5 Projects That Revived Careers of Iconic Stars We Were Starting to Forget

Maintaining a consistently successful career is a task that not every actor is able to accomplish for a variety of reasons, from poor choices in films or bad choices in personal life to simple bad luck.

But even when their careers have been stagnant for a long time, some manage to turn things around with just one great project. Here are five examples of actors who revitalized their careers with a single lucky choice.

Keanu Reeves – John Wick ( 2016)

After rising to global fame with his appearances in The Matrix trilogy, Keanu found himself in a rather awkward position, as despite the films being hits, many critics found his performance to be rather bland.

Since then, he has only had a handful of "big" movies, such as Constantine ( 2005) and 47 Ronin (2013), most of which received mediocre reviews.

But that all changed with John Wick, which brought Keanu back to the top as not only a modern action movie icon, but also as a surprisingly decent actor, as his performance has somehow improved significantly over the years.

Nicolas Cage – Pig (2021)

Cage has had a long resurgence in his career, starring in all sorts of movies, most of which have been mediocre or even bad, despite his characteristically memorable performances.

The 2021 drama Pig marked the beginning of a career renaissance for him, as it was praised by both critics and audiences and helped Cage return to the spotlight, where he remains to this day.

Brendan Fraser – The Whale ( 2022)

Much like Cage, Brendan Fraser disappeared from the public eye after his career peak in the late 90s and early 2000s, mostly starring in unsuccessful projects.

And just like Nicolas, he recently made a successful comeback with the Oscar-winning drama The Whale, directed by Darren Aronofsky.

Winona Ryder – Stranger Things ( 2016)

As a pretty big name in Hollywood in the '90s after starring in hits like Beetlejuice ( 1988), Edward Scissorhands (1990), and Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), Ryder began to slowly step away from the spotlight.

But after her portrayal of Joyce Byers in the hit Netflix series, she seems to be back on track and will soon appear in the upcoming Beetlejuice 2 (2024).

Robert Downey Jr. – Iron Man (2008)

Perhaps the most well-known example on our list, Iron Man not only kicked off the bizarrely successful Marvel Cinematic Universe, but also brought Robert Downey Jr. his current superstar status after his career was nearly over due to the actor's drug abuse and run-ins with the law.