Comeback kids
Stars who made a successful return to their career after a long break... By Niamh Mceneaney
There were a lot of emotional speeches during the recent Golden Globes Awards but undoubtedly the most heartfelt came from Ke Huy Quan. The actor first shot to fame back in 1984, when he was only thirteenyears-old and starred as Short Round alongside Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, later starring as Data in 1985’s The Goonies, both of which had Steven Spielberg behind them.
However, his career in acting was initially short-lived, and he went on to get a film degree from the USC School of Cinematic Arts, later working as a stunt coordinator and assistant director for the next two decades.
But after starring alongside Michelleyeoh in the criticallyacclaimed Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert film Everything Everywhere
All At Once — he is now truly taking Hollywood by storm.
With award-season fully underway, the star’s work has already been widely commended by celebrities and critics alike, earning him both a Golden Globe and Critics Choice Award for Best Supporting Actor.
His comeback has been warming fans’ hearts left and right, and they can’t help but wonder what he was up to in the decades prior to his comeback.
And since his long-awaited comeback, the 51-year-old has made sure to reconnect with those who were there at the start of his career.
During his Golden Globes speech, he acknowledged Steven, who was behind his first ever roles, as he told the star-studded crowd,“i was raised to never forget where I came from and to always remember who gave me my first opportunity. I am so happy to see Steven Spielberg here tonight. When I started my career as a child actor in Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom, I felt so very lucky to have been chosen.”
And prior to the awards show, he also had an emotional run-in with Indiana Jones himself, Harrison Ford, who despite Ke’s fears of his co-star not remembering him, was quick to recognise him and pose for photos.
So we’re taking a look at some other famous faces who made a long-awaited return to the spotlight…
It has been over 10 years since Amanda Bynes’ last film credit, but it appears she is ready to be back in the spotlight again.
Once a Hollywood leading lady when it came to romantic comedies of the late 2000’s, the former child star abruptly quit comedy with a single tweet in 2010, seemingly at the peak of her career.
“YOU HAVE TO KEEP WORKING TO STAY RELEVANT.”
“Being an actress isn’t as fun as it may seem. If I don’t love something anymore, I stop doing it. I don’t love acting anymore, so I’ve stopped doing it. I know 24 is a young age to retire, but you heard it here first,”she wrote from her now-deleted account.
Following a series of legal troubles, including two DUI charges and two hit-and-runs, plus several mental health challenges, she was placed on psychiatric hold in 2013 and 2014 in Los Angeles, which led to a conservatorship being granted to her parents.
Last February, after nine years under a conservatorship, and with her mother’s approval, Amanda filed for the arrangement to come to an end, and a judge ruled in her favour. Now the 36-year-old seems ready for a comeback, and she is honouring her first big acting break in the process. People magazine confirmed that she is set to join her former All That co-stars for a panel at the upcoming ’90s Con, which is to take place in March.
Winona Ryder’s career was in full swing during the late 80s and 90s. From classics such as Beetlejuice and Heathers to Edward Scissorhands and The Age of Innocence, she was keeping busy. But in 2001, the actress was arrested on charges of shoplifting and being in possession of illegal prescription drugs and her career stalled.
She spoke with Time about how a brief break from acting following the incident affected her career.
“I took some years off, and I didn’t realise that was very dangerous in terms of my career,”she said.“i was constantly being told,‘you have to keep working so you stay relevant’. When I was ready to come back, I was like, ‘Oh, where did everyone go?’ A lot of actors have ups and downs. I think mine were — people might see them as awful — but I learned, and I appreciated the time away.”
Now with the success of Netflix’s Stranger Things, Ryder is a leading lady once more.
Robert Downey Jr.’s career took off in the 80s, and he eventually earned an Oscar nomination for 1992’s Chaplin. But his successful trajectory hit a snag after a string of run-ins with the law and time in rehab.
In 1996, authorities caught him with an unloaded gun, heroin and cocaine in his car. A few months later, he was cited for trespassing after passing out inside his neighbour’s home. He was arrested multiple times, spent time in prison, was in and out of rehab, and was written out of Ally Mcbeal.
But Downey Jr. has been sober since around 2003, and his career has picked up.
He played Sherlock Holmes in two movies, he earned an Oscar nomination for Tropic Thunder, he’s been dominating the box office as Iron Man since 2008, and he’s showing no signs of slowing down.
With a successful catering company, a series of best-selling books and a magazine, Martha Stewart was a business mogul worth millions. But all of that came crashing down when she was charged with insider trading and found guilty on all counts, including charges of obstruction of justice and conspiracy.
She served five months in prison. After she got out of prison, Stewart managed to work her way back as a popular personality and make her company profitable once again.
She even has a show with Snoop Dogg, Martha & Snoop’s Potluck Dinner Party, on VH1.
Paula Abdul was best known as a choreographer and pop star in the 1980s and early 90s. She had six No. 1 singles on the Billboard charts and won a Grammy for Opposites Attract, but her music career stalled after an accident left her in pain.
n an interview with Forbes in 2017, the musician said,“i had to leave the music business ... I crash landed in a plane when I was on tour 26 years ago. I went through a lot of reconstructive spinal cord surgeries.”
Abdul rose to prominence once again in 2002 as a judge on American Idol which she did for eight seasons. And since then, she’s acted and appeared on reality shows.
Shania Twain had won five Grammys and was a pop country superstar before she retired from music in 2004.
In 2011, she revealed that she had been struggling with dysphonia, a disorder that affects vocal cords. She had to go through voice therapy. In 2017, she revealed that the dysphonia was caused by Lyme disease.
She came back a few times with a Las Vegas show in 2012 and arena tour in 2015, but 2017 marked her major comeback when she released Now, her first studio album in 15 years. The album went platinum and hit No.1 on the Billboard charts.
Rob Lowe broke out as a teen actor in hit movies like The Outsiders and St. Elmo’s
Fire and was a member of the Brat Pack. But then a sex tape scandal rocked his world.
A video surfaced that showed Lowe having sex with two women, one of whom was underage. But because it happened in Georgia, the age of consent was 16, so he didn’t face any charges. Lowe went into rehab shortly after and is now almost 28 years sober.
His career picked up once again when he was cast on The West Wing, which earned him an Emmy nomination. He followed that up with a role on Brothers And Sisters and was the beloved Chris Trager on Parks And Recreation.
Mandy Moore burst onto the music scene as a teen and had a hit with her debut single Candy. She broke out as an actress with roles in The Princess Diaries and A Walk To Remember, but things started slowing for her career. She had a few roles, but nothing stuck.
Then she was cast as the voice of Rapunzel in Disney’s 2010 movie Tangled and went on to star in hit TV show This Is Us, for which she earned her first Golden Globe nomination.
It seems doing a Disney voiceover does wonders for your career as Ellen de Generes also found out. The comedian rose in popularity thanks to her late 90s sitcom Ellen. A few years into the series, both she and her character came out, but then ratings fell and her career faltered.
She returned a few years later for the sitcom The Ellen
Show, but it was cancelled before the season finished airing.then 2003 brought a whole new level of success. Degeneres was chosen to voice Dory in Disney-pixar’s Finding Nemo and she went on to launch her own talk show. The Ellen Degeneres Show has won 29 Emmys since.
Eminem scored his first mainstream success with The Slim Shady LP in 1999. He won two Grammys off of that album and followed that up with more success — and more Grammys — thanks to Themarshall Mathers LP and The Eminem Show.
He later starred in 8 Mile, a film loosely based on his own life, and won an Oscar for his original song Loseyourself.
But after 2004’s Encore, Eminem disappeared for a while. After cancelling his 2005 European tour, he was treated for addiction to prescription sleeping medication. He came back with Relapse in 2009 and then disappeared again after his 2013 album but came back in 2017 with Revival, which featured collaborations with Beyoncé, Ed Sheeran, Pink, and more.
Teenage Neil Patrick Harris broke out as the star of Doogie Howser M.D. in the early ‘90s, but he couldn’t mimic the success in the years that followed. Finally in 2004, he made a cameo as a fictionalised version of himself in the stoner comedy Harold And Kumar Go To White Castle. He followed that up with the role of Barney on How I Met Your Mother, which earned him four straight Emmy nominations.
Christian Slater dominated the 1980s and early 90s. He was a breakout star in Heathers and starred in Robin
Hood: Prince Of Thieves and Interview With The Vampire. But he had multiple run-ins with the law. He was in a series of quickly cancelled TV series and movie flops. However, he bounced back with Mr. Robot in 2015 and won his first Golden Globe for the role. ■