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A phrase I have come to loathe when uttered by agents, managers, or executives, is "that name doesn't move the needle." It's an open admission that they're looking for whoever is hot or buzzy at the moment instead of who's, you know, actually good.
The thing that's most frustrating is that so many great films & performances are the result of someone taking a chance on a director or actor who absolutely didn't "move the needle." Jeremy Renner was about to quit acting to flip houses when Bigelow cast him in The Hurt Locker...
Virginia Madsen was considered past her prime & tainted by doing made for cable schlock when Payne cast her in Sideways & she absolutely crushed her monologue about wine...reviving her entire career.
& say what you will about Christopher Nolan, but he loves filling his films with talented, veteran actors like Michael Jai White, Eric Roberts, Rutger Hauer, William Fichtner, et al, who a less confident director would pass up in favor of some flavor of the month.
& frankly, the whole concept of "moving the needle" is bogus in terms of actually motivating audiences. There are maybe 4-5 directors out there the general public actually knows & seeks out, & the days of people seeing a Cocktail or a Seven Pounds because of a star are long gone.
Remember: Mahershala Ali was acting his ass off in basic cable genre shows for a over decade before he broke through in Moonlight. He was always that good, but it took a Barry Jenkins to give him his shot & make him a sought after A lister.
