It's a story Hollywood knows all too well: an actor lands a breakout role, becomes an overnight sensation, and suddenly finds themselves at the center of Tinseltown. But while getting famous is hard, staying famous is even harder. Not everyone knows how to handle the pressure that comes with stardom. Sometimes it's a string of terrible movie choices that slowly chips away at a career. Other times, it's an actor who forgets that people are paying attention to everything they say and starts creating controversy for absolutely no reason.
In this list, we're looking at eight actors who seemed to have it all. They had hit movies, critical acclaim, millions of fans, and careers that looked untouchable. But through a series of bad decisions and public controversies, they managed to single-handedly derail their own careers. Let's take a look at them.
Rachel Zegler
Rachel Zegler burst onto the scene when Steven Spielberg cast her in the 2021 remake of West Side Story. That's a once-in-a-career launching pad. But the warning signs came early. When she was left off the guest list for the 94th Academy Awards, she publicly guilted them on social media until they invited her. Next, she appeared in Shazam! Fury of the Gods, and she openly admitted at the film's premiere that she'd only taken the role for the payday.
But the real controversy arrived with Snow White. While promoting the film, Zegler criticized aspects of the 1937 animated classic and described the prince as a stalker. She also emphasized that the new version would focus less on romance and more on Snow White becoming a leader. Those comments sparked a massive backlash online. Fans, critics, and even the son of the original film's director publicly criticized what they saw as disrespect toward one of Disney's most beloved stories. Zegler had become the personification of everything people disliked about modern Hollywood. She also found herself at odds with co-star Gal Gadot after publicly weighing in on the Israel-Palestine conflict, creating even more unwanted headlines. When Snow White finally arrived, it became one of the biggest box office bombs in Disney's history, and fairly or unfairly, much of the blame landed on Zegler's shoulders.
Brie Larson
Brie Larson was an Academy Award-winning actress who was just as comfortable carrying a small indie drama as she was headlining a massive action blockbuster. After winning an Oscar for Room, she seemed destined for an even bigger career, and Marvel handed her the keys to the kingdom by casting her as Captain Marvel. At the time, the MCU was the biggest franchise on the planet, and Larson was being positioned as one of its new leading faces. But as her profile grew, so did the attention on her public comments. Many fans felt she frequently made remarks that came across as dismissive toward men, which alienated a large portion of the audience that Marvel movies depended on.
Things only got worse during the press tour for Avengers: Endgame, where Larson appeared passive-aggressive toward her male co-stars and bragged about doing her own stunts. As the clips spread online, the negative perception surrounding her continued to grow, and major acting opportunities seemed to become less frequent. Her big chance to turn things around came with The Marvels, which was essentially a make-or-break moment for her career. However, the movie turned out to be a critical and commercial failure and became the lowest-grossing film in Marvel Studios history. Larson still works steadily and recently voiced Rosalina in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, but she is no longer getting the kind of high-profile roles that once seemed guaranteed.
Shia LaBeouf
Shia LaBeouf was in Constantine, Disturbia, headlining the Transformers franchise, and even being groomed as a possible successor to Harrison Ford's Indiana Jones. Behind the scenes, though, he was struggling with alcoholism, and it all started spilling into public view. Arrests, fights, rehab stints, and public apologies became the norm. In 2013, he was caught plagiarizing a filmmaker's work for his short film Howard Cantour.com, and then his apology itself was exposed as plagiarized from a Yahoo Answers post.
Then came the performance art phase. He appeared at the Berlin Film Festival with a paper bag over his head that said, “I am not famous anymore,” invited people to watch him cry with the bag over his head, and even live-streamed himself watching his own films for 72 hours. In his head, it probably seemed like a provocative exploration of fame, but for everyone else, it was just weird. FKA Twigs later sued him for abuse, Netflix dropped him from awards consideration, and Olivia Wilde cut him from Don't Worry Darling. His biggest role in years ended up being Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopolis, which was the Hollywood equivalent of a first-class ticket on the Titanic.
Ezra Miller
When Ezra Miller was cast as The Flash, they looked destined to become one of the leading faces of the DCEU. Unfortunately, Miller's mental health began deteriorating rapidly following their parents' divorce in 2019. They became increasingly isolated and paranoid, started carrying a gun and wearing a bulletproof vest, and became convinced that the FBI and the KKK were out to get them. In April 2020, a video surfaced showing Miller grabbing a woman by the neck and forcing her to the ground. In 2022, they were arrested in Hawaii for filming people without consent and screaming at strangers over the crime of “singing a Lady Gaga song.” Weeks later, another video emerged showing Miller throwing a chair at a woman, leaving her with a head injury that required stitches. At this point, every few weeks seemed to bring a new headline that somehow sounded even worse than the last.
For more on actors who've faced similar fates, check out our article When Legends Fumble: 8 Great Actors Who Ended Their Careers on a Sour Note. And if you're looking for something lighter, Netflix's 'Leave the World Behind' Is the Perfect Fallout Replacement for Late-Night Viewing might be just the ticket.
