019s cameo is downright Hasselhoff-esque. The \u201cremember this guy!?\u201d joke is merely that the fresh-faced kid who played Doogie Howser is partying through the night and stealing cars. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>A Role Worth Revisiting<\/b>: <i>Starship Troopers<\/i> (1997) is a brilliant (and so early!) use of Harris\u2019 ability to turn his golden-boy shtick unsettling and ironic. It\u2019s the first film to forecast there\u2019s uncannily short distance between awards-shows NPH and making-fun-of-hosting-awards-shows NPH. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Did His Career Survive the \u201890s?<\/b> The man is currently playing Count Olaf on Netflix, so you tell me! <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Was the Name Triad a Net Positive or Negative?<\/b> A resounding positive. The name perfectly hinted at his turn toward the theater. \u201cNeil Patrick Harris\u201d looks great on a playbill.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Was There Any Good Reason to Go by Three Names? <\/b>The Patrick is needed. \u201cNeil Harris\u201d sounds like someone who plays desk sergeants in cancelled cop dramas. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>How Much of His Name Could We Fashion from Gift Shop Keychains?<\/b> 2.5\/3. Harris as a first name? Dicey.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Did He Ever Act with Another Three-Name Actor?<\/b> NPH played a dance-off host in <i>American Reunion<\/i> (the fourth <i>American Pie <\/i>movie), which also has Seann William Scott in it, of course. It was probably a nice paycheck and also speaks to Harris\u2019 ability to be cheeky enough that lousy material never sticks to him.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>How Much Can We Improve the Full Name by Changing One Part?<\/b> I would say Neil Patrick Howser, but then I\u2019m sure people actually slipped up and called him that in the\u2019 90s.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h6><em>Join our <a href=\"http:\/\/crookedmarquee.us16.list-manage.com\/subscribe?u=dc6679cd997ec610eeaf50562&amp;id=db71dbf4c3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">mailing list<\/a>! 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