People Are Sharing The '90s Stars Who Were Supposed To Be The "Next Big Thing," But They Disappeared From The Spotlight

Trending badgeTrendingPosted 1 hour agoSubscribe to BuzzFeed Daily NewsletterCaret DownPeople Are Sharing The '90s Stars Who Were Supposed To Be The "Next Big Thing," But They Disappeared From The Spotlight"Jewel - she was so major, like Taylor Swift! And now nothing..."by Kristen HarrisBuzzFeed StaffFacebookPinterestLink Recently, I asked the BuzzFeed Community to share which '90s stars once seemed destined for greatness but have since faded from the spotlight - whether by choice or not. Here are 16 of their top responses: Some responses are from this Reddit thread. 1. "Skeet Ulrich." (C)Dimension Films/Courtesy Everett Collection -angrygoose681 Skeet was a '90s horror icon with his roles in Scream and The Craft. He continued to work steadily, but after his twins were born in 2001, he made them his priority. In 2005, he got a divorce and won custody of the kids, so he decided to be a stay-at-home single dad because he could afford it. In 2019, he told Fatherly, "Being a parent has driven me to make the decisions I've made. I did work, but I would only work in Los Angeles until Riverdale. The kids would be there with me. I hired a nanny once when I was doing the first season of Jericho. They were starting kindergarten, and I hired a nanny once more when I did Law & Order. That's it. A screaming kid is screaming for boundaries, screaming for something they know. They need a parent to step up." Michael Tullberg / Getty Images 2. "Stuart Townsend, but that's his own fault because that ego is too big." New York Daily News Archive / NY Daily News via Getty Images -justineh4c2cc065d With his star on the rise, Stuart was set to play Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings in the early '00s. However, one day before filming began, he was replaced by Viggo Mortensen. He was reportedly fired for being difficult to work with, and Ian McKellan allegedly asked him if he even wanted to be there. Gotpap/Bauer-Griffin / GC Images / Via Getty However, Stuart has a different opinion on what happened. In 2005, he told Entertainment Weekly, "Two weeks ago I finally read an article where the filmmakers said, ''We were totally wrong about Stuart, and we accept that it was our fault,' which was so nice because I did get shafted up the ass. I was there rehearsing and training for two months, then was fired the day before filming began. After that, I was told they wouldn't pay me because I was in breach of contract due to not having worked long enough. I had been having a rough time with them, so I was almost relieved to be leaving until they told me I wouldn't be paid. I have no good feelings for those people in charge, I really don't. The director [Peter Jackson] wanted me and then apparently thought better of it because he really wanted someone 20 years older than me and completely different." VALERY HACHE / AFP via Getty Images 3. "Rick Moranis is a famous example of this, albeit a bit more '80s than '90s. He had a very successful career, including Ghostbusters, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (and its sequels), Little Shop of Horrors, etc., but then he slowed down his work after his wife died of cancer so he could be a more attentive single parent to their two kids. Now the kids are grown, and we're all anxiously awaiting his return to our screens with the Spaceballs sequel! Also - shout out to his Barney Rubble in the live action Flintstones movie (it's worth a Google to remember that killer cast)." (C) Universal Pictures / courtesy Everett Collection -braccolirob In 2015, Rick told the Hollywood Reporter, "I took a break, which turned into a longer break. But I'm interested in anything that I would find interesting. I still get the occasional query about a film or television role...I was working with really interesting people, wonderful people [in Hollywood]. I went from that to being at home with a couple of little kids, which is a very different lifestyle. But it was important to me. I have absolutely no regrets whatsoever. My life is wonderful." Bruce Glikas / Via Getty 4. "Jonathan Taylor Thomas for sure! He was super talented and had that X factor about him. I wish he would make a comeback. The actor who played Jill on Home Improvement [Patricia Richardson] was on a podcast last year where she said she still spoke to him and said he has no desire to return to acting, and I respect him for that. I hope he is living his best life." ABC Photo Archives / Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images -Anonymous, 39, Tennessee Jonathan exited Home Improvement before the series ended, appearing in only three episodes of the final season. Trading acting for academia, he attended Columbia, Harvard, and St. Andrew's University. In 2013, he told People, "I'd been going nonstop since I was 8 years old. I wanted to go to school, to travel, and have a bit of a break...

To sit in a big library amongst books and students - that was pretty cool. It was a novel experience for me." GT/Star Max / FilmMagic / Via Getty 5. "Jamie Walters is now a firefigh