Do movie stars exist anymore? This question has been plaguing Hollywood over the past few years, with the sentiment being that the industry is no longer producing actors who can draw in an audience on their name alone. This goes hand-in-hand with the feeling that we are getting less and less films that are considered to be 'star vehicles' for the actors involved. Director Richard Linklater ( , the ) can understand where this is all coming from, but doesn't necessarily completely agree with the arguments.
During a recent interview about his new film which releases on Netflix later this week, GamesRadar+ and the asked for the filmmaker's thoughts on the matter, given that his latest work stars Glen Powell in the lead role - an actor who seems to be booking new roles every week at the moment. A thoughtful Linklater pauses before replying, explaining that he does indeed think there has been a shift due to the types of movies now dominating the industry: "Hollywood - these kind of childish movies - they don't make movie stars as you are playing a role that is like a pre-existing character from some universe. That's not what makes stars.
What makes stars is a strong charismatic personality that you follow them in whatever they do. Like Denzel Washington, Robert Redford, Meryl Streep - you want to watch whatever they do." He continues suggesting that a part of himself believes this is good news to some Hollywood executives: "There's probably a lot of dynamics that have changed that .
