10 Movies That Almost Killed Actors' Careers

After coming to prominence with his serviceable turn as Cedric Diggory in the fourth Harry Potter movie, Robert Pattinson was earmarked to headline the film adaptations of another young adult sensation, the Twilight series. In doing so, the actor almost simultaneously catapulted himself to great fame and utterly wrecked his career.

The Twilight saga was a subject of scorn for anyone who wasn’t a superfan, and Pattinson along with co-star Kristen Stewart got it worse than anyone. To be frank, their performances weren’t good, but the material didn’t help. Pattinson was dismissed as a pretty boy, and to make matters worse, he hated the films as much as anyone.

In 2012 things started to shift. He worked with David Cronenbourg and Werner Herzog. He made it abundantly clear that he had a lot more to offer. 2017’s Good Time was a sensational modern thriller, with the former sparkly vampire reinvented as a tough, gritty antihero.

Pattinson has since proved that he’s not just better than Twilight, he’s an exceptional actor. He’s now one of the most respected and demanded in the business, mixing indie genius (The Lighthouse) with big budget fare (Tenet, The Batman).