Why Hollywood Won't Cast Shane West Anymore

Shane West moved to Los Angeles when he was just a teenager to pursue an acting career, and like most actors, he struggled at first. According to an interview with Lindzi.com in 2002, he never even considered a career in acting until he moved to California with his family and many of his classmates were acting and appearing in commercials. In the interview he claimed, "I got the bug. It started working for me so I kept going."

West had guest appearances on a few major television shows when he was just starting out, including Boy Meets World and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and landed his first major role in 1999 on a show called Once and Again (cast photo above). He played Eli, one of two children who are products of divorce, in this TV drama that didn't pick up much of a following. While it was noted for being controversial and being one of the first shows to introduce a gay relationship between two characters, it was cancelled after just three seasons. He went on to make his first movie appearance with a small role in Liberty Heights soon after, which was received well by critics.

Before A Walk To Remember was filmed, West appeared in the film A Time For Dancing as a DJ that begins dating one of the main characters, but it never appeared in theaters in the U.S. The movie gained a small following in Italy and was eventually released years later on DVD for Americans to enjoy, but few people are aware the movie even exists.

Right after he filmed A Walk To Remember, West was finally presented with the opportunity to break away from these teenage roles, playing Tom Sawyer in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Based on a mini comic book series created by writer Alan Moore and artist Kevin O'Neill, the story follows popular fictional characters from classic novels who were chosen to form a group of evil-fighting heroes set on a secret mission for Queen Victoria circa 1900. It was expected to do well, but even with Sean Connery playing the lead, critics felt the movie was a flop, receiving only a 17% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

From there, West put teenage romantic dramas and comedies to the side while he pursued darker roles in horror movies. Unfortunately, these movies didn't attract much of an audience either, and West made the right decision by accepting more television acting roles.

Shane West got his next big break after A Walk To Remember when he was offered the part of Dr. Ray Barnett on ER, joining the list of some of the sexiest men in Hollywood who've played doctors on the show, including George Clooney and John Stamos. Even though he started on ER in it's 11th season, the show still had a huge following and his appearance certainly helped boost his career, but he left after just three seasons.

West left ER to take a role in the anticipated pilot Supreme Courtships, which depicted the professional and personal lives of six members of the Supreme Court. The show cast some pretty big names including Kate Burton, best known for her role as Ellis Grey in Grey's Anatomy, and Kurtwood Smith who played Red Forman in That 70's Show, but the pilot wasn't picked up by Fox. This sent West back to the set of ER, making a few small appearances as Dr. Ray Barnett to wrap up a few storylines until the end of the series.

While Shane West never made it big with any of his own bands, he did get a feel for stardom playing with punk rock legends, Germs. West spent a lot of time with the group when he was preparing to appear in a biopic about the band called What We Do Is Secret. In the film, he played the band's lead singer, Darby Crash. Filming was done on and off for four years to accommodate West's schedule for ER, and during that time West actually started performing with the band and eventually went on tour.

In an interview with Rogue, West explained how this developed by saying, "We played a gig where the actor Germs played first, and then the real Germs came on stage." Since the Germs' lead singer Darby Crash had passed away, West had to perform with both groups. "There were actually a lot of Germs fans at that party. And they just ate it up. They really enjoyed the performance, and all we did was play five songs. And people started kind of asking us to play gigs."

While his time spent performing with Germs has come to an end, for now, he continues to work toward a career in music and performing with his latest band Twilight Creeps. Unfortunately, that could mean he's spending less time acting and auditioning for parts.

After Nikita ended, Shane West tried to get back into movies with the Top Gun-themed thriller Red Sky and a horror film called Here Alone. Unfortunately, Red Sky wasn't well-received by critics and went straight to DVD and Here Alone came and went without much fanfare. In 2018, he joined the cast of Gossamer Folds, playing the father of "a boy with an unhappy home life striking up an unexpected friendship with a trans woman" (via Women and Hollywood). The film is post-production at the time of this writing.

Prior to that, West starred in the WGN series Salem, a fantasy drama that reimagines a world where those 17th century witches were real. Despite being the network's highest-rated show in seven years, it was ultimately canceled in 2016 after three seasons (via Deadline). In 2018, West scored his highest-profile television gig to date — a recurring role on Gotham as the villainous Eduardo Dorrance, who later becomes the iconic Batman enemy, Bane.

In an interview with E! News West called it a "bucket list" role since Bane was his "favorite DC villain." He drew inspiration for Bane's iconic voice from Batman: The Animated Series and The Dark Knight Rises' Tom Hardy, but made the role his own. "I had my own ideas and then I just kinda spliced it in with a couple of other interesting perspectives," West explained. Fun fact: West auditioned to play Mr. Freeze.

Let's not write the obituary on Shane West's career just yet. He's been a steadily employed actor for most of his career but has yet to find lasting success. However, things are looking up for the former teen idol.

Deadline reports that he is starring in the upcoming sci-fi thriller No Running, alongside Orange Is The New Black's Taryn Manning and True Blood's Rutina Wesley. The film, which is post-production at the time of this writing, "follows a young black teen who is wrongfully blamed for the mysterious disappearance of his biracial girlfriend" only to discover supernatural forces at work while she flees from authorities. We can dig it.

In a 2016 interview with Harper's Bazaar, West reflected on his career and the changes in the industry since his breakout role in A Walk To Remember. He stated that when he was younger, studios pumped out modest budget films and cable and network television was the place actors made real money. Now with Hollywood funding only blockbusters, and an influx of series due to streaming, most actors don't have a chance to breakout. "I don't know if that's a good thing," he said. "I don't think it is — I miss it — but we all as actors don't have the chance to play a Wolverine in the next movie. We'd love to, but they're not looking at us at all. They're looking at whatever might be the hottest thing at that exact moment."