The film industry is vibrant, but it is also tough. Viewers lavishly lavish their attention on actors, but if they are absent from the screens for an extended period of time, they are quickly forgotten. There are numerous examples of celebrities whose celebrity exploded and then rapidly faded. However, every now and then, a well-timed part might resurrect prior renown and popularity.
The stories of actresses and actors who broke their silence after a long period of creative silence inspired us. We compared celebrities’ parts from the heights of their careers to those that helped them reclaim their fame now.
Julian McMahon
After playing Cole, a half-demon, half-human in Charmed, the Australian actor gained popularity. Later, in the film Nip/Tuck, McMahon played a handsome and cynical plastic surgeon. From 2003 to 2010, he worked on the project, which earned him a Golden Globe nomination. However, something went wrong after that.
For a long time, McMahon was mostly seen in supporting roles until he was cast as a special agent, LaCroix, in the FBI in 2019. The actor was so good in the role that the show’s producers decided to make a spin-off called FBI: Most Wanted, featuring McMahon as the lead. The series was renewed in March of 2021, and filming for the third season began in April of that year.
Patricia Arquette
During the 1990s, Patricia Arquette was seen in a variety of roles. She was well-known for her appearance in the film Lost Highway. The actress’s career took a new turn in the middle of the 2000s owing to the show Medium, and in 2015, she received several significant accolades, including an Oscar and a Golden Globe for her work in the film Boyhood.
The soaring triumph, however, was quickly followed with calm and forgettable performances. Arquette had a stunning comeback a few years ago, starring in Escape at Dannemora (2018) and The Act, both miniseries (2019). Both projects were huge successes for the actress, earning her two more Golden Globe nominations.
Jensen Ackles
The longest-running series in Jensen Ackles’ career is without a doubt Supernatural, which he was a part of for 15 years. Dean Winchester rose to fame and fortune thanks to his portrayal of the demonic fighter. However, the show’s popularity began to wane, and Jensen was on the verge of joining the ranks of one-role actors.
In 2021, however, Ackles took on a completely different and exciting role: he played the soldier boy in the third season of The Boys, a show that recounts behind-the-scenes stories about the life of superheroes.
Linda Cardellini
Linda Cardellini is most known for her performance as Velma in the Scooby-Doo movie series. And, despite the fact that the actress has been actively filming for the past 25 years, the majority of her roles have been episodic and, as a result, have been overlooked by the general public.
Everything changed when Cardellini was cast in one of the lead parts in the Netflix comedy-drama series Dead to Me. This part aided the actress’s development and even earned her an Emmy nomination.
Brendan Fraser
In the 1990s and 2000s, Brendan Fraser was a huge star. In 1997, the actor starred as the lead character in George of the Jungle, a parody of the Tarzan cartoon, which was well-received. After that, he appeared in The Mummy trilogy, which increased Fraser’s fame even further. Despite these notable roles, Fraser vanished from the big screen at some point.
However, in recent years, the actor has once again wowed viewers with brilliant performances. In 2019, he starred in Doom Patrol as Robotman, and No Sudden Move, featuring Fraser, will be published in 2021. In this production, the actor will collaborate with a number of well-known personalities.
Jodie Foster
Many people are familiar with Jodie Foster from her portrayal as Clarice Starling in the cult film The Silence of the Lambs. The 27-year-work old’s was hailed by reviewers and earned her a second Academy Award nomination (she got the first one for her role in The Accused in 1989). She went on to play a variety of colourful characters in films such as Maverick, Anna and the King, and Panic Room. The actress, however, did not have a very good decade in the 2010s. She focused on producing and directing after taking a hiatus from acting.
The Mauritanian brought the actress back to the big screen in 2021, when she was 57 years old. Foster won her fourth Golden Globe for her performance as Nancy Hollander, a lawyer.
Christian Slater
Christian Slater began acting when he was a toddler. The role of a young monk in The Name of the Rose was the actor’s first big break. Slater then cemented his place in Hollywood by starring in the blockbuster Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and the Quentin Tarantino-scripted crime film True Romance. Slater’s career began to fade after his breakthrough in the 1990s. He starred in walk-through movies and TV series for many years.
When the Mr. Robot series premiered in 2015, everything changed. Slater made his movie debut in the character of Mr. Robot, a hacker who won him his first Golden Globe Award.
Christina Applegate
Christina Applegate excels in humorous roles, so it’s no surprise she rose to prominence in this genre. Applegate’s career was launched with the smash comedy Married… with Children, which she continued to film from 1987 until 1997. Following that, she appeared in films such as The Sweetest Thing and View from the Top, as well as the cult sitcom Friends, where she played Amy, Rachel’s sister. For this role, the actress was also nominated for an Emmy Award.
However, following a wave of popularity in the 1990s and early 2000s, Applegate’s filmography began to fill up with increasingly mundane and unimpressive productions. It appeared that her career was doomed. After the publication of Dead to Me, however, the actress resurfaced in the public eye. Her work on the production showcased her genuine acting potential, earning her Emmy and Golden Globe nods.
Omar Sy
After the release of The Intouchables, millions of people fell in love with Omar Sy, a French actor. The comedy-drama got multiple award nominations and became the highest-grossing non-English film in history at the box office. After such a success, it seems that all doors should have opened for the performer. Sy, on the other hand, has starred in a number of mediocre projects during the last decade.
However, Sy was approached to play the lead role in the Lupin series, which is about the exploits of a noble robber, by Netflix producers in 2021. The initiative has become one of the most talked-about and popular TV shows of the year, re-establishing Sy as a global celebrity.
Natasha Lyonne
Natasha Lyonne began her acting career at the age of 16, when she was cast in Woody Allen’s film, Everyone Says I Love You. She rose to prominence after playing Jessica in the comedy American Pie. She also appeared in additional box-office films, but she was unable to completely realise her potential.
With the debut of Orange Is the New Black in 2013, the situation altered. Lyonne regained her previous level of prominence because to this role. The actress’s success was further solidified in 2019 when she was cast in the Russian Doll project. Viewers and critics alike praised Lyonne’s performance, and the television show got 12 Emmy nominations.
Macaulay Culkin
Macaulay Culkin was on the verge of becoming the most popular child actor of the 1990s. However, as he grew older, he was unable to maintain his celebrity status and vanished from the big screen for a long time. In 2012, he formed The Pizza Underground, a rock band that disbanded in 2018. Culkin, on the other hand, is gradually garnering public recognition nowadays. In 2019, he starred in the film Dollface and is currently filming a new season of American Horror Story.
Freddie Highmore
At the age of seven, Freddie Highmore began acting in films. This charming child is best remembered for his part as the lead character in Tim Burton’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which he played when he was 13 years old. Arthur and the Invisibles, a fantasy series directed by Luc Besson, was also a big success.
Highmore continued to work on other projects throughout his career, but it wasn’t until 2013 that he was cast as the lead in the Bates Motel drama series that people began to notice him again. The actor’s true affection for him was revived thanks to his performance in The Good Doctor as Dr. Shaun Murphy, a young surgeon with autism. The 25-year-old actor was nominated for a Golden Globe and won a Critics’ Choice Television Award for his work.
Which celebrities from the past would you like to see on the big screen once more?
Preview photo credit Charlie and the Chocolate Factory / Warner Bros. Pictures, The Good Doctor / ABC
