This weekend, Guy Ritchie’s latest film, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, will bring the well-worn tale of King Arthur and Excaliber to the screen once more. The reviews have not been kind, which may not bode well for the star of the film Charlie Hunnam. Hunnam has been trying to make the leap to legit movie star for a little while now, with muted success at best. To date, his most notable role is as the arguable lead of Sons of Anarchy. However, back in the day, Hunnam was part of a little-seen sitcom that was a launching point for some of the biggest names in Hollywood today.
That show is Undeclared. It debuted on FOX in 2001, aired 17 episodes, and was cancelled. Most people didn’t see it, and they don’t remember it. That’s a bit of a shame, because it was a good show. Nothing special, but a fun comedy about young people. The show centered on some college freshman and dealt with, you know, all that comes with being 18 or so and leaving home for all the college experience entails. The potential was certainly there, but the audience wasn’t. That’s how you can tell people some of the names in the cast and they may very well not believe you.
The big names extended behind the camera as well. Undeclared was created by Judd Apatow, before he became the kind of comedy films. As for the cast, obviously you already know Hunnam was part of the ensemble. Hunnam played Lloyd, a good looking English guy who was a bit of a ladies man. He was good in the role and showed comedy chops. It didn’t seem like he’d become an action star. As for Lloyd’s roommate Steve, he was played by Jay Burachel, the lead of the show. He’s not a huge name, but you’ve certainly seen Burachel in movies and TV shows, such as Man Seeking Woman.
In terms of the main cast, the other notable name is Seth Rogen, who fittingly played the party-hardy Ron. Some other soon-to-be big names who had recurring roles were Jason Segal, Busy Philipps, Amy Poehler, and Kevin Hart. Yes, perhaps the biggest standup comic in the world had a small, recurring role on Undeclared. Jenna Fischer, Simon Helberg, Felicia Day, and Martin Starr also all made appearances.
The show perhaps didn’t live up to the quality of the cast, but Undeclared ended up being a tremendous proving ground for a lot of people. Who would have thought that one day the guy who played Lloyd would play King Arthur in a giant action movie? Maybe some actor currently on a seldom-watched sitcom is going to be a movie star in a decade or so.
