18 Actors and Actresses Who Were Once World-Famous But Today Lead Much Quieter Lives

Every year, thousands of young people around the world storm theater colleges, hoping to enter. And the hopes are that they study, have a career, get great roles, appear in the spotlight, give autographs, and enjoy the love of their fans. But very few actors manage to play a single big role that is so memorable that fans remember them decades after a long break.

Eventually, some of us decide to go online in search of some information about these actors. Now, you don’t have to do this: because we’ve already done it for you.

Matthew Lillard

The star of Scream and Scooby-Doo had a nice career start in the ’90s and worked a lot in the 2000s, but lately, he mostly appears in series about crime. He’s even worked with David Lynch on the new Twin Peaks season.

Nikki Reed

It’s pretty hard to recognize Rosalie Hale from Twilight when you look at the photo on the right. The actress hasn’t had any big projects in her career since then, but we believe that her best roles have yet to come. And right now, she is an animal rights protector and works as a volunteer in shelters.

Eminem

There’s nothing surprising about the fact that this rap singer is on our list of actors: remember his role in 8 Mile. Today, Eminem is 50 years old, he has opened the Mom’s Spaghetti restaurant in Detroit, and he looks very stylish and melancholic in his latest photos.

Matt LeBlanc

Matt became famous worldwide thanks to the role of Joey in Friends. In the 2000s, he decided to take a break from his career, which lasted a bit longer than everyone expected. He didn’t make a huge comeback: first LeBlanc became one of the Top Gear hosts and then appeared in another sitcom. But we hope that this charismatic actor will get a great role in the near future.

Nicollette Sheridan

If you have seen at least a couple of Desperate Housewives episodes, you definitely remember Edie Britt, the real estate agent, famous for her scandalous nature and numerous romances. The actress that played Edie, Nicollette Sheridan, is a little like the character: she’s had big divorces, scandals, and lawsuits. She has done a lot of TV series, but decided to pause her career to help take care of her mom.

Devon Sawa

How many times have you watched Final Destination? We’ve seen it a lot. And we remember the cute guy from the first film that foresaw the tragedy and saved his friends from the plane.

It’s hard to recognize him today, because he’s all grown up. Sawa continues to appear in movies, but none have been incredibly successful.

Shannyn Sossamon

The actress became famous thanks to 40 Days and 40 Nights, One Missed Call, and a love duo with Heath Ledger in A Knight’s Tale. Shannyn mostly appears in independent films and shorts. She’s also busy raising her 2 sons.

Bridgette Wilson

At the age of 17, Bridgette Wilson took part in a beauty contest and won the crown. She decided to chase her dream and became an actress. The role of Sonya Blade in the iconic Mortal Kombat made her famous, and she is still connected to this character career wise — Wilson is the voice of Blade in the video games. Unfortunately, she hasn’t had any more serious work yet.

Jenna Fischer

Jenna Fischer is famous for the role of Pam, the secretary at the Dunder Mifflin paper company in The Office. After the release of the last episode, she’s been in several movies, like, The Giant Mechanical Man, directed by her husband Lee Kirk. And now, the star with the charming smile is the co-host of the Office Ladies podcast, and she also helps homeless animals.

Liv Tyler

Tyler became famous around the world thanks to the role of Grace in Armageddon and Arwen in The Lord of the Rings. She was recently in the sci-fi film Ad Astra with Brad Pitt. And we’d love to see her on the screen more often. Liv is currently busy raising 3 children and doing charity work.

Jack Gleeson

The Irish actor played Joffrey Baratheon in Game of Thrones, and then took a break from his career — only appearing in independent theater and the mini-series Am I Being Unreasonable? He recently married his old friend Róisín O’Mahony. They had a small ceremony, and Jack looked very happy.

Mädchen Amick

Shelly, the waitress from Twin Peaks, has broken many men’s hearts. Since then, she’s mostly appeared in music videos, TV series, and short films. Amick devotes her time to her family — she’s raising a daughter and son. What’s interesting is that her daughter Mina Tobias Amick-Alexis got into music and made a video tribute to Twin Peaks.

Billy Zane

The actor was great in the role of Cal Hockley in Titanic, and then he almost disappeared from the radar. Later, he had a few roles in movies and series, but none of them were worthy of his talent. He’s only 56 years old, and he’s got a lot of time to find a great role again.

Wentworth Miller

The actor first appeared in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. His character had a tough life there — he became a sea monster.

And Miller himself got the big role of Michael Scofield in Prison Break. After that, he’s been in other series and even written scripts. And a few years ago, he said that he wouldn’t play Scofield anymore and that Prison Break would not be returning.

Ivana Baquero

In Pan’s Labyrinth, the role of a small but very brave girl was played by Spanish actress Ivana Baquero. Today, she is 28 years old, and she has been in several series and movies, but she’s never quite achieved the success of her first film. We know that she is really talented, and her best roles are still yet to come.

Scott Mechlowicz

Scott started his career at 22 and instantly became famous after the film Eurotrip. He had a few great roles after that, but in 2018, he disappeared from the screens. We hope that he’ll make a comeback because he is only 41 years old. Many famous actors started their careers much later than that.

Rose McGowan

Rose McGowan’s most striking role to this day is considered the role of a witch in the TV series Charmed. It brought the actress worldwide popularity and the love of the public. After that, many directors offered her starring roles in their films. In the 2010s, however, Rose decided to focus on independent film. Today she does not appear on the screen very often but actively posts on Instagram.

Jennifer Love Hewitt

Everyone remembers the hottie from the comedy Heartbreakers (2001), right? In the late 90’s to early 00’s, there were several movies and TV series with Jennifer Love Hewitt released per year. However, over time, the actress appeared less and less onscreen, devoting more time to other areas. For example, she published several books, made music, and voiced characters in movies.

What actor or actress do you really miss seeing onscreen? Who do you think really needs the main role in a great movie?