Becoming famous isn’t easy, but staying famous is even harder. Big-name actors know this law of the jungle firsthand because the competition in Hollywood is very high. Every year thousands of young talents are trying to get into show business in the hope of getting a big role and becoming a star. Then something goes wrong, or they do something stupid on set, and suddenly they turn from heroes to zeroes overnight.
Here are seven Hollywood celebrities who became famous for their iconic roles, and then disappeared from the big screens for a long time.
1. Tobey Maguire
The role of Spider-Man made Tobey Maguire a top-tier Hollywood star, and his kiss with Kirsten Dunst is firmly nailed on the list of iconic kiss scenes. Later, he starred in two sequels, but that was it. The franchise was rebooted, and soon Andrew Garfield got the role, while Maguire never appeared in anything massive after that.
2. Jessica Alba
Jessica Alba’s breakthrough was the lead role in the series “Dark Angel,” and her most famous movie role was in “Sin City.” Subsequently, Jessica starred in several rom-coms, some C-rank action flicks, and of course, “The Fantastic Four.” Sadly, none of those films were as good as “Sin City,” so her popularity kind of wilted away. After focusing on becoming a business woman, Jessica was listed as one of the wealthiest entrepreneurs in the United States!
3. Taylor Lautner
Remember the cursed wolf boy from The Twilight Saga? Half of the girls all over the world were rooting for sparkling Pattinson and the other half for furry Lautner. I have to say, there were no winners in this war, only losers. But unlike his “Twilight” colleagues, Taylor never managed to gain a foothold on the big screen. In fact, the majority of films he starred in after series ended were hardly noticed by the audience.
4. Carrie-Anne Moss
Released in 1999, “The Matrix” instantly became a cult hit, and Carrie-Anne Moss, who played Trinity, woke up a celebrity. Then there were two Matrix sequels and a few Marvel/Netflix shows, but the role of Trinity remained her greatest achievement as an actress. Who knows what she’s up to now. Oh wait, we do know — she’ll reprise her role in “ The Matrix 4!”
5. Helen Hunt
Helen Hunt won four Emmy Awards and three Golden Globes and was later invited to star in the rom-com “As Good As It Gets,” which added an Oscar to her already impressive roster of awards. It would seem that she’d be a huge success in Hollywood, but critics were not amused with all her subsequent roles.
6. Macaulay Culkin
Macaulay Culkin is a real phenomenon. “Home Alone,” which made him wildly popular, was released over 30 years ago. After all this time, Culkin continues to appear in all sorts of yellow-page magazines, and love reading about his ups and downs, but Hollywood has given up on the poor guy. But hey, if they do that Home Alone reboot, he’ll definitely star in it!
7. Megan Fox
Like Jessica Alba, Megan Fox is regularly referred to as one of the most attractive and desirable women on the planet. Cute as she may be, her success in cinema is not that impressive. Her highest-grossing film was “The Transformers,” and after the release of its sequel, Megan Fox left the project. Some rumors state that she felt like her character was too difficult, and then there is the film’s director Michael Bay, who may have been too strict with her. Be that as it may, the big directors and producers seem to have put Megan’s name way at the bottom of the casting queue.
