23 actors who made it big, then struggled to find work

Vanessa Hudgens was thankful for her big break from High School Musical, but she was frustrated with how it typecast her. The actress had some trouble finding roles for a while after the Disney success. 

Julia Stiles was one of Hollywood's biggest stars in her 20s, but as she aged, she had difficulty finding work and wondered whether her career was over. Things eventually turned around, but she still hasn't quite had the career renaissance she deserves. 

Jennifer Coolidge's resume looks long, but it hasn't always been smooth sailing for her. After winning an Emmy for her work in The White Lotus, she shared that she had relied on little jobs here and there to get by for many years after making it big. She credited the HBO show's creator, Mike White, with saving her career. 

Believe it or not, one of the few people to have reached EGOT status struggled to find work after her Oscar-winning performance in West Side Story. The multi-talented actress was repeatedly offered stereotypical roles, making it difficult to showcase her talent. 

Halle Berry won an Academy Award for her work in Monster’s Ball, but after that, the offers dried up (as other Oscar winners have said after winning the prestigious award). Eventually, her career got back on track, and now she's one of the most successful actresses of all time. 

Quinton Aaron was thrilled when he was cast as Michael Oher in The Blind Side, hopeful that the role would mean good things for his career. Unfortunately, the offers didn’t pour in as he’d hoped, and he went a few years without substantial work. 

Ashley Greene thought Twilight would be her ticket to stardom. Although she gained notoriety for the role of Alice Cullen in the series, the life of a struggling actor set back in. Greene has found work post-Twilight, but nothing as major as the vampire films. 

Jacob Elordi became a sensation after his work on The Kissing Booth, but it took him a little while before he was steadily landing gigs after filming on the Netflix rom-com had ended. After living in his car for a bit, the actor eventually booked a role in Euphoria, and the rest of his career is history. 

Mo'Nique was all the rage in 2009 when she co-starred in the film Precious, and her reign seemingly continued into 2010 when she won an Oscar for her work. However, it wouldn’t be until 2014 that her name would be in the acting credits of a project. 

Drea de Matteo first rose to prominence after starring as Adriana La Cerva in The Sopranos, and she later became known for her work on Desperate Housewives. Unfortunately, the well dried up for the Emmy winner, and she later had to make ends meet by signing up for OnlyFans.  

Jessica Alba didn't always have an easy time finding acting work. The Fantastic Four actress has shared that casting agents couldn't decide where she fit best, and her career suffered as a result. These days, Alba is such a successful businesswoman that she doesn't even need to act. 

For some, starring in a Disney Channel series as a teenager is a fast track to success — just ask Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez, Hilary Duff, Demi Lovato, or Zendaya. That was not the case for Bella Thorne. After working alongside Zendaya on Shake It Up, casting agents hesitated to hire her due to her Disney affiliation. 

Bella Thorne isn’t the only Disney alum who struggled to find work. After playing London Tipton on two successful Disney shows, Brenda Song had trouble booking gigs. She was even told she didn’t look Asian enough to have a role in the film Crazy Rich Asians, as she told Teen Vogue in 2019.

Macaulay Culkin will always be an icon for his work in the first two Home Alone films, but like his wife, he had a hard time finding work after making it big from his contributions to the Christmas movie industry. Culkin retired from acting at 14, but years later he returned. Still, he hasn’t had a role as big as Home Alone. 

Nika King thought that her days as a struggling actor were over when she landed a role on the hit HBO series Euphoria, but she revealed that she was just as anxious as fans for production on season 3 to start, as she hadn't worked in months and couldn't pay her rent. Acting is definitely not an industry with job security. 

Ke Huy Quan is no stranger to struggling to book roles. After a successful career in his childhood, he went nearly 10 years without landing anything. Then, after his critically acclaimed role in Everything Everywhere All At Once, he struggled again, eventually losing his health insurance. Post-Oscar win, Quan’s career is back on track. 

Michelle Yeoh experienced the opposite phenomenon from Everything Everywhere All At Once. The film jump-started her career again after she had found it difficult to be cast for quite some time. Now, the Oscar winner is in the middle of a major career resurgence. 

Aidy Bryant was notable in the comedy space during her time on SNL, but, like many SNL alums, she had difficulty finding work after she left. Rather than put up with the shortage of work, Bryant decided she'd simply write her own parts, which led to her critically acclaimed Hulu series Shrill. 

Oscar winner Laura Dern became a superstar after her work in Jurassic Park in the early '90s. However, after playing a gay character on the series Ellen, Dern was unable to book any work in Hollywood, experiencing homophobia from the role despite not being gay herself.  

Katherine Heigl was a rom-com darling in the 2000s and had a significant role in Grey’s Anatomy. However, after a scandal that labeled her a difficult diva, Heigl struggled to find work in Hollywood for years. The Emmy winner has had it a bit easier as of late thanks to her roles in series like Suits and Firefly Lane. 

Megan Fox's career has been nothing short of interesting. She's had high highs, like starring in Transformers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but she's had low lows, like the critically panned Jennifer’s Body and being axed from the Transformers series after dissing Michael Bay in the press. For a few years, all Fox could land was a role on New Girl.

Liv Tyler has been in an incredible number of action films throughout her career, but she's found that as she gets older, the roles available to women in her age group aren't as interesting. Consequently, Tyler hasn't had an on-screen acting job since 2020. 

Even Jim Carrey has had trouble in his career. The superstar comedian has proven his acting chops time and again, but despite being so popular among fans, the 2010s weren't the best era for him, nearly causing him to leave the business altogether. Carrey went from 2016 to 2020 without an acting job.