What’s hot today may not be popular tomorrow. Some of this, unfortunately, has to do with actors as much as it does with fashion trends. While some Hollywood Sweethearts, the Sandra Bullocks and Julia Roberts of the world, can remain in popular roles throughout their lives, others aren’t so lucky. There seems to be gaps in roles for women between teens and women in their early twenties, compared to taking the leap towards roles of grandmothers and moms. Thankfully actors like Reece Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman are beginning to create roles through series like HBO’s Big Little Lies.
Sometimes it’s a case of outgrowing the types of roles played, being typecast, or even being labelled as being difficult to work with. Other times it’s about burning out, retiring, wanting to raise a family, or focusing on activism. Here are 20 former celebrity ‘it girls’ who fell off the radar, and where to find them today.
20 Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen were everywhere as they built their tween empire. In recent years the duo has laid low and have said no to the numerous requests from the cast and crew of Fuller House for a cameo as Michelle. The two have entered the fashion world and even have a clothing line for girls through a label called The Row. In 2007 the duo was said to be worth 100 million dollars, so they’re doing just fine!
19 Tara Reid
Tara Reid was a hot commodity in the 1990’s thanks to the American Pie franchise and everything that followed. Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for her to get negative attention for hard partying and a love of surgery. More recently she was featured in the cult hit Sharknado, and she has been working a lot - just no one’s watching her films and shows lately.
18 Taylor Momsen
Taylor Momsen was going to be a huge musician. It was one of the reasons she left the hit show Gossip Girl. Her band, The Pretty Reckless, has had four number one hits on the US rock chart. When asked about returning to Gossip Girl or acting Momsen said, “I'm not looking to go back to it.” and says that it feels so long ago, and that this time period in her life was literally junior high for her.
17 Lindsay Lohan
With The Parent Trap and Mean Girls under her belt Lindsay Lohan was what seemed to be an overnight success. Unfortunately, hard partying that was said to be encouraged by her parents sunk her career. Earlier this year she launched an MTV reality TV show called Lindsay Lohan’s Beach Club where she attempts to turn a vacation destination in Greece into a successful part of her business empire.
The show did not rate well and no second season was made, and the beach club itself is said to be closed, too.
16 Mischa Barton
In the early 2000’s the popular show The O.C. made Mischa Barton a household name. In the years since, she has not done well. Despite being named one of Teen Vogue’s rising stars in 2007, in 2009 the star was hospitalized for an undisclosed mental health issue, that she later made odd excuses for on The View (involving a tooth infection).
Her new 2009 show The Beautiful Life was cancelled after just two episodes. In 2016, she competed on Dancing With The Stars and was the second team eliminated. Here’s hoping she has better luck soon!
15 Cameron Diaz
Once one of the hottest actors in Hollywood, Cameron Diaz didn’t need to act anymore, so she stopped in a self-imposed retirement. The star married Good Charlotte guitarist Benji Madden in 2015 and hasn’t been in a movie since 2014. She remains active and was spotted at a Women’s Rights Rally alongside Adele and Jennifer Lawrence in 2018.
14 Nicole Richie
Post reality TV, Nicole Richie had a few speed bumps, but started a family with her rocker husband Joel Madden. In 2009, she used her fashion influence to create a maternity line through the brand A Pea In The Pod, called Nicole. In 2011, she joined a fashion reality show as a mentor.
As for any future reality TV Nicole says no, “I literally get calls every single day from every network, from every single producer in town pitching me different ideas, but I feel like The Simple Life was just so iconic and one of a kind that you can’t replicate that."
13 Paris Hilton
Post reality TV Paris tried her hand at acting and singing, with singing being more successful. In 2006 her self-titled release reached number six on the Billboard 200. Not giving up on her love of music, Paris spent six months training and became a successful DJ. The reason we don’t hear much about her is that many of her gigs are places like Ibiza, far from the North American eye and paparazzi.
12 Shannon Elizabeth
Shannon Elizabeth was the hottie that Jason Biggs and everyone else wanted to get to know better in the 1990’s comedy American Pie. Despite her being gorgeous, her acting career never really took off beyond roles in silly comedies of the 1990s. Today Elizabeth has become quite the celebrity poker player, so if you see her at the table across from you, you may want to ask for an autograph and move on, she’s quite good.
11 Alicia Silverstone
Alicia Silverstone’s movie career peaked during her most iconic role, Cher Horowitz in 1995’s Clueless. While Alicia is still working in movies, most often playing the mom nowadays, she remains an active mom and vegan advocate. It’s rumoured that Silverstone is going to be playing a parent in the relaunch of the Babysitter’s Club Series, based on the books by Anne M. Martin.
10 Jennifer Grey
It was an ill-timed nose job that put Baby in the corner, and Jennifer Grey's career on a shelf. Following Dirty Dancing, Jennifer Grey was one of the most notable stars in Hollywood. Using her fame and money, she went out to fix something that was bothering her about her appearance, her nose.
Grey told The Mirror, “I went into the operating room a celebrity and came out anonymous.” In 2010, Grey put her dancing shoes back on and won Dancing with the Stars.
9 Meg Ryan
Meg Ryan was the romantic lead for just about every Romantic Comedy of the 1990’s. Then between 2009 and 2015 she took a notable break and moved to New York to focus on raising her family. In recent years she’s made some short appearances on TV shows and TV movies. In 2018 the star announced that she was engaged to rock star John Mellencamp. Look out for her son Jack Quaid who is now acting.
8 Amanda Bynes
Amanda Bynes was a fresh face on Nickelodeon. She later moved onto some work in romantic comedies. However after a very public breakdown, and some trouble with the law and some illegal substances, she retired from acting. Her last credit was a part in the Emma Stone teen flick Easy A, after which she publicly retired. The star went back to school, has learned how to sew and is living a much healthier life.
7 Bridget Fonda
Having a famous dad made it easier for Bridget to break into the industry as a child actor. She managed to get some great roles in the 1990’s, but after the movie Monkey Bone, starring Fonda and Brendan Fraser bombed, she left acting with her most recent role being in 2002. Today she is raising a family with her husband, whose name you might recognize, film composer Danny Elfman.
6 Renee Zellweger
In 2010, the Bridget Jones Diary Star took a six-year break from acting. Following speculations of surgery, Renee was quick to answer about being glad she looks different. She said, “For a long time I wasn't doing such a good job with that. I took on a schedule that is not realistically sustainable and didn't allow for taking care of myself.” Today she’s taking on new projects, but at her own pace, most recently portraying Judy Garland in a bio pic being released this fall.
5 Mena Suvari
Mena Suvari never disappeared, simply she’s focused on smaller roles and projects since her American Beauty/Pie blockbuster heyday. Suvari told Vanity Fair that when she’s recognized taking on different roles there’s a sentiment of, “You need to just be young and sexy” but the star wants to challenge herself.
Following a part on American Horror Story the actor took on the role of Nicole Brown Simpson in a film that is currently in postproduction.
4 Kathrine Heigl
After Kathrine Heigl quit her TV role on Grey’s Anatomy to pursue a career in movies, and then slammed her role in the popular film Knocked Up, she got a reputation for being difficult to work with. While her time as a leading lady on the big screen seems to be over for now, she has managed to get repeat roles on hit shows like Suits and Doubt. She is currently working on a TV series called Firefly Lane.
3 Neve Campbell
Ballet dancer turned actor Neve Campbell is best known for her roles on the TV show Party of Five, and the Scream franchise. More recently Neve returned to TV, appearing in 25 episodes of House of Cards. She has been working steadily, so look out for her name and face on TV and some smaller Indie film productions.
2 Thora Birch
When Thora Birch starred in 1999’s Oscar winning film American Beauty, and followed it up as the quirky Enid in Ghost World opposite Scarlett Johansson and Steve Buscemi, everything looked bright. In 2014 during an interview with The Guardian the star commented that it had been a while since a publication so cool had interviewed her and noted, “I was always working, it’s just that no one was paying attention.”
Still working, but on a smaller scale, Birch is in a 2019 episode of Walking Dead.
1 Shannyn Sossamon
Shannyn Sossamon became known for her unusual beauty when she starred in A Knight’s Tale, The Rules of Attraction, and 40 Days and 40 Knights. By choice she decided to slow down the roles and raise a family.
She told HitFix, “When I had my boy… everything stopped. Everything came completely to a total stop.” She has returned to TV more recently, as her family is older and she can take on the roles.
Sources: Scribol, Vanity Fair, Screen Rant, Kiwi Report, Nicki Swift, E! Online