To us, being a celebrity seems like the dream.
Having a status that grants you power, fame and even fortune.
Celebrities live a life of luxury that most of us could only dream of having.
Yes, despite that fact, being a celebrity isn’t always something to aspire to, it
has its downsides and can often lead to a star turning away from the spotlight.
So today on Top 10 Beyond The Screen, I’m going to be counting down our list of the
Top 10 Biggest Celebrities Who Gave Up On Fame - Part 2.
Let’s jump in.
10 Rick Moranis Rick Moranis is an actor from most of our
childhood, and starred in some of our favorite movies growing up, including, Ghostbusters,
Little Shop of Horrors, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, and The Flintstones.
However, sadly in 1991, Rick’s wife Ann died of cancer, which in turn resulted in
Rick taking a hiatus from acting.
Stating, I quote, “I’m a single parent and I just found that it was too difficult
to manage to raise my kids and to do the traveling involved in making movies.
So I took a little bit of a break.
And the little bit of a break turned into a longer break, and then I found that I really
didn’t miss it.”
The former actor even declined a cameo appearance in 2016’s Ghostbusters reboot.
The actor now states that he hasn’t retired from acting, and is instead more selective
about future roles.
Moranis appears every now and then, but you won’t find him in any big projects like
he used to.
9 Lisa Jakub Lisa Jakub is a former Candian actor, famous
for appearing in works such as Mrs. Doubtfire, A Pig’s Tale, Independence Day, and A Walk
on the Moon.
However, in 2001 Lisa retired from acting at the age of 22 and moved to Virginia and
married her longtime partner and former Hollywood theatre manager, Jeremy Jones in 2005.
She has been incredibly transparent about acting, stating that she has no plans whatsoever
to return to the entertainment industry, and instead has become a writer.
Authoring two books, You Look Like That Girl and Not JUst Me.
Lisa is also a qualified Kripalu Yoga teacher, and also writes about her battles with anxiety,
depression, and panic attacks on her online blog.
8 Phoebe Cates Phoebe Cates isn’t a name that will ring
a bell for you younger viewers out, I mean, maybe not even for older viewers.
This actress was a star for a short amount of time in the 80’s, appearing in classic
such as Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Gremlins, and my favorite, Drop Dead Fred.
However, the last film this actress appeared in was back in 2001, 18 years ago.
So what happened?
Why did she disappear from Hollywood, and why did she give up on fame?
Well the actress married actor Kevin Kline and changed her name to Phoebe Cates Kline,
before they moved to New York City with their two children.
In 2005, Phoebe went on to open her own boutique called Blue Tree on New York’s Madison Avenue.
7 Kris Humphries Kris Humphires is a former basketball player,
most notable for playing for New Jersey and Brooklyn Nets as well as for his hometown
team, the Minnesota Timerberwolves.
However, this star is largely famous for marrying socialite Kim Kardashian whom he began dating
in October 2010 before marrying on August 20th, 2011.
However, after just 72 days of marriage Kim filed for divorce, with many news outlets
claiming the relationship was nothing more than a publicity stunt for financial gain
orchestrated by E! Entertainment in order to promote Keeping Up With The Kardashians.
On September 25th, 2017 the basketball player signed with the Philadelphia 76ers but was
ultimately cut, leading to Humphires retirement on March 26th, 2019.
Following his retirement, the star moved back home to Minneapolis and started franchising
fast-casual restaurants.
6 Nikki Blonsky Nikki Blonsky shot to fame when she starred
alongside Zac Efron, Michelle Pfieffer, Chirstopher Walken, and John Travolta in the 2007 Musical
Hairspray.
Most marked it as the beginning of a long career for the newcomer, however, it didn’t
pan out that way.
The actress did go on to land a lead role on ABC Family’s “Huge”, however it was
cancelled after just one season.
After the cancellation of the show, the actress went on to be involved in a widely public
scandal, in July 2008, when Blonsky and her parents were involved in a violent confrontation
with the family of Bianca Golden, a former contestant on America’s Next Top Model at
an airport.
However, the charges were later dropped.
In 2011, Blonsky went back to school and earned herself a cosmetology license and began working
part-time as a hairstylist and make-up artist in Great Neck, New York.
5 Kal Penn American actor and comedian, Kal Penn, had
a long and thriving career in Hollywood, with the actor appearing in projects between 1998
and 2018, in works such as Van Wilder, Dude, Where’s the Party?, Harold and Kumar Go
to White Castle, and Superman Returns.
However, in a surprising turn of events, the actor began to transition into politics, starting
back in 2007 when he became an advocate for Barack Obama, and a member of his National
Arts Policy Committee.
In 2009, Penn was offered the position of Associate Director of the White House Office
of Public Engagement in the Obama administration, which of course he accepted.
However, in 2017 he resigned from the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities in response
to President Trump’s remarks on the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
4 Ariana Richards Ariana Richards is a former actor who made
her debut all the way back in 1987 in Into the Homeland, a made-for-cable movie.
However, her most notable performance is as Lex Murphy in the first Jurassic Park film,
as well as Mindy Sterngood in the first Tremors movie.
She had quite the career in the 80’s and 90’s, however, like many child actors, her
success didn’t last long.
Instead Ariana decided to pursue her true passion, Art, and is an incredibly successful
artist.
Her paintings, usually of landscape and figures, tend to be in the style of the impressionists.
In 2015, she won first place in the National Professional Oil Painting Competition for
the painting of Lady of the Dahlias.
3 Gene Hackman Gene Hackman was a highly acclaimed actor
back in the day, starring in works such as Bonnie and Clyde, The French Connection, The
Poseidon Adventure, and The Conversation to name a few.
However, in the early 2000’s Gene left the acting world behind, during which time he
gave a rare interview with Larry King where he announced that he had no future projects
lined up and believed his acting career was over.
However, many don’t know that Gene is also a critically acclaimed writer, penning three
historical fiction novels: Wake of the Perdido Star, Justice for None, and Escape from Andersonville.
Not only that, but his first solo book came out back in 2011 entitled Playback at Morning
Peak.
In 2011 the former actor had an interview with GQ in which they asked if he would ever
return to acting, I quote, “If I could do it in my house, maybe, without them disturbing
anything and just one or two people.”
Hmmm, I don’t quite see that happening.
2 Dylan Sprouse Try not to confuse him with his incredibly
successful twin, Cole Sprouse, who stars in CW’s smash hit series Riverdale on Netflix.
Dylan Sprouse began as an actor, starring in Friends with his twin, as well as their
show The Suite Life of Zack and Cody on Disney channel.
However, Dylan didn’t quite have the passion for it like his twin, and instead attended
New York University studying Video Game Design, before opening an All-Wife Meadery in Williamsburg,
Brooklyn in 2018.
Mead, if you don’t know, is a speciality drink with a base of honey and various fermented
ingredients.
If you want to check it out, head on over to Brooklyn and say hi to Dylan.
1 Danny Lloyd You may not know his name, but you definitely
know who he is.
Danny Lloyd of course played the popular Danny in The Shining at the young age of six.
He was incredible, and had to act out truly horrific scenes while being tricked that he
wasn’t in fact in a horror film.
Well, I guess the experience of the movie was enough to drive him away from the world
of acting, because at the age of 10 he made the decision to retire from the entertainment
industry.
The former actor went to school, and in 2007 became a biology teacher at Elizabethtown
Community and Technical College in Kentucky.
Lloyd continues to attend conventions to talk about his iconic role, but you won’t find
him coming out of retirement for any more movie roles.
Well, there we have it!
Do you guys agree with our list?
Were there any celebrities that we missed?
Leave us all your thoughts and feelings in the comments down below and perhaps we can
do a part 3.
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turn on notifications so you never miss another Beyond The Screen vid.
And until next time, see ya later.