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Hollywood is an enchanting place for actors and their admirers alike, but it can also be a slippery slope for the most promising of aspiring actors and actresses who don't play their cards right. Fame can happen overnight, but it can be taken away just as quickly. No matter the praise you received in the past, you will no longer be considered for roles and people will forget your name.
It is truly tragic to see a promising young star only last a few years before Hollywood drops them for one reason or another. But the reasons for why it happens are many. In some cases, it really comes down to bad luck or poor choices in movies, and in others, their private life or personal problems take up too much space. One can only speculate as to why some actors make it, and some seem to derail after a while, but perhaps some of them have themselves to blame?
Do you ever wonder what happened to this or that actor? Or why someone you used to see everywhere, now is nowhere to be found? Does it strike you as odd to see a once Academy awarded actor suddenly only appear in really cringe-worthy straight-to-DVD movies? We've done some digging and listed twenty actors and actresses. Ten of which who have lost their A-list status and is no longer getting any significant roles, and ten who are hopelessly in the D-list but do literally anything to remain in the public eye.
Once An A-Lister: Demi Moore
Demi Moore became something of a teen icon in the 1980's, and by the 90's she was one of the biggest names in Hollywood with hit movies such as Ghost and A Few Good Men. Today she is mo(o)re known for her tumultuous love life and her complete face and body transformation for her cameo as the villain in Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle in 2003. But why did she fall from being the highest paid actress in Hollywood?
It seems as if miss Moore, after several blockbusters and even a Golden Globe nomination, got unlucky with the movies she starred in. The movies Striptease and G.I. Jane were widely considered flops. It was after the latter she was labelled a 'diva' with unrealistic salary demands, which got her the nickname 'Gimme Moore'. Shortly after this, her marriage with Bruce Willis fell apart, and tragically Demi Moore's mother also passed away. She went on a career hiatus and moved to Idaho with her kids.
People today know Demi Moore for her very public marriage and later divorce from Ashton Kutcher. Unfortunately, she hasn't managed to recover her A-list status in Hollywood and is no longer considered the high profile actress she once was.
Once An A-Lister: Eddie Murphy
With major blockbusters like 48 Hours and Trading Places, Eddie Murphy quickly made a name for himself in Hollywood. He started out in Saturday Night Live and earned himself a reputation as a great comedic talent. By the 1990's Eddie Murphy was basically impossible to avoid, his movies were EVERYWHERE. He starred in tonnes of successful family movies such as Beverly Hills Cop (1, 2 and 3), Dr Doolittle, Coming To America, and Shrek, and although they were not all critical hits, they earned him crazy big pay checks. The vast majority of his movies aimed at the adult public seemed to all fail both critically and commercially, and what do you do when your awards and nominations go from Golden Globes to Razzies?
Well, in Eddie Murphy's case, you focus on family. Unfortunately, it seems like the tabloids also turned their focus from his acting to his somewhat scandalous personal life. With nine children and five baby mamas, it's safe to say that one might get distracted.
Quite unexpectedly he received his biggest praise ever starring alongside Jennifer Hudson and Beyoncé Knowles in Dreamgirls in 2006, but other than that Eddie Murphy now claims to be ' a semi-retired gentleman of leisure'. Well, good for you!
Once An A-Lister: Jessica Alba
Jessica Alba was one of Hollywood's biggest stars in the middle of the 2000s, she was on every cover of all the magazines and always named the most beautiful actress. It’s safe to say every boy wanted her and every girl wanted to be her.
Her biggest role to date is her performance in Sin City and another role she is famous for is the less critical acclaimed Fantastic Four, a marvel superhero movie - who would have known that wouldn’t be a box office hit? And in all honesty, she was in a lot of box office bombs.
We haven’t seen her in anything big since Sin City and people tend to wonder what happened to the beauty? Well Jessica has said that she believes was limited of roles due to her ethnicity, she got the ‘exotic’ label and it may not come as a shock nowadays that it is up for discussion that Hollywood has had a lot of progress to do when employing more diverse actors.
Alba got married and had children and has shelved her acting career, instead she started her own company, the Honest Company, which has been a great success and made her from an actress to a business woman.
Once An A-Lister: Mel Gibson
Mel Gibson is nowadays mostly infamous for his scandal when he was caught a decade ago saying anti-semitic and racist slurs which has obviously and rightly tainted his career and Hollywood hasn’t forgotten.
Though he has found more luck nowadays as a director, for his movie Hacksaw Ridge, Gibson was even nominated for an Oscar for Best Director. His acting has however has been put shelved and he hasn’t been in a big movie in quite some time.
The actors personal life is just as colourful as his career, his first marriage ended and the divorce settlement was at the time reported to be the highest in Hollywood history, valued at over $400 million. Since 2014, he has been with 27 year old, who is mother to his ninth child.
This is the man that was one of Hollywood's biggest stars during the 90s, he has done some huge movies such as Braveheart and The Passion of the Christ. Though it’s unlikely that he will be forgiven for his scandal and become an A-list actor again in Hollywood, but as a director he might have a chance of success again.
Once An A-Lister: Julia Stiles
Through the late 90's and early 00's, it seemed like Julia Stiles was a force to be reckoned with. With massively successful movies like 10 Things I Hate About You and Save the Last Dance her face was everywhere. But then, she starred in an array of movies that were absolutely hated by the critics. Most of these movies lost money and perhaps this sealed her fate and pushed her out of ever becoming that big A-list Hollywood actress she had once seemed destined to be. Remember the movie A Guy Thing? Don't worry, no one does.
Luckily, Julia Stiles was cast in The Bourne Identity in 2002, and had it not been for that we'd all probably have forgotten she even existed. She was cast to star in the following three Bourne movies as well, but her career, sorry, her role, was killed off at the beginning of the fourth movie. After all, there are only that many straight-to-DVD movies an actor can bear before Hollywood and the public moves on to the next. And with a close to no activity on social media, it's going to take a little more than a decent TV movie to be considered A-list again.
Once An A-Lister: Renee Zellweger
From the very beginning of the 2000’s Renee Zellweger was established as an actress, and with her role as Bridget Jones’ her career kicked off. After great success with the Bridget Jones’ Diary franchise, the musical Chicago, she was also graced with an Oscar for her part in Cold Mountain.
By the end of the decade she had been nominated for two other Oscars and was the face of romantic comedies, a shining A-list star but then more or less disappeared. She didn’t take on any new acting gigs and even her private life was moved into the shadows.
Since then the actress traveled and has been involved in a whole range of volunteer work within women’s groups and has stayed out of the limelight. She has also stated in British Vogue that she found the lack of anonymity hindered her in her work - because if you don’t have real life experiences and you can’t relate to people then you can’t be a good storyteller.
In recent times she has unfortunately gained more media attention through her changing looks and that is really what she is famous for now. Although her reprising her role as the cult heroine Bridget Jones in 2016 may have been her comeback to the limelight and possible her slow return to Hollywood again.
Once An A-Lister: Wesley Snipes
When you think of Wesley Snipes you probably think of 1990's action movies and martial arts. Peaking in 1992 with the movie Demolition Man where he received the same pay check as Sylvester Stallone, it's easy to wonder what happened to this promising martial arts action star.
Snipes ventured out of his comfort zone in the action genre and made a series of poor decisions starring in several unpopular movies with incredibly poor box office returns. Going back to what he does best, Snipes then starred in a number of action movies alongside big players like Robert De Niro and Tommy Lee Jones, but it did not seem to turn his career back on track.
After a long time of questionable career choices, Snipes became Blade with Marvel fans all over the world in 2004. With the three Blade movies, it seemed as if Wesley Snipes was finally getting redemption. But, although the first and second movie did well, the third one was a complete flop and he sued his collaborators for the damages from the failure of the film. With lawsuits and an income tax conviction it's safe to say his reputation is tarnished. After all, jail is never good for business, especially if you're an A-list Hollywood actor.
Once An A-Lister: Elijah Wood
Elijah Wood was only 18 years old when he got the lead in one of movie history's biggest franchise, The Lord of the Rings. It was unbelievably successful and both the fan base and critics loved the trilogy. Though the impact that the movie still lives on, Elijah Wood has seemly slipped off the radar.
After his success Elijah did some interviews where he back-talked some aspects of Hollywood, and how he wanted to avoid being typecast. Though being typecast as a hobbit might be a rather narrow and slim niche to be put in. He did try to play roles that was a lot different to his character Frodo, but was annoyed when the character was still being brought up. Maybe he shouldn’t have frowned upon the one thing that made him famous.
Nowadays the movies he is in are mostly as voice overs and he even tried to be a DJ, (and no not Dj Hobbit). He has also moved away from the glitz and glam of Hollywood and resides now in Texas. Elijah is also involved with a lot of charities and has especially been recognized for his job involving ill kids and the arts. What an honorable way to dedicate your time.
Once An A-Lister: Tobey Maguire
The first Spiderman movie starred a young Tobey Maguire. Who can forget the magical movie moment the upside down kiss in the rain? This was not his first gig in his career but the one movie, and sequels, truly put him amongst the stars. But it seems like that role was the one that kept him on the pedestal of fame and fortune. Though Maguire did other movies to prevent being type-casted he couldn’t really manage to get the same critical acclaim. Spiderman 3 is said to really have hurt Maguires career and it was not met well by critics or fans and personal problems got him some (if not a lot of) bad press.
As a former child star he had already had a long career when the Spiderman saga ended for him. There are reports where he has said that he didn’t have the charisma and the extroverted nature that the press and media seemed to ask for when it was time for interviews.
Maguire has dabbled in acting on and off since then, specifically The Great Gatsby and is keeping busy with producing instead of acting. Maguire is also a father of two and seems to have moved on to a more mature roll in his life as a father.
Once An A-Lister: Catherine Zeta Jones
Catherine Zeta-Jones is known for her appeal and her femme fatale roles, establishing herself in Hollywood as an A-list actress with the film The Mask of Zorro in 1998. Oddly, she's been cast to play the gorgeous Latina more than once. You'd think there are more obvious choices for such roles than a Welsh actress, but Hollywood has its own rule book.
Throughout the 00's Zeta-Jones continued to star in a number of box office successes such as Entrapment, Traffic and, of course, Chicago, for which she won both Academy and BAFTA awards for Best Supporting Actress. But how come we don't see her in any major movies anymore? With that background, and being married to fellow A-lister Michael Douglas, surely she should still be getting roles?
Some say she's chosen to take a step back from her career and focus on her family, while others think it has to do with the lack in diversity with roles. Unfortunately, a woman can only play the role of the gorgeous goddess for a certain amount of years until a younger actress takes over. Did Zeta-Jones miss the chance of establishing herself for something other than her beauty?
In The D-List: Tara Reid
After a few small roles in films like Urban Legend and teen classic Cruel Intentions, Tara Reid landed her big breakthrough role as the girl next door 'Vicky' in the hugely successful movie American Pie. Across the world, all girls wanted to be her, and every guy wanted to date her. She was the it-girl of the late 90's - early 00's, and the world was at her feet.
After American Pie, Reid went on to star in American Pie 2, which was even more successful than the predecessor. Her other movies, however, did not make a lot of money and were getting mixed reviews at best. Reid started to receive a lot of award nominations, but not the good kind. She was nominated for Worst Supporting Actress and Worst Screen Couple for her role against Ashton Kutcher in My Boss's Daughter, and she won a Stinker Award for Worst Actress in 2005 for her role in the horror film Alone In the Dark.
Tara Reid is now most famous for a number of straight-to-DVD and spoof movies such as TV movie Sharknado from 2013, which has had 4 additional sequels since. It might not give her back her A-list status, but at least it will pay the bills.
In The D-List: Lindsay Lohan
Ah Lindsay Lohan, the teenage queen that fell from the very top to the very bottom. Her career started even before she could speak as a child model, and did commercials shown all over USA for huge companies such as Ford, Calvin Klein and Pizza Hut.
Lohan was living the teenage dream after the movie The Parent Trap and starred in what it seemed pretty much every single romantic or comedic teenage movies for a few years. Lohan was photographed with the other IT-girls of the 00s era and was praised for her fashion sense. Whatever she did she was praised, photographed and was an inspiration for so many young girls. She was really aiming for the stars and almost reached the top. Personal scandals and tragedies came one after another and like the scenario of many Hollywood child actors it didn’t end in her favour and Hollywood stopped hiring her.
Though she might have ended her big successful Hollywood career, though she is still getting smaller jobs here and there, Lohan is still trying to stay relevant with the media and fans. Through her social medias we can follow a woman that is working with charities, dabbling in politics and yes…who has changed her accent.
In The D-List: Charlie Sheen
Charlie Charlie Charlie, another sad story of a star that was on the top of the world and then switched tracks in his career and it went in a complete downward spiral. Who can forget when Charlie was "winning" - also known as the time he got fired from his successful TV-show Two And A Half Men (where he was the lead). It became clear to the world that everything wasn’t right with Sheen and he got even more famous and gained more media attention for all the wrong (and sad) reasons.
Well a lot of that publicity was a long time coming since his personal life has always been in the media with his marriages and personal life. Though Sheen always had a career to lean back on and to determine his place in the spotlight. Now when that place is gone, he is still doing his best to be heard and seen in the media.
Nowadays Sheen is gaining a lot of sympathy with his personal struggles and hasn’t worked as an actor in a couple of years. It is doubtful that he will ever reach the stardome that he once had, but maybe a reality show could be in the works for this famous and infamous man.
In The D-List: Shia LaBeouf
The former Disney channel child star Shia LaBeouf starred in Transformers which was the talk of tinseltown. The movie was a great success, followed by ( as per usual) a sequel that well… wasn’t as successful. Off the silver screen Shia was acting (pun intended) a little strange too, like that time he wore a brown paper bag over his head. Remember that? Shia was on top of the ladder and had his career in his hands but he lost track and changed tracks with his career. Instead of becoming an A-lister he found interest in some odd things such as indie art installations and music videos (by Sia, you can look it up if you don’t believe us). Though he still has managed to snag a few big screen roles Shia is continuing to surprise us with his choices and his rather bizarre and eclectic career choices. One of his latest and possibly most personal ventures is the movie on his own life - starring as his own father.
Most recently he has taken on the role as John McEnroe where he gained more publicity for his manners off screen than his performance on screen. Though Shia has talent and has proven that he can act, he is in serious need of either an accountability coach or a better publicist…
In The D-List: Katherine Heigl
Katherine Heigl got her big breakthrough as Izzie Stevens in ABC series Grey's Anatomy, in which she starred from 2005 to 2010. In 2007 she also starred in the comedy Knocked Up, which was a box office success that received positive reviews overall. Heigl went on to star in a couple of other successful movies, such as 27 Dresses and The Ugly Truth, but her days on the Grey's Anatomy set seemed to be coming to an end.
Heigl made the mistake of getting too comfortable in her newfound stardom. In relations to her opting out of the Emmy race for her role as Izzie Stevens she publicly stated: "the material she'd received didn't warrant Emmy consideration". This didn't sit well with the creator Shonda Rhimes, and a shortly after Heigl was released from her contract with the hit TV series.
About her role in Knocked Up, Heigl said she found the movie "a little sexist", a comment that made headlines everywhere. She was deemed ungrateful and a hypocrite, and who would want to work with someone like that? It seems that biting the hand that feeds you is not a good idea. Unless your goal is mediocre (at best) reviews for films and TV appearances and an overall bad reputation.
In The D-List: Wil Wheaton
Who is Wil Wheaton? Well Will had a big role in the 90s in Star Trek: The Next Generation, and if you’re not a Trekkie or part of the geek culture you probably have never heard of him.
Wheaton is a blogger, funny guy and a self proclaimed fan of the Star Trek franchise. As a minor celebrity he is often taken the job opportunities he is given and has dabbled in games, voice acting, comic books, audiobooks, live shows and politics. Whew! Credit to Wheaton for juggling all that.
His career was dead until he landed a gig on the mega hit show The Big Bang Theory. Wheaton even thought it was a joke when the producers reached out to him. His role you may ask? It is to play himself, living of the merits of being on Star Trek so it is safe to say that Wheaton doesn’t have to act very much when he is at work. Though Wheaton stated that it is a challenge playing a fictional version of himself on screen, we all can agree it doesn’t sound like the worst or toughest gig you could land.
Wheaton should be given a lot of praise to his work with raising awareness surrounding mental health organizations as he is himself living with anxiety disorder and depression. Hats off to Wheaton.
In The D-List: Cuba Gooding Jr.
Cuba Gooding Jr got his big break in Academy nominated movie Boyz N the Hood in 1991, where Gooding Jr was praised for his acting skills. He went on to play in the movie A Few Good Men, where he starred alongside some really big names such as Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson. After that, he was cast in a few less successful movies, and it took him until 1996 for his next major break in the movie Jerry Maguire for which he won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.
It seems Gooding Jr's career went south from there. Over the next five years, he starred in no less than ten movies, out of which all except one were complete disasters. For a while there it seemed as if he was perhaps testing new genres, and wanting to try new things, but in 2002 the film Snow Dogs came along. This was a Disney movie of moderate success, but it was probably also the nail in the coffin for Cuba Gooding Jr's Academy awarded career and A-list status.
Although his reputation has not been salvageable, Gooding Jr has managed to stay somewhat relevant by appearing in smaller roles and in television series.
In The D-List: Mischa Barton
The rise and fall of Mischa Barton. This woman was playing the lead on the biggest teen TV-show on air at the time: The O.C. She was a fashion icon, an It girl, an idol and really had every opportunity in the world. However, she got a little cocky and when she asked to quit the O.C, her character was killed off and in that second - so was her career. But boy how we cried, though the series was never the same and only lasted for another season.
Barton didn’t land a big role after quitting and hasn’t really done anything since. Except, yes you guessed right: SCANDALS. Mischa was in the same group as previously named Lindsay Lohan and they seemed to have taken each others advice for a while. Red carpets were pretty quickly replaced by scandals, mugshots and the only cover of magazines she was on now was because she looked bigger. We ask ourselves how one manages to go from being a starlet on a big hit TV-show to getting publicity for all the wrong reasons.
In The D-List: David Hasselhoff
What is left to say about the infamous the Hoff. Few celebrities have tried to stay relevant as much as this man has since his glory days in Baywatch. Hoff has sang on the Berlin Wall and had been looking for freedom with his iconic New Year’s performance. He is actually credited to be a part of the fall of the communism in eastern Europe. WOW!
Though since the 90’s Hasselhoff has barely done anything of any merit and is now mostly famous for either scandals, being on every minor red carpet event and...his music career. Hasselhoffs biggest claim to fame should be that he is the most watched male star in the history of television - this according to the Guinness Book of World Records.
All this is proof of this man's obsession of being famous. His acting career now mostly consists of saying yes to everything and the parts he get is usually just to play himself.
Hasselhoff knows how to best utilize his charm and skills to still stay relevant, being seen and to continue contributing to the media. Though we can’t look down on his iconic status in Europe, we are still missing what he really is capable of bringing to the table.
In The D-List: Tori Spelling
Tori Spelling was born a Beverly Hills royalty, and at the age of seventeen, she was cast to play Donna in the TV series Beverly Hills 90210. The show became a huge success, and Spelling remained on the show until they wrapped in 2000. After this, she took some roles in TV movies and the parody Scary Movie 2, but she was becoming more and more famous for her personal life, and less so for her acting.
Tori Spelling has been very public with her financial problems, and it's safe to say those are likely the reason for her career moves that followed. She started publishing autobiographies about her life and motherhood. She also appeared in two episodes as Donna in a reboot of Beverly Hills 90210 in 2009. Spelling also starred in a number of reality shows with her husband, as well as appeared in reality show Big Brother 13.
She hasn't had a big role for a very long time, but if there is one thing we can be sure of is that Tori Spelling will keep making headlines. Not so much for her acting skills as for her personal life. You gotta do what you gotta do if you want to remain in the public eye.
References: thedailybeast.com, entertainment.ie, foxnews.com, telegraph.co.uk, metro.us, romper.com
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