Even the biggest of Hollywood celebs are not immune to box office bombs and questionable
life choices.
And when crap hits the fan, it’s usually difficult to bounce back.
Some have even totally disappeared to showbiz oblivion!
But not these A-listers who landed their career-defining roles that ultimately led to sweet redemption.
Let’s get to know these 10 Actors Who Revived Their Careers with One Performance!
What’s up, fact-natics!
This is Discovery Amuse, serving up your daily dose of the most outrageous, outlandish, and
out-of-this-world fun facts!
Our number one entry might as well be called Tinseltown’s Comeback King for successfully
reclaiming his status as action movie royalty.
Stick around to find out who that is!
On with the countdown!
#10: Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man) (“Big man in a suit of armor.
Take that off and what are you?
Iron Man: Genius billionaire playboy philanthropist.”)
At a young age though, RDJ was a genius, millionaire, child prodigy born into the limelight.
Having famous actors Robert Downey Sr. and Elsie Ford as parents, RDJ began his acting
career as early as five years old, and has eventually carved out a name for himself starring
in critical and commercial successes like Weird Science, The Pick-up Artist and Less
than Zero.
However, a string of substance abuse and legal troubles in the late ‘90s and early 2000s
caused his blossoming career to spiral down the drain.
He did fight tooth and nail to reclaim his rightful place in the Hollywood spotlight,
and after a few respectable blockbuster hits, in 2008, he finally struck gold with a role
of a lifetime.
(“Truth is…
I am Iron Man.”)
But did you know that RDJ was only paid a measly $500,000 for the first Iron Man movie?
Because Marvel took it as a gamble to hire the actor given his checkered past.
But RDJ proved the naysayers wrong when the Iron Man movies eventually became some of
the highest-grossing superhero films of all time.
And from half a million, RDJ was able to demand a whopping $150 Million paycheck for Infinity
War and Endgame.
(“You’ve been called the Da Vinci of our time.
What do you say to that?
Absolutely ridiculous, I don’t paint.”)
Stay tuned because our number one superstar came back with a vengeance—and a bloody
good one!
#9: Paul Bettany (Age of Ultron) A producer once told this British-American
actor that his career was already over.
That’s because after landing memorable roles in notable films like A Beautiful Mind, A
Knight’s Tale, and Master and Commander, Paul Bettany’s career really didn’t take
off.
(You are terribly naïve.
Well, I was born yesterday.)
He first became part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the voice of Iron Man’s A.I.
assistant, J.A.R.V.I.S.
(Jarvis) in 2008’s Iron Man.
But what really changed the course of his career was a fateful call from director Joss
Whedon, who offered him the now iconic role of Vision in 2015 Avengers: Age of Ultron.
(I’m sorry I was odd.
Thank you.)
He then went on to reprise his role in three more Marvel movies, and eventually joined
the Star Wars franchise.
Guess who has the last laugh now!
#8: Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler) Mickey Rourke had movie critics raving about
his performances in the 1987 films Barfly and Angel Heart.
But as time went by, he became notoriously difficult to work with.
Filmmaker Sir Alan Parker even described working with Rourke as a nightmare.
(You hate them?
No. but I seem to feel better when they’re not around.)
Rourke then decided to become a professional boxer in 1991.
After three years, he went back to acting and did a few supporting roles here and there.
However, his lackluster comeback frustrated Rourke, who even went as far as calling himself
a “has-been.”
(Girl: Why do you live like a bum?
Mickey: I am a bum.)
But something unexpected happened when he starred as the hulking Marv in the 2005 neo-noir
movie Sin City.
He actually earned praises from critics!
(There’s no choices left.
And I’m ready for war.)
And ready for war indeed he was when three years later, Rourke starred in Darren Aronofsky’s
critically-acclaimed film The Wrestler as an ageing fighter who struggles to build a
new life outside the ring.
(Hey, you hear them?
This is where I belong.)
The role earned Rourke an Oscar nod, won him a BAFTA statue, and propelled him back to
A-list status.
Now that’s a real-life hero’s journey if I ever saw one.
#7: Michael Keaton (Birdman) Night Shift, Gung Ho, and Beetlejuice were
just some of the box-office hits that helped Michael Keaton become a household name.
But his unforgettable turn as the Caped Crusader in 1989 cemented his status as one of the
most sought-after leading actors.
(Michael: Now you wanna get nuts?
Come on, let’s get nuts!)
But when director Tim Burton, to whom Keaton mostly owes his cinematic success, left the
Batman franchise, the actor followed suit.
Unfortunately, the next films that he starred in in the years that followed mostly went
under the moviegoers’ radar, which left people asking, “Where in the world is Michael
Keaton?”
(I’m going downstairs and sleep on the fat couch fighting you to the door.)
But in 2014, the world was re-introduced to the criminally underappreicated actor when
he played a has-been movie star named Riggan Thomson in the Oscar-nominated film Birdman.
(Well I’m sorry if I’m popular Mike…
Edward: I don’t give a shit.
Popular?
Popularity is the slutty little cousin of prestige.)
Perhaps the way Riggan’s character mirrored Keaton’s own career gave his performance
the gravitas it needed.
Whatever it is, Birdman was indeed a long overdue comeback.
#6: Drew Barrymore (Scream) Who knew having your character killed off
during the movie’s opening sequence could ironically bring your career back to life?
The first 10 minutes of the 1997 horror flick Scream was so shocking, it made the movie
one of the decade’s defining films and inspired a host of hilarious spoofs!
Despite Barrymore’s limited screen time, Scream undeniably put her back on the Hollywood
map, years after she gained a fair amount of popularity as a child star in movies like
Firestarter and of course, E.T!
Little Drew’s troubled youth didn’t do her career any favors.
Remember the time she flashed David Letterman?
But, you know, Tinseltown is all about giving celebs a second chance, and after her memorable
role as Casey Becker in Scream, Barrymore went on to star in The Wedding Singer, Never
Been Kissed, and Charlie’s Angels, and she grew up to become the rom-com queen of the
90s.
(I have to be speechless!
I have no words!
That’s never happened to me!)
#5: John Travolta (Pulp Fiction) In the ‘70s, John Travolta’s box office
record was as sleek as Danny Zuko’s hair.
He starred in a string of hits such as Saturday Night Fever, Carrie, and of course the classic
musical Grease!
However, the turn of the decade wasn’t as peachy for the matinee idol.
His movies during the ‘80s ended up as commercial and critical duds.
Even a reunion with his former co-star Olivia Newton-John in Two of a Kind wasn’t enough
to shift his acting career back into high gear.
(Look, all I know is suddenly the place was flooded and everybody started throwing food,
that’s all I know.)
But the 90’s proved to be loads kinder to Travolta, and his flatlining career was resuscitated
when he played the volatile Vincent Vega in the 1994 Quentin Tarantino cult classic Pulp
Fiction.
Aside from his top-notch acting, Travolta’s Santa dancing also became so iconic that it’s
been parodied a million times over!
Even the actor himself recently paid homage to his own legendary boogie!
#4: Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool) Do you still remember the time when Ryan Reynolds
played Green Lantern in 2011?
It was so bad that everyone thought Reynolds would never be seen anywhere near a superhero
costume ever again.
(By the power of gray skull.
Come on!
What the hell!)
What came next was a slew of mediocre romantic comedies that almost trapped Reynolds into
the stereotypical movie hunk box.
Until in 2016, Reynolds broke the superhero mold when he played the irreverent, foul-mouthed,
twistedly funny antihero Deadpool!
(Mega sonic teenage what the shit?!)
The off-kilter, R-rated movie was met with unexpected success, and carved out a spot
for Reynolds in the already overcrowded superhero genre.
Who knew a cancer-stricken hero who looks like an avocado had sex with an older avocado
was what the world actually needed!
(Okay guys, let’s get out there and make a difference!
You know what to do.)
#3 Liam Neeson (Taken) These days, when we speak of Liam Neeson,
we automatically picture a badass middle-aged man who can single-handedly take down a whole
gang of baddies.
Who would’ve thought that just when he was nearing 60, Neeson would actually become an
unlikely butt-kicking action star?
(I will find you, and I will kill you.)
Oops, sorry man.
Didn’t mean no offense.
But when the movie Taken was released in 2008, even Neeson thought it would go straight to
DVD!
However, action fans ate the movie up and it inadvertently gave birth to the “tough
old man” action sub-genre.
Even though the character of Brian Mills wasn’t his first foray into action territory, Neeson
was better known in the past for his more dramatic roles in Schindler’s List and Kinsey.
I guess you could say the very particular set of skills he has acquired over the years
has groomed Neeson into the full-fledged action hero he is today.
( I told you I would find you.)
#2 Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club) Before establishing himself as a serious actor,
Matthew McConaughey spent a good chunk of his career starring in run-off-the-mill romcoms
such as Failure to Launch, Fool’s Gold and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past back in the 2000s.
(Get over it, it was years ago!)
But just when everyone dismissed him as just your average handsome leading man, McConaughey
reinvented himself after a 2-year hiatus and starred as the HIV-stricken cowboy named Ron
Woodroof in the 2013 Oscar-nominated film Dallas Buyers Club.
And with that, the McConaissance.
(Maybe one day you’ll get off your ass and do your fucking job!)
For the role, McConaughey lost a huge amount of weight, listened to the real-life Ron Woodroof’s
taped interviews, and met Woodroof’s family to get into the character that won him a well-deserved
Oscar.
Talk about dedication!
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#1: Keanu Reeves (John Wick) Before all those Sad Keanu memes went viral,
he has already achieved massive popularity thanks to his remarkable turn as Neo in the
1999 sci-fi hit The Matrix.
The movie was so successful that it’s considered one of the greatest sci-fi movies of all time.
However, when the franchise ended, Keanu’s succeeding filmography became a mixed bag
of romcoms, dramas and thrillers that didn’t really boost his career to greater heights.
But it seemed like being an action hero was written in Keanu’s stars because when he
went back to his ball-busting, gun-shooting roots in the 2014 film John Wick, he gained
a whole new legion of fans who praised his nuanced performance as an ex-hit man.
The movie spawned 2 more sequels and brought him back the title of Hollywood’s most beloved
actor—and everyone’s favorite internet boyfriend.
So, who among these thespians is your personal hero?
Tells us about it in the comments section below.
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Want more controversial celebrity scoop?
Then check out our list of 11 Most Difficult Actors to Work With!
‘Til then, stay talented, fact-natics!
And see you in the next video!