Why do you think Jessica Lowndes didn't gain more prominence?
I think she had it all - a great singing voice, she could act, and her beauty was truly mesmerizing. I remember seeing her in the TV show Greek before she was on 90210. She was a minor character but I was gobsmacked by how beautiful she was.
I feel like after Season 1 something about her acting style changed. She was very raw in Season 1, and still good in Season 2 but then after that something changed. She started talking differently and it just came off as different.
She's done a ton of Hallmark movies. I've seen some of them and it just seems like there's not much difference in her portrayal of the characters. She could be a doctor in one movie, a writer in another, a PR exec in another, but it just seems like the same person. She doesn't seem to have a ton of range.
I could see her being big in the music scene, but she tried that and it didn't really take off. I listened to a couple of her songs and they just sound really generic - she would do better doing something more soulful, or with piano/guitar music instead of synthetic-sounding electronic backing music so her voice can shine.
I think it really is about connections and luck. I thought something similar about Leighton Meester. She was huge when she was on Gossip Girl, but Blake Lively had a much more high profile career than Leighton despite Leighton being very talented and charismatic. Blake has friends in high places.