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38 Performers Whose Careers Took a Wild Left Turn

The guy from ‘Jack and Jill’ can act!

38 Performers Whose Careers Took a Wild Left Turn

June 14, 2024

Unless you’re Julia Louis-Dreyfus, you’re not gonna be pumping out banger after banger. Some actors have had to reinvent themselves, while others have had to hop to, or from, entirely different careers.

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38

Punchline to Appreciated Then vs. Now HOW HOW I FEEL Adam Sandler Sandler's acting choices keep sending up mixed messages. 2002's Punch-Drunk Love proved he could do much more than just do silly voices, but then he returned to dumb, awful movies. Then he did Uncut Gems, and became respected once again. CRACKED.COM — Source

37

Punchline to Appreciated Then vs. Now Robert Downey Jr. Addiction almost ruined a promising career, and problems with the law interfered with new opportunities. Then Iron-Man arrived, and with it newfound success and respect. We just hope he never makes, like, a trashy Dr. Dolittle movie or something. CRACKED.COM — Source

36

Punchline to Appreciated Then vs. Now Justin Timberlake It's interesting to note the artistic respect Timberlake earned in his post NSYNC career. The boy band was fun, but the poppy tunes and frosted tips did not make anyone take him seriously. CRACKED.COM — Source

35

Punchline to Appreciated Then vs. Now Matthew McConaughey McConaughey's name used to mean two things: shirtless abs and bland romcoms. Then a string of amazing performances arrived, including True Detective and Dallas Buyers Club, and suddenl he become an insanely talented Character Actor.™ CRACKED.COM — Source

34

Punchline to Appreciated Then vs. Now Pamela Anderson It has been hard for Anderson to be taken seriously, and the consent-assaulting sex tape definitely didn't help. Still, she has gained recognition for the political causes she's advocated for, and to anyone doubting she can actually act, just watch 2015's Connected. CRACKED.COM — Source

33

Punchline to Appreciated Then vs. Now Charlize Theron After Monster showcased Theron's immense acting talent (and even gave her a Best Actress Oscar), she could do whatever she wanted, and nobody would ever consider her just a pretty face anymore. CRACKED.COM — Source

32

Punchline to Appreciated Then vs. Now Jonah Hill Hill was hilarious in Superbad and such movies, but he had higher goals than being a clown. Moneyball and The Wolf of Wall Street transformed his career, and while he still does comedies, he got even more respect with his directorial debut, Mid90s. - CRACKED.COM — Source

31

Punchline to Appreciated Then vs. Now Kristen Stewart Between the stiff acting and the series of romantic scandals, it was easy to dismiss Stewart as a mediocre trendy actress. But she soon learned to distrust the paparazzi industry, and more importantly, her talent became too amazing to ignore. CRACKED.COM — Source

30

Punchline to Appreciated Then vs. Now Marilyn Monroe Marilyn became the poster girl for the dumb blonde, but after decades of revaluation her smarts and her amazing talent are slowly replacing the shallow image. CRACKED.COM — Source

29

Punchline to Appreciated Then vs. Now Natasha Lyonne For a while we could have lost Lyonne, as she became a speedball addict (which is not as cool as it sounds). There were jokes about her being a train wreck, and now look at her. CRACKED.COM — Source

28

Punchline to Appreciated Then vs. Now P O Tom Cruise Cruise's talent was never really questioned, but his public persona turned him into a joke for a long time. Today, he seems to have chilled out (we hope), and so we're just left enjoying his legendary talent and insane commitment to mind-blowing action. CRACKED.COM — Source

27

Punchline to Appreciated Then vs. Now M M U Zac Efron For a long time, Efron was just Troy from High School Musical. Не then tried to change his reputation with a string of raunchy comedies, but it was only that Ted Bundy movie (even as it was a total misstep) that showed he could actually act. CRACKED.COM

26

Punchline to Appreciated Then vs. Now 139813 C LEVELAND 126 32 y e Jane Fonda Fonda was the butt of decades of jokes over her political activism, back when anti-war hippies were easy targets. With a still ongoing legendary film career (and being on the right side of pretty much every single issue), we'd say she came out on top. CRACKED.COM — Source

25

Punchline to Appreciated Then vs. Now Heath Ledger When Ledger was announced as the Joker, the internet went wild. Не was talentless, they said. Не was just a pretty boy, they said. Then the movie came out, and Ledger's Joker became the definitive version. CRACKED.COM — Source

24

Punchline to Appreciated Then vs. Now Miley Cyrus Cyrus is aware that Hannah Montana and her later hyper-sexualization were turns-offs for many. She's spent her post-twerking career mellowing out, doing much more mature and interesting pop music, and focusing on her philanthropic work. CRACKED.COM — Source

23

Punchline to Appreciated Then vs. Now Robert Pattinson Today, all the sulking, glistening and silly, silly hair of Edward Cullen in Twilight have become a footnote in Pattinson's career (okay, a big footnote, but still), and he has proven his insane talent in movies like High Life, The Lighthouse, and The King. CRACKED.COM — Source

22

Punchline to Appreciated Then vs. Now Jim Carrey Carrey had nothing left to prove after Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, but it was The Truman Show that changed everything. Before that movie, Carrey was just that guy the funny faces, and there was distrust that he could pull off a dramatic role. CRACKED.COM — Source

21

Punchline to Appreciated Then vs. Now Leonardo DiCaprio DiCaprio was already showing insane talent in his early movies, but he developed a heartthrob image that many enjoyed dissing. Soon enough, though, Leo outgrew it and his talent became undoubtable. CRACKED.COM — Source

20

Punchline to Appreciated Then vs. Now Britney Spears South Park told us to stop messing with Britney, and we didn't listen. After her mental breakdown over the pressure, she spent years getting better and proving she wasn't the ditz we all assumed she was. CRACKED.COM — Source

19

Punchline to Appreciated Then vs. Now Justin Bieber Alright, Bieber is not totally respected, but he's on the right track. By 2015 he was making much more interesting music, and 2020's Changes was another step in the right direction. Bieber still needs to find himself as an artist, but he'll get there. CRACKED.COM — Source

18

Tom Selleck is an avocado farmer. At the height of his Magnum, P.I. fame, Selleck bought a ranch and devoted part of it to growing avocados. During the California drought, he was fined $21,000 for stealing water for his crop. It's a puzzle why he did that, considering he doesn't even like avocados or manage to make a profit off of them. CRACKED.COM — Source

17

Iggy Pop's guitarist became a VP at Sony. Proto-punk band The Stooges turned Iggy Pop into an icon while utterly failing to do the same thing for James Williamson. So Williamson went to college, got a job designing computer chips, and rose through Sony's ranks, becoming VP of technology standards in 1997. All the while, his colleagues knew nothing about his rock past. CRACKED.COM — Source

16

Bill Berry retired to be a farmer. After suffering an aneurysm mid-concert, R.E.M.'s drummer changed his life and got into, of all things, hay farming. I'm still young enough that I can do something else, he said after recovering. So he gave up fame and fortune for a life of back-breaking labor at the crack of dawn. CRACKED.COM — Source

15

The guitarist from The Vapors writes for Doctor Who. URNING Date You may know The Vapors for their hit Turning Japanese and for being known for nothing but their hit Turning Japanese. But their lead guitarist, Edward Bazalgette, went on to become a producer and director. He's directed episodes of EastEnders and Poldark, and has also penned a couple of well-received Doctor Who episodes. CRACKED.COM — Source

14

Rebecca Black is... a pretty decent singer, actually. Incredibly, going viral at the wrong age for the wrong reasons (all those reasons being Friday) hasn't made Black a hermit. She can be found on YouTube answering viewer questions and discussing bullying (which she knows a bit about). She also releases music videos that show that she has a good voice when not autotuned to hell. CRACKED.COM — Source

13

Chunk from The Goonies is a big-shot attorney. Jeff Cohen managed to avoid the usual child star hell by dropping acting and getting an education. Не got a law degree from UCLA and opened his own media law firm. In 2008, Hollywood Reporter showcased him as one of their Top 35 Executives Under 35. CRACKED.COM — Source

12

The dad from Family Ties does train stuff. You know him as Michael J. Fox's dad and Burt Gummer in Tremors, but Michael Gross is much better known among railfans. He's been a spokesman for the World's Greatest Hobby campaign and narrates carloads of train-related documentaries. Не also owns part of Santa Fe Southern Railway. CRACKED.COM — Source

11

Winnie Cooper is a math whiz. FITO find k ot #140 75% OFF 25% of $/2 140 = 140 ce top 4 bottom 4 r of 4 140 4 wer: S 35 As a teen, Danica McKellar played Kevin Arnold's love interest in The Wonder Years. As an adult, she maths professionally. McKellar helped develop the Chayes- McKellar-Winn theorem while she was majoring at UCLA. She also writes books to help schoolgirls get better at math. CRACKED.COM — Source

10

Mike Patton voices video games. Have you ever played The Darkness? Mike Patton, lead singer of Faith No More, is The Darkness. That screeching shadow demon telling you to do bad things is Patton turning his vocal cords into a slinky. He's also done voice work for Portal, Left 4 Dead, and Metalocalypse. CRACKED.COM — Source

9

Dan Spitz is a watchmaker. In the mid '90s, Spitz grew bored with pulling guitar riffs for Anthrax and pursued a different interest: precision clockwork. So he quit the band, gave away his guitars to the Hard Rock Cafe, and learned to craft timepieces in a Swiss school. It took an impassioned call from Megadeth's Dave Mustaine for him to return to music. CRACKED.COM — Source

8

Vanilla Ice renovates houses. Trying hard to refrain from sampling Under Pressure still leaves Vanilla Ice enough time to do some house-flipping. Не buys undervalued real estate, goes in with a crew to renovate the houses, and then sells them for twice the price. He's written a book on the topic, and hosts a reality show about his house-flipping forays. CRACKED.COM — Source

7

David Lee Roth is an emergency medical technician. Between leaving Van Halen in 1985 and reuniting with the band in 2006, Roth got certified as an EMT in New York. Не has logged over 200 ambulance rides and is handy with a defibrillator. Не cut his mane to avoid being recognized and coming across as a glory hound. CRACKED.COM — Source

6

The big brother from The Wonder Years used to be a PR shill. Jason Hervey (whom you might remember bullying Fred Savage) was in 2003 the head of PR at healthcare giant HealthSound. But when HealthSound got involved in a billion-dollar accounting scandal, Hervey sucked at his job of making the company look as good as possible. Не was eventually fired, so he sued them for $400,000. CRACKED.COM — Source

5

Terry Chimes is a chiropractor. After punishing the drums for The Clash and Black Sabbath, Chimes decided to start punishing human bodies instead. The band's chiropractor fixed Chimes after a bowling session with Sabbath (which sounds like it could really mess you up). Не was so impressed that he became a chiropractor himself, and in 1994 he opened his own clinic. CRACKED.COM — Source

4

Neil Armstrong lived a surprisingly unassuming life. While Buzz Aldrin was living the rock star life for coming in second, Armstrong was incredibly retiring, even reclusive. Не barely appeared in public, and worried he had been given his teaching position out of favoritism. 'Cause it's not like he was the first man on the f*cking moon or anything. GRACKED.COM — Source

3

John Carpenter is a hardcore gamer. Carpenter hasn't sat in the director's chair in a while, but he sure likes to sit in a bean bag with a controller in his hands. His son got him in the habit, and his tastes run the full gamut from Sonic The Hedgehog to Borderlands 2 and The Last of Us. He's even expressed interest in making his own games some time. CRACKED.COM — Source

2

RoboCop is a fine arts scholar. Well, not RoboCop (how cool would that be, though?), but Peter Weller (which is only slightly less cool). In 2004, Weller got his Master's in Renaissance and Roman Art from Syracuse University. UCLA granted him a Ph.D. in Italian Renaissance Art History in 2014, when he was 67. GRACKED.COM — Source

1

Rick Moranis is a shut-in singer. Moranis left movies in 1997 to take care of his children after his wife passed away. Years of being a stay-at-home dad made him reclusive, which he mashed up with his versatile musical talents. In 2005, he released The Agoraphobic Cowboy, a country album where he sings about never leaving home. A second album came out in 2013. CRACKED.COM — Source

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