Whatever happened to unconventional looking lead actors?

In recent weeks I happened to watch movies from the 1990s starring John Candy and Tommy Lee Jones. These were films where they were very much the selling point and at their peaks that made sense -- they were huge stars. Of course, John Candy sadly passed long before his time.

And Jones has now settled comfortably into being a reliable character actor -- the last time I feel like he was a headliner was maybe in 2007 (where he had the one-two punch of No Country for Old Men and In the Valley of Elah).

What stood out to me watching these great performers was that they were also decidedly not conventionally attractive.

Women are, with few exceptions held to a very different standard. There are a few rare exceptions -- Kathy Bates, Melissa McCarthy and more recently Frances McDormand -- of actresses who through their sheer talent are able to overcome certain sexist biases about who can carry a movie. But overwhelmingly there is a preference from studios for young, traditionally beautiful women.

With men there has always been a much wider spectrum of acceptable looks. In part we have the '70s to thank for that, when actors who were less than hunky -- think Walter Matthau -- were major stars. Even leading men like Jack Nicholson and Al Pacino, while sexy in their own way, by no means looked like the kind of square jawed glamour pusses that usually populated Hollywood movies.

This trend continued for years and then suddenly seemed to stop. Besides the occasional Paul Giamatti vehicle now and then, it seems as though there's been a shift back to the conventional.

This may be partially comic book movies' fault. The model now for most of those films is that actors who get cast in them bulk up to achieve as close to physical perfection as they can -- and since comic book characters or almost always unrealistically gorgeous, pretty boys like Chris Hemsworth and Chris Pine are going to have an advantage.

Don't get me wrong I like all these actors -- and they have more than demonstrated that they are more than a pretty face. But there is something very cool and exciting about seeing someone who doesn't fit the mold -- male or female -- becoming a bonafide star.

I wonder if Whoopi Goldberg or Gene Hackman or Dustin Hoffman or Joe Pesci were trying to make it as fresh faces now if they would have the same opportunities. Their talent is undeniable, but today it's hard to imagine -- for instance -- a short Jewish guy starring in his own drama vehicles that regularly are the biggest grossing films of their respective years (as was the case with Kramer vs. Kramer and Rain Man).

This didn't happen overnight -- and to be fair -- if you look at the top ten star rankings over the years, there are far more George Clooney-types than there are say Robin Williams.

Comedians do seem the exception that proves the rule -- Adam Sandler is not many peoples' idea of a sex symbol -- but as big comedies seem to be frequently falling out fashion it feels like the future might belong to the so-called pretty people.

And as someone who isn't -- I find that a little sad. It's fun sometimes to be aspirational and awed by stars on screen, but sometimes it's fun to be able to relate to them too.

Nowadays, I am always on the lookout for an against-type acting choice -- for instance, few people would have tapped Robert Downey Jr for Iron Man, now it seems like a no brainer. There aren't many on the horizon -- but an ugly boy can dream can't he?