When an actor is a true star, we can pretty accurately assume that they’ll be in movies for the rest of their life, or until they take their retirement. The movie industry is full of stories about actors whose long decade-spanning careers impacted the industry for a generation, and sometimes two or three. Some of us have gotten the opportunity to, quite literally, grow up alongside our favorite stars, watching their careers grow and evolve.
Sometimes, though, even the big stars need to take a break for a while. Whether it’s for family reasons, or because they had a bad experience on a movie, or due to general frustration with their careers, or because they just decided to do something else, plenty of Hollywood stars have slipped out of the industry altogether for a time to focus on other matters. For some, that means retirement for good; for others, that means a big comeback some years later.
For this list, we’ve sifted through the actors who have temporarily left acting to find the most surprising, iconic stars with the biggest gaps in their careers. Some comebacks are more famous than others: Gloria Stuart hadn’t acted for half a century before becoming a star again for Titanic, and James Cagney’s return to film in Ragtime was both a career resurgence and a form of personal therapy. The film industry is no joke, and while these actors’ breaks were certainly well deserved, we were glad to see them back on the big screen again just as if no time had passed.
Iconic Actors With Long Gaps in Their Careers
Sometimes, even the big stars need to take a break for a while.
Gallery Credit: Emma Stefansky
READ MORE: Actors Who Returned to Iconic Roles Decades Later
Negative Reviews of Classic Films on Letterboxd
These movies might be considered classics by a lot of people. But not by everyone, as these Letterboxd half-star reviews prove.