Top 20 Actors Who Saved Their Career with One Performance

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## Top 10 Actor Comebacks with One Movie  We always knew they had it in them! For this list, we’ll be looking at actors who largely turned their careers around with one movie. Did YOUR favorite actor make the list? Let us know in the comments!  ### 10. **Liam Neeson – "Taken" (2008)** Liam Neeson's career took a thrilling turn with his role as Bryan Mills in "Taken." The film's unexpected success revitalized his career, turning him into an action star and leading to a series of successful action films.  ### 9. **Robert Downey Jr. – "Iron Man" (2008)** Robert Downey Jr.'s portrayal of Tony Stark in "Iron Man" not only launched the Marvel Cinematic Universe but also marked a significant comeback for the actor. His performance reestablished him as one of Hollywood's leading actors.  ### 8. **Chris Evans – "Captain America: The First Avenger" (2011)** After several less successful roles, Chris Evans found his stride with "Captain America: The First Avenger." His portrayal of Steve Rogers/Captain America made him a household name and solidified his career in Hollywood.  ### 7. **Johnny Depp – "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" (2003)** Johnny Depp's career was rejuvenated with his iconic role as Captain Jack Sparrow. The film's success and his unique performance led to multiple sequels and a resurgence in his career.  ### 6. **Jennifer Lopez – "Hustlers" (2019)** Jennifer Lopez's performance in "Hustlers" earned her critical acclaim and numerous award nominations. The role reminded audiences and critics of her acting prowess, revitalizing her career in the film industry.  ### 5. **Matthew McConaughey – "Dallas Buyers Club" (2013)** Matthew McConaughey's role in "Dallas Buyers Club" marked a significant shift in his career, moving away from romantic comedies to more serious roles. His performance earned him an Academy Award and critical acclaim.  ### 4. **John Travolta – "Pulp Fiction" (1994)** John Travolta's career was in a slump before his role in Quentin Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction." His portrayal of Vincent Vega reignited his career and led to a series of successful films.  ### 3. **Mickey Rourke – "The Wrestler" (2008)** Mickey Rourke's powerful performance in "The Wrestler" earned him critical acclaim and several awards. The role marked a major comeback for Rourke, who had been away from the spotlight for years.  ### 2. **Winona Ryder – "Stranger Things" (2016)** Though not a movie, Winona Ryder's role in the hit TV series "Stranger Things" revived her career. Her performance as Joyce Byers brought her back into the public eye and reestablished her as a talented actress.  ### 1. **Michael Keaton – "Birdman" (2014)** Michael Keaton's performance in "Birdman" was both a critical and commercial success. The film's meta-narrative about an actor's comeback mirrored Keaton's own career resurgence, earning him numerous awards and nominations.  These actors turned their careers around with one standout performance, reminding us of th

Transcript

00:00What the hell's going on here?

00:02Two good men are dead.

00:04And you guys are fighting over who's gonna be the next hot shot, huh?

00:08Is that what's happening?

00:09Yes, that's exactly what's happening.

00:11Welcome to WatchMojo.

00:12And today we're counting down our picks for the top 20 actors who saved their career with one performance.

00:18This is how I win.

00:20People keep asking if I'm back.

00:22And I haven't really had an answer.

00:25But now, yeah, I'm thinking I'm back.

00:28I was not expecting that.

00:30But I was expecting not to expect something, so it doesn't count.

00:33For this list, we'll be looking at actors who largely turned their careers around with one movie.

00:38We'll be taking into account the state of their respective careers both before and after,

00:42as well as the popularity of the role itself.

00:45Whether the actor eventually returned to infamy is irrelevant,

00:48so long as there was a noticeable uptick in their output after the performances in question.

00:53Be sure to let us know your favorite comeback roles in the comments.

00:58Number 20, Adam Sandler, Howard Ratner, Uncut Gems.

01:02This is how I win, all right?

01:05We've known for a long time that Adam Sandler could act,

01:08whether it be from his grounded performance in Punch Drunk Love or the surprisingly serious Funny People.

01:13However, he's developed a reputation for seeming much more comfortable screwing around on screen

01:18through, let's just say, eccentric characters.

01:21I'm so sick of that.

01:23Why are you so afraid to admit that we are connected?

01:27Faces!

01:28We shared mom's womb.

01:30We were roommates.

01:31Oh, that is just disgusting.

01:34Yet in 2019, he blew everyone out of the water with his manic energy in Uncut Gems.

01:39I can't figure it out.

01:41I can't figure out what I'm supposed to do.

01:44Everything I do is not going right.

01:46Everything I do is not going right.

01:48I don't know what to do.

01:49I really don't.

01:50It's too soon to tell where his career will take him from here,

01:53though he did threaten to make a movie that is so bad on purpose if he wasn't nominated for an Oscar,

01:58which he wasn't.

02:00Well, then bring on Grown Ups 3.

02:02We deserve it.

02:10No one ever really doubted Johnny Depp's abilities as an actor prior to 2003,

02:14but aside from Sleepy Hollow, he hadn't really starred in anything that had mass appeal,

02:20seeming to prefer off-kilter fare like Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

02:24Though it's easy to forget now, the prospect of Depp headlining an adaptation of Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean ride

02:30didn't sound all too appealing.

02:32You are without doubt the worst pirate I've ever heard of.

02:36But you have heard of me.

02:37However, when the first installment in the franchise was released, it was a massive success,

02:42and legions of fans popped up overnight to support Depp,

02:45who would even earn an Oscar nomination for his work.

02:48You were waiting for the opportune moment.

02:52That was it.

02:53From there, he went on to become one of the biggest stars in Hollywood for the better part of 15 years.

03:03Back in the 90s, Jim Carrey rose to fame portraying wacky characters like Ace Ventura,

03:08The Mask, Lloyd Christmas, and The Riddler, just to name a few.

03:12However, his typical schtick became more and more seldom in the decades to come,

03:16with his 2004 turn as Count Olaf in a series of unfortunate events being arguably the last true Carrey performance.

03:24Throw in some personal troubles, and it seemed like the Carrey we knew and loved was gone.

03:28I'm doing just fine.

03:30I just, you know, there's no meaning to any of this.

03:33So I wanted to find the most meaningless thing that I could come to and join, and here I am.

03:41Enter Sonic the Hedgehog, where his zany portrayal of classic video game baddie Dr. Robotnik

03:46was praised for harkening back to his previous work.

03:54Though the film was plagued with post-production issues,

03:56Carrey is certainly one of the reasons the sequel was greenlit.

03:59I was not expecting that.

04:01But I was expecting not to expect something, so it doesn't count.

04:0517. Paul Bettany, Vision, Avengers Age of Ultron

04:09Though Paul Bettany was technically a member of the Marvel Cinematic Universe from the beginning,

04:13voicing Jarvis in 2008's Iron Man, he had to wait to get his real shot.

04:19Jarvis, you there?

04:20At your service, sir.

04:22In those intervening years, he starred in a slew of critical and commercial failures,

04:26be it movies he headlined like Legion and Priest,

04:29or those where he acted as a supporting player like The Tourist and Transcendence.

04:33Just when it seemed like he didn't know how to pick them,

04:36Bettany's MCU investment paid off with the advent of Vision in Avengers Age of Ultron.

04:41It's a privilege to be among them.

04:43You're unbearably naive.

04:46Well, I was born yesterday.

04:51A bright spot in a decent enough sequel, Bettany was perfectly cast to play the android,

04:56and will be doing so again in the Disney Plus series WandaVision.

05:00Wanda and Vision.

05:01Oh, we have five paths.

05:03This is our home now. I want us to fit in.

05:12From one MCU cast member to another,

05:15Chris Evans got his first chance to play a superhero in the first two Fantastic Four movies

05:19as Johnny Storm, also known as Human Torch.

05:22However, that franchise fizzled out early,

05:25and his later attempts to participate in superhero comic book adaptations like Push and the Losers

05:30also failed.

05:31Proving that the fourth time's the charm,

05:33Evans finally landed the perfect role in that of Steve Rogers

05:36and the titular hero in Captain America The First Avenger.

05:40How do you feel?

05:44Taller.

05:49You look taller.

05:50His popularity as the character growing with each subsequent appearance,

05:54Evans rounded out his time in the MCU by making fans everywhere weep.

05:58Now let's see what he does outside the comic sphere.

06:01Very nice.

06:02Matter of fact, eat shit.

06:04What?

06:05How's that?

06:10Not the last actor to be marred by the Twilight Saga that we'll talk about on this list.

06:14Kristen Stewart found herself one of the most disliked actors in Hollywood by the series' end in 2012.

06:20Nessie, you nicknamed my daughter after the rock is monster?

06:25Her affair with Snow White and The Huntsman director Rupert Sanders

06:28and subsequent breakup with Twilight co-star Robert Pattinson didn't help matters.

06:33Moving somewhat out of the limelight,

06:35Stewart built her career back up with a string of indie movies,

06:38but the one that made doubters prove she could act came in 2014 with Clouds of Sils Maria.

06:44At 20, you saw Sigrid's ambition and you saw her violence because you felt it in yourself.

06:51So?

06:52That's what I'm saying.

06:53The text is like an object.

06:55It's going to change perspective based on where you're standing.

06:58She more than held her own working against veteran actor Juliette Binoche

07:02and has since returned to the blockbuster scene with 2019's iteration of Charlie's Angels.

07:12Much like another entry on this list,

07:14Jennifer Lopez couldn't be mentioned without evoking the string of romantic comedies she made throughout the 2000s.

07:20Though some are popular among a certain demographic like Maiden Manhattan and The Wedding Planner,

07:25few were positively received from a critical standpoint,

07:28with the worst of the bunch coming in the form of Gigli.

07:30It's turkey time.

07:34Huh?

07:37Gobble, gobble.

07:38Another surprise 2019 performance,

07:41her role in Hustlers as Ramona Vega reminded people why she was such a magnetic star to begin with,

07:46receiving a bulk of the praise for the film.

07:49Though she wasn't nominated for an Oscar like many had hoped,

07:52it did show that J.Lo still got it.

07:54You know, we used to say,

07:56if only we had known each other back then, you know?

08:03Maybe we could have looked out for one another.

08:11Even during his critical heyday around the turn of the 21st century,

08:15Nicolas Cage could still be described as an unorthodox and mesmerizingly manic screen presence.

08:35Exacerbated by a slew of financial troubles,

08:37it started to seem as if Cage accepted every offer that came his way to make ends meet,

08:42greasing us with such esteemed classics such as Knowing and Season of the Witch,

08:47whereby his eccentricities turned into overacting.

08:50Just when the world began to get nostalgic for him,

08:52we were graced with the perfect combination of manic Cage with actual quality in Mandy.

09:12It remains to be seen what kind of career renaissance may be over the horizon,

09:16but if it's anything like Mandy, we're here for it.

09:24Beginning in 2009, Chris Pratt showed the world just how funny he could be

09:28on the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation as fan favorite Andy Dwyer.

09:33Leslie, I typed your symptoms into the thing up here,

09:35and it says you could have network connectivity problems.

09:38However, his presence in film remained rather limited for several years,

09:42inhabiting only small roles in good movies like Zero Dark Thirty

09:46and roles that were memorable for the wrong reasons like his turn in Movie 43.

09:50Yet Pratt shocked the world in 2014 when he ditched his schlubby, slacker persona

09:55and bulked up for Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy,

09:58proving he could be funny and kick-ass.

10:02This led him to being one of the most bankable stars in Hollywood,

10:05following up with more blockbusters like Jurassic World.

10:14And the next time you screech,

10:17it'll explode into millions of eardrums.

10:21You'll glimmer on thousands of screens around the globe.

10:25Back in the day, people were skeptical of Keaton's character,

10:29Back in the day, people were skeptical of Keaton's casting

10:31as the caped crusader in Tim Burton's Batman movie,

10:34though many were silenced when they saw him don the cape and cowl on the big screen.

10:38After a single sequel, Keaton stepped away from the franchise,

10:42which got significantly worse while Keaton did, well, Jack Frost.

10:46You the man!

10:48No, you the man!

10:49Nope, I'm the snowman!

10:51Keaton stayed relatively quiet for much of the 2000s,

10:54but we're sure the meta-commentary on his career in 2014's Birdman was too good to pass up.

10:59Listen, hold on.

11:02That wasn't an accident.

11:06What do you mean?

11:07I made it happen.

11:09Oh, okay.

11:10The film was a critical sensation,

11:13ultimately winning Best Picture and making Keaton an Oscar nominee.

11:17Since then, Keaton has been in a slew of big movies.

11:20In addition to being another Bird-themed character in a superhero movie as the MCU's Vulture.

11:26There you go, Mason.

11:32Business is good.

11:38Screw the F.B.A.

11:40I'm gonna be D.O.A.

11:42What, I gotta sue the hospital to get my medicine?

11:46For much of his career, Matthew McConaughey was ridiculed for making a throng of lazy romantic comedies,

11:51from Failure to Launch to Ghosts of Girlfriends Past.

11:54It had been the end of me, so I've cut it short.

11:58Then a little thing called the McConnaissance happened,

12:00which started slow with movies like The Lincoln Lawyer and Mud,

12:04allowing McConaughey to reveal his acting chops in a big way.

12:07It crested it in 2013 when he gave an absolutely transformative performance in Dallas Buyers Club,

12:13which saw him pick up numerous critic accolades, culminating in an Oscar for Best Actor.

12:18Now we live in a world where McConaughey starring in serious projects like Interstellar and True Detective

12:24isn't taken as jokes, but as good marketing ploys.

12:27To which we can only say,

12:29Alright, alright, alright.

12:36No reason at all to play it quiet.

12:38No reason to play it any way but my way.

12:41While you could argue that his Oscar-nominated turn in 2008's The Wrestler

12:45put Mickey Rourke back in the winner's circle,

12:47we maintain that came a little earlier in 2005 with Frank Miller's Sin City.

12:53In the neo-noir thriller, he plays Marv,

12:56a hard-hitting brute out for revenge and to clear his name for the death of his lover.

13:00Though the ensemble film has plenty of memorable characters,

13:03he was especially so, as he adopted the tough-guy persona we'd know him for then on.

13:09In typical career resurgence fashion,

13:12he then joined a superhero movie in Iron Man 2

13:15and even reprised his role as Marv in 2014's Sin City a Dame to Kill For.

13:20Looks like trouble.

13:25Looks like Christmas.

13:31Believe it or not, there was a time when Liam Neeson was better known as a dramatic actor,

13:35with only limited action set pieces in movies like The Phantom Menace and Batman Begins.

13:40Though he wasn't exactly starved for work,

13:42his career took a turn for the badass in 2008 with a little movie called Taken,

13:47in which he single-handedly takes down a procession of scumbags

13:51as he rescues his daughter from a sex trafficking ring.

13:54If you let my daughter go now, that'll be the end of it.

13:57I will not look for you, I will not pursue you.

14:02But if you don't, I will look for you.

14:06I will find you, and I will kill you.

14:10Opening the floodgates for other middle-aged actors to become action stars,

14:14virtually everything Neeson made afterward was an action romp of sorts,

14:18from The A-Team to The Grey to Nonstop to The Commuter.

14:22Seriously, the list goes on and on.

14:24There's a plan in everything, kid.

14:27And I love it when a plan comes together.

14:317. Ryan Reynolds – Deadpool

14:34Oh! Oh, hello. I know, right?

14:39Whose balls did I have to fondle to get my very own movie?

14:43I can't tell you, but it does rhyme with pulverine.

14:47Despite being one of the most likable movie stars in the business,

14:50Ryan Reynolds was hit with a barrage of box office bombs in the early 2010s.

14:54As he'll gladly tell you now,

14:562011's Green Lantern was far from the crowd-pleaser DC had in mind

15:00for their iconic hero's first feature.

15:03Please don't make the super suit green.

15:06Or animated.

15:07We knew he was right for the Merc with a Mouth,

15:09but the studio's botching of the character in X-Men Origins' Wolverine

15:13hardly inspired confidence.

15:15Wait, is that you?

15:21Your striker finally figured out how to shut you up.

15:24Fortunately, he got the comics-accurate solo film we'd been dreaming of in 2016,

15:28and it did not disappoint.

15:30We just have to thank whoever released the test footage that got the ball rolling,

15:34whether or not that person's name rhymes with Schmein-Schmenalds.

15:38Besides, nobody's getting hurt.

15:46That guy was already up there when I got here.

15:496. Keanu Reeves – John Wick

15:53You, uh, working again?

15:55No, just sorting some stuff out.

15:58Oh, well.

16:02I'll leave you be then.

16:05Good night, John.

16:06Good night, Jimmy.

16:07We've known for a long time that Keanu Reeves can kick ass on film,

16:11as is evidenced by the first Matrix movie.

16:14However, the poor reception to that film's two sequels

16:17and later duds like The Day the Earth Stood Still and 47 Ronin

16:21signaled that perhaps the action star's best days were behind him,

16:24as expressed in the sad Keanu memes.

16:27Though we never thought of him as a powerhouse actor,

16:29ardent fans of his hoped the perfect role for him would come around.

16:33Someone must have been listening,

16:35as the John Wick movie slowly evolved from sleeper hits to blockbuster sensations.

16:40Hey, John.

16:41Hey, Harry.

16:43Everything alright?

16:45Yeah, everything's fine.

16:48Reeves' mania has gotten so big, in fact,

16:50that a Matrix 4 practically went from being a long shot to a done deal.

16:54People keep asking if I'm back,

16:57and I haven't really had an answer.

16:59But now, yeah, I'm thinking I'm back!

17:07Did you think I could have done it without you standing next to me being strong?

17:11No.

17:12Are you feeling this?

17:13Are you feeling what I'm feeling right now?

17:15For much of his early career,

17:16Robert Pattinson couldn't be mentioned

17:18without someone groaning at his identification with the Twilight Saga.

17:22Though many defend his involvement citing poor source material,

17:25Pattinson spent the better part of five years trying to clear his name.

17:29Earning consistently decent marks for several lesser-known indies,

17:32it was inevitable that one would put him over the top.

17:35And that came in 2017 with Good Time.

17:38I think I was a dog in a previous life.

17:42In fact, I know I was.

17:44That's why they love me so much.

17:46Pattinson gave a commandingly manic performance

17:48as a criminal evading capture all throughout New York City.

17:51Along with The Lighthouse,

17:53this gave Pattinson the freedom to basically do whatever he wanted.

17:57And apparently what he wants is to be the next on-screen Batman.

18:00There's that role again.

18:02You don't know what I'm talking about at all.

18:10I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse.

18:12Everyone knew Brando was a heavyweight actor from the get-go

18:15with his early work in movies like A Streetcar Named Desire

18:18and On the Waterfront,

18:20the latter of which he won an Oscar for in 1955.

18:23You don't understand. I could have had class.

18:26I could have been a contender.

18:28However, the 60s saw Brando grow increasingly cynical towards the craft

18:32as an uncharacteristic multi-picture studio signing

18:35led to a string of disappointing flops.

18:38Despite his infamy for being difficult to work with,

18:40Brando transcended all criticisms in 1972

18:44with his embodiment of Mafia don Vito Corleone in The Godfather.

18:48Look how they masked my boy.

18:50Brando commanded the screen yet again,

18:53winning his second Oscar

18:55and later proved that some of his best work was still ahead with Apocalypse Now.

18:59Though the less said about the island of Dr. Moreau, the better.

19:02This is the most outrageous spectacle I have ever witnessed.

19:08Witnessed? Look at yourself.

19:10I understand that I must be shocking to you.

19:17Wait, wait. Don't hang up.

19:19What?

19:20I want to talk to you for a second.

19:22Long referred to as America's sweetheart,

19:24then-child actress Drew Barrymore fell out of fashion in her adolescence

19:28due to issues attributed to a troubled upbringing.

19:31By the time Scream came out in 1996,

19:34people were intrigued to see what she would do in her 20s

19:36as the star of a meta satirical slasher movie.

19:39You never told me your name.

19:41Why do you want to know my name?

19:43Because I want to know who I'm looking at.

19:46They were in for a huge surprise

19:48as the movie's biggest draw was killed off in the opening scene.

19:51Naturally, it was a small part,

19:53but boy was it the shocking, memorable one she was looking for.

19:56She springboarded off that into a career as a romantic comedy lead

20:00in films like The Wedding Singer and Never Been Kissed.

20:03Suffice it to say, Drew's still got us screaming.

20:17But you saying a foot massage don't mean nothing.

20:19I'm saying it does.

20:21And look, I've given a million ladies a million foot massages,

20:24and they all meant something.

20:25Back in the 70s, John Travolta could do nothing wrong

20:28with back-to-back hits in Saturday Night Fever and Grease.

20:31However, the 80s were not so kind,

20:33as his sequel to the former Staying Alive was panned by critics.

20:37Well, in case you don't know this,

20:38I used to be pretty incredible myself when I lived in Brooklyn.

20:41Really? And what happened?

20:43I moved to Manhattan.

20:44Director Quentin Tarantino has made a career

20:47building back up the careers of former stars,

20:49but it all started with John Travolta

20:51as the alliteratively named Vincent Vega in 1994's Pulp Fiction.

20:56Without this, we probably wouldn't have gotten

20:58another fan-favorite performance of his in Face Off.

21:01Of course, Travolta would soon re-tarnish his image

21:03in the year 2000 with Battlefield Earth,

21:06from which his career has never fully recovered.

21:08But that doesn't take away from this entry's impact.

21:11Now, if you excuse me, I'm gonna go home and have a heart attack.

21:15Before we unveil our number one pick,

21:17here are some honorable mentions.

21:19Shia LaBeouf, James Lort, Honey Boy.

21:22You stop.

21:25You do shit, and I'll be bringing up the past.

21:27I can't get out from under it.

21:31And I'll teach you what I know.

21:33I'll give you what I have.

21:35Sylvester Stallone, Rocky Balboa, Rocky Balboa.

21:39You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life.

21:43But it ain't about how hard you hit.

21:45It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.

21:49How much you can take and keep moving forward.

21:52That's how winning is done.

21:54Renee Zellweger, Judy Garland,

21:56Judy.

21:57I love you all.

22:01You won't forget me, will you?

22:06Promise you won't.

22:07Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel

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22:231. Robert Downey Jr., Tony Stark, Iron Man

22:28Could it really have been anyone else?

22:30As is now public knowledge,

22:31Robert Downey Jr. went through a severe dark period

22:34in the late 90s and early 2000s

22:36that saw him battle numerous drug addictions.

22:39You have a lot of nerve showing up here tonight.

22:42Can I at least get a reaction from you?

22:44Panic. I would say panic.

22:46This took a huge toll on his career,

22:48and people were genuinely shocked by his casting as Marvel's Iron Man

22:51despite his recently sustained sobriety.

22:54I'm just not the hero type, clearly,

22:57with this laundry list of character defects,

23:00all the mistakes I made, largely public.

23:03All reservations evaporated when the film was released,

23:06as Downey rode a wave of critical acclaim

23:08as the star of one of the best superhero movies of all time.

23:11From this, the highest-grossing movie franchise

23:13was shaped in the form of the Marvel Cinematic Universe,

23:16which employed Downey for an additional 11 years

23:19and made him one of the highest-paid stars on the planet.

23:23I am Iron Man.

23:31Do you agree with our picks?

23:33Check out this other recent clip from WatchMojo,

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