10 Actors Who Dominated Hollywood But Faded into Obscurity

While it's difficult to determine exactly what leads to some Hollywood stars slowly fading away from stardom, there are a few things in common among these names. Some on this list chose to retire or begin a new line of work following famous roles. Some were only seen as a certain character and therefore found it difficult to find new work. Others are still acting, but have struggled to find the kind of leading roles that they were once able to obtain.

From our favorite '90s crush Jonathan Taylor Thomas, to the dramatic roles portrayed by Christian Slater, each actor (or actress) on this list has slowly moved away from major Hollywood roles. Many of these stars also began their work in the '80s or '90s, making them recently memorable despite their career change.

For several decades, Hollywood stars have come and gone. Some actors and actresses' names remain popular today. Who can forget Marilyn Monroe, Leonardo DiCaprio, or Al Pacino? Other names, however, have gradually been forgotten.

Hailing from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Heather Graham moved with her family to California when she was just 9 years old. Following high school, Graham attended a couple of years of college. She then dropped out to pursue an acting career in the mid-1980s. While her first couple of roles were small and either uncredited or on a television series, Graham found her breakout role as Mercedes Lane in the 1988 teen movie "License to Drive."

From here, Graham went on to star in several movies throughout the '90s. This included roles in "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me," "Boogie Nights," and "Bowfinger." In recent years, she has seen smaller roles in films like "The Hangover" and "At Any Price." She has also held roles on various TV series like "Californication" and "Scrubs." Graham continues to act today and is expected to be seen in an upcoming movie in 2025. However, her more recent roles have not brought as much fame as she obtained in her earlier career.

Most '90s girls can remember having a celebrity crush on Jonathon Taylor Thomas, also known as JTT. Thomas' acting career began in 1990 when he was just 9 years old as he took on the role of Greg Brady in "The Bradys." But it was his role as Randy Taylor on the ABC sitcom "Home Improvement" that took his Hollywood career to new heights. Thomas spent 9 years in this role before deciding to leave the show to pursue a college degree.

During the '90s while he continued his stint on "Home Improvement," Thomas was awarded several movie roles. He is famously known for being the voice of young Simba in the 1994 Disney animated classic "The Lion King." He also played Tom Sawyer in "Tom and Huck" as well as Ben Archer in "Man of the House." While Thomas took on a few smaller acting roles throughout the early 2000s, he wasn't seen in anything after 2006. That is until he came back to acting for 4 episodes of "Last Man Standing" in 2013, with his "Home Improvement" co-star Tim Allen. But he hasn't been seen in anything since this role ended in 2015. Many wonder about Thomas' life after fading away from the Hollywood spotlight as a child star.

David Adkins, also known as "Sinbad" is a famous comedian and actor who rose to fame in the 1990s. Sinbad's earlier years include graduation from the University of Denver, where he played college basketball before entering the military. During his time in the military, Adkins realized it was not a good fit for him. He became more interested in pursuing a career as a stand-up comedian and entertainer. While pursuing comedy, Sinbad also began landing Hollywood roles.

His breakout role came as Coach Walter Oakes in the TV series "A Different World" which aired from 1987 to 1991. Following this role, Sinbad saw notoriety in several 90s films including "Jingle All the Way," "First Kid," and "Coneheads." He also became the star of his own sitcom, "The Sinbad Show" which aired from 1993 to 1994. Today, Sinbad continues to act in smaller roles, though nothing has been as noteworthy as his earlier work. His family also reports that he continues to recover from a recent stroke in 2020.

Though almost everyone is familiar with Alec Baldwin, many may have forgotten about Alec's younger brother, William. Also known as Billy, the second oldest of 4 Baldwin brothers began his rise to fame in the early '90s. Among his first roles were small appearances on the TV series "The Preppie Murder" and as a U.S. Marine in the Tom Cruise hit "Born on the Fourth of July." Both were released in 1989.

As Billy rose in stardom, some of his most infamous film appearances include "Backdraft," "Silver," and "Fair Game." He was also featured in the 2005 drama "The Squid and the Whale." While his roles haven't been as large today, Baldwin continues to both act and direct. According to IMDb, Baldwin has 10 upcoming projects with some already completed and others in post-production. While Billy may have faded slightly from Hollywood, it's clear that his career is not over.

While Christian Slater is a Hollywood name that keeps popping up from time to time, his biggest hits were throughout the '80s and '90s. Coming from a long line of actors and family members involved in the entertainment industry, Slater began acting as a child. His first role was on the soap opera "One Life to Live." Slater was just 8 at the time. He then turned to Broadway before landing his breakout film role as Binx in the 1985 movie "The Legend of Billie Jean."

In the 90s, Slater hit his stride. He landed roles in several big movies including "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves," "True Romance," "Broken Arrow," and "Interview with the Vampire" among many others. As mentioned, Slater continues his career in Hollywood though he has fewer acting roles. He hasn't become any less talented, however. In 2016, Slater earned a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor for his title role in "Mr. Robot."

Known primarily for his role as Kevin Arnold in "The Wonder Years," Ben Savage began acting at the age of 9. His first role was a small appearance in the TV show "Morningstar/Eveningstar." From here, he moved on to land famous roles in both "The Boy Who Could Fly" and the 1987 cult classic "The Princess Bride." It was in 1988, however, that Savage catapulted to stardom with his role as Kevin Arnold.

When "The Wonder Years" ended in 1993, Savage continued his Hollywood career, though most roles have either been small or as a voice actor. Savage continues to act today as well. In 2023, he was seen in 2 episodes of the TV series "Three Women." Savage also has 3 children with his wife Jennifer Lynn Stone.

Along with many other actors and actresses on this list, Alicia Silverstone rose to Hollywood heights in the 1990s. Silverstone's career began as a child model before moving on to television commercials. Her film debut arrived in the 1993 thriller "The Crush" with her role as Adrian Forrester. This role earned her an MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance. Following the film, Silverstone was featured in three Aerosmith music videos before landing her most famous role as Cher Horowitz in the 1995 classic "Clueless."

After her role as Cher, Silverstone landed a few other smaller roles in films. These include her portrayal of Batgirl in "Batman & Robin" as well as Eve in "Blast From the Past" opposite Brendan Frasier. Following these hits, the actress went on to win a Gold Globe for Best Actress in a Television Series for her work on a short-lived series called "Miss Match" which aired in 2003. Silverstone continues to act today, though her most recent roles haven't reached the same level of Hollywood fame.

Forever known to '90s kids as "Buffy," Sarah Michelle Gellar rose to fame in the 1990s as well. Gellar began acting as a child, landing her first role in the TV movie "An Invasion of Privacy" at the age of 6. This led Gellar to continue to pursue a career on television where she was awarded a long-time role as Kendall Hart on the soap opera "All My Children." This role even earned Gellar a daytime Emmy.

Following her role as Hart, Gellar landed her iconic role as Buffy, the star of the TV hit series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" which aired from 1997 to 2003. During her time on the show, Gellar also landed a few infamous movie roles. These include Kathryn Merteuil in "Cruel Intentions" as well as Helen Shivers in "I Know What You Did Last Summer." Today, Gellar continues her career as an actor and voice actor, though her roles have been much smaller. She has also gone on to start her own company and released a cookbook in 2017.

Another heartthrob from the early 2000s was Josh Hartnett. Hartnett began his acting career in the late '90s, landing roles in the ABC drama "Cracker: Mind Over Murder" as well as the film "Halloween H20: 20 Years Later." He also landed the role of Zeke Tyler in the 1998 film "The Faculty" before being cast as Danny Walker in the 2001 Box Office hit "Pearl Harbor."

Throughout the early 2000s, Hartnett continued to land major roles in films including "Lucky Number Slevin," "30 Days of Night," and "The Black Dahlia." After this time period, however, Hartnett began to shy away from accepting major roles. He is famously known for talking about the psychological effects that fame can have on a person. He also took a break from acting in the 2000s to reconsider his desire to be in Hollywood. Despite the ups and downs in his career, Hartnett continues to act, even accepting a supporting role in the 2023 Oscar-winning film "Oppenheimer."

Most known for his role as Shawn Hunter in the ABC sitcom "Boy Meets World," Rider Strong began his acting career at the age of 9. His first role was on stage as Gavroche in "Les Miséerables." From there, Strong moved to television work, landing a few small roles before being cast as Hunter in 1993. During the show's 7-year run, Strong eluded in interviews that his newfound fame was sometimes difficult to manage.

After "Boy Meets World," Strong landed smaller television and movie roles. He is also known as the voice of Brick Flagg in the Disney TV series "Kim Possible." Additionally, Strong reprised his role as Shawn Hunter for the TV series "Girl Meets World." This "Boy Meets World" spinoff aired from 2014 to 2017. IMDb also reports that Strong hasn't been seen in an acting role since 2019. (For more news on famous Hollywood actors and actresses, click here to see the movie stars with the most time at No. 1 at the Box Office.)