10 Exact Movie Moments That Killed A Career

Those moments where a once-flourishing Hollywood career went kaput in an instant!

by Andrew Pollard
Showgirls Elizabeth Berkley
United Artists

The movie business is clearly a very up and down environment that’s constantly got all of its wheels spinning, as careers are made and broken with the blink of an eye. Just as a great movie or performance can make somebody an instant superstar, a bad movie or performance can completely unravel a career and have an actor staring into the distance as they think about what could’ve been.

For those times when a career starts its downward spiral, in some rare instances there is an exact moment or project that you can pinpoint for the star’s fall from grace. In some rare cases, there is even a scene or a line of dialogue that you can wince at and go “Ooh, probably shouldn’t have done that”.

That’s what we’re looking at here, for we’ve got ten examples of actors whose careers were brought to a grinding halt thanks to one such movie. Sure, some of these may have been able to eventually resuscitate their careers, but the majority of the names featured here ended up either calling time on their acting career or currently spend their days lurking in the confines of bargain bins.

10. You've Been Trunk'd - Tom Green

Oh, Tom Green. For a moment there, he had everything he could possibly want. One of the most recognisable comedians in the world, an eager audience of cool young kids, the stunning Drew Barrymore as his wife. And then what? Well, then Freddy got fingered.

If there’s one sure way to instantly sour the general public on you, seemingly *thinks the correct and polite way of saying this* it’s to “pleasure” an elephant. That still doesn’t quite sound like the best way to describe what we all saw in Freddy Got Fingered, but let’s just presume you get the gist. Then again, it’s not like Green’s elephant antics was the only awful part about Freddy Got Fingered.

For those unfortunate to have seen this 2001 picture, one of the images that will instantly come to mind is Tom Green licking a snapped leg bone that’s sticking out of some poor fella. Then there’s the spinning round of a still-attached new-born baby. Oh, and maiming a kid.

As a whole, Freddy Got Fingered effectively sunk Tom Green’s career. To pinpoint one moment? Again, it’s probably best to go back to that elephant “stuff”.

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Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.