10 Movie Franchises That (Almost) Destroyed Their Star

The roles that almost ended careers.

Ben Affleck Batman
Warner Bros

There's no denying the high-stress nature of Hollywood filmmaking, especially when it comes to massive movie franchises worth potentially billions of dollars.

It takes a uniquely cool-headed actor to get the job done and, more importantly, weather the immense PR storm that follows, not to mention the opinions of vocal fanbases numbering in the hundreds of millions.

As such, it's little surprise that the stars of many hit movie franchises end up burning out from the sheer intensity of it all, either a result of being constantly hounded by the media or hassled by fans - or more likely both.

This has only intensified in recent years with the onset of social media, ensuring that many actors in some of cinema's biggest IP have suffered breakdowns, turned to substance abuse, and perhaps even considered quitting the film industry altogether.

As great as the money must be, no amount can compensate for the lost privacy and crushing amount of pressure that comes with leading a hugely popular movie franchise...

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Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.