View area storm coverage and share your photos.

"Grey's" stars find prescription for success at the movies

Jane Burns  —  5/06/2008 2:17 pm

It's Thursday night. Star-making night. That is, as long as you keep your star shining on television.

It's only recently that actors have been able to make that leap from Must-See TV to Must-See Film, or even Must-See DVD. This week alone is perfect evidence.

The box office hit "27 Dresses" came to DVD on Tuesday and should quickly earn a spot in the top rankings for sales and rentals. On those lists, it will join "Enchanted," which has been parked in the top five sales and rentals since raking in $127 million at the box office.

The connection?

Both feature stars of ABC's "Grey's Anatomy," finally expanding the magic touch of a Thursday night. It would seem being part of the ensemble of a wildly popular television show would be an easy path to movie stardom. But if it were automatic, why have "Friends" stars tanked so badly at the box office? How about "Cosby" or "Seinfeld"? And leaving "Cheers" for movies like "Troop Beverly Hills" really was a boon to Shelley Long, wasn't it?

Yet "Grey's" has sent its stars into the box office stratosphere in a way not seen since Michael J. Fox made the leap from Thursday night's "Family Ties" to the "Back to the Future" franchise. Katherine Heigl's "27 Dresses" pulled in $76 million at the box office, paling in comparison to her other big hit, last summer's "Knocked Up," which made $150 million. Patrick Dempsey was part of the draw of "Enchanted," helped "Sweet Home Alabama" make a bundle and will be on the big screen again when "Made of Honor" opens nationwide on Friday.

It's not just the popularity of the "Grey's" actors, but their ability to pick a lovable script.

Watching the show, you wouldn't exactly point to Dempsey and Heigl as the ones who seem destined for big screen greatness, unless McDreamy's constant moping and Izzy's constant uttering of "But George, you're my best friend!" are the stuff that make great movie stars.

The "Grey's" crew even picked hits before the show started. Sandra Oh won that Golden Globe for "Sideways," and just tune to WE and you'll likely land on yet another showing of "Under the Tuscan Sun." In a "Grey's" double-whammy, the lover who dumps Oh's Patti in the film is former "Grey's" co-star Kate Walsh (Dr. Addison Montgomery-McDreamy).

Lovability is just part of a TV actor's persona. It translates very well to the small screen; these are people you want in your homes. Going beyond that has some inherent risks, but an actor is wise to try.

Yet the list of "Friends" films is a shrine to mediocrity: "The Whole Nine Yards," "Friends With Money," "Kissing a Fool," "Lost in Space," "Hanging Up," "The Pallbearer," "The Whole Ten Yards." Courteney Cox was fortunate to land in the ensemble of the "Scream" franchise to give the cast at least one or two blockbusters, and while Jennifer Aniston's "The Break-Up" didn't wow any critics, it did make $118 million at the box office.

For the best post-"Friends" work, however, forget the box office and go with Home Box Office. While Aniston's "The Good Girl" and Lisa Kudrow's "Opposite of Sex" show the "Friends" stars could ditch their likable small-screen identities and succeed on the indie circuit, Kudrow really broke the "Central Perk" mold with "The Comeback" on HBO.

Kudrow's faux reality show tiptoed the line between lovable and unwatchable because of her cringe-inducing character, desperate former TV star Valerie Cherish. Valerie is so hungry to keep hold of her fame she suffers continual humiliation.

That's not any lesson her "Friends" co-stars necessarily need to heed as they contemplate their flailing movie careers. But maybe a guest spot on "Grey's Anatomy" wouldn't hurt.

Jane Burns  —  5/06/2008 2:17 pm