I think Hollywood\’s trouble in finding these new stars is 2 fold. First, they are looking too young. (see also Alex Pettyfer, et al). Male action stars tend to break out 25 to 35, and have a run of 10 to 20 years before they burn out. The young male audience likes their action stars older than themselves. I think this is because these guys feel like they and their peers don\’t have the grit to survive the situation that the action star is placed in on screen. But they like to imagine that one day, when they are a little older, they will have that grit. So, it is plausible to them that an older guy can do all that stuff, whereas they know their peers can\’t.

Secondly, TPTB are trying to turn Rom-Com guys into action stars, like Kutcher and Efron. This is even more baffling than the \”too young\” mistake. Such guys get lots of tabloid notice, but they never get taken seriously, even by their female fans.

But regardless of looking in all the wrong directions, the generational turnover is a serious problem IMO.