10 Popular Young Actors Who Quit Hollywood

Michael Schoeffling became a heartthrob after his debut role as Jake Ryan in the 1984 coming-of-age movie Sixteen Candles alongside Molly Ringwald.

The model turned actor appeared in several prominent movies, including Vision Quest and Mermaids, before his final role in the 1991 drama, Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken.

Despite a successful acting career, Schoeffling returned to his hometown in Pennsylvania to start a furniture-making business. In an interview with the LA Times in 1990, he spoke about the contrast between acting and building furniture,

“Actors spend most of their time out of work, so I actually spend more time making furniture. The thing about furniture that’s much better than acting is that it’s just me. There’s no director, no script--the concept is me, unless a client wants something. In film work you do the best you can under the given circumstances, but you don’t have control. At least, I don’t.”

The 60-year-old never returned to the limelight, preferring to spend a quiet life with his wife and two children, one of whom is a model.