10 Actors Whose Careers Went Downhill After They Won Oscars

6. Cuba Gooding Jr.

Cuba Gooding Jr. When you hear the words "Cuba Gooding Jr." nowadays, is your reaction something along the lines of: "Oh, yeah... I forgot that he existed"? That's how I feel whenever I hear this young man's name (he'll always be a young man to me,), given that he seems to have been relegated to the pits of obscurity in the wake of his Jerry Maguire-based Oscar win, with roles in movies you've never even heard of, like Shadowboxer and, uh, Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story. For some bizarre reason, nobody seems to be able to find a place for ol' Cuba Gooding. Rumour has it that, having won his Oscar, Cuba set about purposely avoiding more "Oscar-like roles," because he didn't want to be "that guy" in the wake of winning the big one. Turns out he wanted to be that other guy - the one who wins an Academy Award and consciously flushes his career down the toilet by opting to star in movies like Chill Factor and... Boat Trip? Boat Trip - are you kidding me? So pretentious this guy ain't, but stupid... that's entirely possible. Guess all he really cared about was being "shown the money" (sorry, couldn't resist).
Contributor

All-round pop culture obsessive.