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35 Celebs Who Have Distanced Themselves From Hollywood
Changing plans, career paths, scandals, or just the normal course of life - whatever the reason, some celebrities are no longer as present in the spotlight as they once used to be. We made a list of 35 celebrities that you might not have heard much about recently. If you are curious about what happened and where they are now, read on!
Macaulay Culkin
First on our list of top celebrities who (more or less) disappeared from the spotlight is well-beloved child star, Macaulay Culkin. Once in the center of attention and probably one of the highest-paid child stars ever, the Home Alone actor basically disappeared after the blockbusters' release. Despite several major wins and even a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy, the young and promising actor felt constantly overwhelmed and under the media's radar. This led to substance abuse issues and frequent anxiety attacks. After 28 years, though, Macaulay recently recreated several Home Alone scenes as Kevin McCallister in advertisements for Google. We were not surprised to find out that the video quickly became viral!
Josh Radnor
American actor and filmmaker Josh Radnor is currently number 2 on our list. From 2005 to 2015, he played Ted Mosby, an architect living in New York who told his kids the story of events that led him to meet their mother throughout the nine seasons of How I Met Your Mother. Afterward, Radnor continued to be cast in other TV series, such as Mercy Street (2016 - 2017), Rise (2018), and Hunters (2020), but no other role has surpassed the ever-optimistic and funny guy, Ted. But he keeps his private life to himself, and tries to stay out of the media's spotlight.
Daniel Radcliffe
This cute English boy received the lead role of the first Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. This happened in 2000, and he was only 11 at the time. He continued to play Harry Potter in the next seven movies that were released. The beloved series ended in 2011, with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2. What has Daniel been doing ever since, though? No other roles as young boys hunted by Dark Lords became available, so Radcliffe has been focusing his attention mainly on theater. Much to many critics' pleasant surprise, he took on many roles in both Broadway and off-Broadway plays and delivered great performances.
Hugh Laurie
One of the most sarcastic characters on screen, Dr. Gregory House, was brought to life by the English actor, singer, and musician Hugh Laurie. The highest point of his career so far was reached during the medical drama series, House (2004 - 2012). This was a role for which he received countless awards and nominations, including two Golden Globes. God poured out a great deal of talent when creating Laurie, because he also plays the piano, guitar, drums, harmonica, and saxophone. Ever since the phenomenal success of House, the brilliant actor has had several other roles, such as his role in the American comedy TV series, Veep, but his appearances were sporadic.
Mara Wilson
We all love and remember the lovely little girl who starred in Mrs. Doubtfire and Matilda, but where is she now, you may wonder? Mara Wilson, one of the most beloved child stars of the 1990s, has become a writer. She published Where Am I Now? True Stories of Girlhood and Accidental Fame in 2016, a book about her success at such an early age.
Even though her acting career is now a thing of the past, she did lend her voice in 2016 for a few episodes of the animated series BoJack Horseman and Big Hero 6: The Series.
Meg Ryan
Our next mention is 58-year-old American actress and producer Meg Ryan. We all remember her wonderful romantic movies, such as When Harry Met Sally (1989), Sleepless in Seattle (1993), You've Got Mail (1998), and City of Angels (1998).
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These films made us dream about our own love stories, and these are the roles that made her one of the most successful actresses in the 1990s. However, after her divorce from Dennis Quaid in 2001 became too prevalent in the media, the blue-eyed actress decided to take a step back from Hollywood.
Danny Lloyd
Next on our list is Danny Lloyd, the child actor who played Danny Torrance in the horror film The Shining (1980). The movie was produced by Stanley Kubrick and was based on Stephen King's 1977 well-acclaimed novel. Even though it brought Danny quite a lot of success, he decided not to pursue his acting career.
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In fact, he is currently working in Elizabeth, Kentucky, as a biology professor and is probably trying to stay away from any remote hotels in the Rocky Mountains.
Jack Gleeson
This next actor is best known for his amazing interpretation of probably the most hated Game of Thrones character, King Joffrey Baratheon. Jack Gleeson stepped away from the spotlight at the age of 21 after his character was killed.
Instead of acting, the Irish actor chose to focus his attention on his studies in theology and philosophy at the Trinity College Dublin. Despite the fact that he regularly attended drama classes since childhood and acting was one of his hobbies, much to everyone's disappointment and regret, he remains in the background.
Kevin Spacey
There's no doubt that 60-year-old actor Kevin Spacey should be mentioned at some point. After a series of unfortunate events unfolded in 2018, the House of Cards star's career and reputation suffered a great downfall. Everything started when actor Anthony Rapp publicly announced that, when he was 14 years old, Spacey (26 at that time) tried to seduce him at a party they both attended.
To make matters even worse, several other accusations followed soon after from other men who decided to speak up. Despite his role of paramount importance in House of Cards, Netflix decided to cut the actor from the final season.
Elizabeth Hurley
Elizabeth Hurley is a known actress who landed on television with her first role in the movie, Aria, in 1987. She was in her late twenties at the time.
Liz was also a main character in the Austin Powers comedies in the 2000s. She was one of the most beautiful actresses in the early 2000s.
Sarah Michelle Gellar
Sarah Michelle Geller was a promising actress in Hollywood when she was a teenager, starring in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and many other teenager's roles. However, after being in Buffy the Vampire Slayer for more than 6 years and running 144 episodes, she had a hard time finding other roles that would suit her personality.
Hollywood won't cast Sarah Michelle Geller because many of her movies didn't do as well as expected, and she lost quite a bit of popularity.
David Schwimmer
He was one of the main characters in the beloved sitcom, Friends, for more than 10 years. He and his co-stars earned a lot of money shooting Friends, so they were financially very stable, earning $1 million per episode in the last season.
David Schwimmer is also known for various voices in renowned cartoons, such as Madagascar. Apart from small roles, he hasn't been in the spotlight for many years.
Chris Tucker
Chris Tucker was one of the most beloved comedians in the industry due to his appearance in Rush Hour alongside his fellow actor, Jackie Chan. After the big success of the first movie, Tucker demanded a salary increase of up to $20 million for the second film and $25 million for the third installment of Rush Hour.
In the 9-year gap between the movies, Chris Tucker didn't appear in any other films. Maybe this is the reason why. Regardless, fans can agree that he had plenty of talent when it came to making people laugh.
Shaggy
Shaggy was one of the aspiring musicians in the early 2000s, and his album, Hot Shot, went 6x Platinum in America. Two years later, he released another album called Lucky Day. It wasn't as popular as the previous one, but it still went gold.
Shaggy took his music internationally after this, but apparently, his fans forgot about him. He was nominated for a Grammy a few years back, but the fans apparently cannot go back in time.
Josh Hartnett
Josh Hartnett was a very promising actor in the 1990s and a very handsome man who was appreciated by his fans. He appeared in Pearl Harbor and Black Hawk Down. How can you be such a good-looking actor and vanish overnight, though?
Josh Hartnett wanted to evolve, so he began appearing in romantic movies to avoid being just another pretty face. His last movie was called 30 Days of Night, and it was released more than 10 years ago. He had quite some promising skills, so it's such a pity that we do not see him anymore.