35 Celebs Who Have Distanced Themselves From Hollywood

First on our list of top celebrities who (more or less) disappeared from the spotlight is well-beloved child star, Macaulay Culkin. Once in the center of attention and probably one of the highest-paid child stars ever, the Home Alone actor basically disappeared after the blockbusters’ release.

Despite several major wins and even a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy, the young and promising actor felt constantly overwhelmed and under the media’s radar. This led to substance abuse issues and frequent anxiety attacks. After 28 years, though, Macaulay recently recreated several Home Alone scenes as Kevin McCallister in advertisements for Google. We were not surprised to find out that the video quickly became viral!

American actor and filmmaker Josh Radnor is currently number 2 on our list. From 2005 to 2015, he played Ted Mosby, an architect living in New York who told his kids the story of events that led him to meet their mother throughout the nine seasons of How I Met Your Mother.

Afterward, Radnor continued to be cast in other TV series, such as Mercy Street (2016 – 2017), Rise (2018), and Hunters (2020), but no other role has surpassed the ever-optimistic and funny guy, Ted. But he keeps his private life to himself, and tries to stay out of the media’s spotlight.

This cute English boy received the lead role of the first Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. This happened in 2000, and he was only 11 at the time. He continued to play Harry Potter in the next seven movies that were released. The beloved series ended in 2011, with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2.

What has Daniel been doing ever since, though? No other roles as young boys hunted by Dark Lords became available, so Radcliffe has been focusing his attention mainly on theater. Much to many critics’ pleasant surprise, he took on many roles in both Broadway and off-Broadway plays and delivered great performances.

One of the most sarcastic characters on screen, Dr. Gregory House, was brought to life by the English actor, singer, and musician Hugh Laurie. The highest point of his career so far was reached during the medical drama series, House (2004 – 2012). This was a role for which he received countless awards and nominations, including two Golden Globes.

God poured out a great deal of talent when creating Laurie, because he also plays the piano, guitar, drums, harmonica, and saxophone. Ever since the phenomenal success of House, the brilliant actor has had several other roles, such as his role in the American comedy TV series, Veep, but his appearances were sporadic.

Jessica Simpson is an American singer whose first album was released in 1999. It was intended to be an album focused on anti-sex appeal, which was in contrast to other pop albums released at the time like those by Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. Even though her album sold over four million copies, the numbers were not good enough for her record company.

Jessica turned her attention towards fashion pursuits, and, in 2005, she launched a fashion line called The Jessica Simpson Collection. The brand is considered to be one of the most successful brands founded by celebrities.

The 34-year-old American former actress is considered to be another celebrity who is no longer in the spotlight. She was well-known and loved throughout the 1990s and 2000s for the roles that she had in All That (1996 – 2000), The Amanda Show (1999-2002), Big Fat Liar (2002), What A Girl Wants (2003) and She’s The Man (2006).

All these were commercial successes. After Easy A (2010), however, she announced on Twitter that she did not, in fact, love acting and that she would pursue a fashion career instead.

Our list continues with Halle Berry, the 53-year-old American actress. For her performance in the romantic drama, Monster’s Ball (2001), she won the Best Actress Academy Award. This quickly made her the highest-paid actress in the early 2000s.

Her role as Storm in the X-Men franchise and as Catwoman also made her popular among young people. Ever since, though, her roles in movies have been sporadic. The most recent ones are in Things We Lost in the Fire (2007), Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017) and John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019).

Our next celebrity is the Canadian-French singer and songwriter, Avril Lavigne. She is known not only for her tomboyish style and skate punk persona but also for her highly successful hit, “Complicated”. Avril’s first three albums sold millions of copies worldwide.

Her punk career, though, slowly began to fall apart after several unsuccessful romantic relationships. The songs that were recorded in the meantime, unfortunately, did not become great hits, either. Oh, life, why’d you have to go and make things so complicated?

The American stand-up comedian who is best known for his comedy sketch series, Chappelle’s Show (2003 – 2006), is the next celebrity who disappeared for a while from the spotlight. He enjoyed massive success and was considered the comic genius of America. However, Chappelle decided in 2006 to quit his own show and temporarily step away from his stand-up comedy career.

He publicly declared that he thought of some of his comedy material as socially irresponsible and even reinforcing race stereotypes. This made him question the purpose and direction of his career. After quitting the show, however, Chappelle continued to perform stand-up comedy but not on a regular basis.

Geena Davis, the American actress famous for numerous roles of strong and authentic female characters in both film and television, is our next celeb who disappeared from the spotlight. She has had several great successes in productions such as Thelma and Louise (1991), A League of Their Own (1992), The Exorcist (2016), and Grey’s Anatomy (2005 – present).

However, she has recently focused her attention and energy as a women’s advocate for gender equality. In 2009, the non-profit organization, The Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, was founded.

Another Grey’s Anatomy star present on our list is the 54-year-old American actor, Patrick Dempsey. He became successful quite early in his acting career due to several roles that he had in the 1980s and 1990s. His best-known role, though, is from the medical drama, Grey’s Anatomy, where he plays the charming neurosurgeon, Derek Shepherd.

McDreamy, however, decided to follow a different career path after his character was killed in a car accident, and he focused on racing and motorsports for a while.

Our list continues with Orlando Bloom, the English actor whose golden age was during The Lord of the Rings franchise. He played Legolas, the brave and light-haired Elf and one of the nine members of the Fellowship. Other performances worth mentioning are Will Turner in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise and Prince Paris in Troy.

However, no other significant roles have been taken since then. After his engagement to American singer Katy Perry in February 2019, it was recently announced that they are expecting their first child together.

Cameron Diaz is one of the most attractive females alive, and she has an incredible career in acting. Diaz stated in 2019 that she had given more than half of her life to the public. She said it is time for her to take a little bit of time for herself.

She also said that she is more focused on friendships and her marriage than being in movies. One thing is for sure… We enjoyed seeing her in all her movies and we can only hope she’ll decide to get back to her fans!

47-year-old British-American actor Wentworth Miller is our next choice. He saw amazing success with his role as Michael Scofield in the TV series, Prison Break, for which he was nominated in 2005 for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor (Television Series Drama).

Wentworth continued to be cast in other TV series, such as Legends of Tomorrow (2016-2018) and The Flash (2014-2019). He publicly talked about LGBTQ rights and discrimination and his struggles with depression and coming out of the closet.

Freddie Prinze, Jr., is next in line. The 44-year-old American actor played in movies such as I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997), where he met his wife, Sarah Michelle Gellar. He also starred in She’s All That (1999) and the Scooby-Doo movies. We can’t forget the sweet and sensitive male nanny Sandy that he played in Friends either.

Voice acting was also an important part of Freddie’s career, and he voiced different characters in several video games, such as Lego Indiana Jones, Mass Effect 3, and Dragon Age: Inquisition.

We all love and remember the lovely little girl who starred in Mrs. Doubtfire and Matilda, but where is she now, you may wonder? Mara Wilson, one of the most beloved child stars of the 1990s, has become a writer. She published Where Am I Now? True Stories of Girlhood and Accidental Fame in 2016, a book about her success at such an early age.

Even though her acting career is now a thing of the past, she did lend her voice in 2016 for a few episodes of the animated series BoJack Horseman and Big Hero 6: The Series.

Our next mention is 58-year-old American actress and producer Meg Ryan. We all remember her wonderful romantic movies, such as When Harry Met Sally (1989), Sleepless in Seattle (1993), You’ve Got Mail (1998), and City of Angels (1998).

These films made us dream about our own love stories, and these are the roles that made her one of the most successful actresses in the 1990s. However, after her divorce from Dennis Quaid in 2001 became too prevalent in the media, the blue-eyed actress decided to take a step back from Hollywood.

Next on our list is Danny Lloyd, the child actor who played Danny Torrance in the horror film The Shining (1980). The movie was produced by Stanley Kubrick and was based on Stephen King’s 1977 well-acclaimed novel. Even though it brought Danny quite a lot of success, he decided not to pursue his acting career.

In fact, he is currently working in Elizabeth, Kentucky, as a biology professor and is probably trying to stay away from any remote hotels in the Rocky Mountains.

This next actor is best known for his amazing interpretation of probably the most hated Game of Thrones character, King Joffrey Baratheon. Jack Gleeson stepped away from the spotlight at the age of 21 after his character was killed.

Instead of acting, the Irish actor chose to focus his attention on his studies in theology and philosophy at the Trinity College Dublin. Despite the fact that he regularly attended drama classes since childhood and acting was one of his hobbies, much to everyone’s disappointment and regret, he remains in the background.

There’s no doubt that 60-year-old actor Kevin Spacey should be mentioned at some point. After a series of unfortunate events unfolded in 2018, the House of Cards star’s career and reputation suffered a great downfall. Everything started when actor Anthony Rapp publicly announced that, when he was 14 years old, Spacey (26 at that time) tried to seduce him at a party they both attended.

To make matters even worse, several other accusations followed soon after from other men who decided to speak up. Despite his role of paramount importance in House of Cards, Netflix decided to cut the actor from the final season.

Elizabeth Hurley is a known actress who landed on television with her first role in the movie, Aria, in 1987. She was in her late twenties at the time.

Liz was also a main character in the Austin Powers comedies in the 2000s. She was one of the most beautiful actresses in the early 2000s.

Sarah Michelle Geller was a promising actress in Hollywood when she was a teenager, starring in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and many other teenager’s roles. However, after being in Buffy the Vampire Slayer for more than 6 years and running 144 episodes, she had a hard time finding other roles that would suit her personality.

Hollywood won’t cast Sarah Michelle Geller because many of her movies didn’t do as well as expected, and she lost quite a bit of popularity.

He was one of the main characters in the beloved sitcom, Friends, for more than 10 years. He and his co-stars earned a lot of money shooting Friends, so they were financially very stable, earning $1 million per episode in the last season.

David Schwimmer is also known for various voices in renowned cartoons, such as Madagascar. Apart from small roles, he hasn’t been in the spotlight for many years.

Chris Tucker was one of the most beloved comedians in the industry due to his appearance in Rush Hour alongside his fellow actor, Jackie Chan. After the big success of the first movie, Tucker demanded a salary increase of up to $20 million for the second film and $25 million for the third installment of Rush Hour.

In the 9-year gap between the movies, Chris Tucker didn’t appear in any other films. Maybe this is the reason why. Regardless, fans can agree that he had plenty of talent when it came to making people laugh.

Shaggy was one of the aspiring musicians in the early 2000s, and his album, Hot Shot, went 6x Platinum in America. Two years later, he released another album called Lucky Day. It wasn’t as popular as the previous one, but it still went gold.

Shaggy took his music internationally after this, but apparently, his fans forgot about him. He was nominated for a Grammy a few years back, but the fans apparently cannot go back in time.

Josh Hartnett was a very promising actor in the 1990s and a very handsome man who was appreciated by his fans. He appeared in Pearl Harbor and Black Hawk Down. How can you be such a good-looking actor and vanish overnight, though?

Josh Hartnett wanted to evolve, so he began appearing in romantic movies to avoid being just another pretty face. His last movie was called 30 Days of Night, and it was released more than 10 years ago. He had quite some promising skills, so it’s such a pity that we do not see him anymore.

Mischa Barton appeared in many TV roles. But the role that brought her fame was her part in The O.C., which ran from 2003 to 2007. After The O.C. ended, she had problems with the police, and she was caught driving under the influence in 2007.

Despite problems with law enforcement, she also had a lawsuit against her landlord and her mother back in 2010 for theft. According to her psychiatrist, she also has some emotional instability.

Raven Simone is an American actress and singer who began her career back in 1989. She appeared as Raven Baxter in her sitcom, That’s So Raven, which lasted 100 episodes.

Raven has a very controversial opinion about sexuality. But she declared herself lesbian. She also finds that she cannot identify herself as an African-American. She was not cast in big roles, and she only appeared in small films.

He was a good-looking guy on TV. And that is why he landed roles in the late 90s and early 2000s. Everyone wanted him for his looks, appearing in movies, such as The Mummy franchise and Journey to the Center of the Earth.

Apparently, he was not so selective with his films, and that ended his career, unfortunately. He appeared in very expensive movies, such as Monkeybone, but the movies didn’t bring any cash from the box offices.

Phoebe Cates is a former American actress who was very popular in the 80s. She played the main role in Fast Times at Ridgemont High and in other movies. In 1989, she married actor Kevin Kline, who is 16 years older than Cates.

Apparently, she left Hollywood because she couldn’t find any roles, but she didn’t completely retire. Another reason stated by Cates for leaving was that she was going to take care of her family.

He was one of the starring characters in Home Improvement in the 90s, and he built a huge fan base back in the 90s. He is also known as J.T.T., and he played the voice of Simba in the classic film, The Lion King.

A piece of sad news for his fan base was his retirement from the industry. Apparently, this was a personal decision to keep his personal life private. That’s what he decided would be the best for him.

Karyn Parson landed a huge role in her youth in the famous sitcom, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, alongside her fellow actor, Will Smith. Apparently, after the sitcom ended in 1996, Karyn couldn’t land big roles, and she disappeared from the spotlight.

She played in minor roles, but nothing big. She is now a wife and a mother who is focusing on her family. This is surely a thing to appreciate, but her fans wouldn’t mind a great comeback!

Kat von D is the former LA ink star who tattooed a lot of people during her TV series. She welcomed her baby into the world in November 2018 alongside her husband, Rafael Reyes, whom she married in 2018. She began working out more after her baby’s birth and enjoying time with her newborn baby.

In 2020, she stated on Instagram that she sold her part in the vegan line to her partner. She is a great model for a lot of women and a great source of inspiration to get back to our former self.

Matt Lauer was an anchorman and a producer for NBC in the United States of America. His career ended after he was accused by his former colleague, Brooke Nevils, of sexually assaulting her in Sochi, Russia, during the Olympics. After Nevils spoke about this incident, other women had the courage to speak up for themselves.

He admits to all the sexual misconduct and acknowledged that he behaved inappropriately with these women. Unfortunately, that is a quick way to end a career.

For a few years in a row, Ricky Martin was voted the most handsome man alive. But it came as a surprise for women that he is gay. Today, Ricky Martin is spending quality time with his husband, Yosef, and their 4 children together.

He changed his “vida loca” to the family vida, and he couldn’t be any happier. In 2020, he wanted to go on a tour with his husband and his kids to show the world their family. This is one example of a big, happy family, even though the girls might all be heartbroken.