Starring in a movie is supposed to be a good thing for an actor’s career. It shows that the studio trusts them to carry a film, and in return their star power increases. But actors’ career paths are never quite so cut and dry, and in plenty of instances, starring in a film had the exact opposite effect, completely tanking the star’s career.
When you’re an actor, especially one who is fairly well-known, every film role comes with some risks. Sure, the movie might become a lightning-in-a-bottle smash hit that propels you to super-stardom. It could be fairly well-received and come and go without making too much of a splash, another notch in your professional belt. It might not be a great movie but not affect your career in a major way, for better or worse. But, in the worst case scenario, the film could be so negatively received, so roundly reviled, that it brings down everyone who was involved with it, tanking your career entirely and turning you into dreaded “box office poison.”
There are, unfortunately, plenty of reasons why starring in the wrong movie can ruin an actor’s career. The movie can be a critical and commercial failure, leading to a perception that the actor is unable to carry a film, especially a big-budget one. If the film is especially controversial or offensive, or the role is so outside the image that the actor has carved out for themselves, it can damage their reputation beyond the point of no return. The actor might just not have the charisma or “special something” that makes them a bankable movie star, and the film might prove it.
For whatever reason, these films all did irreversible damage to the careers of their stars. But Hollywood loves a comeback, so even though some of these careers never recovered, there’s no counting out a big movie star comeback like these.
“John Carter” (2012)
- Actor: Taylor Kitsch
Kitsch was a breakout star of the popular TV show “Friday Night Lights” when Disney took a risk and cast him in the lead role of their big-budget “John Carter,” an adaptation of the popular Edgar Rice Burroughs novels. What was supposed to be a blockbuster instead was one of the biggest bomb of all time, costing the studio a whopping $200 million. Kitsch’s film career was dead on arrival.
“The Love Guru” (2008)
- Actor: Mike Myers
Myers was one of the biggest comedy stars of the 1990s and early 2000s, with hits including “Wayne’s World,” “Austin Powers” and its multiple sequels, and “Shrek.” But his star began to wane in the mid-2000s, and the final nail in the coffin was the objectively terrible “The Love Guru,” in which he plays a Westerner raised in India who becomes, well, a love guru. Full of dumb jokes, it was a total bomb, and his career never recovered.
“Norbit” (2007)
- Actor: Eddie Murphy
A legend of the comedy world throughout the ’80s and ’90s, Murphy’s meteoric career began to show some strain with 2002’s poorly-reviewed “The Adventures of Pluto Nash,” one of the biggest flops of all time. It kept chugging along through hits including “Daddy Day Care” and “Dreamgirls,” but couldn’t survive 2007’s “Norbit,” in which he plays a mild-mannered guy who’s forced to marry an overweight woman. A long hiatus followed, one that’s only now coming to an end.
“Gigli” (2003)
- Actors: Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez
Power couple Affleck and Lopez starred in the romantic crime comedy “Gigli,” which was more than just a total bomb – it was one of the most expensive box office bombs of all time and is widely regarded as one of the worst movies ever. It was the low point of Affleck’s career (which was dead in the water for years afterward) and took an especially big toll on J.Lo’s; she never really regained her leading lady status.
“Freddy Got Fingered” (2001)
- Actor: Tom Green
It’s tough to imagine, but at the turn of the millennium, Canadian comedian Tom Green was all the rage. Thanks to the success of his MTV shock comedy show “The Tom Green Show,” 20th Century Fox offered him the opportunity to write, direct, and star in his own film. The resulting movie “Freddy Got Fingered” was panned and hated by critics, essentially destroying Green’s career. The film has become something of a cult classic in recent years.
“Batman & Robin” (1997)
- Actor: Alicia Silverstone
The “It Girl” of the early- to mid-1990s, “Clueless” star Alicia Silverstone was poised to truly hit the big time with 1997’s big-budget “Batman & Robin,” starring George Clooney as the Caped Crusader. The film was horribly misguided, however, and was widely panned, still regarded as something of a joke. The film – and her panned performance – killed her career right as it was about to really take off.
“Battlefield Earth” (2000)
- Actor: John Travolta
Travolta was experiencing a bona fide career renaissance in 2000, propelled by the success of late-’90s films including “Pulp Fiction,” “Face/Off,” and “Get Shorty.” So he presumably thought this was a great time to pursue his passion project, an adaptation of the L. Ron Hubbard book “Battlefield Earth.” The movie – and Travolta’s performance – were panned as among the worst of all time, and thus concluded his comeback.
“Showgirls” (1995)
- Actor: Elizabeth Berkley
After rising to fame as the brainy Jessie Spano in “Saved by the Bell,” Berkley had a promising film career all but guaranteed. But she decided to play against type as a stripper in the poorly-reviewed NC-17 film “Showgirls,” with disastrous results. Hollywood turned its back on her, and she’s just racked up a handful of credits since, primarily in made-for-TV movies.
“Wild Things” (1998)
- Actor: Neve Campbell
Like Berkley, Campbell also shed her good-girl image (cultivated by starring in the TV show “Party of Five” and megahit “Scream”) to a career-killing effect. A huge late-’90s star, she took a risk by starring in the erotic thriller “Wild Things,” alongside Denise Richards and Matt Dillon. The salacious romp actually received pretty decent reviews, but Campbell’s reputation never recovered.
“Abduction” (2011)
- Actor: Taylor Lautner
A breakout star of the “Twilight” saga, Lautner was given the chance to star in his own film, 2011’s action-thriller “Abduction.” The film was a complete flop (with Lautner’s lack of star wattage being especially noted), and he’s only appeared in a couple of movies since then.
“Howard the Duck” (1986)
- Actor: Lea Thompson
Thompson was riding high in the mid-’80s, coming off the massive success of 1984’s “Red Dawn” and 1985’s “Back to the Future.” But ’86’s legendary flop “Howard the Duck” all but tanked her career. She plays a singer who befriends the titular anthropomorphic duck, and the film was so roundly reviled that it’s gone down as one of the worst movies of all time, bringing her career as a leading lady down with it. Even Thompson herself has admitted that the film destroyed her career.
“Jumper” (2008)
- Actor: Hayden Christensen
Christensen’s performance as young Darth Vader in the “Star Wars” prequels wasn’t exactly universally beloved, but his career continued chugging along pretty well (including a widely praised turn in “Shattered Glass”) until 2008’s tentpole “Jumper,” which was intended to launch a franchise but instead bombed. Christensen took a break from Hollywood thereafter and has never really returned.
“Cutthroat Island” (1995)
- Actor: Geena Davis
Davis was one of the most reliable stars of the early 1990s, turning out hits including “Beetlejuice,” “Thelma & Louise,” and “A League of Their Own.” In 1995, however, she starred in “Cutthroat Island,” a swashbuckling pirate adventure that had a notoriously troubled shoot and an even more notorious box office return, losing $88 million and becoming (at the time) the biggest box office bomb in history. Davis only appeared in a few more films over the next decade, and aside from some TV roles, she hasn’t done much else.
“The Master of Disguise” (2002)
- Actor: Dana Carvey
“Wayne’s World” and “Saturday Night Live” star Carvey was riding high with HBO comedy specials, popular films, and his own talk show when he launched into star vehicle “The Master of Disguise” in 2002. The adventure comedy, in which he plays a wide variety of characters in various disguises, was immediately recognized as one of the worst movies ever made, and Carvey’s film career never really took off.
“Rollerball” (2002)
- Actor: Chris Klein
Another turn-of-the-millennium star, Chris Klein was on a tear with films including “American Pie,” “Election,” and “Here on Earth” when he was cast to star in the big-budget reboot of the James Caan classic “Rollerball.” The film turned out to be one of the biggest bombs of all time, and Klein has barely been seen since.
“Lucky Number Slevin” (2006)
- Actor: Josh Hartnett
One of Hollywood’s biggest heartthrobs of the late ’90s and early 2000s, Hartnett proved his range with everything from big-budget action films like “Pearl Harbor” to romantic comedies like “40 Days and 40 Nights.” One thing he couldn’t do, however, was save “Lucky Number Slevin,” a star-studded, neo-noir crime thriller that left audiences underwhelmed. His performance took the brunt of the criticism, and he’s only popped up sporadically ever since.
“Elizabethtown” (2005)
- Actor: Orlando Bloom
Bloom made a name for himself in big-budget blockbusters like the “Lord of the Rings” and “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchises, “Troy,” and “Black Hawk Down,” but when he decided to change gears and star in the romantic tragicomedy “Elizabethtown,” critics panned his performance (and American accent) as shallow and charmless. Leading roles dried up for him soon after.
“Waterworld” (1995) and “The Postman” (1997)
- Actor: Kevin Costner
Costner was one of the biggest movie stars in the world in the 1980s, with hits including “Field of Dreams,” “Bull Durham,” and “Dances With Wolves” cementing his reputation as a likable everyman. He went all-in on 1995’s high-concept action film “Waterworld” and it was a notorious flop. He somehow was able to get another big-budget film, 1997’s “The Postman,” greenlit, and when that performed even more poorly, studios and audiences turned on him in droves. He has starred in motion pictures since then, but nothing big enough to reclaim his A-list status.
“Alexander” (2004)
- Actor: Colin Farrell
With hits including “Phone Booth,” “Daredevil,” and “S.W.A.T” under his belt, by 2004, Farrell was one of Hollywood’s most bankable movie stars. But one role changed all that: Ridley Scott’s “Alexander,” a bloated, historically inaccurate mess. The film was panned and lost money at the box office. Studios lost faith in Farrell, who has taken on smaller roles in independent movies (with great results) since then.
“Pinocchio” (2002)
- Actor: Roberto Benigni
After a couple of decades of making popular Italian movies, Italian actor Benigni wrote, directed, and starred in 1997’s “Life is Beautiful,” winning the Oscar for Best Actor and becoming universally beloved in the process. A future in American cinema was his to take, but he instead followed it up with 2002’s “Pinocchio,” in which he played the title role. It was derided as one of the worst movies of all time, and he’s only acted in a handful of Italian films since. (Unfortunately, it’s not one of the many box office bombs that are actually worth watching.)