there used to be a stronger career directionality in screen acting such that a TV star could become a movie star but established film leads wouldn’t take (non-guest) TV roles

That was falling in the 90s which was the spirit I took the noise of Brooke Shields – who I knew as a recognizable name – returning with Suddenly Susan

Now with more context I realize “it’s that actress you remember as America’s Most Fuckable Twelve-Year Old, back when it wasn’t clear things weren’t getting more 70s forever, now in an adult normie-fodder three-camera role!” was a kind of weird angle