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Fans tend to associate actors with the specific characters they play in well-known franchises. Their roles can be so legendary that they practically become those characters. And yet, some stars think that they have outgrown their roles and set out to look for greener pastures.
In a discussion sparked by the ‘Random Question Time’ account, internet users revealed the actors and actresses whose careers didn’t survive this shift. These stars left their franchises looking for something better, and they never recovered.
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#1
David Caruso. Thread closed.
DADDY_AL:
He left NYPD BLue because he won a Golden Globe his first season and thought he was a hot commodity, and deserved a raise because of it. He was wrong.
RELATED:
#2
Are you kidding me?? Terrence Howard in the Marvel series. Dude fumbled the bag in the most egregious way.
itscrawdaddy11:
Terrence Howard was in the MCU lol wanted more money, got replaced by Don Cheadle.
Marno C. 12 hours ago
I know Terrance Howard tells the story that RDJ wanted more money so they took it out of his (Howard's) salary. But, I don't think I believe it. Howard is not a reliable narrator. First, I haven't heard the same story from other sources. Are there any? Second, Howard suggest that he should have had a salary more in line with RDJ which is an odd opinion given the difference in their roles (supporting vs. main) and 'star power.' Third, while a movie's overall budget does have its cost vs. savings balancing acts, it isn't usually so oppositional between two specific cast members and it really wouldn't be helpful to the production to be shared with them in such terms. So, that is an odd practice. And Fourth, Howard had a reputation for difficult behavior professionally and mistreatment of women. If RDJ opposed Howard returning, it would likely be on those two issues, not getting a bigger salary. Howard wouldn't want to be honest about that being the cause of RDJ's disdain.
#3
Katie Holmes. Dark Knight.
4headWrinkles:
Marrying a cult member didn't help much either.
According to Box Office Mojo, the biggest movie franchise in the United States and Canada is the Marvel Cinematic Universe, worth a whopping $13.1 billion dollars. The MCU has 44 releases, and the top one is Avengers: Endgame, with a lifetime gross of over $858 million.
Other massively popular franchises include Star Wars (worth $5.1 billion), Disney Live Action Reimaginings (nearly $3.5 billion), Spider-Man ($3.3 billion), and the DC Extended Universe ($3.1 billion).
#4
McLean Stevenson from M*A*S*H. He left to pursue other opportunities and to avoid being typecast. He did work after leaving, but nothing as notable as Col. Henry Blake. *He did have a doozy of a send off though.
#5
Stuart Townsend was originally cast as Aragorn in LOTR. He didn't want to play nice with the cast and refused to learn how to ride horses and train with sword, etc. They fired him and replaced him with Viggo Mortensen, and the rest is history.
#6
Joey Tribbiani - Days of Our Lives.
Miracle Max 15 hours ago
He didn't "leave the show" he annoyed the writers and got dropped down an elevator shaft! Still made a nice comeback later on!
No matter the profession, many people naturally want change at some point in their lives. Sure, stability is great, but it’s difficult to play the same role your entire life. You want something new. Something fresh. Something challenging. Something potentially better. This can be both exciting and utterly frightening. There’s no guarantee that you’ll find something better… and yet, you might.
And some actors believe that they’ve either outgrown some projects and need to move on to something different, or they think that they’ve become so talented that the franchises are beneath them.
As fans, the healthy thing to do would be to support the stars we claim to love while they start these new adventures. Well, so long as the celebrity is kind, wholesome, grounded, and humble. If they’re suddenly overly arrogant and unpleasant, they might lose a few fans.
#7
Katherine Heigl was never as popular after she left Grey’s Anatomy.
#8
Julianna Margulies, she admitted this.
ca420111:
She left cause she thought she was going to be a movie star. And if you think The Good Wife was as big as ER, you're dreaming.
Malgosia Garnys:
She definitely left! Producers begged her to stay with a $27M offer and she still said no. She’s the rare actor who actually valued the ending of the character more than the money. It's all in her book Sunshine Girl if you want the real tea.
#9
Rege Jean Page from Bridgerton. He should’ve followed Jonathan Bailey’s lead and stayed on the show to help his star rise.
hansdown14:
I feel like everyone forgets that Shonda Rhimes herself said that the original plan was always for Regé to be on bridgerton for ONE season. She said it twice. They asked if he would come back and he declined. It’s semantics but technically he didn’t leave ,he just didn’t come back. He was never supposed to.
Gerry Higgins 12 hours ago
He left just as Covid hit so that slowed down a lot of careers. He was in 'Dungeons & Dragons' last year with Chris Pine. Great movie.
What are your favorite franchises, and who are your most beloved actors and actresses, dear Pandas? Why do you love them so much?
Have any stars quit their franchises in a way that completely devastated you? What is your dream franchise-actor pairing that you’d be happy to make if you didn’t have to worry about the budget? Let us know!
#10
Eriq La Salle thought he was too good for ER and left to be a movie star…there were no movies.
#11
Nina Dobrev when she left Vampire Diaries.
lauraaa:
The reason she didnt renew was because her male costars were making more money than her when she was doing double the work. She played 2 different characters consistently and I think the network “forgot” to mention it before she signed.
#12
Topher Grace. He had a cameo and briefly another sitcom but never the same success as on That '70s Show.
#13
Delta Burke on Designing Women.
dyo1v7ark9gu:
Every episode had a dig about her weight and was a main feature in many episodes. It was destroying her mentally.
Ann Kapoxeet 11 hours ago
It's crazy to think about what actresses had to tolerate in the 80s with respect to weight. How many eating disorders were born due to these storylines?
#14
Emmy Rossum from Shameless.
doug_da_slug:
I’m on s11 and still wondering why she left because I haven’t seen her in anything.
Bartlet for world domination 11 hours ago
The writers did her a disservice, her character Fiona was becoming unbearable. Apparently it was a dispute about money, but by the time they were done with her the show picked up considerably.
#15
Honestly… Chris Meloni 😬 when he left SVU. I don’t think he anticipated for it go on another 14 seasons without him.
#16
Jessica Raine from “Call the Midwife”. She dropped the ball leaving as Jenny too soon.
Sian E 6 hours ago
The real Jenny Lee left the Order and went to work as a Ward Sister at Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital in Bloomsbury, and later at the Marie Curie Hospital in Hampstead. In 1963, she married Philip Worth, and they had two daughters. In 1973, she left nursing to pursue a career as a musician. So actually it's not really a case of Jessica Raine leaving too soon. She wrote 3 books about her time in Poplar, some of the stories were adapted for television, but most of the storylines from about 1963 onwards are inventions of the writing staff.
#18
Shannen Doherty and everything she was in... Always thought she was irreplaceable and yet was always proven wrong.
#20
Zoe Wanamaker criticised the pay for the first Harry potter film and refused to sign a contract for sequels unless Warner Bros increased their rates. They didn't. she was written out of subsequent story lines.
#21
Megan Fox with the Transformer franchise. She says she left, Bay said Spielberg said to fire her, but whatever it was, her career fizzled afterward.
Claudia Cielensky 15 hours ago
It is my understanding that she was somewhat blacklisted after calling Bay out for being a s****l predator.
#22
Lisa Bonet... After she left The Cosby show and Different world she was never quite as popular as she was back then! Now you hardly ever hear of her...
#23
Shemar Moore. I don't think he thinks he was too big for Criminal Minds but he wanted to expand his portfolio and do something different and has literally done nothing other than voice work and another cop show.
Gerry Higgins 12 hours ago
He was on S.W.A.T. from 2017-2025 and now he's on the sequel S.W.A.T. Exiles That's pretty consistent work.
#24
Misha Barton left the OC and did maybe 2 low budget films and basically disappeared.
Miriam Insidecor 12 hours ago
She works a lot but in really low budget films that no one sees. I think she also joined Neighbours or Home and Away. Her career tanked because of her substance a***e and other issues.
#25
Dan Stevens from Downton Abbey.
ohnothankyou863:
The one guy from Downton Abbey....Cousin Matthew. I was so in love w him.... ugh. He left and never really materialized into a big name.
Ashtophet’sRevenge 14 hours ago
Dan Stevens is in everything, more than you think. Personally I loved Legion, but I can imagine it’s not everyone’s kind of TV!
#26
I’m gonna get hate, but literally anyone who ever left Grey’s Anatomy - especially Patrick Dempsey & Katherine Heigl.
#27
Ja Rule was supposed to be in more Fast and the Furious movies, but he wanted more money and Ludacris got the role.
Michael P. 8 hours ago
Ja Rule was cast into a Steven Seagal movie, that probably sank his career.
#28
Andrew Lincoln, Walking Dead.
Gambit:
His character was played out, I agree with him leaving. He came back to the spin off "The walking dead: The ones who live" and actually became relevant again.
#29
Lowkey Dacre Montgomery? I mean he’s not doing that bad but recently I heard that it was his choice to leave Stranger Things, the directors had other plans with him. But looking now at season 5 seems like a good choice tho.
#30
Lacey Chabert left Family Guy as the voice of Meg because she didn’t think that show would go anywhere… 😳 I had to look up her name cause I never remember it.
Note: this post originally had 43 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
What do you think ?
Jaya 11 hours ago
It's weird that these are all framed as "they were so full of themselves that they thought they were better than their current role, what an idiot to think they would get great movie". I think it's admirable to take a risk and go after your dreams. It doesn't mean people are full of themselves or look down on their current franchise, it just means they have dreams and ambition. Also, staying in a certain series might be a financially safe bet, but if you've gotten bored of that role or it's not the kind of acting you wanna do, there's nothing wrong with taking the leap and hoping that other movies/series will give you roles that you actually enjoy playing. So even if they only get smaller roles and a smaller salary afterwards, it might still be a better choice than staying at a role they don't find challenging or interesting.
Loudawg76 5 hours ago
Everyone makes career/job decisions throughout their working life. Some work out, some don’t. It’s called life 🤷🏻♀️
Apatheist 4 hours ago
True. I left a company after 5 years; the next job lasted 6 months. I left another after 2 years, and that job lasted 20.
Load More Replies... Jaya 11 hours ago
It's weird that these are all framed as "they were so full of themselves that they thought they were better than their current role, what an idiot to think they would get great movie". I think it's admirable to take a risk and go after your dreams. It doesn't mean people are full of themselves or look down on their current franchise, it just means they have dreams and ambition. Also, staying in a certain series might be a financially safe bet, but if you've gotten bored of that role or it's not the kind of acting you wanna do, there's nothing wrong with taking the leap and hoping that other movies/series will give you roles that you actually enjoy playing. So even if they only get smaller roles and a smaller salary afterwards, it might still be a better choice than staying at a role they don't find challenging or interesting.
Loudawg76 5 hours ago
Everyone makes career/job decisions throughout their working life. Some work out, some don’t. It’s called life 🤷🏻♀️
Apatheist 4 hours ago
True. I left a company after 5 years; the next job lasted 6 months. I left another after 2 years, and that job lasted 20.
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