20 famous actors who struggled to find work after their big break

Believe it or not, one of the few people to achieve EGOT status struggled to find success after her Oscar-winning performance in West Side StoryThe multi-talented actress was constantly offered only stereotypical roles, which made it difficult for her to show her talent.

Halle Berry received an Oscar for her work in Monster Ballbut after that, the offers dried up (as other Oscar winners have said after winning the prestigious award). Eventually, her career took off again and today she is one of the most successful actresses of all time.

Quinton Aaron was thrilled when he got the role of Michael Oher in The big chancein the hope that the role would be good for his career. Unfortunately, he did not receive as many offers as he had hoped and it took several years before he got a job of any note.

Ashley Greene thought dusk was supposed to be her ticket to fame. Although she became known through the role, her life as an unsuccessful actress was caught up again after playing Alice Cullen in the series. Greene has found work after playing Alice Cullen in the series.duskbut nothing as big as the vampire movies.

Jacob Elordi became a sensation after his work on The kissing boothbut it took a while for him to get regular gigs after filming on the Netflix romantic comedy ended. After living in his car for a while, the actor finally booked euphoriaand the rest of his career is history in the making.

Mo’Nique was all the rage in 2009 when she starred in the film Valuableand her reign seemed to last until 2010, when she won an Oscar for her work. However, it would be 2014 before her name appeared in the credits of a project.

Drea de Matteo first became famous when she played the role of Adriana La Cerva in The Sopranosand later became known for her work on Desperate HousewivesUnfortunately, the source dried up for the Emmy winner and she later had to make a living by signing up to OnlyFans.

Jessica Alba hasn’t always had an easy time finding work as an actress. Fantastic Four The actress has said that casting agents couldn’t decide where she would fit best and her career suffered as a result. Today, Alba is such a successful businesswoman that she doesn’t even need to act.

For some, starring in a Disney Channel series as a teenager is a fast track to success – just ask Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez, Hilary Duff, Demi Lovato or Zendaya. That was not the case for Bella Thorne. After starring with Zendaya in Shake it upCasting agents were hesitant to hire her because of her Disney affiliation.

Bella Thorne isn’t the only former Disney actress who’s struggled to find work. After playing London Tipton in two hit Disney shows, Brenda Song had trouble getting gigs. She was even told she didn’t look Asian enough to get a role in the film. Crazy Rich Asiansas she passed on to Teen Vogue in 2019.

Macaulay Culkin will forever remain an icon for his work in the first two Home alone films, but like his wife, he struggled to find work after making it big with his contributions to the Christmas film industry. Culkin retired from acting at 14, but returned years later. Despite this, he had yet to land a role as big as Home alone.

Nika King thought her days as an unsuccessful actress were over when she landed a role in the hit HBO series euphoriabut she revealed that she was just as impatient for production on Season 3 to begin as her fans were, as she hadn’t worked in months and couldn’t pay her rent. Acting is definitely not an industry with job security.

Ke Huy Quan is no stranger to struggling to get roles. After a successful career in childhood, he went almost 10 years without success. Then, after his critically acclaimed role in Everything everywhere at oncehe got into trouble again and eventually lost his health insurance. After winning the Oscar, Quan’s career is back on track.

Michelle Yeoh experienced the opposite phenomenon of Everything everywhere at onceThe film gave her career a new lease of life after she had struggled to get a role for a long time. Now the Oscar winner is in the midst of a major career comeback.

Aidy Bryant was during her time at SNLbut how many SNL graduate, she had trouble finding work after she left. Rather than put up with the lack of work, Bryant decided to simply write her own roles, which led to her critically acclaimed Hulu series Shrill.

Oscar winner Laura Dern became a superstar after her work in Jurassic Park in the early 90s. However, after playing a gay character in the series EllenDern was unable to find work in Hollywood because she felt homophobia because of the role, even though she herself is not a lesbian.

Katherine Heigl was a darling of romantic comedies in the 2000s and played a significant role in Grey’s Anatomy. However, after a scandal that marked her as a difficult diva, Heigl struggled to find work in Hollywood for years. The Emmy winner has had a lot of success recently thanks to her roles in series such as Suits And Firefly Street.

Megan Fox’s career has been nothing short of interesting. She has had great highs, such as the lead role in Transformers And Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtlesbut it had low points, such as the critically panned Jennifer’s body and was taken from the Transformers series after insulting Michael Bay in the press. For a few years, Fox could only get a role in New Girl.

Liv Tyler has appeared in an incredible number of action films throughout her career, but she has found that the roles available to women in her age group are not as interesting as she gets older. Because of this, Tyler has not had a job as an on-screen actress since 2020.

Even Jim Carrey has struggled in his career. The superstar comedian has proven his acting skills time and time again, but despite his huge popularity among fans, the 2010s were not the best time for him and almost made him quit the business altogether. Carrey was without an acting job from 2016 to 2020.