10 Popular TV Actors Whose Big Movie Breaks Totally Backfired

Big movie break: Hitman/Die Hard With A Vengeance

Another example of a talented actor plagued by unlucky decisions, Timothy Olyphant first came to prominence with his role in HBO's Deadwood. Things certainly seemed to be on the up for Olyphant, who had proved himself to be both talented and charismatic on the small screen.

Then came 2007. In the space of one year, two films were released with Olyphant in prominent roles.

Live Free or Die Hard marked a PG shift in the beloved Die Hard franchise, and while Olyphant delivered a solid performance as the antagonist to Bruce Willis' John McClane, the movie simply wasn't a hit.

Then we saw Olyphant sporting the bald head and barcode tattoo of revered video game assassin Agent 47 in the disappointing movie adaptation of the Hitman franchise.

While Olyphant always stands out as a wonderful actor, it's been his television roles that have been most successful, most notably in Justified and Netflix's Santa Clarita Diet.

Given that he's quite obviously been the saving grace of more than one or two stinkers, we can remain hopeful that Olyphant will earn his place among the A-list one of these days.