Hayden Christensen’s career hit hyperspeed when he became Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, a role that should have locked him into stardom. Instead, the harsh backlash aimed at the prequels stuck to him personally, and Hollywood never quite knew what to do with him afterwards. He kept working in smaller films, but the momentum from Star Wars faded quickly, turning what looked like a launchpad into a quiet stall. | © Walt Disney Pictures
Geena Davis was riding high after award-winning roles when Cutthroat Island abruptly changed the trajectory of her career. The massive flop became infamous for its budget and box-office losses, and Davis unfairly took much of the blame despite her proven track record. After that, leading roles dried up fast, and she largely disappeared from major films, resurfacing only occasionally in smaller, safer projects. | © MGM
Joseph Gordon-Levitt seemed to be everywhere for a brief stretch, then quietly stepped out of the spotlight just as people expected him to level up into a permanent A-lister. The disappearance wasn’t about Hollywood losing interest, but about him losing interest in the usual career grind and choosing projects on his own terms instead. He even directed a film largely remembered for letting him share the screen with Scarlett Johansson, after which he more or less decided he’d already hit his personal peak and didn’t need to chase the spotlight anymore. | © Warner Bros. Pictures
Taylor Lautner seemed poised for long-term stardom after breaking out as Jacob in the Twilight franchise, where his physical transformation and on-screen presence made him a teen idol almost overnight. But once the series ended, the momentum didn’t quite carry over. Attempts to transition into leading-man roles with films like Abduction failed to land with critics or audiences, and the parts that followed were smaller, sporadic, or short-lived. | © Summit Entertainment
Tommy Morrison made his lone acting mark as Tommy Gunn in Rocky V, a role that arrived just as his real boxing career was taking off. Instead of chasing Hollywood, Morrison went back to the ring, where he found far greater success, eventually winning the WBO heavyweight title and choosing the sport over movies entirely. His acting career ended there, overtaken by a turbulent life marked by early retirement, health struggles, and a short-lived comeback before he died in 2013. | © United Artists
Jamie Kennedy was riding high after Scream, but everything changed when he took the lead in Son of the Mask, a sequel almost no one asked for. The movie was torn apart by critics, swept the Razzies, and its backlash landed squarely on Kennedy, effectively stalling his momentum in Hollywood. He later addressed the fallout head-on, making a documentary about online harassment and criticism, a clear sign of how deeply that one role reshaped his career. | © New Line Cinema
Danny Lloyd terrified audiences as young Danny Torrance in The Shining, one of the most iconic horror performances ever put on screen. Instead of turning that exposure into a child-actor career, he struggled to land new roles and decided to quit acting entirely as a teenager, simply because he lost interest. Lloyd chose a normal life, later becoming a biology professor, and only briefly returned decades later for a small cameo in Doctor Sleep. | © Warner Bros. Pictures
Elizabeth Berkley tried to shed her wholesome image after Saved by the Bell by taking the lead in Showgirls, a gamble meant to reset her career overnight. The film backfired spectacularly, earning her a Razzie and quietly turning her into an industry outcast almost as soon as it was released. Berkley kept working in smaller TV roles, but that one movie closed the door on the kind of big-budget opportunities her early success once promised. | © MGM
Alicia Silverstone’s red-hot ’90s run cooled fast after her turn as Batgirl in Batman & Robin, a movie that became infamous almost overnight. The backlash went beyond bad reviews, with a Razzie win and brutal body shaming during press coverage, leaving her disillusioned with Hollywood altogether. Silverstone pulled back for years, focusing on activism and selective roles, and while she never fully disappeared, that one film marked the point where her career stopped moving forward in the way everyone expected. | © Warner Bros. Pictures
Mike Myers once ruled comedy thanks to characters that felt untouchable, but by the late 2000s, his momentum was already wobbling. Everything collapsed with The Love Guru, a box-office disaster so widely mocked that it effectively ended his run as a dependable leading man. He’s popped up here and there since, but the backlash from that one role marked the moment Myers stopped being a Hollywood comedy fixture and started fading into occasional appearances instead. | © Paramount Pictures
Camren Bicondova became a fan favorite as Selina Kyle on Gotham, earning praise for the performance and even drawing comparisons to Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman. After the show ended, her career didn’t take the expected blockbuster turn, with only a handful of acting roles following and a noticeable step away from the spotlight. Bicondova shifted her focus elsewhere, opening an açaí bar in Los Angeles, and has said she’s completely at peace with that choice, viewing Gotham as a life-changing chapter rather than a launchpad she needed to chase forever. | © Warner Bros. Television
Peter Ostrum became instantly famous as Charlie Bucket in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, holding his own opposite Gene Wilder at just 12 years old. Hollywood tried to keep him around, even offering a multi-picture deal, but Ostrum walked away because acting simply didn’t interest him. A growing love for animals led him down a completely different path, and he eventually became a veterinarian, later admitting he wanted a steady life built around something he truly enjoyed. | © Warner Bros. Pictures
Rochelle Davis left a quiet but lasting impression as Sarah in The Crow, the child who connects most deeply with Eric Draven before everything falls apart. The trauma surrounding Brandon Lee’s on-set death affected her deeply, and she later said it pushed her to step away from acting for many years. Davis eventually built a life outside Hollywood, working in creative fields and living mostly out of the spotlight, returning only occasionally through small projects, conventions, and fan spaces. | © Miramax Films
Taylor Dooley looked like she was set for a long run after playing Lavagirl in The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl, especially once the movie quietly turned into a cult favorite. Her career stalled instead, not from lack of interest but because she hit puberty early and suddenly looked much older than the roles being written for her age. After years of hearing she was too old, Dooley stepped away, went to college, started a family, and only briefly returned to the spotlight for the We Can Be Heroes sequel years later. | © Columbia Pictures
Carrie Henn became unforgettable as Newt in Aliens, the terrified child Ripley protects while everything else on LV-426 falls apart. Even though the character’s fate is sealed offscreen in Alien 3, Henn’s performance left such a strong mark that fans still associate her almost entirely with that one role. Acting was never the plan, though, and after the film, she walked away without regret, choosing a quiet life as a teacher because, by her own admission, she just wanted to be a normal kid. | © 20th Century Fox
Some roles change everything. Sometimes they change it in the wrong direction. For these actors, one high-profile part became the peak, not the beginning, and the spotlight faded fast afterwards.
