While this dashing Irish actor has had brushes with fame, he has yet to become a star. Townsend landed a variety of film roles in Europe in the '90s but he lost a big break in 2001 when he was cast — then replaced — as the original lead in The Lord of the Rings. (He consoled himself by embarking on a relationship with his Trapped costar Charlize Theron.) His big Hollywood debut as a seductive vampire in Queen of the Damned made him a Goth heartthrob, but his career certainly wasn't taking off like his girlfriend's. In 2005 he turned to the small-screen as the lead in the remake of the '70s cult series Night Stalker, but it was quickly canceled.