- 5/24/2025
From promising beginnings to unexpected career slumps, these actors seemed destined for long-term stardom but couldn't maintain their momentum. Join us as we examine the careers of performers who started strong but faced various challenges that affected their trajectory in Hollywood.
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00:00Welcome to Ms. Mojo and today we're looking at stars whose careers started out strong but
00:14weren't able to maintain their initial momentum. I'm having the best day since like Jesus invented
00:20the calendar. Jesus didn't invent the calendar. Whatever. Garrett Hedlund. Sometimes all it takes
00:29is one flop to derail a promising future. Garrett Hedlund initially made waves for his appearances
00:35in action movies like Troy, even holding his own against established performers.
00:45Nervous? His role in Tron Legacy propelled him even higher, putting him in a position to
00:51potentially become one of the biggest stars of his generation. I've never had to describe it before.
00:59Warm, radiant, beautiful. Unfortunately, a series of misjudged calls, including turning down
01:12franchises like The Hunger Games for the widely criticized Pan, led to his fame slipping away.
01:18While he's still booking projects, they pale in comparison to his previous ones.
01:22You don't want to go home?
01:28I already am.
01:30Though Tron Aries had a promised 2025 release date, Hedlund's name was conspicuously absent,
01:36so it seems he's stuck in career limbo.
01:39Chloe Grace Moretz. Cyberbullying can affect anyone, even famous actors.
01:45Beginning at a young age, Chloe Grace Moretz proved to be a talented performer.
01:49From action to horror, she was able to build a versatile catalog before hitting adulthood.
01:54The man who lives here, she says he's bad.
02:01She wants him to go away.
02:04He makes her do bad things.
02:07It seemed like she could go nowhere but up.
02:09However, even the most successful people aren't completely infallible.
02:13In 2016, an edited photo of Moretz's body went viral and subsequently became a meme.
02:20Though seemingly innocent, it ended up having a disastrous effect on her mental health and
02:25self-image.
02:26Chloe says stepping out of the public eye during the pandemic gave her the time she needed to
02:31regain her confidence.
02:33But adds, to this day, when I see that meme, it's something very hard for me to overcome.
02:38She pulled away from the spotlight entirely and primarily refocused her talents on voice
02:43acting.
02:44Little girls.
02:46Okay.
02:47How old do you think I am?
02:48I don't know, 10?
02:51Sorry, I'll be here.
02:52More or less than 10.
02:53Not a lot of kids in your life, huh?
02:55While she does have a couple of live-action movies in the pipeline, it seems her days of
02:59headlining major projects have passed.
03:02Matthew Lawrence.
03:02Throughout the late 20th century, he seemed to be on the precipice of prolonged Hollywood
03:08fame.
03:09Between roles in beloved films like Mrs. Doubtfire and long-lasting sitcoms like Boy Meets World,
03:15Matthew Lawrence was able to impress audiences of all ages.
03:19Jack is here to try and rescue me from trailer life.
03:22No, that's not why I'm here.
03:24Look, forget it, man.
03:25I gotta go.
03:28I'm sorry, right?
03:29It was good to see you.
03:30I'll call you.
03:32You know, I just thought it'd be good, Sean, for the both of us.
03:36As an adult, however, he's struggled to reach similar levels of success.
03:40His work has been greatly reduced to single-episode guest spots and mid-tier movies, a far cry
03:46from the projects he used to participate in at the turn of the century.
03:50Hold on.
03:52God damn it!
03:55Thanks for making me feel alive.
03:58I call.
03:58It's an unfortunate reminder that an acting career is hard to get and even harder to maintain,
04:06even for a former 90s heartthrob.
04:09People are saying, hey, can you sing this?
04:10We're like, la, la, la.
04:11Yeah, you gotta have that in your back pocket now.
04:13People are gonna be asking.
04:14Oh, it's actually, it's becoming an issue now.
04:16Now everybody's asking me to sing.
04:18It still is an issue for me a little bit, so it's tough.
04:21Alicia Silverstone
04:23Even the biggest it girls can experience career slumps.
04:27At her peak, Alicia Silverstone was the very definition of a teen idol.
04:31I don't know why Dion's going out with a high school boy.
04:34They're like dogs.
04:36You have to clean them and feed them.
04:38They're just like these nervous creatures that jump and slobber all over you.
04:42Ew, get off of me!
04:45Ugh, as if!
04:46Her appearances in various music videos and iconic role as Cher Horowitz in Clueless
04:51cemented her position as a pop culture phenomenon.
04:54She remained a constant presence throughout the 90s,
04:57but everything changed with the new millennium.
05:00She largely tapered off from film,
05:02instead choosing to focus on smaller stage productions and television shows.
05:06How does it make you feel now that so much time has gone by?
05:09I mean, I see it a lot.
05:12So it's very, you know, present in my life.
05:15By the 2010s, the quality of the projects she took on sharply declined,
05:20and her public presence even more so.
05:22While she's still getting work sporadically in the 2020s,
05:26her icon status has unfortunately passed.
05:29I know you're hurting.
05:31We're all just taking it one day at a time.
05:36And as hard as it is, we're gonna have to try and move forward.
05:41Sam Worthington.
05:43It isn't often that one stars in the highest-grossing film of all time.
05:47Appearing in something as critically and commercially successful as Avatar
05:51could have been a pathway to permanent mainstream success.
05:54Sam Worthington initially reaped the benefits of his role as Jake Sully,
05:59with the next few years bringing about lead parts in high-profile blockbuster movies.
06:28In the early 2010s, he was predicted to become one of the biggest new actors of Hollywood.
06:34Unfortunately, that failed to come true.
06:36Why did you let me go on like that?
06:38I don't know.
06:39I just wanted to see how far you'd go with it.
06:42I'm sorry.
06:44No, don't be sorry.
06:45It was fun.
06:46I enjoyed myself.
06:46Besides a few small peaks, his career saw a continued downward slump throughout the decade.
06:52While the Avatar franchise will guarantee him a headlining role into the 2030s,
06:57it's unclear what the rest of his future will entail.
06:59But the thing about happiness, it can vanish in a heartbeat.
07:07Hayden Christensen
07:08I don't like sand.
07:11It's coarse and rough and irritating.
07:15And it gets everywhere.
07:19Not like here.
07:22Here everything is soft.
07:26And smooth.
07:27You'd think appearing in a beloved franchise would kickstart one's Hollywood career,
07:32not lead to its downfall.
07:34Hayden Christensen proved himself to be a competent actor with his initial roles.
07:38And it seemed that appearing as Anakin Skywalker in the Star Wars prequels
07:42would flesh out his resume even more.
07:44His performances were met with criticism,
07:47leading to him taking on work in a series of middling projects.
07:50He pulled back from the craft for several years in the 2010s,
08:00with the few movies he did take on quickly proving to be critical and commercial flops.
08:04I don't want us to have to let each other win.
08:07I want us to both win.
08:10Together.
08:11Please, Nikki, stay.
08:14Not for me.
08:15With me.
08:16As of the 2020s,
08:18his only parts have occurred in various Star Wars television shows,
08:22causing his work to come full circle.
08:24I'm here to finish your training.
08:25It's a little late for that.
08:35One is never too old to learn, Snips.
08:39Liam Hemsworth.
08:40Though his brother was able to become a household name,
08:43he didn't have the same luck.
08:45Liam Hemsworth had a promising start in Hollywood,
08:47including a central role as Gale in The Hunger Games.
08:51I had to do that.
08:54At least once.
08:55He was even able to parlay that into a lead in the 2016 sequel to Independence Day.
09:01Directly following that film,
09:03he vanished from Hollywood for a few years,
09:05which was the nail in the coffin for his mainstream career.
09:08He made his return to the art form in the 2020s,
09:11albeit on a much smaller scale than his initial work.
09:15Keep me alive is only going to end badly for you.
09:19Don't embarrass yourself trying to scare me.
09:21Of course, your brother's the only one allowed to have a gun,
09:28so we'll have to wait.
09:29He has a chance to regain his mainstream status
09:31after snagging the part of Geralt of Rivia in The Witcher.
09:35But only time will tell.
09:37Megan Fox.
09:38For years, she was one of the biggest stars in Hollywood,
09:41which proved to be a blessing and a curse.
09:43Megan Fox appealed to a wide variety of audiences
09:46with her work in huge franchises and cult classics.
09:50I feel so scrumptious.
09:53Goodie for you.
09:54You know, when you kiss a boy for the first time
09:56and it feels like your entire body is on vibrate.
10:00Yeah?
10:01That's that good.
10:02Unfortunately, the high level of attention she received
10:05led to her becoming overexposed in the eyes of viewers.
10:09That, coupled with her accusing Michael Bay
10:11of inappropriate behavior,
10:13led to her being harshly criticized by the media
10:15and the general populace alike.
10:18As of 2016,
10:19her on-screen appearances have vastly reduced,
10:22and her main coverage has come from her high-profile,
10:25tumultuous relationship with Machine Gun Kelly.
10:28We've found a therapist that really works for us,
10:31couples and individually,
10:33and it's definitely a process.
10:35It's not an easy one.
10:37Some of it's really difficult.
10:39Despite being on and off throughout their relationship,
10:42we're told the actress and singer
10:43still have some trust issues to work through.
10:46It's unclear if her career will ever reach the heights
10:49it once did,
10:49or if she even wants it to.
10:52I'm sorry, is that it?
10:54Are we done talking?
10:55Are you done with this conversation?
10:58Conversation?
10:58It's more like angry cheddar.
11:01Taylor Lautner.
11:03Listen to you.
11:04Did you lie to get her out of town, too?
11:07She's leave.
11:09Now.
11:10She has a right to know.
11:12While his previous co-stars
11:14have been able to shed their past work
11:15and reach new peaks
11:17following their controversial breakout roles,
11:19he hasn't been able to do the same.
11:21Taylor Lautner's time as Jacob
11:23quickly cemented him as a teen idol,
11:25and he was even reported
11:26to be one of the highest-paid young actors in 2010.
11:29We have to find him.
11:30You want to drive to Nebraska?
11:32No.
11:33We've probably been in this car too long already.
11:35We need to ditch it.
11:36Well, what then?
11:37We never even make it through airport security.
11:38They know our names, our faces.
11:40Yeah.
11:40I have another plan.
11:41Following his work in the Twilight saga,
11:43he had a few chances to establish himself
11:45as a performer outside of the franchise,
11:48but wasn't able to engage audiences
11:50the way he once had.
11:51Since 2016,
11:53his acting career has been all but stagnant,
11:55with only one completed movie in the 2020s so far.
11:59You remember what you told me that night?
12:01You said you didn't want to whistle around your neck
12:03because you didn't think Connor would like it.
12:07Yeah.
12:11I know you don't want to be right.
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12:29Shailene Woodley.
12:30From compelling dramas to thrilling action movies,
12:33she quickly showed that she could successfully
12:35take on a variety of genres.
12:37The mid-2010s saw a career surge for Shailene Woodley.
12:41Maybe you're not quite as dauntless
12:43as you thought you were.
12:44You're right.
12:47I'm not.
12:49I'm divergent.
12:51Her participation in multiple popular book adaptations
12:54helped her make the leap from cable television
12:56to blockbuster films.
12:58But that level of success wouldn't last long.
13:00She opted to take a hiatus in 2015
13:03following the sudden end of the Divergent series
13:05and even considered quitting entirely.
13:08The Big Little Lies actress
13:10says that it took a decade to fully heal
13:12and elaborates on how her physical health issues
13:15eventually took a toll on her mental health as well.
13:18While she made a semi-triumphant return in 2017,
13:22it was on a much smaller scale than her previous work.
13:25She's been praised by critics,
13:27but her cultural status has been greatly reduced
13:29and may not ever be fully regained.
13:32Which star do you think had the hardest fall
13:42from their breakthrough fame?
13:44Let us know in the comments.
13:46Do you agree with our picks?
13:54Check out this other recent clip from Ms. Mojo
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14:00For more information, visit www.mojo.com.au
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