Everyone understands how difficult it is to become Hollywood-famous. And once you get there, it is a constant struggle to keep up appearances and keep a reputation for every single job you get. Then again, many actors become Hollywood-famous just by starring in bad movies—or for just having starred in a single big movie in their lifetime! Here is a list of some actors and actresses who have stolen our hearts throughout the years just to disappear into thin air shortly after. Be that because of personal struggles, addictions, bad reputation, or just losing their interests. You will be surprised!
Taylor Lautner
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Taylor Lautner started his career by starring in TV series like The Bernie Mac Show in 2003, My Wife and Kids in 2004, and What’s New Scooby Doo? and Danny Phantom in 2005. His career exploded after playing Jacob in The Twilight Saga film series (2008-2012). He has since been referred to as a masculine symbol and a future icon of pop culture. His role was supposed to be re-casted for the second Twilight movie. However, Taylor managed to gain over 30 pounds in muscle mass to keep it. He has recently appeared in the sitcom Cuckoo (2014-2018) and Scream Queens (2015-2016), bringing his net worth up to $40 million.
Megan Fox
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Megan began acting in TV shows like The Ocean Ave. (2002-2003). Her first movie was the Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen in 2004. She became famous for starring in the 2007 movie Transformers and its sequel, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, in 2009. Her next big-screen appearance was with the movies Teenage Mutant Turtles in 2014 and the sequel Out of the Shadows in 2016. Her most recent appearances have been in the TV show New Girl and the movie Zeroville in 2019. She and Brian Austin Green got married in 201w
Julia Stiles
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Julia Stiles started acting at the age of eleven with the TV show Ghostwriter (1993-1994). She later starred in movies like I Love You, I Love You Not, Wicked, and 10 Things I Hate About You. Julia switched to adult roles with movies like The Business of Strangers and Mona Lisa Smile. She received a lot of attention starring in the Bourne films and in the fifth season of the TV show Dexter in 2010. Julia gave up veganism after developing anemia and finding it difficult maintaining a proper diet while traveling. She married Preston J. Cook in 2017 and had a child later that year.
Lindsay Lohan
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Lindsay Lohan had her first big success with the movie The Parent Trap in 1998, followed by some movies with Disney. She starred in the hit teen movies Freaky Friday in 2003 and Mean Girls in 2004. She was a very successful teen idol. After the movie Herbie: Fully Loaded in 2005, her troubles started. She was criticized by the media over her personal struggles, resulting in losing many career opportunities. In May 2007, Lindsay was arrested for driving under influence. Until 2013, she was on and off jail and probation. Lindsay’s most recent appearances have been in the TV show Sick Note in 2018 and the film Among the Shadows in 2019.
Jim Carrey
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Jim Carrey is the living proof that even the biggest stars in the world can reach their time and disappear. After a very successful career in both stand-up and film comedy and features in hit movies like Dumb and Dumber and The Mask, Carrey’s work has been dropping in terms of quality and notoriety. His filmography now includes flops like Mr. Popper’s Penguin, and his celebrity status has been highly affected since his ex-girlfriend's suicide, which was followed by an extensive legal battle that shook Carrey’s already depression-prone personality. However, the unique style of Jim Carrey and his presence in genuinely funny movies like Bruce Almighty make us wish and hope for a recovery.
Seann William Scott
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Seann William Scott is an undeniable symbol of the 2000s due to his iconic part as Stifler in the American Pie movies. And while his performance in the teenage movie series was on point, Scott was maybe too good for his own good. More than 20 years after the first American Pie movie, we still see Stifler when we see Seann and that’s turned out to be costly for him. Without being able to show his face in any significant new roles, Seann William Scott has been mainly busy working in minor Hollywood jobs and as a voice actor for the animated movie series, Ice Age.
Tobey Maguire
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Everything seemed to be going perfectly fine for Tobey Maguire after his participation in movies like Pleasantville, Seabiscuit, and especially after the success of Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2. Back then, if we had to guess, we would have said that Maguire was ready to become a Hollywood A-lister! However, the emo-inspired personality turn of Peter Parker in Spider-Man 3 was so cringy to watch that many people speculated it was a career-ending role. In truth, Maguire’s acting history has been short of major roles in significant movies ever since, and even his career as a producer has taken a bad turn.
Matthew Fox
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The 2004 show Lost is amongst the most successful of the last decade. Matthew Fox, who played Dr. Jack Shephard, seemed to have what it takes to make it on the big screen. However, after the show’s controversial ending in 2010, it turned out that Fox was not ready to fill in the shoes of a blockbuster movie star. Alex Cross was a major flop and his appearance in Brad Pitt’s World War Z was so discreet you probably didn't even notice it. Fox is also not known for being a nice guy off the screen and was linked to multiple accusations of disruptive behavior towards women.
Hayden Christensen
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Hayden Christensen started off his career playing Scott, a kid who later turned into drugs and despair after going through abuse by his stepmother, in the 2000 TV show Higher Ground. This led to him landing a role in Life as a House in 2001. It wasn’t until Hayden got the role of Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones in 2002 and Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith in 2003 that he became widely recognized. Hayden’s most recent appearances have been in the movies Little Italy and The Last Man, which were both in 2018.
Amanda Bynes
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Amanda Bynes started being recognized in her career with the Nickelodeon TV shows All That from 1996 to 2002 and The Amanda Show from 1999 to 2002. She later starred in the sitcom What I Like About You. Amanda has starred in movies like What A Girl Wants, She’s the Man, Hairspray, and her last film, Easy A, in 2010. However, Amanda had a series of struggles. She received three-year probation after being arrested for DUI in 2012 and was charged for reckless endangerment and possession of drugs in 2013. The charges were dropped in 2014.
Wesley Snipes
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Wesley Snipes began his career acting in '90s movies like New Jack City, The Passenger 57, and Demolition Man. He was widely recognized for playing the titular character in Marvel’s film trilogy Blade (1998-2004). In 2010, the court found him guilty of misdemeanor failure to file U.S federal income tax, which resulted in him serving three years in prison until he was released in 2013. He has been married to his wife Makyung Park since 2003. Wesley’s last appearances have been in the TV Show The Player in 2015, and the movie Armed Response in 2017.
Freida Pinto
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Freida Pinto is an Indian actress who developed an interest in acting and theatre while she was still studying English literature in St. Xavier’s College in Mumbai. It wasn’t until her role as Latika in the movie Slum Dog Millionaire in 2008 that she became recognized. She also starred in the movies Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Trishna, and Immortals. In 2018, Freida portrayed supporting roles in the movie Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle the TV Show The Path in 2018. She is reportedly part of the cast of an upcoming film titled Needle in a Timestack.
Roberto Benigni
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Roberto Benigni is an Italian actor and producer. He started his career appearing in some Italian TV shows in the '70s and movies like Down by Law and Son of Pink Panther. In 1997, he starred in and directed the movie Life is Beautiful, which earned him an Oscar for Best Actor. He met his wife, Nicoletta Braschi, in the '80s, and they had their wedding in 1991. They have appeared together in many films that Benigni has produced. He has since been seen in the movies Coffee and Cigarettes (2003), The Tiger in the Snow (2005), and To Rome with Love (2012). He’s expected to star in 2019’s Pinocchio as Geppetto.
Adrien Brody
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Adrien Brody started acting from a young age. He’s known for often playing characters who suffer from a mental illness or those who are artistic intellectuals. He has starred in many movies, but it wasn’t until his role in Roman Polanski’s movie, The Pianist, in 2002 that he became widely recognized. The Pianist granted him an Oscar for Best Actor at the age of 29, making him the youngest actor to ever receive this award. He has since appeared in movies like The Village, King Kong, and The Grand Budapest Hotel. Brody's most recent acting stints were in the TV show Peaky Blinders in 2017 and the film Air Strike in 2018.
Suraj Sharma
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Suraj Sharma is an Indian actor best known for his role in the movie Life of Pi in 2012, which granted him an Academy Award nomination. Suraj has also appeared in season 4 of the well-known TV show called Homeland in 2014 and in the TV show God Befriended Me from 2018 up to 2019. He’s also starred in the movie Happy Death Day to You in 2019. Suraj, after starring in Life of Pi, returned to studying Philosophy in St. Stephen’s College in Delhi and is taking things slow in his acting career.
Phil Robertson
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Many actors flop when given terribly written or non-sensical parts, but Phil Robertson flopped playing... himself! Known for his A&E series Duck Dynasty, Robertson and his family have been getting a lot of hate from animal lovers all over the world due to their hunting products business. Their best-selling product is the Duck Commander, a perfected version of a duck call, used to attract ducks while hunting. A fierce defender of killer hunting, Robertson has famously gone as far as saying that his duck calls are specially meant for “duck killers." If you think ducks are cute, you definitely shouldn’t watch Duck Dynasty!
Sophie Okonedo
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Sophie Okonedo is an English actress who made her debut with 1991’s Young School Rebels. She’s also played roles in movies like Ace Ventura and Dirty Pretty Things. In 2004, Sophie had her breakthrough with the movie Hotel Rwanda for which she was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. She also appeared in the 2006 miniseries Tsunami: The Aftermath and Criminal Justice in 2009. Okonedo also has a stunning career in theatre, having starred in 2014's A Raisin in the Sun in New York (for which she won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress) among other shows like 2016's The Crucible in New York and 2018's Antony and Cleopatra in London.
Stephen Dorff
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Stephen Dorff began acting as a child with his first major film role being in 1987’s horror film The Gate. He has appeared in many movies, TV shows, and music videos. Some of the highlights in his career have been The Power of One, Blade (for which he became widely recognized), and Space Truckers. After 2000, his biggest hits have been his roles in the movies Public Enemies, Somewhere, and The Iceman. He suffers from a lung condition known as emphysema. However, he admitted to still being a smoker in 2013. His most recent appearances have been in the third season of the TV show True Detective in 2019 and Star from 2017 to 2018.
David Thewlis
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David Thewlis is an English actor. He graduated from Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 1984 and originally became recognized for playing Johnny Fletcher in the movie N****. He appeared in other movies like Dragonheart and Seven Years in Tibet. But it wasn’t until his portrayal of Remus Lupin in the Harry Potter films when he achieved worldwide recognition. David’s most recent roles were in movies like The Theory of Everything in 2014 and Wonder Woman in 2017 and the TV show Fargo in 2017. He also voiced the character of the Shame Wizard in the TV Show Big Mouth in 2018.
Peter Ostrum
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Peter Ostrum is an American veterinarian! His one and only film role granted him a lifetime of success, however. He played the role of Charlie Bucket in the 1971 hit movie, Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory. While shooting the film, Peter acquired an interest in animals. He and his family even got a pet horse! He grew up keeping his success a secret from everyone. As an adult, he unsuccessfully tried to come back to acting and decided to pursue a degree in veterinary medicine. Peter ended up receiving his Doctorate from Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine in 1984. He's married to Loretta M. Lepkowski, with whom he has two children.
Robbie Coltrane
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Robbie Coltrane is a Scottish actor best known for his role as Hagrid in the Harry Potter movie series. But before landing his breakthrough Hollywood part, Robbie was already working steadily as a successful actor, featuring in successful productions like the TV series Cracker and two 007 movies. So, why don’t we see him more often on the big screen? Besides taking some very risky roles after Harry Potter (which turned out to be nothing but flops), Coltrane is a Hollywood outsider that doesn't like to be involved with the media (a basic requirement for an actor in this day and age). He has also struggled with health issues and alcoholism.
Sean Connery
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Sean Connery decided to retire from acting in 2003, and while many have attributed his decision to The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (his last movie, that proved to be a major flop), his retirement was based on different reasons. After years of playing the lead and being considered a masculine symbol, the former James Bond actor rejected the chance to play the smaller supporting aging man roles that were arriving at his agent’s desk. While nobody expects to see an old man playing a young man’s part, it’s clear that Hollywood is missing out on the idea of movies that don’t necessarily have to include a young stud as the main character.
Clayne Crawford
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Clayne Crawford’s career took off when he was cast to play the role of Detective Martin Riggs in the FOX TV show, Lethal Weapon. The show was a hit and seemed to be set for an extra season until Crawford was dismissed from the job in 2018. The reason? Multiple accusations of aggressive behavior, several feuds with fellow actors, and even reports of a 1st assistant director quitting right in the middle of a scene. Later replaced by Seann William Scott, Clayne Crawford will very likely struggle to find a studio who's ready to deal with his bad-boy attitude.
Vince Vaughn
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Wedding Crashers is a comedy classic of our time, and Vince Vaughn plays a major part in it. The movie complemented by the perfect Wilson-Vaughn partnership made us laugh to tears. After the film’s success, Vaughn planned to cash in on similar comedy roles. However, a series of bad parts and terrible script choices resulted in a career drop, which culminated with season 2 of True Detective. After too many years playing essentially the same guy in rom-coms and dude-bro movies, Vaughn decided to try his luck in this dramatic role. The result was not convincing, as the second season of the show flopped.
Jay Mohr
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Jay Mohr showed a lot of potential in the early stages of his career with his Jerry Maguire breakthrough performance and SNL appearances. But Mohr’s work has since been so unnoticeable that it's highly unlikely you even remember his name. Between the failed sitcom attempts of Fox Comedy Action and Gary Unmarried and a very troubled divorce case back in 2016, Mohr has been mainly working as a host for the TV show Last Comic Standing and his own podcast series, Jay Mohr Sports. Over 20 years after Jerry Maguire, Mohr was certainly not up to the challenge of establishing himself as a successful movie actor.
Dane Cook
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Once known as one of the funniest guys alive (especially if you were in a college fraternity in the 2000s), Dane Cook is now generally considered obnoxious as an actor and outdated as a comedian. Cook tried to make it in the big screen, but a series of consecutive movie flops, which started with Employee of the Month in 2006 and ended with My Best Friend’s Girl in 2008, quickly destroyed his ambitions. Meanwhile, his once extremely successful stand-up comedy act has been getting less and less attention and Cook is often accused of stealing from other comedians (such as Louis CK) and including improper and offensive jokes in his sets.
John Cusack
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John Cusack’s disappearance from the big screen is just really symbolic. He’s been working in a lot of new films, but these films just happen to go unnoticed. Don’t worry if you have never heard of movies like The Factory or The Carrier, because these went straight to DVD and were quickly forgotten. Now over 50 years old, John Cusack will most likely never replicate his classic roles in romantic comedies such as High Fidelity or Say Anything. This was probably the type of movie that best fitted his acting style.
Jessica Alba
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Hollywood never forgets, and few people know this better than Jessica Alba. The Sin City actress was involved in some bad movies over the years, and that weighed heavily on her status as an actress. During her career that included 5 Razzie nominations and roles in huge flops like Fantastic Four or Awake, Jessica Alba never really made it to the heart of movie fans and has been continually criticized. She is now taking a time-out from acting, focusing mainly on her 3 children and on developing her own business, The Honest Company.
Sarah Michelle Gellar
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Sarah Michelle Gellar holds a special place in the hearts of the '90s kids. Her titular role in Buffy: The Vampire Slayer is so special that the show is still being watched today! But while we have all loved to see Gellar killing monsters in the small screen, we don’t really have any good memories of her big-screen attempts, which include playing Daphne in a very poorly received 2002 Scooby-Doo movie. Sarah even tried to make a TV comeback in 2011 to play the main part in Ringer, but the show was canceled after only one season. Unfortunately, Sarah’s career was never able to hold up to her debut as Buffy.
Billy Zane
Titanic, which is one of the biggest movies of all time, stood as a milestone in the careers of almost every actor involved. But while Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet’s careers took off to a whole new level following the movie’s release, the same can’t be said about Billy Zane. He played the lofty British guy who heckled Rose as the boat was about to sink, but he was never able to take advantage of this part. Since Titanic's release, Zane has continued to work in a lot of different movies and TV shows but was never able to get featured in a project that was even slightly as successful as Titanic.
Tom Welling
TV gigs can be dangerous for young actors. Take, for example, Tom Welling. When he found out he was going to play Clark Kent in the 2001 TV show Smallville, he was probably convinced he had found his breakthrough part. This was partly true since the show was very successful and reached audiences all over the world. However, the fact that Smallville lasted for a whole decade made Tom lose any sort of acting momentum. And since the show ended in 2011, Welling was only able to work in only 5 different (and not very noticeable) projects.
Christopher Mintz-Plasse
Christopher Mintz-Plasse was so good playing Fogell in Superbad that we almost felt like he’d been born to play that character. But unlike his co-star Jonah Hill, who proved to be a versatile and inventive actor in the following years, Mintz-Plasse was never really able to match the quality of that hilarious Superbad debut. He appeared in other hit comedy films like Kick-Ass and This is the End, but he was never able to really surprise the audience. Lately, he’s been experimenting with different genres and working as a voice actor for animated movies.
Rob Schneider
Rob Schneider was so good at being in bad comedy movies in the late 1990s and early 2000s that you will probably remember his face every time you think about bad actors. But even if you’ve never enjoyed his films like The Hot Chick, you’ll have to admit that Schneider was doing pretty good for himself and was very popular amongst a more superficial, Sunday-afternoon movie audience. Yet, during the last 10 years or so, Schneider’s career has been losing steam, and you will hardly ever see him in another major role that is not Adam Sandler’s pal.
Mo'Nique
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Mo'Nique became famous by starring in sitcom The Parkers from 1999 to 2004 while making a name as a stand-up comedian. She starred in movies like Phat Girlz and Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins. Mo'Nique received an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in 2009 for her part in the movie Precious. She has since been seen in the 2015 TV show Bessie, 2016’s Interwoven, and Almost Christmas. Mo'Nique revealed in 2008 that she was abused as a child by her brother. Her brother, who was suffering from drug addiction, admitted to doing it and was sentenced to 12 years in prison for a different case of abuse.
F. Murray Abraham
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F. Murray Abraham is quite an exceptional case among American actors. He was a son of two immigrants and spent his adolescence being a gangster until he developed an interest in acting. F. Murray managed to win an Oscar for his performance as Antonio Salieri in the film Amadeus in 1984. He has been very selective in the roles he takes, leading to big gaps in his career. He appeared in movies like Scarface, Finding Forrester, Star Trek: Insurrection, and The Grand Budapest Hotel. He has since been seen in the TV Show Homeland (2012-2018) and has voiced the character Grimmel in How to Train Your Dragon (2019).
Guy Pearce
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Guy Pearce grew up with his mother after his father died in a tragic aviation accident when he was eight years old. He became recognized with his role as Mike Young in the Aussie TV Show The Neighbours (1986-1989). Guy has gotten even more recognition for starring in Hollywood movies like L.A. Confidential, Memento, The King’s Speech, Prometheus, and Iron Man. He has since disappeared and was last seen on the TV Show Jack Iris, which aired from 2016 until 2018. However, he is said to be currently filming the movie Bloodshot, which is set to be released in 2020.
Viggo Mortensen
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Viggo Mortensen was born in New York and spent time growing up in Argentina and Venezuela. His parents split up when he was eleven years old, so he moved back to NY with his mother and siblings. After graduating from school, he moved to Denmark. In 1982, he came back to New York and started taking acting classes. Viggo’s first movie was 1985’s Witness. But it wasn’t until The Lord of the Rings trilogy from 2001 to 2003 when he shot to international fame. He has since starred in movies like A History of Violence. Viggo was last seen in 2016’s Captain Fantastic and 2018’s Green Book.
Rupert Grint
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Ruper Grint is an English actor. Everyone witnessed his career practically exploding with his first acting job as Ron Wesley in the Harry Potter films from 2001 up until 2011. He stopped his education at the age of 16 to focus on his career. Harry Potter films were giving Rupert publicity. However, he started working outside them since 2002 with the movie Thunderpants. Grint has also appeared in several other movies including Driving Lessons (2006), Cherrybomb (2009), Wild Target (2010), and finally CBGB in 2013. He has since dabbled a bit in theatre and voiced many characters. Grint was last seen in the TV shows The Snatch (2017-2018) and The ABC Murders (2018).
Brendan Fraser
Brendan Fraser is an American actor best known for his role as Rick O’Connell in The Mummy Trilogy (1999, 2001, and 2008). He has worked in other movies, however, including George of the Jungle (1997), Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003), and Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008). Brendan has now taken a turn in TV shows and has appeared in Texas Rising, The Affair, Trust and Doom Patrol. He was married to Afton Smith since 1998 until they got a divorce in 2007. They have three children together.