19 Actors Who Were Written Off by Their Fans but Dashingly Returned to the Big Screen

The cinema world is bright but fickle. We lavishly bestow actors and their characters with our attention but also quickly forget the faces that we liked so much once they disappear from the big screen for some time. Still, while some actors become hostages of one role and turn out to be unable to evoke equally strong emotions in the audience in their subsequent work, others manage to do the impossible and regain their popularity even after many years.

We at Bright Side found celebrities who managed to win back the interest of their audience despite everything.

Harry Melling

Harry Melling got popular right after his first role in a movie. For many people, he stayed Dudley Dursley, Harry Potter’s inimical cousin, for a long time. The actor took part in several interesting projects and even acted in a movie by the Coen brothers but he got his new wave of popularity thanks to his role in The Queen’s Gambit series that was released on Netflix in 2020.

• Just look at what chess does to people. © leni_kotik / Twitter

Ivana Baquero

Ivana Baquero’s first big work was in the role of Ofelia in Guillermo del Toro’s movie called Pan’s Labyrinth. After that, the actress appeared in several more projects but it was the series The Shannara Chronicles and High Seas that can be called the last big successful works of the actress. The latter series is the brainchild of the Netflix company.

Ben Barnes

Ben Barnes started his acting career in musical theatre. Then he had some episodical roles in British series and became world-famous after acting in the movie The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. In his further on-screen incarnations, Barnes moved away from the image of the good guy and now prefers to play complex antiheroes. He shows this type of character in the series The Punisher.

Anna Popplewell

Anna Popplewell got her world fame thanks to her role as Susan in the movie The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. She also took part in the next parts of the series, but the actress had no other serious roles for several years. That’s why it was extremely pleasant to see her comeback in the series Reign from 2013 to 2016.

Thomas Brodie-Sangster

Thomas Brodie-Sangster is first of all known for his child and teenager roles. The audience remembers him from his roles in Love Actually and Nanny McPhee. The next work from the actor in The Maze Runner series didn’t get much recognition. In 2020, he appeared in the role of a talented chess player in The Queen’s Gambit series. “My character is a rock star of chess,” Thomas said.

Alicia Silverstone

Alicia Silverstone was a big star in the ’90s. She was known to everyone by her appearance in the music videos from Aerosmith band and by her roles in movies like The Crush and Clueless. Afterward, there was a rather long period where she was only remembered thanks to her previous work. But in 2020, Alicia returned to the screen once again by acting in The Baby-Sitters Club series, which had quite a successful start on Netflix, got many positive reviews, and was approved to shoot a second season.

Skeet Ulrich

Skeet Ulrich’s face is known to us thanks to the Scream movie. It was a light horror movie, which not only got several sequels, but also gave birth to a parody movie. Afterward, Skeet had several more bright roles but in 2000, he almost vanished from our radar. He returned to the big screen in 2017 in the cast of the Riverdale series.

Haley Joel Osment

A talented boy with piercing eyes, Haley Joel Osment, debuted on the big screen in the Forrest Gump movie. But he got really famous thanks to his roles in The Sixth Sense and A.I. Artificial Intelligence. Afterward, he spent a long time out of the spotlight and was almost forgotten about. However, he successfully reappeared in the movie Sex Ed in 2014. And he also appeared in episodical but bright roles in The Boys and What We Do in the Shadows series in 2019 and 2020 accordingly.

Shia LaBeouf

Shia LaBeouf first appeared on the big screen in 1998, however, he got truly famous after dozens of years with the release of movies like Paranoia, Transformers, and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. But the actor’s difficult personality and scandals derailed his way back to the big screen for a long time. The good thing is that the situation has started to change recently. Critics gave his acting high praise in Honey Boy (2019), while his last work in Pieces of a Woman (2020) became one of the most interesting films at the 77th Venice International Film Festival.

Sean Astin

We all remember Sean Astin from The Lord of the Ring trilogy where he played the role of Samwise Gamgee. Astin never left the entertainment industry and had been mostly doing voiceovers afterward. That’s why it was nice to see him again in the Stranger Things and The Big Bang Theory series.

Karl Urban

Karl Urban has been into acting since 1991 but at the beginning of his career, he mostly appeared in series. He got truly famous thanks to his role of Éomer in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. After this, the actor appeared on the big screen quite frequently, but mostly in supporting roles. The real breakthrough of the recent years was his participation in The Boys series. Some people even hope that the role of Butcher will give him a chance to play Wolverine in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Elisabeth Shue

Elisabeth Shue played the bright role of Marty McFly’s girlfriend in 2 movies: Back to the Future Part II and Back to the Future Part III. But her real breakthrough was in the movie Leaving Las Vegas. At the beginning of the 2000s, Elisabeth started to pay more attention to her family and her role as mother and wife. However, her acting roles were not that successful. We can now enjoy the actress’s outstanding talent in The Boys series.

Daniel Brühl

Daniel Brühl became popular after the release of the movie Good Bye, Lenin! in 2003. Afterward, he actively played in European movies. Daniel got world-famous in 2009 when he played in the movie Inglourious Basterds. The Spanish-German actor continues appearing in various projects and has pleased us with some bright works like Rush and Captain America: Civil War over the past several years.

Mayim Bialik

Mayim Bialik often appeared on screen when she was a child. Her role in the Blossom series turned out to be a huge success for her. Afterward, she mostly stayed behind the scenes, giving her voice to cartoon characters. Her real breakthrough was awaiting her in 2010 when she became a part of the crew of The Big Bang Theory. However, Bialik is quite successful beyond the cinema world as well — she has her Ph.D. in Neuroscience.

Natasha Lyonne

One of Natasha Lyonne’s first serious roles was in Woody Allen’s movie Everyone Says I Love You. But she got truly popular after the release of the movie American Pie. After that, Natasha’s career got quiet. Drama and health issues forced her to leave the world of the cinema for a while. In 2013, she regained her popularity by getting into the cast of the Orange Is the New Black series. In 2019, she played the leading role in Russian Doll.

Anna Torv

Anna Torv first gained popularity in her native Australia and only later did she start to take part in foreign projects. She got true fame and various awards after participating in the Fringe series. After that, the actress’s career experienced some kind of standstill. But in 2017, she reappeared again in an interesting series called Mindhunter by David Fincher.

Tye Sheridan

Tye Sheridan’s very first work brought him popularity. In 2011, he appeared in the movie The Tree of Life that became a laureate of the Cannes Film Festival. In 2012, he played one of the leading roles in Mud. After this, there were several episodical roles in commercially successful flicks but it was his participation in the movie Ready Player One that brought him real success again.

Anna Paquin

Anna Paquin became one of the youngest actresses to win an Oscar after playing in the movie The Piano. The actress’s other big success was her participation in the X-Men trilogy. After several years, she acted in TV series for the first time and, again, it was the right choice for her. Anna played one of the main roles in True Blood. One of Anna’s last roles was as the daughter of the main character in Martin Scorsese’s movie called The Irishman.

Joseph Mazzello

Joseph Mazzello first appeared on screen at the age of 7. 3 years later he was lucky to play in another flick by Spielberg — he was given the role of Tim Murphy in Jurassic Park. He never left the cinema world completely but most of his works were not that successful. In 2018, he played the bass guitarist of the Queen band in the Bohemian Rhapsody biopic and regained his popularity.

What other actors would you add to this list?