10 Actors Whose Careers Took Off After Leaving Their Famous TV Show

WatchMojo

On to bigger and better things! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the actors who departed their shows prior to its conclusion for whatever reason but found greater success afterwards.

Transcript

00:00Welcome to WatchMojo and today we're counting down our picks for the actors who departed

00:11their shows prior to its conclusion for whatever reason but found greater success afterwards.

00:26Number 10.

00:27Chevy Chase.

00:32Chevy Chase is such a huge part of the history of Saturday Night Live, some might forget

00:37that he was only on the show for a season and a half.

00:40He was easily the biggest breakout star of the show's first season and by the time

00:44season 2 rolled around, the movie offers were coming in fast and furious.

00:52Whether it was that or the fact that his girlfriend didn't want to move to New York,

00:56Chase left the show during the second season.

00:59He moved to LA and became a huge comedy movie star with iconic characters like Clark Griswold

01:04and Erwin Fletch Fletcher.

01:11Number 9.

01:12James Garner.

01:19James Garner appeared in more than 50 movies throughout his impressive career, films as

01:24diverse as The Great Escape and The Notebook.

01:27He also starred in what TV Guide in 2002 called the 39th greatest show of all time, The Rockford

01:33Files.

01:41Garner's impressive career got its break back in the late 1950s with a show called

01:45Maverick.

01:46The show was so popular, The Rockford Files was created as a Maverick remake in a modern

01:5270s setting.

01:53There's even a statue of Garner as Brett Maverick in his hometown of Norman, Oklahoma.

01:57The show made Garner famous, but issues with the studio caused him to quit the series after

02:02the third season.

02:09Number 8.

02:10Drake.

02:16Drake may have gotten his first taste of fame as an actor, but that was never going to be

02:21his path to world domination.

02:23Not to denigrate his acting talent, but music has always been his true love and his goal.

02:28So much so that even when he was on Degrassi The Next Generation, he was showing up late

02:32to set because he was spending so much time at night working on his music.

02:44Some say he was giving an ultimatum, the music or the show.

02:48But regardless of whether that's true or not, Drake did leave Degrassi after seven

02:52years to make music his full time gig.

02:55When it comes to the success of that gig, skyrocketing is probably an understatement.

03:06Number 7.

03:07Farrah Fawcett.

03:14Prior to 1976, Farrah Fawcett was a relatively unknown actress trying to make it in Hollywood.

03:20But then 1976 happened and everything changed.

03:23At first, she landed the role of Jill Monroe on Charlie's Angels.

03:27And as her popularity rose, the now iconic Red Bathing Suit poster came out and she got

03:33even bigger.

03:43Then in 1977, she quit the show.

03:45Some might say her career was never again as big commercially, and her first few film

03:50roles were pretty forgettable.

03:51However, Fawcett kept working and expanded the audience's assumptions about what she

03:56was and what she could do.

03:58Fawcett ended up with four Emmy nominations and was even nominated for an Independent

04:02Spirit Award for her supporting role in The Apostle.

04:12Number 6.

04:13Ashton Kutcher.

04:14For some, Ashton Kutcher will always be Michael Kelso.

04:29But while the fame and opportunities Kutcher found with that 70s show could have been the

04:33peak of his career, he used them as a launchpad for bigger things.

04:38After leaving the show, he continued to be an in-demand rom-com star with films like

04:42What Happens in Vegas and No Strings Attached.

04:49He even got to play Steve Jobs in 2013 and kept Two and a Half Men going for four seasons

04:54after Charlie Sheen left the series.

04:56Kutcher has also found success investing in startups, as well as with his own venture

05:00capital firm, as well as a creator or producer of TV shows.

05:12Number 5.

05:13Johnny Depp.

05:24Johnny Depp has had such an impressive movie career that one could easily forget he was

05:28ever on a television show in the first place.

05:30But he was.

05:3121 Jump Street didn't just make Depp famous, it made him a much-drooled-over heartthrob,

05:36which is actually one of the reasons he left the show.

05:46Feeling more like a product than an actor, Depp wanted to get away from the teen idol

05:50he had become and was let out of his contract after the fourth season.

05:53Controversies and his private life aside, there's no denying his acting career has

05:57reached impressive heights both critically and commercially.

06:07Number 4.

06:08Donald Glover.

06:19While some singers dabble in acting and some actors might try to be musicians, few have

06:23done both at such an impressively high level as Donald Glover.

06:27We first really got to know Glover during his four full seasons on Community.

06:40However due to some personal issues and a desire to expand creatively, Glover left the

06:45show early in the fifth season.

06:46What has he done since?

06:48Well, he's been Lando Calrissian, he's been the voice of Simba, and he created and

06:52wrote the multi-award winning FX series Atlanta.

06:55On the music side, he's continued to see critical and commercial success under the

06:59name Childish Gambino, with the pinnacle being the trove of the Grammys he took home for

07:04This Is America.

07:13Number 3.

07:14Steve Carell.

07:25It's a mystery how Steve Carell never won an Emmy for his portrayal of Michael Scott

07:29on The Office.

07:30However, awards aside, the show truly did wonders for his career.

07:40Carell left the show after the seventh season when NBC didn't make an effort to renew

07:44his contract.

07:45And yes, with films like the 40-year-old version, Carell's career was already heading to the

07:50sky before he left the show.

07:52However, it's continued that way since and gone beyond comedy to include, among other

07:57dramatic roles, an Oscar-nominated performance in Foxcatcher.

08:01What can't he do?

08:13Number 2.

08:14Ron Howard.

08:24There might be a generation who only knows Ron Howard as a great, award-winning director.

08:29But before he got behind the camera, he became famous in front of it.

08:33First he was Opie Taylor on The Andy Griffith Show.

08:36Then came the role that made him a household name, Ritchie Cunningham on Happy Days.

08:46The aforementioned series ran for 11 seasons on ABC.

08:51But Howard left after the seventh season to focus on his desire to direct.

08:54Within four years of leaving the show, he would break out as a director with Splash

08:59and follow up with an impressive career that has included Backdraft, Apollo 13, and A Beautiful

09:04Mind to name just a few.

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09:33Number 1.

09:34George Clooney

09:35No, we aren't talking about his 17 episodes of The Facts of Life.

09:49It was his 100 plus episodes as Dr. Ross on ER that made Clooney famous, a fame that almost

09:56any actor would love to have.

09:58Yet it's a fame that pales in comparison to how his career took off after he left the

10:02show in the fifth season, with films like Good Night and Good Luck and Oh Brother Where

10:07Art Thou?

10:13Clooney has seen critical and commercial success both in front of and behind the camera, winning

10:18Oscars as an actor and producer and being nominated several more times.

10:22He is a true movie star as well, as one of the most popular celebrities in the world.

10:36Which big-time star do you remember watching on their first big TV show?

10:40Let us know in the comments down below.

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