8 Great Actors Whose Bad Experiences Caused Them To Quit Hollywood

3. Escaping Hollywood's Obsession With Youth And Image - Debra Winger

These days, the name Debra Winger is a far cry from a household name - many younger film fans are unlikely to have heard of her at all. But back in the 80s and 90s she certainly was - having earned 3 nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actress for films like An Officer and a Gentleman and Terms of Endearment, she was arguably the hottest actress working in Hollywood. Then, in 1995, she turned her back on it all, deciding she was unwilling to play along with Hollywood's obsession with youth and image. Speaking of her hiatus from acting, Winger said, "I wanted out for years. I got sick of hearing myself say I wanted to quit. It's like opening an interview with 'I hate interviews!' Well, get out! I stopped reading scripts and stopped caring." Her absence even sparked fellow actor Rosanna Arquette to produce the documentary Searching for Debra Winger, exploring the pressures faced by women working in Hollywood. Winger has worked intermittently in the years since she abandoned Hollywood, most notably on Rachel Getting Married, but her presence on the big screen is unlikely to return to the same level as seen in her heyday - Hollywood, after all, is a bit fickle about women over a certain age