10 Acting Careers Destroyed By Great Movies

In the world of acting, iconic movie roles are the fast-track way to elevate a performer from second-billing on an Indie poster to the biggest name on the planet. But, sometimes, a film that garners an actor massive critical and financial success can present it's own set of consequential pitfalls. Their greatest success can become their biggest downfall, severely hindering the rest of their career through the curse of typecasting, or even just the pressure of following up such a coveted role or Oscar worthy performance. These 10 actors have graced the covers of some of the grandest movie covers in cinematic history, however for one reason or another, it's turned out to be their biggest burden and the start of a career decline as a result of their starring role. These are the one's who struggled to get over their big movie hangover.

10. Robert Benigni - Life Is Beautiful

The Film: Life is Beautiful is one of the most successful non-English speaking films off all time, finding it's way into the mainstream world of American cinema in 1997. The Italian comedy-drama scooped up an incredible 64 awards from 107 nominations, including three Oscars. The film centered around a Jewish Italian man swept up in the Nazi invasion of Europe. Being forced into concentration camps, Benigni's character protects his family from the reality of the situation through games and comedy. The film was a commercial success in the States and worldwide, becoming the second highest grossing foreign film in US history. The winner for best actor at the Academy Awards, Benigni was criticized for incorporating so many comedic elements into a film revolving around such a dark subject of history, the Holocaust. Although praised for his dramatic masterclass when needed and the plucky humor the film was centered around, Benigni's portrayal of the delicate subject matter brought scrutiny upon the film that was self advertised as comical. What Happened Next: As if appearing content with his Oscar winning performance, Robert Benigni has only performed in a grand total of six films since his role in Life Is Beautiful. He attempted to recreate the gold of the film with his own rendition of Pinocchio in 2002 which was one of the costliest films in Italian cinema history at the time. The movie was critically panned and even earned a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes as well as Benigni winning the Razzie award for Worst Actor. What Now: His dreams of cracking the boundaries of foreign films in Hollywood have come to a screeching halt and his decline in cinema overall has become evident. At a sprightly 63-years old, it's very unlikely Benigni will return to the big screen in a dramatic way.