18 Actors Who Torpedoed Their Once-Promising Careers Practically Overnight

1.Nate Parker racked up several film roles in the 2000s and 2010s before directing and starring in The Birth of a Nation, which seemed poised to become a mega-hit and Oscars bait. After its premiere at Sundance in 2016, Fox Searchlight paid $17.5 million — a record-high — for distribution rights to the film. And then, in 2017, before the film's wide release, old rape allegations against Parker resurfaced.

When Parker was in college, a female student had accused him and his friend Jean McGianni Celestin (who was also credited in The Birth of a Nation) of rape while she was intoxicated and unconscious. Parker was ultimately found not guilty, and Celestin was found guilty, though this was overturned on appeal. The woman also claimed Parker and Celestin had harassed and intimidated her after her accusations; she later died by suicide. As Parker's fame grew, reporters began to ask about the details of his past in interviews, and many felt Parker's responses insufficient. He often referred to the accusations as a "painful moment" in his life.

Controversy over Parker's past and comments led the film's momentum to fizzle out. It performed far below expectations at the box office and did not receive any Oscar nominations. Since then, Parker has only appeared in one film — which he wrote and directed — and one short.

2.Doug Hutchison began his career in the '80s, starring in movies such as A Time to Kill, Con Air, and The Green Mile. By 2010, it seemed like he had transitioned more into TV, but his career was still going strong, with recurring roles in Lost and 24...and then he married 16-year-old Courtney Stodden. Hutchinson was 51 at the time, and the marriage generated significant controversy.

While Hutchinson initially claimed that the marriage had actually given him more career opportunities, in reality, he's only appeared in three one-episode TV roles and a Christian film since his marriage 13 years ago (though he has made several reality show appearances). In recent years, Hutchinson has faced even further backlash due to Stodden calling him a "predator" and claiming he groomed them.

3.Randy Quaid worked steadily from the 1970s into the 2000s, but several legal issues in the 2000s and 2010s brought his career to a quick halt. In 2010, after skipping a court appearance regarding felony vandalism charges, Quaid moved to Canada with his wife and sought asylum and later permanent residency. His wife gained citizenship, but Quaid did not and was later set to be deported. Re-entering the US before he could be sent there, Quaid and his wife were arrested in Vermont. They've since been released, but the only project starring Quaid that's been released since then is the low-budget film All You Can Eat.

4.Jeffrey Jones also worked steadily from the '70s to the early 2000s — he was probably best known for starring in the films Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Beetlejuice — but that all came to a halt in 2002, when he was hit with child sex abuse images charges and with using a minor for sex acts, having allegedly hired a 14-year-old to take nude photos. Jones denied the charges and ultimately pled no contest. He was sentenced to five years of probation and was forced to join the sex offenders registry. Jones was later arrested and charged with a felony after not registering as a sex offender when he moved to Florida.

While Jones did manage to continue working in TV (notably, in the HBO series Deadwood), his work in children's media was entirely ended, and he's only had a single theatrically released film since then. His small 2019 appearance in Deadwood: The Movie (his most recent role — a TV film) was called "jarring" by Vox in light of the convictions.

5.As a former child star, Shia LaBeouf seemed set to become a major star in the 2010s. Not only had he starred in major blockbuster franchises like Transformers and Indiana Jones, but he'd broken into the indie scene with Honey Boy, which was loosely based on his own childhood. While he was a polarizing figure with many run-ins with the law, he was still enjoying critical success.

However, things took a turn for LaBeouf in 2020 when ex-girlfriend FKA twigs accused him of sexual assault, battery, and infliction of emotional distress. She sued him in a lawsuit that also claimed he had knowingly given her an STD. Other past girlfriends echoed FKA twigs's claims with stories of similar behavior. LaBeouf originally claimed that “many of these allegations are not true," though in 2022, he acknowledged, "I hurt that woman. And in the process of doing that, I hurt many other people, and many other people before that woman."

Just before the allegations came to light, LaBeouf was dropped from Olivia Wilde's Don't Worry Darling, with Wilde claiming after the allegations that he had a "combative energy" and did not create a safe and trusting work environment. "A lot came to light after this happened that really troubled me, in terms of his behavior," she added. LaBeouf later claimed he had left the production on his own. He was replaced with Harry Styles.

The only project LaBeouf has acted in since 2020 was the minuscule budget Italian-German film Padre Pio. While LaBeouf is slated to appear in Francis Ford Coppola's ensemble film Megalopolis, public perception of the once beloved child star has drastically changed. His case with twigs is set to go to trial at the end of this year.

6.James Franco was similarly no stranger to controversy by the time allegations of him...[CLICK TO CONTINUE READING]