Everyone loves a good comeback story. This is especially true in Hollywood, where actors and actresses who are considered A-list celebrities one day can be washed up the next. Being a hot Hollywood commodity can feel like you’re on top of the world, but where the highs are high the lows are low. Feeling like your once-promising career as a movie star is over can be as low as it gets. However, some celebrities get a second chance at stardom.
As any film or TV actor will tell you, Hollywood is a machine that will chew you up and spit you out. You can be flying high one year, with offers coming from all directions, only to be sitting by the phone the next. Offers dry up, and before you know it your career is over.
Hollywood careers can dry up for a wide variety of reasons. You might age out of the type of roles you’d previously been cast in. A drug or alcohol problem might sideline you, as can a reputation for being difficult to work with. Past actions, like domestic abuse or sexual assault, might come back to haunt you. Other actors or actresses might start winning the types of roles you used to get, leaving you behind. You might anger the wrong Hollywood power broker and get blacklisted. Or there might not really be any one specific reason; your career just fizzles out.
But there’s no Hollywood story that’s more feel-good than a movie star comeback. When an actor or actress who’d been left behind suddenly re-emerges into the spotlight, we can’t help but root for them, and feel a little nostalgic for the days when they (and we) were younger. Who knows, someday some of the biggest stars of the 2010s might have comeback stories of their own – but we hope they won’t need them.
Brendan Fraser
One of the biggest movie stars of the 90s and early 2000s, Brendan Fraser became a household name thanks to the success of films including “Encino Man,” “George of the Jungle” and the super-successful The Mummy trilogy. His career went off a cliff, however, after a string of poor box-office showings. This combined with injuries as well as fallout after he accused the then-president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association of sexual assault. However, his career began to rebound in the early 2020s. Fraser’s Best Actor Oscar win for portraying an obese gay man in Darren Aronofsky’s “The Whale” re-cemented his top-tier status.
Robert Downey, Jr.
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Robert Downey, Jr. rose to fame as a member of the “Brat Pack” in the 1980s. The actor starred in films including “Weird Science” and “Less Than Zero.” However, substance abuse issues derailed his career in the 1990s, and he had to work hard to get back into the studios’ good graces. Downey Jr. did just that, delivering memorable performances in 2007’s “Zodiac” and 2008’s “Tropic Thunder.” Beginning with 2008’s “Sherlock Holmes” and “Iron Man” (which cemented him as a core player in the Marvel Cinematic Universe), he became one of the highest-grossing actors of all time. His 2024 Best Supporting Actor Oscar for “Oppenheimer” is icing on the cake.
Drew Barrymore
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Drew Barrymore was one of the most bankable child stars of the 80s, with a star turn in “E.T.” Highly publicized drug and alcohol abuse marked her childhood and could have permanently derailed her career. Yet by the late 1990s, she had staged a successful movie star comeback. Barrymore returned to the scene with leading roles in films including “Charlie’s Angels,” “The Wedding Singer,” “Scream” and “Ever After.” Nowadays she hosts the syndicated talk show “The Drew Barrymore Show.”
Matthew McConaughey
Matthew McConaughey became well-known in the 1990s and early 2000s for leading roles in comedies including “Dazed and Confused” and romcoms like “The Wedding Planner,” “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days” and “Failure to Launch.” He took a two-year hiatus from acting in 2010 and 2011, however, and returned as a full-fledged dramatic actor. His role as a cowboy diagnosed with AIDS in 2013’s “Dallas Buyers Club” earned him the Academy Award for Best Actor.
Mickey Rourke
Mickey Rourke was one of the biggest movie stars of the 1980s with lead roles in films including “The Pope of Greenwich Village” and “9½ Weeks.” After a string of commercial failures, however, he gave up on acting and became a professional boxer in 1991. He returned a few years later and had supporting roles in films including “The Rainmaker” and “Man on Fire.” The culmination of his comeback was 2008’s critically acclaimed “The Wrestler,” in which he portrayed an aging wrestler. He won the Golden Globe for Best Actor as well as an Oscar nod, and he’s appeared in several successful films since then.
John Travolta
After rising to fame in the 1970s with star turns in “Saturday Night Fever” and “Grease” and into the 80s with “Urban Cowboy,” John Travolta’s star dimmed considerably with a series of box office bombs including “Two of a Kind” and “Fever” sequel “Staying Alive.” 1989’s “Look Who’s Talking” was a hit, but he didn’t fully rebound until he appeared against type in Quentin Tarantino’s 1994 hit “Pulp Fiction.” He went on to star in a string of late 90s hits, but his career has been on hold since the 2020 death of his wife Kelly Preston.
Ben Affleck
After a string of small but notable roles, Ben Affleck rocketed to fame alongside Matt Damon for co-writing 1997’s “Good Will Hunting.” He established himself as a bankable movie star with late-90s and early-2000s blockbusters including “Armageddon,” “Reindeer Games” and “Pearl Harbor,” but his career took a downturn after that. His comeback began when he played George Reeves in 2006’s “Hollywoodland.” He has since starred in hits including “Gone Girl,” “The Last Duel” and “Air” and directed hit films including “Argo” as well.
Mel Gibson
Mel Gibson was one of the biggest movie stars of the 80s and 90s, starring in the hugely successful “Mad Max” and “Lethal Weapon” series as well as “Braveheart.” Gibson also directed “The Passion of the Christ.” His career took a major hit in 2006 when he went on a drunken antisemitic rant during a traffic stop. Gibson didn’t appear in any movies for four years after that. He’s appeared in more than 20 (mostly lesser-known) movies since then, but he’s established himself as more of a director, with 2016’s World War II hit “Hacksaw Ridge” earning him an Oscar nomination for Best Director.
Michael Keaton
Michael Keaton became a household name in the 1980s, with star-making performances in “Mr. Mom,” “Beetlejuice,” “Batman” and “Batman Returns.” He continued working as a dramatic lead in 90s films including “My Life” and “Much Ado About Nothing.” However, his career took a dip after the turn of the millennium. It didn’t rebound until his starring role in Alejandro González Iñárritu’s 2014 film “Birdman” (“The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance”), which earned him an Oscar nomination. He remains a top draw to this day.
Marlon Brando
A 50s heartthrob widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of his generation (and of all time), Marlon Brando gave career-defining performances in classics including “A Streetcar Named Desire,” “On the Waterfront” and “The Wild One,” but his career cratered in the 1960s. At that time, Hollywood largely blacklisted Brando for being eccentric and difficult to work with. It wasn’t until Francis Ford Coppola cast him as mob boss Vito Corleone in “The Godfather” and his Oscar-nominated performance in “Last Tango in Paris” (both in 1972) that his career rebounded. He remained a top box office draw throughout the decade.
Sylvester Stallone
Sly Stallone rocketed to stardom with his iconic role of boxer Rocky Balboa in 1976’s “Rocky,” which he also wrote. He is one of only two actors in history (alongside Harrison Ford) to have starred in a #1 box-office hit across six consecutive decades. After starring roles in hits including the Rambo series, “Cliffhanger,” “Demolition Man” and “Judge Dredd,” in the first years of the 21st century, his career took a significant downtown. It wasn’t until he revived the Rocky franchise with 2006’s “Rocky Balboa” that his career rebounded. Stallone has cranked out hits ever since.
Renée Zellweger
Renée Zellweger was one of Hollywood’s most beloved and bankable stars through the late 90s and early 2000s. Her string of hits included films such as “Jerry Maguire,” “One True Thing,” “Nurse Betty,” “Bridget Jones’ Diary” and “Chicago.” Her career took a significant downturn starting in the mid-2000s, however. It didn’t recover until she returned in 2019 with a stunning performance of Judy Garland in “Judy,” winning the Academy Award for Best Actress.
Eddie Murphy
One of the greatest comedians of all time, Eddie Murphy burst onto the scene in the 1980s with “48 Hrs.,” “Trading Places,” “Beverly Hills Cop” and “Coming to America.” Starting in the early 2000s he began to focus his career primarily on children’s movies like “The Nutty Professor” and “Daddy Daycare.” He returned to adult-oriented fare with 2011’s “Tower Heist.” Since then he’s returned to form with great performances in films including “Dolemite is My Name” and “Coming 2 America.”
Ke Huy Quan
As an 80s child actor, Ke Huy Quan became well-known for his star turns as Short Round in “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” and Data in “The Goonies.” After a few additional small roles, he took a 19-year acting hiatus. During this time he served as a stunt coordinator and assistant director. In 2022, however, he starred in the critically acclaimed “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” which won him the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He’s continued to land primo roles since then, including in the Disney+ series “Loki.”
Winona Ryder
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A 90s megastar with a range big enough to convincingly play lead roles in films as diverse as “Edward Scissorhands,” “The Age of Innocence,” “Reality Bites” and “Girl, Interrupted,” Winona Ryder took a break from acting after 2002’s “Mr. Deeds” bombed. However, she returned to prominence with a role in 2009’s “Star Trek” reboot. Since 2016 she’s also starred in Netflix’s hit series, “Stranger Things.”
Neil Patrick Harris
Neil Patrick Harris first became a household name as the titular star of ABC’s popular series “Doogie Howser, M.D.” The show ran from 1989 to 1993. He took mainly small roles in films including “Starship Troopers” and spent some time on Broadway before once again finding stardom playing against type as a lewd, womanizing version of himself in the 2004 smash “Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle.” This led to his casting as Barney Stinson in the long-running hit comedy “How I Met Your Mother” the following year.
Katharine Hepburn
Believe it or not, Golden Age star Katharine Hepburn had a major comeback of her own. Her first film, 1932’s “A Bill of Divorcement,” made her an instant star. Her third film, “Morning Glory,” earned her the Academy Award for Best Actress. A series of box office flops after 1934 threatened to permanently derail her career, so she left Hollywood to find a play on Broadway that could get it back on track. That play, “The Philadelphia Story,” was a major hit. In fact, the film version was so successful that it kept her in superstardom for the rest of her career.
Leslie Nielsen
For most of his career, Leslie Nielsen was known as a dramatic actor, starring in films including “Forbidden Planet” and “The Poseidon Adventure.” His career was on the decline when he was cast as Dr. Rumack in 1980’s iconic comedy “Airplane!,” which rocketed him to comedic fame. “The Naked Gun” came in 1988, and he remained a comedy legend for the rest of his life.
Sandra Bullock
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After establishing herself as one of the top leading ladies of the 1990s, with starring roles in hits including “Speed,” “While You Were Sleeping” and “Miss Congeniality,” her winning streak took her right through the 2000s, making her the highest-paid actress in the world by 2010. The ensuing nine years saw her career take a dip until 2009’s “The Blind Side” won her the Oscar for Best Actress. With the success of 2022’s “The Lost City,” she’s still a top Hollywood draw. We’d expect nothing less from an actress who portrayed some of the most beloved movie characters of the 1990s.