While making decisions in the film industry, you have to be super careful, as a wrong decision can ruin your acting career.
A user asked the forum, “What actor or actress stupidly left a movie franchise or TV series thinking they were too good for it, only to be never popular again?” Here are the top responses.
GEORGE LAZENBY
“George Lazenby has to be the top answer. A guy with zero acting experience landed the role of James Bond after Sean Connery and was offered a multi-film deal to be Bond for the foreseeable future.
Then, his agent just totally misguides him, telling him both that ‘It’s the summer of love and nobody is going to keep wanting to see spy movies about killing people,’ but also that since he’d already appeared in a film, he could ask for whatever he wanted and they couldn’t turn him down. They brought Connery back for a film instead, and Lazenby’s acting career ended on the spot.”
CHUCK WOOLERY
“Chuck Woolery left ‘Wheel Of Fortune’ only to see Pat Sajak host it for over 40 years.”
ACTORS OF MASH
“Several of the actors of MASH left early to make it big. None of them did.”
CRYSTAL REED
“Crystal Reed from Teen Wolf. She was so certain she was done she had them kill off her character only for her career to flop outside of Teen Wolf and ten years later would come back and have them revive her character for the movie.”
TERRENCE HOWARD
“Terrence Howard was in Iron Man 1 and was going to become War Machine. It was the very start of the Marvel movies, the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe). He got bounced, I think, for asking for crazy money. Don Cheadle replaced him for Iron Man 2 and all the movies beyond.”
STUART TOWNSEND
“Late to the party, but Stuart Townsend was the original casting for Aragorn in the LOTR ( Lord Of The Rings) movies, but during pre-production and rehearsals, he refused to practice things like swordplay, horse riding, action choreography, etc, always responding, ‘You’ll get it on the day.'”
LACEY CHABERT
“Lacey Chabert left Family Guy and was replaced by Mila Kunis, who has made bank between new episodes and syndication.”
BRIAN DUNKELMAN
“Brian Dunkelman was co-host of Season 1 of American Idol with Seacrest and then quit. Over the years, it has toggled back and forth between whether or not he would have been fired anyway, but in at least one interview, he admitted to quitting and then almost becoming suicidal over it.”
KATIE HOLMES
“Katie Holmes took a pass on The Dark Knight to go be in a movie called Mad Money, and like you, I haven’t seen it either. She also turned down a lead in Orange is The New Black and the role of Buffy in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer television series.”
TOPHER GRACE
“This happened to Topher Grace from That 70’s Show. He left to be in Spider-Man 3 (and I don’t think he was what was wrong with the movie). He’s popped up here and there and has steady work, but he didn’t launch into stardom.”
KATHRINE HEIGL
“Remember when Kathrine Heigl was nominated for an Emmy, and she withdrew herself from the nominees because she felt the writing hadn’t been good enough? Her career never recovered from that.
She also said she didn’t like the film Knocked Up, which she starred in. I think talking bad about projects you’re involved in is a perfect way to burn your bridges.”
MARCUS CHONG
“Marcus Chong was ‘Tank’ in The Matrix, The main character in a huge franchise. He had all these big ideas about how the movie should be done and how his character should progress. That’s fine, but he wouldn’t stop pushing them on the directors and producers. When it came time to make Matrix 2, he was not invited back.
He could have just shut up, been calm and thankful, and made a huge bank and a more prominent career.”
RAY WILLIAM
“Does anyone remember Ray William Johnson from Equals Three, who left his show to become a big movie star?”
JONATHAN TAYLOR
“Jonathan Taylor Thomas leaving home improvement. When he returned to the show, not only was his movie career dead in the water, but the television show had left his character behind.”
SHELLY LONG AND ED MARINARO
“Shelly Long left. Cheers, an epic mess up. Ed Marinaro left Hill St.Blues; both actors left their roles when the shows were popular. Neither were ever to return to the success they enjoyed on those shows.”
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This article was originally published on Mrs. Daaku Studio.