How 6 Actors Can Revive Their Careers

• Meg Ryan: Although the movie was universally panned, Ryan finally ponied up and did some real acting as the neglected housewife in last year's In the Land of Women. Instead of trying to replicate her former box-office acclaim, I would prefer to see her in smaller indie fare with a great female director. Nicole Holofcener is a wonderful writer/director whose ensemble pieces are full of flawed, funny, realistic female characters, many in their 40's. Catherine Keener has been in three of her films (Walking and Talking, Lovely and Amazing, and Friends With Money) and I can think of no better actress whose choices Ryan should attempt to emulate than Keener's. Ryan has always had that girl-next door appeal, but in trying to consistently appeal to the popular demographic, her acting has lost a lot of it's flavor. If she would focus on smaller roles in ensemble films, and start taking on challenging characters of her age, I think she could regain her footing. It would also be nice if she could find a romantic comedy again a la Michelle Pfeiffer in last year's I Could Never Be Your Woman.

• Winona Ryder: This girl excels in quirky and dark comedies (think Heathers, Beetlejuice, or Reality Bites) and period pieces (The Crucible, and her Oscar noms came for The Age of Innocence and Little Women). She's approaching 40 (crazy! I feel old!), but could still easily play someone in their mid to late 20's. She's won't seem quite as comfortable as the cute, gamine poster child for a generation anymore, but made good strides in last years satiric comedy The Ten. Next she should look for a meaty part in a Henry James or Charles Dickens adaptation (there are plenty left to film of both - I'm holding out for an adaptation of James' "The Awkward Age"). I would suggest a Merchant-Ivory production, but Ismail Merchant died a few years back. The hot new period piece maker on the street is Joe Wright (Pride and Prejedice and Atonement), so I'd see what plans he has in the bag. There's also ample opportunity for that irreverent comedic dark streak to pop up in something from writers Charlie Kauffman or Alan Ball.

• Cuba Gooding Jr.: Boy has he fallen faaaaaar from grace since Jerry Maguire. I have enjoyed his recent shilling for Hanes, but can we please get him in a decent film? His long streak of less-than-stellar comedic roles has banished all memory of his commanding, charismatic turn as the energetic Rod Tidwell. Rather than focus on lame comedies (Daddy Day Camp, really?) he needs to try a serious role in an urban drama - something grounded and true to life, not the grandiose ideals of Men of Honor or Pearl Harbor. I would love to see him as a realistic husband or father in a normal job dealing with character issues. He's on the right track, taking a supporting role in last year's American Gangster, and needs to keep that up. Remember how Jamie Foxx was laughably not a serious actor, but kept plugging away in good supporting roles until suddenly he was in Ray and Collateral in the same year? That needs to be the plan for Cuba - small but meaty until you prove you've got the chops. And if he's got the hankering for more comedy, maybe one of the better Tyler Perry films? Not as embarrassing as Boat Trip.

• Juliette Lewis: I think her recent absence from film is due more to her fronting the band "Juliette and the Licks" and not the dismally boring turns as place-holding best friends or "wacky" ex-girlfriends in Enough and Catch and Release, but I can't be sure. All I know is I wanna see more of the dynamic actor from Natural Born Killers and What's Eating Gilbert Grape? I miss her. There's something big city about Lewis and I think she could fit well in the right role of a Martin Scorcese or Woody Allen film (they love to shoot in New York); she has interesting line delivery which would work in Allen's talky pictures, and she has a hard, unbalanced edge that would fill out a female role in the dangerous world of Scorcese's work (she already worked with him in 1992's Cape Fear). Lewis can also play deranged - I think it would be a hoot to see her as the psycho in a thriller, like Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction, or even more subdued in a psychological thriller.

• Christian Slater: Rumor is Slater is heading to TV next fall as a boring husband leading a double life as a secret agent, kinda like "Alias." I like this idea - the appeal of playing someone with a split personality must have greatly appealed to Slater, who can play straight and sincere (The Contender and Untamed Heart) just as well as wild, crazy and vocal (True Romance, Heathers, and Pump Up the Volume). In film roles, I haven't been able to get away from the idea of him making a cameo as himself in a comedy, like Neil Patrick Harris in Harold and Kumar. Slater has a tainted past and enough troubled mystique that a well-written cameo could really hit the spot for me. However, I would also love to see him in a political or courtroom thriller - he would be especially enjoyable as the sleazy opposing counsel or smarmy corrupted politician. So here's hoping this new TV show is a good jumping off point.

• Lindsey Lohan: We all know she's talented, but haven't seen much evidence lately. She also has that commercial, spunky thing going on, but she needs to take it somewhere new. My suggestion? Get her together with Sofia Coppola; her films are edgy, moody and inventive, plus she usually has great roles for twenty-something actresses. Both The Virgin Suicides and Marie Antoinette featured Kirsten Dunst, very commercial and perky, in the lead roles. But somehow the combination of Kirsten's bubbly personality and Sofia's avant-garde direction create an interesting balance. Miss Lohan could definitely use some classy edge, and I think Coppola could lead her in the right direction and push her acting talent into new territory.