32 Actors Who Made Remarkable Career Comebacks
Fame is a tricky thing, and sometimes the biggest stars in the world can lose it all. Personal problems, changing times, and other factors can lead to a once-promising career disappearing almost over night. These stars, however, reversed their trajectories and came out on top after enduring rough times, in this list of actors who made remarkable career comebacks.
Robert Downey, Jr.
Robert Downey, Jr was one of the most promising young actors in Hollywood in the 1980s, starring in films like Less Than Zero, Chaplin, and Natural Born Killers. In the mid-90s his life went infamously went off the rails with substance abuse problems. When it looked like he'd thrown it all away, he cleaned up and his fame exploded as he became one of the highest-paid actors in the MCU.
Jane Fonda
Jane Fonda has had a few ups and downs in her career. After breaking out as a star in the '60s, she was later shunned by many for her notorious trip to North Vietnam during the war. She rebounded and starred in hits like 9 to 5 and On Golden Pond. In 1991, Fonda married Ted Turner and completely stepped back from acting. She didn't appear in anything at all until after their divorce in 2001, but roared back to prominence in the 21st Century.
Rob Lowe
As a member of the "Brat Pack" in the 1980s, Rob Lowe was on top of the world. That all came crashing down when a videotape of Lowe in a compromising situation was leaked. His hard partying had caught up to him, and though he got sober in 1992, he would spend much of the decade playing smaller roles or in direct-to-video movies. In 1999 he landed the role of Sam Seaborn in The West Wing and was once again on top, where he's stayed ever since.
John Travolta
In the late '70s, there was no bigger star than John Travolta. From Welcome Back, Kotter to Grease and Saturday Night Fever, Travolta was in some of the biggest pop culture touchstones of all time. Then the '80s came and his career hit a serious lull. While he was in the hit Look Who's Talking and its sequels, it was 1994's Pulp Fiction that vaulted Travolta back to the top.
Natasha Lyonne
In the late '90s, Natasha Lyonne was one of a group of budding stars in American Pie and other movies like Slums Of Beverly Hills before health and addiction problems derailed her career. Thankfully for all of us she came out of those those stronger and has since starred in fantastic shows like Orange is the New Black and Russian Doll.
Brendan Fraser
Brendan Fraser winning the Oscar for 2022 The Whale capped off one of the greatest comeback stories in Hollywood history. His work had all but completely dried up in the late '00s and 2010s, but his career has had the most incredible resurgence in the 2020s.
Winona Ryder
Winona Ryder defined "movie star" for late Gen Xers in the '90s, but after her infamous arrest for shoplifting in 2001, her career nosedived and she didn't appear in a movie for about three years after. For the next decade or so, she worked steadily but didn't regain her star power from early in her career. That changed when she starred in Stranger Things, starting in 2016, and she once again became a huge star.
Dave Chappelle
In 2003 Dave Chappelle debuted Chappelle's Show on Comedy Central and it became a massive hit. Despite the network throwing tens of millions of dollars at the comedian to keep the show going, he turned it down and walked away. Chappelle stayed away for most of the next decade before reviving his standup career, and while Chappelle continues to garner controversy, it's safe to say he's as big as ever.
Betty White
When Betty White died in 2021 she was mourned by millions. The beloved actress had been a television star since the 1940s, but not all of those years were in the spotlight. After early success in the '50s in Life with Elizabeth and other sitcoms, White's career hit a lull for more than a decade. She returned to the big time with her role on The Mary Tyler Moore Show in the '70s, The Golden Girls in the '80s, and then later with Hot in Cleveland in the 2010s.
Ke Huy Quan
There is no more heartwarming story than that of Ke Huy Quan's resurgence. the actor, who first found fame as a child in The Goonies and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, completely disappeared from Hollywood. For twenty years, he appeared in not one TV show or movie, before returning in 2021 with a role in Finding ?Ohana, and then winning an Oscar for his performance in 2022's Everything Everywhere All At Once.
Michael Keaton
Michael Keaton was a controversial choice when he was cast as Batman in Tim Burton's Batman in 1989, but it shows just how famous he was at that time. After Batman Returns, Keaton's star faded and he starred in a run of films to mixed reviews. In 2014 Keaton starred in the very meta Birdman, as a former superhero star looking to regain his fame. It worked, at least for Keaton.
Katharine Hepburn
Anyone with a career as long as Katharine Hepburn's is bound to have some slow periods. The most amazing fact of the legendary actress' career was the 34-year span between Best Actress Oscars. She won in 1934 for Morning Glory and then again in 1968 and 1969 for Guess Who's Coming to Dinner and The Lion in Winter, respectively. She would win her fourth 13 years later in 1982 for On Golden Pond.
Mickey Rourke
In the 1980s Mickey Rourke starred in a string of hits. Eventually, though, his reputation as being difficult to work with overshadowed his performances and he was left in the Hollywood wilderness until triumphantly returning to his past glory in 2008 with The Wrestler.
Sidney Poitier
Sidney Poitier was one of the biggest stars of the '50s, '60s, and '70s. Then came the '80s, when he stepped away from acting and concentrated on directing, to mixed reviews. In 1988 he turned back to acting and had a wonderful late career resurgence with films like Shoot To Kill and Sneakers.
Jason Bateman
In the 1980s it looked like Jason Bateman was a surefire bet to be a huge star. Then the '90s came and his career pretty much dried up. He had some guest spots on TV shows, but little else. He was all but forgotten. In 2003, Fox debut a show you may have heard of, Arrested Development, with Bateman as the star, and he's been huge ever since.
Keanu Reeves
It's hard to remember a time when Keanu Reeves wasn't one of the biggest stars in the world, but after his success in the '90s and early '00s with The Matrix and Speed and more, he starred in a slew of commercial and critical failures. Thankfully for Reeves fans everywhere, John Wick came along and Reeves was back on top of the mountain, where he still is.
Drew Barrymore
Drew Barrymore almost became a Hollywood child star casualty after her string of hits as a kid in the 1980s. She had a rough childhood that led to substance abuse problems as a teenager. Against the odds, she got through it all and became an even bigger star on the other end.
Neil Patrick Harris
Neil Patrick Harris first got famous as a child prodigy playing a prodigy on Doogie Howser, MD. After the sitcom ended in 1993, he struggled to regain that popularity. That is, until he played a fictionalized version of himself in Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle in 2004. Soon after he landed the role he's best known for, Barney Stinson on How I Met Your Mother.
Matthew McConaughey
Most of Matthew McConaughey's early career was made up of starring roles in rom-coms. In 2009 the Lincoln Lawyer star took a two-year acting hiatus to re-evaluate his career. He emerged in 2011 by taking on more serious roles and leaving his rom-com leading man reputation behind. Since the so-called "McConaissance," McConaughey's become on of the most acclaimed actors of the 21st century.
Nicolas Cage
By 2009 Cage was one of the biggest action stars in Hollywood, and one of the highest-paid actors in the business, but it seems he couldn't curb his spending and ended up in debt to the IRS and other creditors. As a result, Cage seemingly took every job offered to him, and he put out an immense catalog of straight-to-video movies that few people have ever watched. Finally, in 2022, Cage revealed he was finally debt-free and started being more selective with his roles. this led to acclaimed roles in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent and 2023's Dream Scenario.
Mandy Moore
Mandy Moore's career started like a comet as a singer in the late '90s which she parlayed into an acting career. That career slowed way down in the early 2010s, only to be revived in a massive way with her starring role on the NBC hit This Is Us.
Christian Slater
With starring roles in Heathers, Pump Up The Volume, and Gleaming The Cube, Christian Slater became a Gen X icon. He scored a number of high-profile roles in big-budget movies in the '90s, before work started drying up in the early 2000s. He returned to Hollywood prominence with his award-winning role in Mr. Robot and has maintained it ever since.
Luke Perry
Luke Perry was one of the biggest television stars of the 1990s as part of the cast of Beverly Hills, 90210. After the show ended though, his star faded some. That is, until he was cast in the CW's Riverdale and he was discovered by a whole new generation of fans. Tragically, Perry died in 2019 at age 52.
Christina Ricci
Childhood success for Christina Ricci didn't immediately translate to success as an adult. She's always worked steadily, but her fame never quite reached the heights of her early career in The Addams Family. That changed in 2021 with Showtime's Yellowjackets.
Michelle Yeoh
Michelle Yeoh first found international fame with her roles in the James Bond movie Tomorrow Never Dies and Crouch Tiger, Hidden Dragon. She maintained a level of success, but she exploded to new heights with her Oscar-winning turn in 2022's Everything, Everywhere, All At Once.
Neve Campbell
Neve Campbell was huge in the '90s with her starring role in the show Party Of Five and movies like The Craft and Wild Things. In the early 2000s, she starred in the Scream franchise, but hit a lull after that. Recently, she's been back on top with roles in The Lincoln Lawyer and Twisted Metal.
Channing Tatum
Fans might not think that Channing Tatum has never had a career lull, but he has actually had a couple. He's always had to fight the idea that he's all looks and little substance (which is far from accurate), and that has affected his career at different points. He's always rebounded with strong performances like the one in Foxcatcher, however.
Jennifer Lawrence
Jennifer Lawrence's career hasn't really had a financial downturn, her lull was completely her choice. After a couple of poorly reviewed films and becoming the most famous victim of the iPhone hacking scandal, Lawrence stepped away from acting for two years in 2019. She triumphantly returned in the great movie Don't Look Up in 2021.
Patrick Dempsey
Patrick Dempsey was first famous for starring in teen comedies like Loverboy and Can't Buy Me Love. He bounced around for a few years after that, working steadily but hardly a star. That changed in a big way when he landed the role of Derek "McDreamy" Shepherd in 2005 on Grey's Anatomy.
Marlon Brando
The 1960s weren't kind to Marlon Brando. After establishing himself as a bonafide star and one of the finest actors of the 20th century in the '50s, his mercurial nature earned him a reputation as difficult to work with. A string of box office failures didn't help. Famously, he pushed hard to get the role of Vito Corleone in The Godfather, and wow, was that the right move! He won an Academy Award and reminded everyone how great an actor he was.
David Carradine
Leave it to Quentin Tarantino to help revive a star's career like he did with John Travolta. David Carradine was huge in the 1970s as the star of Kung Fu, and while he always found work, it took until Kill Bill in 2003 that he found that same level of fame again.
Kiefer Sutherland
After becoming one of the biggest teen idols of the '80s, Kiefer Sutherland spent most of the '90s in smaller, supporting roles. In 2001, however, he landed the role of Jack Bauer in 24 and it became the part he's most known for, becoming a television icon over the run of the show.
Fame, as they say, is fleeting, and these actors prove there can always be a second act in Hollywood.
