Asylum Should-Stars #12

Here at Committed, I'm always looking for ways to prolong my love affair with Asylum blogging. I've done inmate profiles and I've done pitches, but now, I'm melding the best of these features into one, amalgamated column: the awkwardly-named Asylum Should-Stars, in which I present actors/actresses/other cultural figures I think would make lovely additions to the Asylum's stable of performers. More mindless fun to wile away your workday! Let's dive right in, shall we?

Name: Rachel Miner


Best Known For: Dani on "Californication," Meg on "Supernatural," Hide, Penny Dreadful, Bully, etc.


Plays: uber-vixens, the petite firecracker with a sass ten times her size, devious femme fatales who are often the smartest person in the room.


Could Be Cast As: the ringmaster of some nefarious organization/cult, the sinister agent of a clandestine government program, any of a variety of supernatural horrors - witches, demons, vampires, werewolves; anything but a mummy, really - or step outside the box and offer her a straight leading role, the scientist battling a strange cataclysm, the mother seeking protection for she and her children from a natural disaster or creature attack; pretty much name it, and she'd nail it.

Name: Jeremy Miller


Best Known For: dude, it's Ben Seaver from "Growing Pains"


Plays: pretty much Ben Seaver from "Growing Pains," but over the last handful of years he's been more active in taking small film roles. This guy's ripe for a giant squid movie.


Could Be Cast As: let's start with the giant squid movie - any small town hero at the heart of a in-your-face creature feature sound's right up Miller's alley. He's got that Greg Evigan, Colin Ferguson everyman thing going on, the kind of guy it's easy to root for.

Name: Cynthia Rothrock


Best Known For: being the late 80's/early 90's martial arts Queen, kicking mad ass in flicks like China O'Brien 1 & 2, Rage and Honor 1 & 2, Lady Dragon 1 & 2, Fast Getaway I & II, Martial Law 1 & 2 and Tiger Claws 1, 2 and 3; finally got that hat trick.

Plays: women with crazy martial arts skills; usually this involves being a cop or a teacher or some other noble profession, but, you know, a cop or teacher who can fight her way out of a packed dojo without messing up her hair.

Could Be Cast As: though she hasn't acted in seven or eight years, Ms. Rothrock is the perfect sort of cultural figure who would shine in a small, mentor-like role in a martial arts or action film. Seriously, someone should snatch her up now before Tarantino remembers she's out there.

inmate profile: Julie McCullough

Continuing COMMITTED's spotlight on the creative forces behind the next Asylum flick, 2012 Ice Age, out the 28th of this month, it's now time to move from behind the camera to in front of it, and where better to start than with the film's female lead, the lovely and vivacious Julie McCullough.

Ms. McCullough, born in Hawaii, first came to the attention of our cultural consciousness in the mid-80's via four issues of the World's Preeminent Gentleman's Magazine, Playboy, of which she was the February 1986 Playmate of the Month. From there, Ms. McCullough spring-boarded into acting, appearing in such American classics as "Max Headroom," "Golden Girls," and the Roger Corman-backed Big Bad Mama II alongside Angie Dickenson. This work lead in 1989 a coveted role on one of the most popular sitcoms of its day, "Growing Pains." This is where 12-year-old me comes into the picture. I was, admittedly, a HUGE "Growing Pains" fan, and thought Kirk Cameron was the coolest dude ever (which he most assuredly turned out NOT to be), therefore making Ms. McCullough the most beautiful woman in the world for eight episodes of my life. It was a magical fall.

After "GP," (which only lasted a season and a half after she left, not even DiCaprio could save it; just sayin') Ms. McCullough went on to work regularly in television and film. One project of note: 1988's remake of The Blob with Kevin Dillon, Shawnee Smith and Donovan's son Donovan. Also involved with The Blob? 2012 Ice Age director Trey Stokes, who worked on that film as the "blob movement designer." Coincidence? 


I'll admit that the majority of my exposure to Ms. McCullough's work has been more light-hearted, comedic fare, so I for one am very excited to see her in the decidedly dramatic 2012 Ice Age. If her brief appearances in the trailer are any indication, she's got the chops. Find out June 28th when the film drops on DVD.