Movies That Sent Actor Careers Spiraling Downward

Ben Affleck was making a name for himself in Hollywood after starring alongside best friend Matt Damon in 1997's "Good Will Hunting." Affleck would later earn roles in blockbuster hits like "Armageddon," "Pearl Harbor," and "Changing Lanes." However, the A-lister almost became a D-list star when he starred in what was and still is regarded as one of the "worst movies ever released" – "Gigli." The 2003 film, starring his then-fiancée Jennifer Lopez, was one of the most expensive box office flops of all time, grossing around $6 million in the U.S. against a whopping $54 million budget (via Time). After a mere three weeks, the movie was pulled from theatres with Rotten Tomatoes' critic's census reading, "Bizarre and clumsily plotted. Gigli is a mess." 

"Gigli" was a disaster of a film for both Affleck and Lopez, or "Bennifer," as we called them. And while Lopez had music to fall back on, Affleck had to repair his status in the acting world. Thankfully, he bounced back from the film when he directed, produced, and starred in his own movie titled "Argo," which won him the Academy Award for Best Picture. While Affleck got over his movie flop, the same can't be said for many of the actors below. Several Hollywood stars have ruined their careers after just one movie role. Like, "Gigli," these films were also box office bombs, and the actors couldn't quite overcome their embarrassing roles. 

Elizabeth Berkley is best known for her role as the opinionated and intelligent teenager Jessie Spano on "Saved by the Bell," which debuted in 1989 and ended in 1993. When the show ended, Berkley pursued a much more adult role in director Paul Verhoeven's movie "Showgirls," which became the first big-budget film to be released in theaters with an NC-17 rating in the U.S. 

The 1995 movie was a commercial disaster with Roger Ebert calling it a "sleazefest" and The Guardian dubbing Berkley's performance as an erotic dancer "wildly overcommitted." Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly said of Berkley's acting, "As an actress, Berkley is, to put it mildly, limited. She has exactly two emotions: hot and bothered." She even nabbed multiple Razzie Awards for the film, including Worst Actress and Worst New Star, while Verhoeven was honored with the Worst Director award. It certainly wasn't the way Berkley imagined she'd transition from a teen role on a sitcom to a prominent actor, and unfortunately, it tarnished her career. 

Berkley's career spiraled downward after her role in "Showgirls," but she has appeared in several seasons of "CSI: Miami," "The L Word," and "Law & Order: Criminal Intent." She also found work appearing in Lifetime classic "Student Seduction." In 2020, her teen hit sitcom "Saved By the Bell" was rebooted with Berkley starring as a guidance counselor of Bayside High, however, she's yet to nab a starring role since "Showgirls." 

After starring alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1996 Christmas family comedy "Jingle All the Way," Jake Lloyd was setting up to become a promising young star. Before he reached the age of ten, Lloyd was cast as a young Anakin Skywalker in 1999's "Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace," but while starring in a "Star Wars" film sounded like a dream role, Lloyd quit acting soon after. Sadly, Lloyd was bullied because of the part, stating, "Other children were really mean to me" and added that his school life "was really a living hell" (via Daily Mail). It also didn't help that many fans of the original "Star Wars" trilogy despised the film. 

According to TMZ, things took a turn for the worst for the retired actor after he was involved in a high-speed car chase with police that led to his arrest in 2015.  Lloyd was later moved from prison to a psychiatric facility for schizophrenia with his mother, Lisa Lloyd, providing a statement of her son's health to Geek News Now in 2020. "He has moved closer to his family and we are all working hard to help with this. He is still a kind and caring person and we hope to have him back to his fun and entertaining self as soon as possible," she shared. 

If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health, please contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.

Sofia Coppola never had plans to be an actor, but when Winona Ryder could not perform the part of Michael Corleone's teenage daughter, Mary, in "The Godfather III," Coppola's father, Francis Ford Coppola, the director of the film, suggested that she take on the role. Unfortunately, critics were not nice to Sofia when evaluating her performance in the final installment in "The Godfather" trilogy.

A review from The Washington Post stated that the film "isn't just a disappointment, it's a failure of heartbreaking proportions" and The New York Times wrote that Sofia's "gosling gracelessness comes close to wrecking the movie." While Sofia faced a ton of negativity, she took it all in stride because she never wanted to be a Hollywood star. In fact, she wanted to be a filmmaker — just like her father. She told The New York Times, "It was embarrassing to be thrown out to the public in that kind of way. But it wasn't my dream to be an actress, so I wasn't crushed. I had other interests. It didn't destroy me." Her father ended up blaming himself for including his daughter, stating, "They wanted to attack the picture, when, for some, it didn't live up to its promise. And they came after this 18-year-old girl, who had only done it for me."

Sofia eventually became a successful director with films under her belt like "The Virgin Suicides," "Lost in Translation," and "Marie Antoinette."   

Cuba Gooding Jr. was soaring high after his win for Best Supporting Actor at the 1997 Academy Awards for his portrayal of football player Rod Tidwell in "Jerry McGuire." The actor recalled to The Guardian that after he won the prestigious award he received calls of congratulations from A-list stars like Denzel Washington, Sidney Poitier, and Quincy Jones, who said, "You're part of the family now." But all the money and instant fame slowly started to fade away from the star after neglecting to take on other big roles and starring in box office flops. 

His career took a hit after declining to work in movies like Steven Spielberg's "Amistad" and Taylor Hackford's "Ray," which won Jamie Foxx Best Actor at the Oscars, per The Guardian. Gooding began working on straight-to-DVD films and then came 2003's "Boat Trip." Reviews of the film were harsh with J.R. Jones of the Chicago Reader stating, "Cuba Gooding Jr. is the kind of guy who does ten minutes of shtick every time the little light in the fridge comes on, and for years I've been waiting for him to just go away."

Gooding's career never recovered and in 2020, CNN reported that 30 women have since come forward accusing Gooding of sexual assault. 

If you or someone you know has been the victim of sexual assault, you can call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or visit RAINN.org for additional resources.

Chris Kattan was making a name for himself as a prominent comedian in Hollywood when he became part of the "Saturday Night Live" crew from 1996 to 2003. Kattan gave fans some of the most memorable characters from the show, including Mango, a male exotic dancer, Mr. Peepers, a man/monkey boy, and one of the Butabi Brothers with fellow "Saturday Night Live" member Will Ferrell. Kattan and Ferrell portrayed their characters in 1998's "A Night at the Roxbury," which received negative reviews, but has been one of the better movies to come out of an "SNL" skit. 

In 2001, Kattan landed a leading role in the film "Corky Romano," but it would be his last after disappointing reviews. The New York Times stated, "The film is a crushingly conventional mob comedy that also borrows more than a few pages from the Adam Sandler playbook," and adding, "Mr. Kattan offers a desperate eagerness to please, a far less charming quality." Interestingly, actor Robert Pattinson would list "Corky Romano" as one of his favorite movies, telling IndieWire, "Literally, that's one of the only films I've pissed my pants at."

The movie didn't help Kattan's career and he would star in movies with smaller roles and appear on a few television series. He was even a contestant on season 24 of "Dancing With the Stars" where he was the first celebrity eliminated, per People. 

Meg Ryan dominated the world of 90's romantic comedies when she starred in classics like "When Harry Met Sally," "Sleepless in Seattle," and "You've Got Mail." However, things took a turn for the worse in 2000 when her high-profiled career and her private life with actor and then-husband Dennis Quaid was on the rocks. While Ryan was known as a rom-com darling, it all proved different when photos emerged of the star getting cozy with her co-star Russell Crowe (via Entertainment Weekly) while filming Taylor Hackford's movie "Proof of Life." She and Quaid got divorced (with Ryan later sharing with InStyle that the reason for the split was Quaid being unfaithful) and her affair with Crowe ended up being short-lived.

The public turned on Ryan after her brief affair with Crowe and Hackford even blamed Ryan when the film bombed at the box office, bringing in over $32 million in the U.S. after costing $65 million to make. Talking about Ryan's affair with her co-star, Hackford told The Guardian, "It had an indelible and very destructive effect on the release of the film in the U.S. because the real-life story overpowered the film." When she later starred in 2003's "In the Cut," which also tanked, Ryan seemed to realize that Hollywood no longer loved the former queen of rom-coms, sharing with The New York Times, "I think the feeling with Hollywood was mutual. I felt done when they felt done, probably." 

Taylor Kitsch found stardom when he was cast as Tim Riggins in NBC's hit series "Friday Night Lights," and worked on the show until its final fifth season in 2011. However, while he would find work on big-budget films, Gawker reported that Kitsch became "a victim of the 'Friends' effect," where fans would unfortunately only recognize Kitsch from his role as a high school football player. 

It also didn't help Kitsch's career that he found himself starring in films that bombed at the box office and received plenty of negative reviews. His role in 2012's "John Carter" only proved Gawker's point when the film was called "a mess" by The New Yorker's David Denby and didn't set him apart from his television role. According to Box Office Mojo, the film had a budget of $250 million but embarrassingly grossed just a little over $73 million domestically. Next up for Kitsch was "Battleship," which also saw a budget upwards of $200 million and took in just over $65 million. Back-to-back box office bombs hurt Kitsch's career with Jeff Block of Yahoo! Entertainment stating, "There is no doubt that a studio would think twice about casting him as a lead after the poor performances of both 'Battleship' and 'John Carter.' He might still be on the list, but pretty far down, and certainly not the A-list."