Actors Hollywood Won't Cast In 2018

It's hard to pinpoint which unknown actors today will become international superstars tomorrow, but it gets a little easier to predict which current stars might fall off the map. Whether it's a household name struggling to land the next big hit or an iconic star tarnished by controversy, here's a list of actors Hollywood likely won't cast in 2018. 

Kevin Spacey

After an onslaught of sexual assault allegations from more than a dozen accusers, it appears Kevin Spacey's career is over for the foreseeable future. 

The Oscar-winning actor's unprecedented fall from grace has left Netflix scrambling to secure the future of House of Cards and the more than 2,000 jobs the hit show creates. Although producers tell CNN that it's "unlikely" the political drama will be canceled, the "show's writers are facing a ticking clock as they scrap a Season 6 plan eight months in the making and find a new direction for the show's final season." 

On the movie front, Spacey was completely cut out of Ridley Scott's All The Money in the World ahead of its December 2017 release and replaced by actor Christopher Plummer, reported Deadline.

None of this bodes well for Spacey's future in show biz. "He's a phenomenal actor, but he's not a very good person," fellow actor Bryan Cranston told BBC Newsbeat. "His career now I think is over."

Shailene Woodley

On the strength of her breakout role in 2011's The Descendants, Shailene Woodley became Hollywood's new "it" girl. While her starring turn in the movie adaptation of The Fault in our Stars proved to be a box office and critical success, her starring turn in the Divergent series ended in disaster. 

Envisioned by Lionsgate as a tent-pole franchise for young adults in the vein of The Hunger Games, the last installment, Allegiant, bombed spectacularly in 2016. Her follow-up, Oliver Stone's Snowden (2016), also failed to recoup its production budget and was met with mixed reviews.

Woodley seemed to find her footing in 2017 as part of the ensemble cast of HBO's critically acclaimed mini-series Big Little Lies, so let's hope her talents will grace the big screen again soon–but 2018 may still be too soon.

Gerard Butler

Not counting the massive success of 2007's 300, it seems that every other Gerard Butler vehicle is either box office or critical poison. From 2011's Machine Gun Preacher to 2016's London Has Fallen, data shows that the Scottish actor isn't the leading man the industry once imagined. 

His latest effort, Geostorm (2017), has a 14 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and was barely able to scrounge $30 million domestically against its whopping $120 million budget. 

This string of duds won't do Butler's career any favors in 2018, but with his talent, picking better projects could help him course correct. 

Megan Fox

Megan Fox exploded onto the scene and gossip blogs everywhere when director Michael Bay pulled her out of relative obscurity (by allegedly making her wash his Ferrari during an audition) to co-star alongside Shia LaBeouf in 2007's Transformers

One sequel later, Fox left the franchise with the hopes of becoming a critical darling with turns in Jennifer's Body (2009) and Jonah Hex (2010). Alas, the critics were not kind. Fox eventually returned to star in another Bay franchise, 2014's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and it's 2016 follow-up. Again, the critics did not welcome her with open arms. 

Fox finally found a new audience on television guest starring as hot pharmaceutical sales rep, Reagan, on the last two seasons of FOX's comedy hit, New Girl. Key word there: "last two seasons." 

With nothing on the horizon in 2018, except James Franco's low-budget Zeroville, it appears moviegoers won't be blessed with seeing Fox on the silver screen any time soon. 

Tyrese Gibson

Let's be honest, Tyrese Gibson isn't having a great 2017. With his insane child custody case and bizarre Instagram rants, Gibson made even more headlines when he threatened to leave the Fast & Furious franchise over a feud with co-star Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. 

Reacting to the news that Johnson would be starring in a Furious spin-off, which reportedly would push back the release of the nest Furious installment, Gibson didn't mince words: "Hello world...hello loyal fans and loved ones from OUR fast universe...," he said in a since-deleted post on Instagram (via Us Weekly.) "I'm sorry to announce that if Dewayne [sic] is in Fast9 there will no more Roman Peirce [sic]–You mess with family and my daughters survival I mess with yours...close your eyes dude you're a Clown."

In an effort to explain his ultimatum (and perhaps to excuse himself for misspelling his own character's name,) Gibson claimed in yet another since-deleted social media post (via Complex) that he was prescribed new anti-anxiety medication that had an "adverse effect" and caused him to suffer "a complete meltdown online."

Publicly calling out the franchise that made you an international star is never a good move, but we suspect Fast & Furious fans hope Gibson is able to resolve his personal issues and remain involved with the box office juggernaut. Until then, it's doubtful casting agents will be banging down his door in 2018.

Jeremy Piven

Not that his career was on fire before, but after three women have come forward with sexual assault allegations, Jeremy Piven's castability has taken a major blow. 

Piven's CBS drama, Wisdom of the Crowd, premiered Oct. 1, 2017, so it's hard to imagine these allegations won't have an adverse effect on the show's ratings or the studio's decision to move forward with another season. 

As for the allegations, Piven understands the implications, and he's pushing back. "We seem to be entering dark times–allegations are being printed as facts and lives are being put in jeopardy without a hearing, due process or evidence. I hope we can give people the benefit of a doubt before we rush to judgement," the Entourage (2004-11) star said in an Instagram post. "Continuing to tear each other down and destroy careers based on mere allegations is not productive on any level. I hope we can use this moment to begin a constructive dialogue on these issues, which are real and need to be addressed."

Dustin Hoffman

Although the legendary actor is still receiving critical acclaim in Noah Baumbach's The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) (2017), Dustin Hoffman's highly-acclaimed career may come to a very ugly end following numerous sexual assault allegations

Considering his age–he celebrated his 80th birthday in 2017–and the horrific nature of the allegations, it's hard to imagine a scenario where the actor returns to the big screen in 2018. 

Katherine Heigl

In 2007, Katherine Heigl was on the brink of interstellar fame. With a ratings smash on the small screen–Grey's Anatomy (2005-)and a box office hit on the big screen–Knocked Up, Heigl seemed set to shine bright for decades to come. Then the bottom fell out.

In a now infamous Vanity Fair interview, Heigl claimed Knocked Up was "a little sexist" and painted the "women as shrews," which drew the ire of writer/director Judd Apatow. 

"You're like well at some point I'll get a call like 'Sorry, I was tired,'" Apatow said (via USA Today.) "And then the call just never comes."

Not to be outdone, Heigl also created a rift with Grey's Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes after the actress opted out of the Emmy race because she claimed she wasn't "given good enough material to work with last season." Heigl was summarily released from her contract in 2010. 

When discussing her subsequent show, Scandal, Rhimes left no room for doubt about her thoughts on Heigl. "There are no Heigls in this situation," Rhimes told The Hollywood Reporter. "I don't put up with bulls**t or nasty people. I don't have time for it."

Since then, Heigl's career has been littered with critical failures, including 2017's Unforgettable, which was anything but, and the CBS drama, Doubt, which was canceled in 2017 after two episodes. There's no reason to believe 2018 will be any different, but hey, everyone loves a good comeback story. Maybe there's hope for Heigl yet. 

Cara Delevingne

After her breakthrough role in 2015's Paper Towns, it looked as though English model and actress Cara Delevingne was poised for Hollywood stardom. Then came the critically savaged Suicide Squad (2016), London Fields (2017), and Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017). She'll star in 2018's Life in a Year with Jaden Smith, but unlike his dad (Will Smith,) Jaden hasn't proven himself to be a box draw either. 

We suspect acting opportunities for Delevigne are drying up quickly, but hope isn't lost. Though 2018 may be very, very quiet for the actress, her 2019 shows promise. She was cast in the Amazon fantasy/horror series Carnival Row (2019) alongside Orlando Bloom, and the premise sounds promising for genre fans. According to IMDb, "As a serial killer preys on mystical creatures in a dark futuristic city, a detective on the case becomes the prime suspect in the murders." 

If that turns out to be hit, Delevingne has plenty of time to eventually walk home with an Academy Award. 

Dane DeHaan

Although a fine actor, Dane DeHaan appears to have a difficult time choosing projects that will showcase his talents. From big budget, critical flops that arguably ruined franchises–The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)–to independent studio, critical flops–A Cure For Wellness (2016)–DeHaan's young career has more hits than misses. Oh, and he was Delevingne's co-star in the aforementioned Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets

At the time of this writing, IMDb indicates that DeHaan only has one film in post-production and nothing else on the horizon for 2018. The forecast calls for a stormy year, but we're confident this actor's formidable talent will help him weather this slump. 

Bella Thorne

Known now more for her social media presence and private life than her movie career, Bella Thorne's rise to cinematic stardom may have been over before it even began. 

After co-starring in box office hits The DUFF (2015) and Blended (2014), Thorne was poised to take on a leading lady role, but that leap didn't go as planned. According to Variety, her starring turn in Amityville: The Awakening grossed a minuscule $742 at 10 locations during its one-day-only theatrical release on Oct. 28, 2017. Two weeks prior, the Weinstein Company's haunted house sequel began streaming for free on Google Play. 

Who wants to hire an actress in 2018 who made a movie the year before that made $742? Don't answer that.

Thorne could turn this around. She flaunted her comedic timing in a small role as a demented cheerleader in the "certified fresh" Netflix original The Babysitter (2017), and she landed another small role in Xavier Dolan's critical darling The Death and Life of John F. Donovan (2018) with Jessica Chastain and Kit Karrington. That sounds promising, but don't hold your breath.