10 Exact Movie Moments That Killed A Career

5. Tanked Girl - Lori Petty

She may have landed herself a good supporting role in Orange is the New Black in 2014, but Lori Petty’s acting career was derailed for nearly 20 years after her headlining role in 1995’s Tank Girl.

Tank Girl famously, err, tanked with fans and critics alike, and Petty decided to take a break from acting after that movie was slated by the masses. That break was last quite the while, with merely the occasional TV guest spot coming along in the years before her Orange is the New Black gig. That’s not to say that the A League of Their Own and Free Willy actress didn’t keep herself busy. Far from it, in fact.

Back in 2008, Petty wrote and directed the much-lauded Jennifer Lawrence and Chloe Grace Moretz movie, The Poker House. Still, the acting career that once saw Lori Petty as one of the hottest rising star in the industry had been well and truly left in tatters after Tank Girl flopped. And to think, so much of that was out of Petty’s control as multiple ongoing changes were made to Tank Girl throughout the film’s production.

If there’s a single moment to claim laid waste to Petty’s career, it’s likely just the moment that Tank Girl started.

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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.