The trajectory of a Hollywood career is often compared to a roller coaster, but for some promising actors, that coaster didn’t just dip; it flew right off the tracks. While the industry is famous for its second acts and “comeback kid” narratives, certain roles carry a specific kind of professional weight that can anchor an actor’s reputation to a single, disastrous moment in time. Whether it was a case of being miscast by a famous relative, taking a risky leap into a “prestige” project that backfired, or simply headlining one of the most expensive box office bombs in cinematic history, the following eight stars learned the hard way that one bad script can be a permanent career detour.
These aren’t just bad movies; these are “career-killers” that fundamentally shifted how the industry, and the public, viewed these once-rising stars.
1. Elizabeth Berkley: The ‘Showgirls’ Scandal That Stunned a Rising Star
In the early 1990s, Elizabeth Berkley was the ultimate “girl next door.” As Jessie Spano on the teen phenomenon Saved by the Bell, Berkley was a household name, known for her high-energy performance and relatable charm. However, her attempt to pivot from Saturday morning television to serious adult cinema resulted in one of the most notorious career pivots in history. When she was cast as Nomi Malone in Paul Verhoeven’s 1995 erotic drama Showgirls, Berkley was poised to be the next big thing. Instead, the film became a critical and commercial lightning rod, earning a dismal 23% on Rotten Tomatoes and an NC-17 rating that limited its reach.
The backlash against Berkley was immediate and exceptionally harsh. Critics didn’t just pan the film; they targeted her performance with a level of vitriol rarely seen in Hollywood. Decades later, Berkley has opened up about the experience, revealing the psychological toll of being the face of a “failure.” In a December 2025 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Berkley reflected on the pummeling she received, stating, “I couldn’t understand how people could be so cruel, but I’m tough. I had to separate out what they said from what I believed to be true.” She recalled how directors and talent agencies who had previously been eager to work with her suddenly turned their backs.
The director of the film, Paul Verhoeven, has since expressed regret for how Berkley was treated. Speaking in late 2025, Verhoeven admitted that the film “certainly ruined the career of Elizabeth Berkley in a major way,” noting that Hollywood essentially ostracized her while he and the writers escaped relatively unscathed. While Showgirls has achieved a bizarre “cult classic” status in recent years, celebrated for its campiness and excess, Berkley’s path to a leading-lady comeback never materialized.
She eventually found peace through her “Ask Elizabeth” program, helping young girls navigate self-esteem issues, but the “Nomi Malone” shadow remained a permanent fixture in her professional biography.
2. Taylor Kitsch: When ‘John Carter’ and ‘Battleship’ Sunk an A-List Dream
There was a moment in 2012 when Taylor Kitsch was inescapable. After winning hearts as the brooding Tim Riggins on the beloved series Friday Night Lights, Hollywood executives decided Kitsch was the industry’s next great action hero. He was handed the keys to two massive franchises in back-to-back months: Disney’s John Carter and Universal’s Battleship. On paper, Kitsch had hit the jackpot. In reality, he was about to lead two of the most significant box office disappointments of the decade. John Carter, a $250 million space epic, resulted in a $200 million writedown for Disney, becoming one of the largest financial “bombs” in cinematic history.
Critics were lukewarm at best, but the narrative that Kitsch was “box office poison” began to solidify before he even had a chance to defend his choices. Battleship followed shortly after, and while it fared slightly better internationally, it failed to ignite the domestic box office, earning just $65 million against a massive budget. This one-two punch effectively ended Kitsch’s run as a prospective A-list blockbuster lead. While he has maintained a steady career in respected projects like The Normal Heart and Waco, the “franchise man” era of his career died in 2012.
Industry analysts often point to Kitsch as a victim of the “blockbuster machine” rather than a lack of talent. The “resurfacing” of his name in discussions about career-ending roles usually highlights the danger of a studio over-investing in a single star before they have established a proven track record at the box office. Kitsch himself has remained humble about the period, often focusing on the work rather than the numbers, but the industry’s shift toward “proven” intellectual property over new leading men was cemented during his brief tenure at the top.
3. Paris Hilton: ‘The House of Wax’ and the End of a Hollywood Experiment
In the mid-2000s, Paris Hilton was the undisputed queen of reality television and tabloid culture. Following the success of The Simple Life, Hilton attempted to parlay her “famous for being famous” status into a legitimate acting career. She appeared in cameos on The O.C. and Veronica Mars, but her first major test came in the 2005 horror remake House of Wax. While the film actually holds a nostalgic place for some horror fans today, the reception at the time was brutal. Critics and audiences alike seemed more interested in the marketing campaign, which famously featured shirts that read “See Paris Die.”
The Hollywood Reporter’s assessment of her performance was particularly biting, suggesting she was “so bad she steals the show.” Despite the film making a modest profit, Hilton’s acting credibility was nonexistent. Any remaining hopes for a film career were effectively buried with 2008’s The Hottie and the Nottie. That film earned a staggeringly low 6% on Rotten Tomatoes and resulted in Hilton winning the Razzie Award for Worst Actress. One critic famously called it a “monument to Paris Hilton’s vanity.”
Online speculation and fan discourse regarding Hilton’s acting usually center on whether she was ever meant to be a serious actress or if her film roles were simply extensions of her “brand.” By 2010, Hilton had pivoted back to her strengths: DJing, business ventures, and reality TV. While she remains a cultural icon, her time as a Hollywood leading lady lasted about as long as a season of The Simple Life. The consensus remains that her persona was simply too large for any character she attempted to play, making her “uncastable” in traditional narrative cinema.
4. Eddie Murphy: The Double Blow of ‘Pluto Nash’ and ‘Norbit’
Eddie Murphy’s career in the ’80s and ’90s was nothing short of legendary. From SNL to Beverly Hills Cop, he was a force of nature. However, the early 2000s brought a series of projects that seemed to sap his momentum entirely. The first major blow was 2002’s The Adventures of Pluto Nash. With a budget of $100 million and a total domestic gross of just over $4 million, it remains one of the most disastrous financial failures in film history. Murphy himself eventually joked about the film, telling Barbara Walters, “I know two or three people that liked this movie.”
While Murphy initially survived Pluto Nash thanks to the Shrek franchise and an Oscar-nominated turn in Dreamgirls, it was 2007’s Norbit that many believe “derailed” his standing as a prestige actor. Released right as Oscar voting was taking place for Dreamgirls, the crude comedy (which holds a 9% on Rotten Tomatoes) was cited by many as the reason he lost the Academy Award to Alan Arkin. Murphy later admitted that the string of “shitty” movies he made in that era led to his decade-long hiatus from the screen.
In a 2025 interview with Complex, Murphy defended Norbit, noting that he wrote it with his brother Charlie and that audiences actually showed up for it (it grossed $159 million), even if critics didn’t. However, he was candid about the creative burnout he felt. “I was making shitty movies,” he told Marc Maron on his podcast. “I was like, ‘This isn’t fun. They’re giving me Razzies… let me just stop.’”
While Murphy has recently enjoyed a “Murph-aissance” with Dolemite Is My Name and Coming 2 America, the period between 2002 and 2012 remains a cautionary tale of how quickly a legend can lose their luster.
5. Sofia Coppola: The ‘Godfather Part III’ Backlash That Changed Her Path
Sometimes a career-ending role isn’t an end, but a redirection. Sofia Coppola was cast as Mary Corleone in The Godfather: Part III after Winona Ryder dropped out at the last minute. The pressure was immense: she was the daughter of the director, Francis Ford Coppola, playing a pivotal role in the final installment of the greatest cinematic trilogy ever made. The results were catastrophic for her acting aspirations. Critics were unmerciful, with many accusing her of “wrecking” the movie with a stiff, amateurish performance.
She “won” the Razzies for Worst Supporting Actress and Worst New Star in 1990. The narrative of nepotism was so strong that it effectively shut the door on her acting career before it had even begun. However, Sofia has since noted that she never really wanted to be an actress. She told The New York Times that she only did the role as a favor to her father. The silver lining, of course, is that she found her true calling behind the camera, eventually winning an Oscar for writing and directing Lost in Translation.
The “appearance discourse” and harsh criticism she faced at age 19 have been frequently cited as a prime example of the industry’s cruelty toward young women. While she “addressed speculation” regarding her talent by becoming one of the most respected directors of her generation, the shadow of The Godfather Part III serves as a reminder of how high-stakes casting can backfire. Today, she is a case study in resilience, proving that a disastrous debut doesn’t have to define a lifetime of work.
6. Jaden Smith: ‘After Earth’ and the Weight of Expectations
Following in the footsteps of a superstar father is never easy, but Jaden Smith initially made it look effortless with strong performances in The Pursuit of Happyness and the Karate Kid remake. That trajectory hit a wall with 2013’s After Earth. The sci-fi film, which featured Jaden alongside his father Will Smith, was panned by critics (12% on Rotten Tomatoes) and failed to resonate with audiences. Much of the criticism was directed at Jaden’s performance, which some reviewers described as wooden and uninspired.
Will Smith has since been incredibly open about the “excruciating” failure of the film, specifically because he felt he had led his son into a trap. In his memoir Will, the elder Smith wrote that “Jaden took the hit” for the film’s failure and that the press was “absolutely vicious.” The experience was so taxing that Jaden took a significant break from major Hollywood blockbusters, choosing instead to focus on music and fashion.
The discourse surrounding Jaden often touches on the “nepo baby” phenomenon and whether the pressure of carrying a $130 million movie at age 14 was fundamentally unfair. Unlike his father, Jaden has not returned to the world of high-budget action films, suggesting that the experience of After Earth may have permanently soured his interest in that specific lane of stardom. While he remains a cultural force in the music world, his “promising” acting career remains largely frozen in 2013.
7. Taylor Lautner: The ‘Abduction’ of a Heartthrob’s Career
As the Twilight saga came to a close, Taylor Lautner was one of the most famous young men on the planet. While costars Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart pivoted to indie films to prove their acting chops, Lautner attempted to become a traditional action star. His first big swing was 2011’s Abduction. The film was intended to be his Bourne Identity, but critics were having none of it. The New York Times review, titled “At Least His Abs Get a Workout,” was emblematic of the reception: he was compared to a robot “simulating human speech.”
The failure of Abduction to launch a new franchise was a significant blow to Lautner’s “leading man” status. He transitioned into comedic roles in Grown Ups 2 and the BBC series Cuckoo, but he never regained the momentum he had during the Twilight years. Lautner has since spoken about the “scary” reality of fame and how quickly the industry’s interest can shift once a franchise ends.
Online speculation often centers on why Lautner didn’t find the same longevity as his Twilight peers. Most analysts point to Abduction as the moment the industry decided he was a “niche” star rather than a universal lead. Lautner, however, seems at peace with his journey, recently launching a podcast with his wife and focusing more on his mental health and personal life than chasing the next big blockbuster.
8. Greta Garbo: ‘Two-Faced Woman’ and the Final Curtain
Even the Golden Age of Hollywood wasn’t immune to career-ending roles. Greta Garbo was one of the biggest stars in the world when she made 1941’s Two-Faced Woman. The film was a romantic comedy intended to “Americanize” her image, but it was met with a PR nightmare. The National Legion of Decency condemned the film as “immoral,” leading to bans in several cities and forced reshoots that Garbo despised.
The film’s 30% Rotten Tomatoes score (based on retrospective reviews) reflects the disappointment of the time. Critics panned her attempt at being a “madcap comedienne,” and the box office was dismal. Distraught by the reception and the studio’s handling of the project, Garbo walked away from Hollywood at age 36. Although she initially intended to return after World War II, she never did, famously stating, “I have made enough faces.”
The “Garbo Mystery” has persisted for decades, with many wondering if she would have returned had Two-Faced Woman been a hit. Her retirement became part of her legend, but the role itself remains the definitive “career-killer” of the 1940s. It stands as a reminder that even the most luminous stars can be extinguished by a single project that miscalculates their appeal.
