Hollywood is known for being a notoriously hard industry to break into. It often seems as though some actors have skated straight to the top, and are bestowed with all that Hollywood has to offer – the best roles, the riches that may come with it, the adoration of fans, and the respect of the industry and their peers. But this isn’t the case for everyone. For some, what appears to be a golden ticket to the peak, is really the culmination of hard work, and overcoming an unfortunate past.
Many of us always root for the underdog, for the person that many people have overlooked or have forgotten, who in one way or another has lost their footing and must fight to get back to where they once were. This is not only true in fictional lives portrayed on TV and in film but also in the real-life stories of those actors who portray them, actors who were once considered A-list celebrities who were no longer in demand.
Nothing says underdog more than a grand comeback and everyone loves a good comeback story. This is especially true in Hollywood, where being a hot Hollywood commodity can feel like you’re on top of the world. But when the industry stops calling, and that once-promising career as a movie star is over, it can be devastating. However, as baseball legend Yogi Berra once said, “It ain’t over till it’s over,” and some celebrities get more than one chance at stardom. (It’s not just actors that get a chance at stardom – one of baseball’s top draft picks, James Wood, is set to makes his major league debut.)
As any film or TV actor will tell you, Hollywood is a machine that will chew you up and spit you out. You can go from reading a multitude of scripts one day to having nothing 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. Child stars may age out of certain roles and don’t fit in as adults; a substance abuse problem might sideline you, as can a reputation for being difficult to work with; Past actions might come back to haunt you.
While an actor has been sidelined, other actors or actresses might start winning the types of roles they used to get, leaving them behind. Or they might have angered the wrong Hollywood power broker and get blacklisted. Or there just might not be any one specific reason, and your career just fizzles out. (For stars that are still shining after being around for quite a few years, check out the biggest stars of the 2010s.)
Just as we all love an underdog, we also have an appreciation for those fallen stars who make a 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.
Brendan Fraser
One of the biggest movie stars of the 90s and early 2000s, Fraser became a household name thanks to the success of films including “Encino Man,” “George of the Jungle” and “The Mummy.” which was followed by “The Mummy Returns,” and “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor”. His career was derailed after a string of poor box-office showings, injuries, and the fallout after he accused the then-president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association of sexual assault.
Fast-forward to the early 2020s. His career began to rebound and he won the Best Actor Oscar for portraying an obese gay man in Darren Aronofsky’s “The Whale,” which re-cemented his top-tier status. He is even said to be reprising his role, along with Rachel Weisz, in a new “The Mummy” film.
Robert Downey, Jr.
As a member of the “Brat Pack,” a group of young actors who starred in several teen-oriented films together, Robert Downey, Jr. rose to fame in the 1980s. He starred in films like “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. (Marvel Studios almost passed on hiring him because of his past issues.)
But Downey Jr. persevered, 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
Barrymore, who comes from a legendary British-American acting dynasty, entered the family business when she was just five years old in the film, “Altered States.” but rose to fame when she was cast as Gertie in the Hollywood blockbuster, “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial”. She soon became one of the most bankable child stars of the 80s, with films like “Firestarter,” “Irreconcilable Differences,” and “Cat’s Eye”. Her reputation as a wild child, in addition to her highly publicized substance abuse, hindered her career.
Yet by the mid-1990s, with the creation of her production company, she had staged a successful comeback. Barrymore returned to the scene with leading roles in films including “Boys on the Side,” “Charlie’s Angels,” “The Wedding Singer,” and “Ever After.” She now hosts the syndicated talk show “The Drew Barrymore Show.
Matthew McConaughey
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
One of the biggest movie stars of the 1980s, Rourke with lead roles in films including “The Pope of Greenwich Village,” “Rumble Fish,” and “9½ Weeks.” After a string of commercial failures, 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, a role that won him the Golden Globe for Best Actor as well as an Oscar nod. He has since appeared in several successful films.
John Travolta
Viewers first saw Travolta in the 1970s in the TV show, “Welcome Back Carter”. He began his movie career in 70s films like “The Devil’s Rain” and “Carrie,” but it was his starring role in “Saturday Night Fever” that catapulted him to fame, solidified with roles in “Grease” and “Urban Cowboy”. After a series of box office bombs, like “Two of a Kind” and “Fever,” the sequel to “Staying Alive.” his star dimmed.
He initiated his comeback with the hit 1989 film, “Look Who’s Talking,” 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 was on hold after the 2020 death of his wife Kelly Preston. He has recently starred in several movies.
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 the late-90s and early-2000s blockbusters including “Armageddon,” “Reindeer Games” and “Pearl Harbor,” but his career took a downturn after that, with noted flops, “Gigli,” and “Jersey Girl”.
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” and has several upcoming film projects.
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.” He also directed and co-wrote “The Passion of the Christ,” and “Apocalypto” but 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.
Since then, he’s appeared in more than 20 (mostly lesser-known) movies, 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, after two big film flops, he decided to take a break from Hollywood for a few years.
When he returned, he took supporting roles in films like “Herby: Fully Loaded,” and “First Daughter,” but it wasn’t until his starring role in Alejandro González Iñárritu’s 2014 film “Birdman” (“The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance”), which earned him an Oscar nomination, that he jumped back in full-steam. He remains a top draw to this day and will be returning to his Batman role in a future release.
Marlon Brando
Brando was a 50s heartthrob who is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of his generation and of all time. He 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. (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, appearing in “Apocolypse Now” and numerous others.
Sylvester Stallone
With his iconic role as boxer Rocky Balboa in 1976’s “Rocky,” which he also wrote, Sylvester Stallone rocketed to stardom. 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, and also stars in the Paramount+ crime series, “Tulsa King”.
Renée Zellweger
Renée Zellweger was one of Hollywood’s most beloved and bankable stars through the late 90s and early 2000s, with notable hits like films “Jerry Maguire,” “One True Thing,” “Nurse Betty,” “Bridget Jones’ Diary” and “Chicago.” Her career took a significant downturn starting in the mid-2000s, kicked off by her desire to take an extended hiatus from acting for health reasons.
She returned to Hollywood 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,” “Daddy Daycare,” and as the voice of Donkey in the “Shrek” franchise.
He returned to adult-oriented fare with 2011’s “Tower Heist,” and gave great performances in films including “Dolemite is My Name” and “Coming 2 America.” He will reprise his role as Axel Foley in the 2024 Netflix film, “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Foley”.
Ke Huy Quan
Ke Huy Quan was a child actor in the 80s who 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 prime roles since then, including in the Disney+ series “Loki.”
Winona Ryder
Ryder was a 90s megastar since she arrived on the scene in her first role as Lydia Deetz in the film, “Beetlejuice”. She followed that with hit after hit, appearing in “Heathers,” “Litte Women,” and much more. She had 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,” but it was after the substantial media attention she received after her 2001 shoplifting arrest that caused her to take a break from acting.
She returned several years later with small parts in films like “A Scanner Darkly, ” the re-booted “Star Trek,” and “Black Swan,” and since 2016 has 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.” which 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
It may seem unbelievable that Golden Age star Katharine Hepburn needed to have a major comeback. Her first film, 1932’s “A Bill of Divorcement,” made her an instant star, and her third film, “Morning Glory,” earned her the Academy Award for Best Actress. But when a series of box office flops after 1934 threatened to permanently derail her career, she left Hollywood.
Hepburn was also a stage actress and opted to find a play on Broadway that could get her film career back on track. That play, “The Philadelphia Story,” was a major hit, and 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 numerous Westerns, romance, and dramatic films, including “Forbidden Planet” and “The Poseidon Adventure.” Although he had a prominent career, with more than 100 films under his belt, his fame truly skyrocketed when shifted genres and was cast as Dr. Rumack in 1980’s iconic comedy “Airplane!”. His comedic fame continued with “The Naked Gun” in 1988, followed by two sequels, and he remained a comedy legend for the rest of his life.
Sandra Bullock
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.