These days, more and more lesser-known actors are getting their big breaks as studios and directors look to them to star in big budget super hero flicks. After paying their dues in this indie flick or that TV show, these actors are by and large the more common selection than those on the A-list.

In Iron Man 2, director Jon Favreau went with indie darling Sam Rockwell for the part of Tony Stark’s lesser, Justin Hammer.

“Justin Theroux, who wrote the script, had come up with the idea for me to be Justin Hammer, and Favreau responded to it,” Rockwell said. “Jon definitely has specific guidelines for what he wants with his characters, but he still let’s you ad-lib and riff off one another, so you never really feel confined.”

Why though? Why not go with the sure bet, the better odds, and invest your hopes in an actor who has proven himself to a box office draw time and time again?

The answer, it seems, lies in the question. Well-known actors can be associated with any number of films; Clooney has been Danny Ocean, Michael Clayton and the Fantastic Mr. Fox. While their continued success does indeed make them bankable, mainstream audiences have a more difficult time suspending disbelief when they’ve already had to do so with the same actor a handful of times.

A fresh face, to both the studio and the public, is a clean slate. They weren’t the heart-throb in that one chick flick, they weren’t the dashing leading man spewing forth witticisms in that big-budget blockbuster; they’re a slide of Polaroid film that has yet to have an image burned across its surface.

“I loved my time on ‘Moon,’ ‘Confessions of a Dangerous Mind,’ even ‘Iron Man 2’ actually felt like an indie a lot of the time,” Rockwell said. “It was a very active set, but also really friendly. You always felt safe as an artisit.”

It may be a bit of a jump for the actor though, going from a smaller venture that’s been privately financed to a film financed by, say, Paramount or Fox. Freedoms are tightened, and a lot of the time actors are told rather than asked. Producers have not only staked their own money or used their own financial backers but have put their name on the line as well.

“You get to your dressing room and you’re getting paid a little more money, and with the other actors, a seasoned director, it’s a different experience than an indie,” Rockwell said. “Obviously more time and money go into something like ‘Iron Man 2,’ and it was exhausting and challenging in different ways; it’s a different walk.”

With the success of Aaron Johnson playing the titular character in “Kick-Ass” and Marvel casting Chris Hemsworth in its precursor to “The Avengers,” titled “Thor,” it’s no wonder the same industry heads are looking for a fresh face to head their reboot of the Spider-Man trilogy.

It’s a different walk, after all.

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