8. George Clooney - From Handsome Star To Renaissance Man
Pretty boys are a dime a dozen in Hollywood and, although it's impossible to deny how handsome George Clooney is, a role in Return of the Killer Tomatoes hardly inspired confidence in the longevity and success of his career in Hollywood. After a stop-start career with no real breakthroughs, aside from a well received role in television drama
E.R., at the age of 36, relatively old in the average actors' career path, Clooney was finally given the chance to star in his own blockbuster. Taking the reigns from Val Kilmer, Clooney was asked to portray the iconic Batman in the latest installment of the wildly successful franchise. Regarded as one of the worst films of all time, Batman & Robin was a movie so violently atrocious it was not inconceivable to imagine Clooney's movie career as D.O.A. Would it be possible to build a film career from this low, low ground? Thankfully, the answer is a resounding "yes!" With some serendipity, Clooney was able to resurrect his career with a role in Steve Soderbergh's Out Of Sight - an unexpected hit from a director who had released a string of flops consistently for the previous decade. Released just a year after Batman & Robin, the movie was able to erase some of the sour taste of his outing as a superhero and provided a surefooted base upon which to re-purpose his career.
Since this point, the cerebral actor, and son of a news reporter, has managed to not only establish himself as one of the most bankable actors in the industry but also a keen, multi-talented intellectual who is as talented behind the camera as in front of it. Beginning with Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Clooney has crafted a highly impressive catalogue of directorial efforts and has found himself as the first person in Hollywood history to receive Oscar nominations in six separate categories. He has received two - one for his supporting turn in Syriana, one as a producer of Argo. Not bad for the star of Return of the Killer Tomatoes and Batman & Robin.