10 Actors Who Had Incredible Career Revivals

In one of the most bizarre career moves in recent memory, Joaquin Phoenix spent two years between 2008 and 2010 creating a false persona in order to promote his failed mockumentary I’m Still Here.

Phoenix faked a retirement from acting and a desire to start a new career as a hip-hop artist, with details of the upcoming mockumentary completely secret. He maintained this false image all for the sake of the film in all public appearances, and had the film been a success, perhaps it would be looked back on as a highly intriguing and unique marketing ploy.

Unfortunately for Phoenix, the film was not a success, and the ludicrous nature of how he’d spent his last two years could have been a nail in the coffin for his career.

He returned two years later in the critically acclaimed The Master, and has followed since with a string of fantastic performances and acclaimed films.

While a brief lapse in his career choices, this one could have been fatal. But fortunately Phoenix’s sheer talent rescued him from what could have become a tragic case of being remembered only as that weird guy who tanked his own career.