'90s stars who made the biggest Hollywood comebacks
Some of Hollywood’s biggest stars of the 1990s completely stepped away from the spotlight, only to come back even stronger. From award-winning performances to unexpected career pivots, these stars prove that taking a break is sometimes necessary. Renée Zellweger became a household name thanks to films like ‘Jerry Maguire’ and ‘Bridget Jones’s Diary.’ She even earned an Oscar for her role in the 2003 film Cold Mountain.’ After years of work, she took a six-year break from acting. In an interview with British Vogue, she admitted that she was “sick of the sound" of her own voice. During her time away, she focused on her life outside of Hollywood before returning in 2016 with ‘Bridget Jones’s Baby.’ She later went on to win another Oscar for her portrayal of Judy Garland in the 2019 hit ‘Judy.’ Matthew McConaughey followed a similar path. He stepped away from Hollywood in the early 2010s, after dominating romantic comedies for years. He later described the uncertainty, telling Interview Magazine, “It was scary.” That pause led to what fans now call the “McConaissance,” a career resurgence that led to standout roles in ‘Dallas Buyers Club’, ‘True Detective’, and ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’. Cameron Diaz broke through with her role in the ’90s classic ‘The Mask,’ before stepping away from acting in 2014 to focus on family life. She later explained at Fortune’s ‘Most Powerful Women Summit,’ that it “felt like something I had to do to reclaim my own life.” She returned to screens for the first time in a decade in the 2025 Netflix film ‘Back in Action.’ Then there’s Josh Hartnett, who also stepped away from Hollywood at his peak. Hartnett first rose to fame in the ’90s with projects like ‘The Virgin Suicides’ and ‘Pearl Harbor’, but he later opened up about struggling with the intensity of fame. He even once told The Guardian, "I just didn’t want my life to be swallowed up by my work. And there was a notion at that time you just kind of give it all up.” However, Hartnett did eventually choose to return to the industry, and has since worked on projects like ‘Oppenheimer’, ‘Penny Dreadful’ and ‘Black Mirror’.
2026-05-07T13:42:09Z
No other film let people dress like this in public - The rise of Rocky Horror
What starts as a bizarre low-budget musical quickly becomes one of the most important queer cultural phenomena in modern history. Released in 1975 to weak reviews and nearly abandoned by studios, The Rocky Horror Picture Show initially looked like a complete failure — an absurd sci-fi comedy filled with campy dialogue, drag performances, sexual chaos, fishnets, horror references, glam rock aesthetics, and wildly unconventional characters. But beneath all the weirdness was something much more radical for its time: a public celebration of gender nonconformity, queer sexuality, self-expression, and liberation during an era when openly queer people still faced enormous social hostility and violence. The video traces Rocky Horror’s origins through the glam rock explosion of the early 1970s, the aftermath of the Stonewall riots, and creator Richard O’Brien’s fascination with gender fluidity, camp theater, and old horror films. At first, the movie struggled commercially — until midnight screenings slowly transformed it into something entirely new. Audience members began shouting jokes at the screen, dressing in costume, performing scenes live in front of the movie, and eventually turning screenings into massive communal rituals built around participation and freedom. Over time, these screenings evolved into safe spaces where queer people could publicly experiment with clothing, drag, sexuality, and identity in ways mainstream society still heavily punished outside theater walls.
2026-05-13T10:01:58Z
The Goonies cast then and now: 40+ years later
Over four decades after ‘The Goonies’ first hit theaters, the beloved adventure classic still has fans chanting “Goonies never say die.” Released in 1985, the film became one of the defining movies of the decade. Several cast members went on to have hugely successful careers in Hollywood. Sean Astin, who played Mikey, later starred in hits like ‘Rudy’ and famously portrayed Samwise Gamgee in ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring’ and its sequels. More recently, he appeared in the hit Netflix series ‘Stranger Things’, portraying fan-favorite Bob. Ke Huy Quan experienced a remarkable Hollywood comeback after struggling to find acting opportunities for years. He once told People magazine, “It was tough. I was waiting for the phone to ring, and it rarely did.” Quan eventually returned to the spotlight with his Oscar-winning role in ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’. He also voiced Gary De'Snake in ‘Zootopia 2’. Josh Brolin became a major movie star thanks to films like ‘No Country for Old Men’ and the ‘Dune’ franchise. He is also known among younger audiences for portraying Thanos, the main villain in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Corey Feldman cemented his status in Hollywood after his roles in other iconic '80s projects, such as 'Stand by Me' and 'The Lost Boys'. In 2013, he released a memoir titled ‘Coreyography: A Memoir’, where he opened up about several traumatic experiences he had as a child star.
2026-05-13T14:27:11Z
‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ then & now: Where is the cast today
If you’re still laughing over awkward encounters and cringe-worthy moments from ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’, you’re not alone. The long-running improv comedy, created by Larry David, has kept fans hooked since its debut in 2000, with David playing an exaggerated version of himself navigating everyday disasters with painfully funny results. At the center of it all was Larry David, who previously rose to fame as the co-creator of ‘Seinfeld’. Now in his late seventies, he’s still shaping comedy, with a new HBO sketch series in the works, which he is writing, producing, and also starring in. The project is set to premiere in June 2026 and is being produced by Barack and Michelle Obama’s company, Higher Ground Productions. Cheryl Hines, who played Larry’s on-screen wife Cheryl David, has also remained active in film and television. She has appeared in projects such as ‘RV,’ ‘Waitress,’ and ‘The Ugly Truth.’ She’s also maintained a high-profile life in Washington, DC, thanks in part to her husband, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was appointed US Secretary of Health and Human Services in 2025. Jeff Garlin, known for his role as Jeff Greene, also served as an executive producer on the series. Garlin has built an extensive career across TV and film, appearing in the hit comedy series ‘The Goldbergs’ while also lending his voice to major animated films, including Pixar’s ‘WALL-E’ and the ‘Toy Story’ franchise. And then there’s Susie Essman, who played the fiery Susie Greene. Essman has remained active in recent years, continuing to do voice work on hit animated series like ‘The Simpsons’ and ‘Bob’s Burgers.’
2026-05-11T12:12:08Z
Hollywood acting careers ruined by a single role
Most actors can survive a box office failure or a poorly received performance. But every so often, a single role changes the course of a career entirely, reshaping how audiences and studios view a star almost overnight. Here are some acting careers that were completely derailed by one role… Faye Dunaway’s performance in 1981’s ‘Mommie Dearest’ quickly became one of the most infamous of her career. Playing Joan Crawford in an adaptation of Christina Crawford’s memoir, Dunaway delivered a performance that swung wildly between intense and theatrical, becoming far more talked about than the film itself. Although the movie later gained a cult following, its initial reception was brutal, earning Dunaway some of the worst reviews of her career and damaging her standing as a leading actress throughout the 1980s. Expectations were equally high for Elizabeth Berkley in 1995’s ‘Showgirls.’ Coming off the success of ‘Saved by the Bell,’ the film was expected to launch her into Hollywood stardom. Instead, the reaction to the film was overwhelmingly negative, with Berkley becoming the focus of much of the criticism. In later years, opinions around both the film and her performance have softened, but the damage to her film career had already been done. Sofia Coppola’s role in ‘The Godfather Part III’ became another example of a performance overshadowing everything around it. Cast at the last minute as Mary Corleone, Coppola faced immediate criticism upon the film’s release. Although she later found enormous success as a director, the response to the role effectively ended her acting career before it had even begun. For Brandon Routh, ‘Superman Returns’ was supposed to be a breakthrough moment. Chosen to lead Bryan Singer’s reboot in 2006, he carried huge expectations stepping into such an iconic role. While the film itself received a mixed response, Routh struggled to turn the performance into long-term movie stardom, with much of his later success coming instead through TV.
2026-05-13T16:57:06Z