We all remember when Jackie Earle Haley played Kelly in Bad News Bears. All of us loved Kelly, the rebellious motorcycle driving best player on a team of misfits. He was “cool,” “slick,” and way out of everyone’s league. But then something happened to Kelly as the Bad News Bears evolved: puberty. By the time the third movie came out Jackie Earle Haley was a little gawky looking and by the time he was in the movie Breaking Away you had this feeling that his career might not amount to much.
And if you followed his career until 1993 you’d probably be right. He did mostly television and then all of a sudden, poof, he disappeared. Jackie Earle Haley was essentially gone for 13 years. It wasn’t until 2006 that he landed a role in All the King’s Men but it wasn’t until 2008 when he landed the part of Rorschach in Watchmen that people realized that he could be one hell of a sinister character type in a multitude of films. After Watchmen, Jackie Earle Haley has been one busy man and at the age of 55 he should have a fruitful career in Hollywood if he so chooses.
But honestly, did any of us out there think this guy wasn’t going to make it after his roles in Bad News Bears? I’d be lying to you if I say I did. Of course I wasn’t even born yet when Bad News Bears Go to Japan came out yet so what the hell do I know?
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