12 Actors Whose Careers Were Destroyed By A Single Movie
1. Jake Lloyd - Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
The Actor: Could it be anyone else? Just like his counterparts from the other films, Lloyd hadn't had much of a career before The Phantom Menace; the only appearance of note being Arnold Schwarzeneggers son in Jingle All The Way. The sheer hype for the film catapulted Lloyd into the public eye faster than even Daniel Radcliffe with Harry Potter. As the young Darth Vader, he was in a prime position to shape the character. And in a way he did.
The Film: An awesome short film of an epic lightsaber battle showcasing groundbreaking special effects unfortunately hampered by a lumbering two hour introduction, The Phantom Menace remains the most anticipated and retroactively disappointing film of all time. So many things had people let down with this return to the Star Wars galaxy, but the big one was its representation of Darth Vader. Young, whiney and unbelievable as a character, the problems with Anakin that Christensen had to deal with started here.
What Happened Next: Nothing. Star Wars was the beginning and end of Lloyd's acting career. Following the extreme fanboy backlash and bullying at school he decided to quit acting, however he's still in the industry, looking at a job in editing. Lloyd even still does conventions and is happy to talk about Star Wars, but as with most child actors, it's something long in the past. The sad thing is that, as with Christensen, it wasn't really Lloyd's fault for the quality of the character. But whereas they both had their opportunities as an actor decimated, George Lucas just made $4.05 billion from selling what destroyed them.