10 actors well overdue for a redemption arc
One of the great things about being a film fan is getting to watch certain actors fade away and then return to the spotlight with renewed vigour.
Stars that have gone on these so-called ‘redemption arcs’ include Brendan Fraser, who went from Hollywood exile to Oscar winner, Jennifer Coolidge, who was finally given her flowers with The White Lotus, and the spearhead of the McConaissance himself, Matthew McConaughey.
Some former greats are still waiting their turns, though. These actors, some of whom have been in films or TV shows, are all still working today, but nothing significant has been able to recapture the glory of their younger days.
They could all feasibly make comebacks, and it would be extremely satisfying if they did. We just have to sit here and cross our fingers that the right idea comes along to catapult them back to the top.
10 actors overdue for a comeback:
Lorraine Bracco
Goodfellas is widely regarded one of the greatest movies of all time, and The Sopranos is widely regarded one of the greatest TV shows of all time, and while many people have been in both, in terms of joint prominence, Lorraine Bracco ranks above them all.
As Karen Hill in Scorsese’s classic and Dr Jennifer Melfi in the HBO series, Bracco is essential to both stories. Sadly, her praises aren’t sung anywhere near as loudly as her male counterparts, and while she still regularly finds work, her most prominent recent role was in the god-awful live-action remake of Pinocchio, and she definitely deserves better.
Clive Owen
Known to fans of The Ricky Gervais Show as ‘Clive Warren’, this British star really hit his peak in the late 1990s and early to mid-2000s. In the film world, his biggest contributions are his nuanced turn in the relationship drama Closer, for which he was nominated for an Oscar, and Alfonso Cuarón’s devastating dystopian vision, Children of Men, after which he just vanished.
You can still find Mr Warren/Owen if you look hard enough. He played Bill Clinton in Impeachment: American Crime Story and a version of himself in a 2020 episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm, but in movieland, he’s barely made a splash in recent times. Somebody please hire him for something good, because it’s in him to dazzle.
Melissa Leo
When you’re halfway to an EGOT and nobody knows who you are, then something must be seriously wrong. Melissa Leo is one of those actors who is always good in everything, but never quite became a star. Her lead performance in Courtney Hunt’s Frozen River is fantastic, as is her Oscar-nominated turn in The Fighter, but alas, none of this led to any significant traction.
All it would take for everyone to fall in love with Leo is the right project with her in the primary role. That hasn’t come about yet, but there’s every chance we could be hearing a lot more about her in the not-too-distant future.
Robert Carlyle
Between the years 1996 and 1999, Robert Carlyle starred in an acclaimed drama, a classic comedy, and a James Bond movie; that’s not a bad going. The Scottish sensation found some success in the new millennium, mainly through the TV show Once Upon a Time, but hasn’t really taken the world by storm in a long while.
And Carlyle can do it. He’s terrifying as a villain, and you only need to catch Trainspotting or 28 Weeks Later for proof; however, he can also get big laughs, which makes him an incredibly rare asset in the acting world who remains underused.
Helen Hunt
Not to be confused with Holly Hunter (which might just be a me-issue), Helen Hunt is another Oscar winner who should be a much bigger deal than she is. She captured the statuette for As Good as It Gets, in which she plays the love interest of Jack Nicholson’s character. Chuck in her roles in Twister, Bob Roberts, and Cast Away, and she has one stacked CV.
Sadly, Hunt is one of the many women who, for one reason or another, have struggled to maintain their fame outside of the 1990s and early 2000s. While her male co-stars have since become legends, she remains a hidden gem just waiting to be uncovered again.
Macaulay Culkin
For decades, Kieran Culkin was the answer to a trivia question. Now, he’s an Oscar-winning actor, the star of one of the greatest TV shows ever made in recent times, and a beloved figure the world over. It’s about time his big brother put him back in his place.
In classic child star form, Macaulay Culkin was never able to translate his success as a youngster into the adult world. He does still act these days—check his brief but wonderful appearance in The Righteous Gemstones—when he’s not fronting a comedy band called The Pizza Underground, so there’s every chance he could follow in his brother’s footsteps and find a whole new audience.
Julia Stiles
As the object of Heath Ledger’s affections in 10 Things I Hate About You, Julia Stiles undoubtedly made a lot of 1990s teens very jealous. She continued to keep her name in the headlines with movies like Save the Last Dance and The Bourne Identity, which you’d have thought would have been enough.
Stiles has been in some decently-popular recent films—Orphan: First Kill and Hustlers comes to mind—but none of these have even come close to her previous pomp. She made her directorial debut with 2025’s Wish You Were Here, so maybe that can offer her the chance to find a way back to the front of the camera as well.
Jon Heder
Napoleon Dynamite, that’s all you really need to say. As the title character in the seminal noughties comedy, Jon Heder should have been set for life. He followed this up with The Benchwarmers and Blades of Glory, but almost immediately after that, he seemed to vanish off the face of the Earth.
Heder is mainly heard these days, as most of his work comes from voicing characters in cartoons. He did appear in the 2024 Waltzing with Brando, which is due for release in the US in late 2025, so maybe that will remind everyone how great he can be. Never mind Pedro, vote for Jon instead.
Halle Berry
It feels a bit reductive to just exclaim “What happened?” with regards to Halle Berry’s career, but that is the overriding feeling. X-Men, Die Another Day, Swordfish, Monster’s Ball, she had the world at her feet. And then, Catwoman…yeah.
The ill-fated superhero flick severely dented Berry’s star power. It wasn’t an immediate drop off, but it was pretty soon afterwards that the world began to forget about the woman who had been everywhere just a few years earlier. Even though she is the first Black woman to win a ‘Best Actress’ Oscar, we’re still a long way away from those heady heights.
Russell Crowe
As soon as Russell Crowe finished delivering his rousing and oft-quoted speech in Gladiator, everybody knew he was destined for the heights of the big leagues. The New Zealand-born superstar quickly established himself as one of the biggest names in Hollywood, and it felt like he’d be at the pinnacle for the rest of his life. Oh, how wrong we were.
Recent years have seen a slew of crap spew forth from Crowe’s filmography. The Pope’s Exorcist, The Mummy, Kraven the Hunter, Sleeping Dogs, Thor: Love and Thunder, the list of flops goes on and on. Crowe seems very happy just enjoying his life and making the odd stinker, but for the love of Christ, somebody please get this man a decent script.
