When an actor first rises to fame, the press and general public tend to pay so much attention to them that it can often seem like they were always meant to be stars. After all, when an actor’s image can be seen on magazine covers, there are loads of articles about them online, and millions of people see them on the big screen, they can seem larger than life. Despite that, there is a long history of movie stars suddenly disappearing from the spotlight seemingly out of nowhere.

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Of course, it should go without saying that some categories of actors are much more likely to fade from the spotlight than others. For example, a lot of former child and teen stars are quickly forgotten by most people once they come of age. On top of that, there have been a lot of former teen stars whose careers hit the skids for one reason or another. For example, after being a big deal in the past, most people have no idea what happened to Erik von Detten’s career.

How Erik Von Detten’s Career Began And The Heyday Of His Career

In March of 2021, Erik von Detten spoke to E! News about his career. During that conversation, von Detten revealed the amazing story of how his acting career began by accident. “I fell into it through my older sister, actually. She wanted to get into acting and I was just tagging along with her—and agents thought I was a cute kid. When my mother proposed it to me, if I wanted to do it, one of the key selling points was the fact that I wouldn't have to go to school—and I just detested school. I found out I would go from seven hours a day down to just three hours with my own tutor and I was like, ‘I'm sold.’”

After Erik von Detten decided to give acting a try, he would go on to land a lot of film and television roles. For example, von Detten voiced the memorable Toy Story character Sid and he starred in the movie Escape to Witch Mountain. On top of that, von Detten popped up in shows like ER, 7th Heaven, Recess, and the TV movie Brink!

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Despite all of the roles that Erik von Detten landed over the years, he is best known for one role above all the rest, The Princess Diaries’ Josh Bryant. Even though von Detten’s Princess Diaries character was far from a sweetheart, a lot of young viewers became smitten with the actor who played him. For proof of that, all you have to do is look at the fact that when people celebrate The Princess Diaries on social media, a lot of fans of the film are very open about the crushes they had on von Detten.

Erik Von Detten Reveals What Happened To His Hollywood Career

After Erik Von Detten walked away from the spotlight, most of his former fans had no idea what happened to his once-promising career. However, during his aforementioned 2021 E! News interview, von Detten revealed how his career actually slowed down after his most famous role, The Princess Diaries’ Josh Bryant.

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“At that time, we didn't have Netflix and all these expanded options with thousands and thousands of roles. I would literally go for a length of time without any roles that I fit the bill for. I mean, you're either in the very top half a percent doing very well or, well...it's just very competitive.” From there, Erik von Detten explained that his life priorities and an opportunity inspired him to give up acting as his career.

“Since I was a kid, I wanted to have a large family. And, in Los Angeles, that requires a consistent, realistic income. So, the fickle nature of employment as an actor just wasn't consistent enough for me. Luckily, simultaneously when things started to slow down in acting in my early 20s, another opportunity presented itself for me with a company that I started working with at age 25. And I've been with that company ever since. It's a sales position with a company working in finance. I've grown into a management position and it's worked out really well.”

While some people may think that it is sad that Erik von Detten gave up on artistic endeavors, they can rest assured that isn’t the case. After all, when he spoke to romper.com in 2018, von Detten revealed he still acts on the local level occasionally. "I really enjoy acting from time to time [when] I’ve had the opportunity to do it — the neighborhood play and whatnot."

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