10 TV Shows That Made Actors QUIT The Industry
5. The West Wing - Melissa Fitzgerald
Now we have a case of an actor who didn't quit acting due to negative feelings associated with their work on a TV show - quite the opposite, in fact.
As an actor, Melissa Fitzgerald is best known for her role on The West Wing, where she played C. J. Cregg's (Allison Janney) assistant Carol Fitzpatrick.
Fitzgerald appeared in over 100 of the show's episodes, and her time pretending to work in the halls of Washington D.C. evidently rubbed off on her, as Fitzgerald subsequently stepped away from acting to become a full-time political activist.
Though Fitzgerald has been politically active for all of her adult life, in the years following The West Wing's conclusion she found herself eschewing acting jobs in favour of activism work, leading to her becoming the Senior Director of the nonprofit organisation Justice For Vets in 2013.
Fitzgerald still holds the position almost a decade on, and beyond occasionally showing up at West Wing cast reunions, has largely left Hollywood behind.