15 Unlikely British TV Shows To Spawn Hollywood Stars

The idea of British television stars heading off to Hollywood has become commonplace in recent years. In fact, there was the story only earlier this year that Charlie Brooks (better known as Janine Butcher in Eastenders) was the most recent star to want to try her luck "across the pond" as they say. Numerous stars have tried and failed, some of which are household names in the UK. But then some seem to land that one role that makes them internationally famous. Mind you, there are certain shows that you expect to generate Hollywood stars just because of the sheer volume of people that appear in them. Eastenders for example is one of them. Actresses like Martine McCutcheon have managed to appear in movies but hasn't become a Hollywood star. The latest one to appear in a big film was Robert Kazinsky who appeared in Pacific Rim, as well as nine episodes of True Blood and is scheduled to be in the Warcraft film. Previously he'd appeared in 254 episodes of Eastenders across three years. Another show that stars have appeared in is Casualty - you'll notice an ongoing theme in this list as quite a few of these people have popped up in guest roles in that show before they made it. Of course in some cases there is also the argument that there are a greater number of diverse roles in Hollywood and so certain actors are drawn there in order to get work. British-born David Harewood, who is most recently best known for his appearances in Homeland, has complained of a lack of strong roles for black actors in British television. This view was supported last October by Labour party politician Chuka Umunna. Hollywood legend Morgan Freeman has also said previously of how black actors don't have as many possible roles in the UK compared to white actors. But in some cases actors do get chances in the UK before they try their luck in the States. However, sometimes they come from shows that you wouldn't normally expect to launch a viable Hollywood career. In this upcoming list we'll see amongst others €“ a couple of soap operas, a teen comedy-drama, a David Jason-led BBC series and a sketch show (which managed to launch the careers of no less than three internationally known stars) amongst others that all managed to launch the careers of actors and actresses that went on to become household names in Hollywood.