12 Infamous Movie Roles That Changed Famous Actors’ Careers

Hollywood loves a simple career-killer story: an actor takes one terrible role, the movie tanks, and suddenly the phone stops ringing. The truth is usually a lot messier. Some of these films really did become major setbacks. Others happened around the same time an actor changed direction, stepped away, or simply stopped landing the same kind of roles. Either way, these 12 performances became closely tied to a dramatic turn in the actor's career.

Ezra Miller played Barry Allen, better known as the Flash, in "Justice League" (2017) before finally getting a solo movie with "The Flash" in 2023. The film earned about $271 million worldwide, a disappointing result for a major DC superhero release. The movie was only part of the problem, though. Miller had already faced a series of arrests, legal issues, and allegations that overshadowed the film before it opened. DC has since moved on from Miller's version of the character as part of its larger franchise reboot. In 2025, Miller said they were considering a tentative return to Hollywood and were working on a new project with director Lynne Ramsay.

"Mallrats" may have been a disappointment in 1995, but calling it the movie that ended Shannen Doherty's career does not hold up. Doherty was already famous for playing Brenda Walsh on "Beverly Hills, 90210," and a few years after "Mallrats" she landed another major television role as Prue Halliwell on "Charmed." She starred in the series for three seasons and even directed several episodes. "Mallrats" was a bump in a complicated career, not the end of one.

Noah Ringer made his starring debut as Aang in "The Last Airbender" in 2010, and the response was brutal. The movie currently sits at just 5% on Rotten Tomatoes. It was not quite the box-office catastrophe its reputation suggests, however, grossing nearly $320 million worldwide against a reported $150 million production budget. Ringer appeared in "Cowboys & Aliens" the following year, but he has no later feature-film acting credits. Of everyone on this list, his screen career really did end almost as quickly as it started.

Sofia Coppola stepped into the role of Mary Corleone in "The Godfather Part III" after Winona Ryder left the production, and her performance was hammered by critics. Coppola later made it clear that acting was never really where she wanted to be anyway. She moved behind the camera and did considerably better there. "Lost in Translation" earned her the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, along with nominations for Best Director and Best Picture. This was less a ruined acting career than a very public discovery that she belonged on the other side of the camera.

"Two-Faced Woman" really was Greta Garbo's final movie, and the 1941 comedy was greeted with some of the worst reviews of her career. Still, the idea that one bad film drove Garbo into permanent retirement is too neat. She initially planned to take a break during World War II, when the important European market for her movies had been disrupted. Several possible comeback projects were discussed afterward but never came together. Garbo never made another feature film, making "Two-Faced Woman" an unfortunate final chapter rather than the sole reason she disappeared from the screen.

Elizabeth Berkley had become a television star as Jessie Spano on "Saved by the Bell" when she made the enormous leap to Nomi Malone in "Showgirls." The NC-17 drama was savaged by critics in 1995 and earned about $20 million domestically against a reported $45 million production budget. Berkley continued acting, but the movie's reputation followed her for years. Time has been kinder to "Showgirls," which developed a devoted cult following, and Berkley has spoken warmly about the audiences who eventually embraced a film that was treated like radioactive waste when it first opened.

Mike Myers owned a pretty ridiculous stretch of comedy hits with "Wayne's World," the "Austin Powers" movies, and "Shrek." Then came a much rougher run. "The Cat in the Hat" was shredded by critics in 2003, and "The Love Guru" followed in 2008 with another wave of terrible reviews. Neither movie literally ended Myers' career, especially with the "Shrek" franchise still going strong, but they helped mark the end of his run as one of Hollywood's most reliable live-action comedy leads.

Meg Ryan spent much of the 1990s as one of Hollywood's defining romantic-comedy stars, with movies including "When Harry Met Sally...," "Sleepless in Seattle," and "You've Got Mail." Then she made a hard turn with Jane Campion's erotic thriller "In the Cut" in 2003. Reviews were mixed to negative, and the movie currently sits at 35% on Rotten Tomatoes. But it did not simply destroy Ryan's career. She continued acting before taking a long break from leading movie roles, then returned in 2023 to star in and direct the romantic comedy "What Happens Later."

Jaden Smith was already acting as a child, but "The Karate Kid" made him the lead of a genuine blockbuster in 2010. The movie earned roughly $359 million worldwide on a reported $40 million production budget. The much bigger career stumble came with "After Earth" in 2013, the science-fiction movie he starred in alongside his father, Will Smith. Critics tore it apart. Jaden continued acting afterward while putting much more of his energy into music and fashion, but he never followed "The Karate Kid" with another movie hit on that scale.

"Grease 2" had the unenviable job of following one of the biggest movie musicals of its era, and the 1982 sequel did not come close to matching the original's success. It also failed to turn Maxwell Caulfield into the movie star Hollywood seemed to be positioning him to become. His career hardly disappeared, though. Caulfield moved into television and theater, played Miles Colby on "The Colbys" and "Dynasty," and later became a cult favorite as Rex Manning in "Empire Records." He has continued working, with more recent television appearances including "Pam & Tommy" and "Landman."

"The Master of Disguise" has become shorthand for a terrible comedy, and it certainly did not give Dana Carvey the movie comeback he might have wanted in 2002. Still, saying the film ended his career gets the timeline backward. Carvey had already spent most of the previous eight years away from feature films, aside from a handful of cameos. He continued doing stand-up, television appearances, and voice work after "The Master of Disguise." It was a failed comeback vehicle, not a single movie that suddenly stopped a thriving film career.

Taylor Kitsch came out of "Friday Night Lights" looking like a future movie star, and Disney handed him the title role in the massive 2012 gamble "John Carter." Box Office Mojo lists the movie's production budget at $250 million and its worldwide gross at about $284 million, a rough equation even before marketing costs entered the picture. Kitsch's run as a blockbuster leading man cooled quickly, but his career did not disappear. He went on to major roles in projects including "True Detective," "Waco," "The Normal Heart," "The Terminal List," "Painkiller," and "American Primeval." "John Carter" hurt his movie-star momentum, but his career shifted rather than collapsed.