25 A-List Hollywood Actors Who Fell the F Off

Hollywood is a harsh mistress. It's easy to forget the Joseph Gordon-Levitts and Zooey Deschanels of yesteryear, because they're forever being supplanted by newer, fresher faces. When stars fall off because of drugs, alcohol, or cult membership, it's front page news. But sometimes they make a string of bad flicks and fade out of the limelight, or some just walk away on their own terms. Some are perfectly well-adjusted to the glitz and glamor, but the phone stops ringing.

For whatever reason, stars often fade away. Here are some actors you see all over Netflix, but you no longer see at the box-office: These are 25 A-List Hollywood Actors Who Fell the Fuck Off.

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Written by Brenden Gallagher (@muddycreekU)

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Best Known For: Ghostbusters (1984), Spaceballs (1987)

Most Recent Project: Big Bully (1996)

Goofy glasses-face Moranis had one of the busiest decades of comedy stardom in recent memory, landing plum roles in Ghostbusters, Spaceballs and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. But he quickly grew tired of Hollywood. After losing his wife to breast cancer in 1991, Moranis found himself the single father of two children. The demands of raising his kids combined with his distaste for the attitudes of studio executives made his decision easy: He walked away.

Since his retirement, he has been named a member of the advisory committee of Humber College's comedy program, and received a Grammy nod for his work on the 2005 country comedy album The Agoraphobic Cowboy.

Best Known For: Scream (1996), Wild Things (1998)

Most Recent Project: The Glass Man (2011)

Roger Ebert once predicted big things for Neve Campbell. Of her work in Scream II, he said: "The camera loves her. She could become a really big star and then giggle at clips from this film at her AFI tribute."

It takes a little more than a ménage à trois in Wild Things and the role of leading lady's voice in Lion King 2: Simba's Pride to land that sort of tribute tribute. Still, Campbell has found a home in well-received, but not widely distributed indies, like Robert Altman's The Company. Yes, she's off the radar, but she still gets to work with the likes of William H. Macy and Jeremy Irons, so don't feel too bad.

Best Known For: Closer (2004), Children of Men (2006)

Most Recent Project: Shadow Dancer (2012)

After the one-two punch of Closer and Children of Men, Clive Owen was poised for eternal greatness—he was raw, manful, brutishly handsome. Speculation was rampant that he'd be the next James Bond. After Daniel Craig got the part, Owen graciously harbored little ill-will, though he did go as far as the parody the situation in the 2006 Pink Panther remake.

Owen's worked steadily since his pair of breakout performances, just not at the same level of attention.

Best Known For: X-Men (2000), Monster's Ball (2001)

Most Recent Project: Movie 43 (2013)

Between 1999 and 2001, Halle Berry took home an Emmy, Golden Globe, and an Oscar. In between collecting statues, she filmed the topless scene in Swordfish that countless middle-school boys have masturbated to. For several years after her award-winning rampage, she continued to get high-end work, but her career slowed drastically after Catwoman bombed.

Berry's continued to appear in films like Cloud Atlas and Frankie and Alice, but if you have a three-year run like she had, almost anything after will feel like falling off.

Best Known For: School Ties (1992), The Mummy (1999)

Most Recent Project: Stand Off (2011)

Say what you will about his daft expressions, Fraser had a dynamic early career. He moved from silly comedies like George of the Jungle to dramatic turns in films like Gods and Monsters to action stardom with The Mummy franchise. Since then, it's been nothing but bombs like Furry Vengeance.

Best Known For: Jerry Maguire (1996), Bridget Jones Diary (2001)

Most Recent Project: My Own Love Song (2010)

The sometimes difficult (Hollywood, patriarchy) transition from eye candy to critical acclaim was easier for Zellweger than most actresses. Though she put in her time with schlock like Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation, her acclaimed performances in Jerry Maguire, Bridget Jones Diary, and Cold Mountain cemented her as a leading lady.

Then she married Kenny Chesney, and it's all been downhill from there. The hits slowed down, leaving little more than Bridget Jones sequels.

Best Known For: The Phantom (1996), Titanic (1997)

Most Recent Project: The Ganzfield Experiment (2013)

Despite a fall from grace, Zane has never stopped working. The highest profile projects he's been involved with since 2000 have largely come from his own efforts. The Believer, which netted the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, happened because Zane worked hard to make it happen.

The baddie from Titantic is active in the operation of two production companies, RadioactiveGiant and 21st Century Filmworks, where he works to get films made even when he isn't starring in them.

Best Known For: Sixth Sense (1999), A.I. (2001)

Most Recent Project: Sassy Pants (2012)

IKEA is a great place to discover how dysfunctional your romantic relationship is. It's also a great place to find child stars. A talent scout came across Haley Joel Osment when he and his mother were walking through the furniture/home decor/Swedish meatball establishment in 1992.

HJO is best remembered for his role in The Sixth Sense, which gave us the line that every hack comedian parodied that year (and beyond): "I see dead people." As is often the case with child actors, the number of roles available to Osment fell off as he grew into adulthood.

The media tried to make a 2006 drunk driving incident fit the the classic "downward spiral" narrative, but it sounds like Osment is doing alright. He's graduated from NYU, done a short stint on Broadway, and is still acting, even if the films are smaller and more sporadic.

Best Known For: Black Hawk Down (2001), O (2001)

Most Recent Project: Stuck Between Stations (2011)

At one point, it looked like Superman was in Josh Hartnett's future. After his success in films like Black Hawk Down and O, everybody wanted a piece of the chiseled hunk. He was courted to star in a reboot involving the Man of Steel and appeared on every conceivable "hottest guy list." He was even named "Hottest Vegetarian Alive," in 2003. Then, the Hartnett heat cooled.

Occasionally taking a role, Hartnett's more about activism these days. He's involved in a campaign to raise awareness regarding East African drought and was a large part of Barack Obama's re-election campaign in Minnesota.

Best Known For: Diner (1982), Police Academy (1984), Three Men and a Baby (1987)

Most Recent Project: I Heart Shakey (2012)

How did Steve Guttenberg become a movie star? True, it was the '80s, but the question nags. In the classic episode of The Simpsons entitled "Homer the Great," it's posited thata secret organization is responsible for keeping Guttenberg active.

Now, the jokes have changed. An unforgettable episode of Party Down found Guttenberg playing himself: a rich thing to be gawked at, like an antique.

Best Known For: Mighty Aphrodite (1995), Romy and Michele's High School Reunion (1997)

Most Recent Project: Trade of Innocents (2012)

From a cinephile's perspective, when you start your career working with Whit Stillman, Woody Allen, and Spike Lee, you either continue to work with greatness, or you plummet. In a ten year span, Sorvino went from Oscar winner to Golden Globe nominee for a Lifetime movie.

Lately, Sorvino has gotten back to doing the sort of indies that brought her acclaim in the first place. And when we say indie, we mean indie: These films have titles like Like Dandelion Dust. So indie it hurts.

Best Known For: Batman (1989), L.A. Confidential (1997)

Most Recent Project: Black November (2012)

First she was a Bond Girl. Then she was Batman's love interest. Then, after time spent raising kids, she won an Oscar playing a prostitute. Then, nothing. Well, 8 Mile, but basically nothing. But this time, it was by choice.

Since, L.A. Confidential, she's worked sporadically, sharing her time with family and activism. Who can blame her? At 17 Basinger became a model and has been in the spotlight ever since.

Best Known For: Thelma and Louise (1991), A League of Their Own (1992)

Most Recent Project: In a World... (2013)

Neither a meltdown nor a loss of artistic passion brought about Geena Davis's fall-off moment. Davis has worked consistently since her award-winning performances in A League of Their Own, Thelma & Louis, and The Accidental Tourist, but you can divide her career into two distinct parts: Before Cutthroat Island and After Cutthroat Island. That debacle remains the biggest flop in cinematic history, with a net loss of $147,157,681 (with inflation).

Best Known For: Groundhog Day (1993), Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)

Most Recent Project: Breaking at the Edge (2013)

After garnering media attention for her modelling, MacDowell ascended to Hollywood. Unfortunately, she wasn't ready for the demands of acting. Her first film, Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes, had to be dubbed after she couldn't fake a British accent.

In the wake of the failure, MacDowell threw herself into method acting, training at the Actor's Studio, and emerged a few years later to star in Steven Soderbergh's game-changing Sex, Lies, and Videotape. The next five years brought a string of award nominations and prestigious roles. Just as success arrived, her A-list status fell away, leaving nothing but TV movies.

Best Known For: The Breakfast Club (1985), The Mighty Ducks (1992)

Most Recent Project: The Way (2010)

Though we think of Estevez as having faded from the public eye, his career still had more longevity than most of the Brat Pack. He was getting Disney money from the Mighty Ducks franchise when the others were struggling.

In recent years, Estevez has made his way behind the camera, directing episodes for shows likeCSI: NY, Numb3rs, and Criminal Minds.

Best Known For: Clueless (1995)

Most Recent Project: Ass Backwards (2013)

Clueless launched Alicia Silverstone's career into the stratosphere, resulting in a first-look deal for her production company and firmly cementing her A-list status. The level of critical and commercial success she found with Clueless never returned, however, as her subsequent '90s films were either poorly reviewed or made no money. Doesn't seem to have bothered SIlverstone; recent years have found her working on TV and in the theater.

Best Known For: Jerry Maguire (1996), As Good as it Gets (1997)

Most Recent Project: One in the Chamber (2012)

Cuba Gooding Jr.'s career looked to be on the up-and-up after his turn as "Show me the money!" football star Rod Tidwell in Jerry Maguire. Boy, everyone couldn't have been more wrong.

His choice of roles between the bright spots of 1997's As Good as it Gets and 2007's American Gangster are as bad as they come. It's a resume of pain and shame: dancing in heaven with Robin Williams for What Dreams May Come; existing in Michael Bay's Pearl Harbor; the damn snow dogs movie Snow Dogs; and Radio, of which nothing else need be said. That's how you turn exciting promise into automatic Razzie nominations.

His role in American Gangster was a fake. "Direct-to-DVD" is a permanent part of his agent's vocabulary.

Best Known For: Home Alone (1990), My Girl (1991)

Most Recent Project: Sex and Breakfast (2007)

When you begin acting at the age of 4, it's hard to sustain stardom; that said, few child actors have had as successful a career as Macaulay Culkin. The years since his childhood blockbusters have been spent in various, intriguing ways. Culkin has appeared in indie films, experimental work, and has turned his New York apartment into a painting workshop. He's also poked fun at his childhood success, going as far as to appear on WWE Raw after an obvious homage to Home Alone was made. Now if he could only get past those rumors that he's starving himself to death.

Best Known For: White Men Can't Jump (1992), Blade (1998)

Most Recent Project: Gallowwalkers (2012)

Younger filmgoers best remember Snipes as the star of the Blade trilogy, but this guy was everywhere in the early '90s. Jungle Fever. To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar. White Men Can't Jump. That's the whole of the '90s expressed in just three movies!

Alas, Snipes did not give his cut to the Man. He's now serving a three-year sentence for tax evasion in Pennsylvania.

Best Known For: Ghost (1990), A Few Good Men (1992)

Most Recent Project: Very Good Girls (2013)

There's a reason that Hollywood's leading ladies often hesitate when asked to bare it all. After a promising start to her career, with hits including Ghost and A Few Good Men, Moore became Hollywood's highest paid actress after signing on for Striptease. We'd wager that she'd give it all back if she could wipe that film from our collective memory.

Universally reviled, Striptease sunk Moore's career. What damage was left undone was taken care of with G.I. Jane. After these flops, Moore entered a long down period that's been periodically interrupted with indies and advertising campaigns. But hey, Margin Call was pretty good.

Best Known For: When Harry Met Sally (1989), Sleepless in Seattle (1993)

Most Recent Project: Serious Moonlight (2009)

When Harry Met Sally and its famous Katz's Deli orgasm announced Meg Ryan as America's sweetheart, catapulting her to superstardom. Though she sought roles that would challenge America's perception of her as a rom-com mainstay, her boy-meets-girl genre pictures dominated the decade. A series of critical missteps, including a brief dalliance with Russell Crowe and whatever you want to call In the Cut culminated in her taking a three-year hiatus from acting. Her return to the silver screen has been marked by a low profile, as she's focused on passion projects and indie films.

Best Known For: Lethal Weapon (1987), Braveheart (1995),

Most Recent Project: Get the Gringo (2012)

Will the world remember Mel Gibson as one of the most prolific movie stars of the '80s and '90s, or will he be remembered him as an angry bigot who's demons finally beat him? Gibson's passion for racist, sexist, and homophobic remarks has haunted him since the early '90s. His history of alcohol abuse has been hurting his personal and public life for decades. Though he was able to keep his demons in check for first part of his career, gaining a good reputation on set despite drinking "five pints of beer with breakfast," he's now known as little more than a media laughing stock.

Best Known For: Willow (1988), Tombstone (1993), Heat (1995)

Most Recent Project: Riddle (2013)

Kilmer's career had an auspicious start, as he was the youngest actor ever accepted to Julliard, but it didn't take long before he solidified his reputation for being difficult to work with. Rumors of a rivalry between Kilmer and Tom Cruise during the filming of Top Gun swirl to this day; the two supposedly brawled when the cameras were off.

In his 2001 book, Which Lie Did I Tell, William Goldman went into vivid detail regarding Kilmer's problematic behavior on the set of The Ghost and the Darkness. After a string of notorious tantrums on the set of The Island of Dr. Moreau, Kilmer was lectured by Brando to not confuse his talent with the size of his paycheck.

Even the most talented actors can't burn that many bridges, and outside of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Kilmer's career has slowed to a crawl after two decades of dickishness.

Best Known For: Wayne's World (1992), Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997), Shrek (2001)

Most Recent Project: Shrek Forever After (2010)

You can't blame a man for getting lazy with all that green monster money. Odds are, Mike Myers was a vital part of your childhood. Between Wayne's World, Austin Powers, and Shrek, he's been the vehicle for a decade's worth of funny quotes at the middle-school lunch table.

Someone should've warned him, though: The demands of a huge cartoon franchise can monopolize your creative output. Outside of the Shrek franchise, Myers has only had time for Razzies, with films like The Cat and the Hat and The Love Guru comprising most of his recent work.

Best Known For: Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), Notting Hill (1999)

Most Recent Project: Cloud Atlas (2012)

When 32-year-old Hugh Grant made Four Weddings and a Funeral, American Anglophiles finally found the sweetly neurotic dreamboat they'd been looking for. Grant's character in Funeral and his subsequent rom-com variations provided U.S. filmgoers with a docile hunk they could share tea and snuggles with. But you're thinking, All this over the guy my mom liked? Well, your mom has comptariots: Notting Hill and Funeral both broke box office records.

Desiring a change, Grant played womanizers in Bridget Jones Diary and About A Boy. The turn sapped him dry. After the 2009 flop, Did You Hear About the Morgans?, no one heard much from Grant.