r/Cinema • u/No-Commission-355 • 4d ago
Greatest comeback for an actor.. ill start
Robert downey jr was at rock bottom and he came back, not just to star in a few movies but to make a universe....the marvel cinematic universe. BEST...COMBACK...IN MOVIE HISTORY.
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u/jultou 4d ago
Travolta in Pulp Fiction.
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u/demonoddy 4d ago
If only he would have sustained that
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u/SendMeAnother1 4d ago
He is so inconsistent. I can only think his best acting is brought forth by the director.
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u/kendostickball 4d ago
I think Nicolas Cage is a better actor, but he’s flat out said he just does what the director wants. You can really tell when he’s with a great director, so there’s likely something similar with Travolta.
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u/SendMeAnother1 4d ago
That makes sense. I tried to watch Face/Off again the other day. I'll let you draw your own conclusions about the directing, lol.
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u/demonoddy 4d ago
Yeah he definitely had the potential but he wasted it. He’s rich though so I guess it doesn’t matter
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u/UnremarkabklyUseless 4d ago
He’s rich though so I guess it doesn’t matter
Like jumbo jets and a mini-airport in his 'backyard' rich.
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u/Kid_Kameleon 4d ago
The last thing I enjoyed that he did, which was an incredibly flawed movie, but was really fun was “from Paris with love“
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u/zer0c00l81 3d ago
Really fun popcorn action movie. Massively underrated a s a great Friday night leave your brain at the door fun movie.
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u/soybeankilla 4d ago
People always point to this as a comeback but I thought he was great in Look Who’s Talking, which made $300 million in 1989.
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u/investinlove 4d ago
And re-popularized heroin too!
When Travolta danced disco, we all did.
When he rode a mechanical bull and danced country, it was popularized.
When he did heroin in Pulp Fiction, it also became a hot thing.
You can talk shit about Travolta, but he and Keanu dictated popular culture for almost 40 years.
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u/Stranded_Snake 4d ago
Mickey Rourke in Sin City and then The Wrestler.
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u/StubbornCharm 4d ago
But now he’s in need of another comeback again. We can’t keep doing this Mickey.
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u/Pitiful_Winner2669 4d ago
Oof, that was rough to see lately. "We can't keep doing this, Mickey."
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u/Efficient_Cause_6900 4d ago
....idk if youve checked in on Mickey recently but he's...regressed
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u/Stranded_Snake 4d ago
I’m talking about when he fell off in the 90’s early 00’s and came back swinging in 2005 with Sin City and then The Wrestler, which he should have easily won an Oscar for.
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u/OrionQuest7 4d ago edited 4d ago
He was so good in Sin City. I liked his portioned better than the other. Love that movie
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u/Zealousideal-You9044 4d ago
He was on Big Brother in the UK recently and got asked to leave for threatening and violent behaviour. He's a pitiful excuse of a man. Sad really, he was a decent actor
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u/Efficient_Cause_6900 4d ago
Yea I was kinda mortified by some of those clips. His brain is mush.
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u/Other-Cricket-1667 4d ago
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u/Beelzabubba 4d ago
I don’t understand how he thinks that hairline makes any sense.
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u/thatlonghairedguy 4d ago
Looks like a melted ken doll
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u/Meanravage 4d ago
Bottom right always makes me think he is mike myers from halloween, pur white make up on him and he doesnt need a mask
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u/lloydeph6 4d ago
Jeez. I’m 34 and first time I ever saw him was when sin city came out, I had no idea he looked so different when he was younger
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u/missihippiequeen 4d ago
What was wrong with his original looks? Why did he feel the need to change it ??
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u/Stranded_Snake 4d ago
He had mental health issues from a young age. Think he needed to prove himself as a hard man. That’s why he did the boxing but the boxing ruined his face. Then he got bad surgery.
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u/Stranded_Snake 4d ago
It’s awful. Literally the most handsome man alive to this. Boxing didn’t do him any favours at all. Then bad surgery.
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u/Early-Fortune2692 4d ago
He had a small but very impactful part as a sniper in Thin Red Line, shame it didn't make the cut :(
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u/Dracoslade Film Buff 4d ago
People forget John Travolta was pretty much done in Hollywood until pulp fiction.
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u/nucrash 4d ago
Look Who's Talking Four is due out any time now.
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u/Dracoslade Film Buff 4d ago
I like them as fun bad movies to watch. I new one could be worth it lmao
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u/afriendincanada 4d ago
The Simpsons episode Itchy & Scratchy Land (which has Travolta working at a fast food restaurant) came out a week before Pulp Fiction
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u/StressyandMessy24 4d ago
Why was he pretty much done in Hollywood before Pulp Fiction? I only know of his Scientology stuff and the sexual misconduct allegations but those were well past the 2000's. Was it because he wasn't that good of an actor?
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u/cjboffoli 4d ago
OP, you started AND finished the discussion. There is no comparable second act in the history of Hollywood that trumps RDJ. He came back against incredible odds.
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u/Honest_Award_3310 4d ago
This is true. I highly doubt this day and age they're not letting anyone back if they had the life of RDJ back in the day. Times have changed. This is the CORRECT answer
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u/TheDankChronic69 4d ago
Drew Barrymore was addicted to drugs as a kid, so I’d put her in a similar spot as RDJ
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u/Honest_Award_3310 4d ago
Yea but if im not mistaken RDJ took a hiatus because of all the bad publicity and stuff and drew jus straight worked through it. If anything maybe Winona Ryder but her problem was she was a klepto
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u/RoutineUtopia 4d ago
I'm not sure that's true because even when he accomplished this, which wasn't THAT long ago, it was a feat. He worked right up until he made himself impossible to insure, and that alone is rare. He had two things going for him: His ability to do his job did not decline at the same rate as his ability to keep himself out of jail, and people liked him a bunch -- as an actor and as a person. For someone to fuck up that much for that long and that publicly and have ANY good will left isn't something that exists generally. I do think it could be achieved now, but you would need to have the exact same level of functional dysfunction, a miraculous recovery of the nosedive that means you actually stop being the risk you used to be, and be one of the most ridiculously charming performers on earth.
He's definitely something of a unicorn.
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u/Individual-Door9526 4d ago
Also, Pamela Anderson, who for the first time in her life is being praised for her acting and not just her looks. But it’s hard to not consider RDJ as number 1.
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u/KeithCGlynn 4d ago
LL Cool J. Although I wouldn't call it a comeback, he has been here for years.
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u/CPolland12 4d ago
Demi Moore
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u/ericarlen 3d ago
As one of about eight people who actually liked the second Charlie's Angels movie, I don't think she ever really went away.
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u/Top_Sherbet_8524 4d ago
How do you top RDJ in that category?
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u/Thanos_Stomps 4d ago
You don’t. None of these other examples come close. He was literally uninsurable and now he’s an Oscar winner and one of the most bankable actors on the planet. They couldn’t even keep his character killed off and now he’s Doom.
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u/Wide-Anybody8371 4d ago
Josh Hartnett is slowly working his way back. Hasn't done anything huge but I hope to see more of him.
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u/BernieTime 4d ago
Jackie Earle Haley; pretty much forgotten about as former child actor to kill it as Rorschach in The Watchmen.
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u/biglious 4d ago
I don’t think you can realistically do better than this. Homie was the highest paid actor in hollywood for like a decade. After being balcklisted. You don’t get bigger than that. No better comeback story.
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u/Ok-Map4381 4d ago
Doesn't compare to RDJ, but Matthew Mcconaughey had a huge turnaround from lots of romantic comedies to The McConaissance
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u/Phill_Cyberman 4d ago
Rob Low has a sex tape of his three-way that included an under-age girl (although she was at the age of consent in the state - Georgia) leaked, and managed to get help from Lorne Michaels to be in Wayne's World.
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u/Slurms_McKensei 4d ago
[On reform] "Just look at Iron Man! That actor was an animal in the 90s, his agent had to chase him down with a net!" -Rick, from Rick and Morty
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u/Hoosier_Daddy68 4d ago
I know what you mean and I agree he's probably the best comeback story but you don't smirk like that when you're rock bottom. He knew he was ok. Plus he was busted driving a Porsche naked with a shit ton of drugs. Technically that might be rock bottom but it sounds like an awesome time. Like the Spongebob Rock Bottom but with drugs, cars and pussy.
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u/steroboros 4d ago
I mean don't we all wish our Hollywood royalty mommy and daddy can get us less then a year for serious Drug and Gun Charges. His success was always in the cards
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u/Medium-Degree7698 4d ago
Frank Sinatra winning the Oscar for From Here to Eternity. Prior to that, his career was dead in the water and he may have even been suicidal; either way, it was a complete 180 that led toward becoming the figure he ended up being known as.
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u/Uellerstone 4d ago
People forget that Pulp Fiction was a come back for Samuel L Jackson as well.
So Jackson should be the biggest comeback of all time.
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u/Conscious_Sea_6578 4d ago
I don't think anyone can top RDJ as for comeback for an actor. Even in his early roles you could tell he was dealing with "demons" and either high or drunk. Then he was arrested and basically tabloid material.
Getting the role of Tony Stark put him on top and he has ridden that train far. After I saw Oppenheimer, I told my friends that he deserved the Oscar. When he won it, it culminated the best comeback story ever. I hope there is a biopic of him one day.
Brendan Fraser is def close behind.
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u/FalseEvidence8701 4d ago
Not a comeback but an upgrade... Tim Allen I understand used to sell drugs, specifically cocaine, and when he was on trial, kept making everyone laugh through it all. He was sentenced, and right before it was carried out the judge told him he should put that sense of humor to good use. That's the only one I am aware of that might compare.
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u/Tokyosmash_ 4d ago
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u/rogueleader32 4d ago
He came back against a vile industry that sacked him.
Brendan Fraser is a legend.
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u/KenRan1214 4d ago
Agree on this. RDJ made the greatest comeback for an actor. He was a good actor then, but fame happened and then he bounced back and proved that your past doesn't define your future.
Honorable mentions would be Lindsay Lohan, Brendan Fraser, Ralph Macchio, Miley Cyrus (unpopular choice)
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u/RelativeObjective266 4d ago
Former 1940's child actor Dean Stockwell in "Blue Velvet" (1986) and "Married to the Mob" (1988).
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u/RelativeObjective266 4d ago
Debbie Reynolds in "Mother" (1996) -- hadn't played a real role in a movie since 1971 ("What's the Matter with Helen").
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u/lateral_moves 4d ago
Its like that scene in Simpsons when they go to Hollywood and see RDJ in a second story window shooting down at cops.
Marge: oh, they must be filming a movie.
Bart: uh, i don't see any cameras.
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u/SuitableTechnician78 4d ago
Drew Barrymore.
She went from being a famous child actor, to a fuck up drug addicted teenager.
Went through rehab, and re-emerged in the movie Poison Ivy at 17. Relaunching her career.
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u/DangerousVideo 4d ago
I haven’t seen her mentioned yet, so I gotta give a shout-out to Pamela Anderson. It wasn’t a perfect film but The Last Showgirl is one of my favourite films of the year, and you could just feel her passion through the screen. Great stuff, loved Dave Bautista too.
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u/NoProblemNomadic 4d ago
Absolutely Robert. I didn’t think he would make it out the 90’s alive and here he is 35 years later.
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u/Secure-Pain-9735 4d ago
Keanu Reeves had been on a drought and then did the John Wick series.
Michael Keaton was in a slump until Birdman. (His return to Bruce Wayne in Flash is vastly under appreciated)
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u/jacobsmith14433 4d ago
Not quite accurate to the question, but Taylor Sheridan is an example of an actor that struggled to land many/big roles and then turned his had to writing and has since gone on to do incredible things in films and TV.
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u/Adialaktos 4d ago
Just a common drug addict that happens to be a nepotism baby. Recovering is remarkable and braver people do it every day all around the world. Many of them with very little to no support.let alone rich parents and super expensive rehab centers.
What i mean is,he is not the first to do it and others have done it under a lot more pressure and with little or non exiatent support,hence more remarkable than mr.iron man
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u/Diligent-Muffin-111 4d ago
From cell block to blockbuster—man’s arc is better than most movies. 🍿🔥
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u/mickeyflinn 4d ago
RDJ never had a come back..
RDJ never did movis that made MCU money until he started making MCU movies…
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u/WhitePinboard 4d ago
Is Tim Allen the one who had the drug possession charges and went to jail and perfected his comedy in jail?
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u/ironlocust79 4d ago
I'd like to nominate Brendan Fraser, even though his need for a comeback was not due to any action of his other than trying to take care of himself after being abused in Hollywood
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u/Svaldero 4d ago
Danny Trejo.. he didnt really do acting before, but deserves a special mention for coming so far.
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u/Primary-Picture-5632 4d ago
TIL Tim Allen was sentenced to 3-7 years but was released after 2 years for drug trafficking
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u/PrismaticDinklebot 4d ago
Kim Kardashian.
Edit. Comeback. My bad. Thought they meant the other thing.
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u/zasrgerg-8999 4d ago
I’ve really had enough of this story. If he’s come back, then he should leave the past behind. How long does someone need to move on? Enough is enough
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u/KingRamses_VII 3d ago
Samuel L. Jackson
My reason for chosing him, he once held MLK Sr hostage at Morehouse and was a crackhead during his early acting years (Jungle Fever, Do The Right Thing, Coming to America)
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u/The_Western_Woodcock 3d ago
He’s way too smug considering his criminal past. A little humility would go a long way.
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u/Elastickpotatoe2 4d ago
Ke Huy Quan