Trending badgeTrendingPosted 1 hour ago18 Actors Who Managed To Revive Their Careers With One Iconic Role, Vs. 14 Stars Who Never Recovered From A Flop"He went from 'who's that?' to winning two Academy Awards in the space of three years."by Ellen DurneyBuzzFeed StaffFacebookPinterestLink As an actor, all it takes is one role to make or break your career, which is both incredible and very, very scary. So, over on Reddit, movie-lovers have been compiling examples of stars whose careers were revived by roles, along with the less fortunate actors who - sometimes unfairly - never came back from certain projects. (Stay tuned until the end for an example of mine that I can't believe no one else mentioned!) Note: These are people's own personal takes. Some of the text has been edited for clarity and length. 1. REIVIVED THEIR CAREER: Sean Connery in The Untouchables (1987) "He had a fairly big resurgence in the '90s thanks to this movie and even got an Oscar for it. Not a big De Palma fan, but I love this movie to this day and would love a 4K disc to be released." (C)Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection -yearsreeling "Sean Connery's career in the early 1980s had just completely fallen off the rails. He was in some bad non-A-list films throughout the '70s. Couldn't shake the shadow of James Bond. Then Brian DePalma cast him in The Untouchables. He got nominated for his amazing role, and his career was back on track, doing films like Indiana Jones, The Hunt for Red October, and The Rock. Great Hollywood comeback." Avalon / Getty Images -starshame2 2. RUINED THEIR CAREER: Mike Myers in The Cat in the Hat (2003) "His most high-profile roles since were as a minor character in Bohemian Rhapsody and another minor character in Inglourious Basterds. Not only that, but it led to Dr. Seuss's widow revoking the rights to make live-action Dr. Seuss movies." (C)Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection -Rodby "Considering the success of the Austin Powers series not that long before, it was pretty dramatic. Just seemed like everyone got tired of the same humor." New Line Cinema / Getty Images -tokey2000 "He was a king of comedy and then wasn't hired again." Ian West - Pa Images / Getty Images -Any-Low9727 3. REVIVED THEIR CAREER: Josh Brolin in No Country for Old Men (2007) "Only Goonies fans knew who Josh Brolin was until he made a comeback 20 years later." Jason Merritt / Getty Images -throwaway020882 "Then he did No Country for Old Men. What a fucking home run that was!" (C)Miramax/Courtesy Everett Collection -Redjeezy 4. RUINED THEIR CAREER: Taylor Lautner in Abduction (2011) "A rare one-and-done flop is possibly Taylor Lautner and Abduction. Admittedly, he wasn't an A-list stand-alone leading man star before this (despite being a key character in a massive franchise), but it kind of immediately solidified that he was never going to be, despite all the hype." (C)Lions Gate/Courtesy Everett Collection -Crafty_Letter_1719 "That movie really fucked up his ascension. The cast was sneaky good, too, but it was so boring and generic. He hasn't recovered." Jeff Kravitz / Getty Images -green49285 "Abduction made it clear that Taylor Lautner wasn't going to have a post-Twilight acting career." (C)Lions Gate/Courtesy Everett Collection -Retloclive 5. REVIVED THEIR CAREER: Robert Downey Jr. in Iron Man (2008) "He was popular during the '80s. Got lost with substance abuse. Came back with a vengeance. The rest is history." Kypros / Getty Images -CaptainMins "Robert Downey Jr. was pretty much blacklisted from Hollywood because of his drug habits. When John Favreau signed on to direct Iron Man, he insisted that RDJ play Tony Stark." (C)Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection -A_Is_For_Azathoth 6. RUINED THEIR CAREER: Elizabeth Berkley in Showgirls (1995) "Traded in her success on Saved by the Bell for a lead role in a VERY adult first feature role, and it was...not good is an understatement. You don't hear from her again." (C)United Artists/Courtesy Everett Collection -darw1nf1sh "Elizabeth Berkley was basically ruined after Showgirls. I think she did a few TV roles, but certainly nothing major." (C)United Artists/Courtesy Everett Collection -Kygunzz 7. REVIVED THEIR CAREER: Jason Bateman in Arrested Development (2003-2019) "Before he did Arrested Development, he pretty much was relegated to bit parts in movies and TV. Afterwards, he was getting leading roles again." Netflix / Courtesy: Everett Collection -kah43 "Teen Wolf Too almost immediately killed Jason Bateman's film career, LOL, but then we all know he came back to prominence with Arrested Development." David Crotty / Getty Images -TheDubya21 8. RUINED THEIR CAREER: Chris O'Donnell in Batman & Robin (1997) "Chris O'Donnell was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor with Scent of a Woman in 1992, but Batman & Robin basically stopped his career cold. He had a few movies afterwards, but he was cooked after that." (C)Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection -FreshCords 9. REVIVED THEIR CAREER: Nei