Why Hollywood won't cast Ashley Greene anymore

Where has Ashley Greene gone? 

The stunning starlet has been absent from the big screen for awhile, and we have a few theories as to why she hasn't made the transition from Twilight Saga star to household name as successfully as some of her contemporaries.

She's not bankable

Be honest: Did you have to Google "Ashley Greene" just now to figure out who we were even talking about? Greene is stunning, but that hasn't added up to name recognition. She had a shot at marquee status in The Apparition (2012) but the movie bombed commercially and received negative reviews, creeping up to only an 18 percent on Metacritic. Though it's unfair to pin all the blame on Greene, the film was designed to be her star vehicle, and that vehicle crashed. Even her supporting roles don't seem to take off: Wish I Was Here (2014) made only half of its $6 million budget back, and CBGB (2013) made $4,000…with a $5 million budget. No, we didn't leave out any zeroes.

She avoids drama

Jonas threw his ex under the bus in October 2016 when he spoke about their sex life, in a lot of detail, in a Reddit AMA. "I lost my virginity to this girl named Ashley," the DNCE frontman wrote. "You can probably just Google it. It's pretty easy to figure out. I dated a girl named Ashley, so just Google it to figure out which Ashley that is." He added, "I didn't have any condoms, so I went to our drummer Jack's room—who was my roommate at the time—and I demolished his room looking for them. [I] found them underneath his underwear drawer. When he came home, he thought somebody broke into his room because his whole room was demolished. I was in dire need. Needed to happen then and now. Safety first, kids." Afterward, Jonas was unapologetic, telling Entertainment Tonight, "Life's too short…I'm just telling my stories and what I can say from my heart."

Greene was classier in her response, which came in the form of an Instagram post that simply said, "Class is timeless." Unfortunately, only Jonas got any real traction from the story. 

She flies under the radar

Greene doesn't attend a ton of high-profile events or entertain the paparazzi, which hurts her visibility especially when she's not attracting a ton of memorable film work. She had two relationships that put her in the public eye: a flirtation with Twilight co-star Jackson Rathbone, and a long-term relationship with singer Joe Jonas that started immediately after he split from Demi Lovato. Jonas seemed to court the press more, even revealing in an essay for Vulture that he lost his virginity to Greene. Greene keeps her private life private. At the time of this writing, she's enjoyed a low-key romance with Paul Khoury, a TV personality in Australia and a virtually unknown presence Stateside for about three years.

She's too expensive

Greene and her Twilight co-star Kellan Lutz renegotiated their contracts for the final film, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2, with each reportedly requesting $2 million. There were rumors the contract disputes held up production, but a source denied the whispers to People, though director Catherine Hardwicke admitted she considered finding other actors for their roles. "It would really break my heart if they were replaced, but it could happen. Things could turn ugly quickly," she said. "They have all these people and outside influences telling you what to do. They tell you to hold out for this much because you're such an important part of the franchise, and everyone is telling you to ask for more." Greene and Lutz eventually settled for approximately $1.25 million apiece.

Too many projects go straight to video

Outside of The Apparition and the Twilight films (2008-12), many of Greene's projects experienced a very limited release. Between 2011 and 2014, LOL, Butter, A Warrior's Heart, Burying the Ex, and Kristy were barely promoted. That's only five movies, sure, but it represents half of everything she released within that time span—not including the Twilight  franchise. Urge (2016), Killing the King (2015), and Staten Island Summer (2015) all faced similar fates.

She's heard, but not seen

Greene has done voiceover work for Max & Me (2016), as well as video games Batman: Arkham Knight  (2015) and Batgirl: A Matter Of Family (2015). While voiceover work is respectable and a great way for performers to maintain their income, unfortunately, unless it's a major film (think Pixar-level), it won't shoot her to superstardom.

Her TV shows don't take off

Greene's small-screen efforts don't fare too well, though they're getting better. She played a small part in Pan-Am (2011-12), which only lasted one season. More recently, Greene picked up a recurring role in the third season of Rogue (2013-), joining the DirecTV drama as "a beautiful and highly intelligent former NSA contractor" named Mia Levesque.

She's not relatable

For someone who's taken mostly supporting roles in teen movies, Greene has a bit of a demanding side. She told Marie Claire the Twilight movies gave her some severely first world problems. "Twilight has ruined me. When this is all over, flying internationally is going to be very hard for me. It is just not worth it to buy a first-class ticket, because of the cost." For the average schlub struggling to scrape together enough coins for a middle seat in coach, this comes across as tone-deaf and not terribly PR-savvy.

How she can turn it around

Greene can earn critical acclaim by honing her craft and being a bit more selective. Instead of playing the best friend  or the convenience store customer in a bigger movie, she should try getting a larger role in a smaller, well-written indie film to gain credibility. For as stunning and hardworking as she is, her biggest issue seems to be that she's simply not picking great parts. She told GQ that she once physically fought for a role, which she won, but who actually saw the movie? A new agent may be able to work wonders for her and finally get her out of Alice Cullen's shadow.

Greene is off to a good start with In Dubious Battle (2016). The film was produced and directed by James Franco and boasts an ensemble cast that includes Vincent D'Onofrio, Bryan Cranston, Josh Hutcherson, Austin Stowell, Selena Gomez, and more. The movie should boost Greene's resume and respectability in the industry. Here's hoping she keeps it up!