Shaquille O’Neal in Kazaam
Shaquille O’Neal doesn’t need a resume from acting school to start a career in Hollywood. His name is marketable in itself, worth millions for being an NBA star with an army of die-hard fans. He got his start in the movie “Blue Chips”, though it didn’t fare so well at the box office. Still, that wasn’t enough to stop the Shaq Attack.
He followed it with another movie, titled “Kazaam”, playing the role of a genie, that was roundly criticized, and rated a mere 6% on Rotten Tomatoes. The movie had a lousy, predictable storyline, but Shaq had no qualms, boasting about making $7 million from it.
Thomas C. Howell Went Straight to DVD
American actor, Thomas C. Howell, starred successfully in films like "The Outsiders", "The Hitcher", and "Red Dawn", making him popular among teen moviegoers at the time. Buttressed by early success, the artist in him had wanted to do something more challenging. He wanted to make a didactic movie, and worked hard on the film "Soul Man", in 1986.
Whatever the message was that Howell tried to convey, the public either didn’t like it or did not get it. Its viewers cried absurdity, and Howell ended up stuck in a purgatory of straight-to-DVD action flops for more than a decade.
Mike Myers’ Love Guru
True to their creative profession, artists like to experiment with new roles. They like to test new territory and see how far their skills go. This impressive trait might just propel an artist toward new heights of popularity, a testament to their abilities. Unfortunately, for some, it might as well spell doom.
Despite making it big with films like "Wayne’s World", and "Austin Powers", Mike Myers got stuck in a quicksand of his own creation with the woeful 2008 flop, "Love Guru". His cringy, self-help business promoting character, Pitka, was unpleasant enough; but the fact that he had also written and co-produced it, killed his career. Since then, he’s made a cameo appearance in "Inglourious Basterds", and settled for voicing Shrek in animated shorts.
The Passion of the Christ Hurt Caviezel’s Career
Jim Caviezel had an active career in the entertainment industry for years, before taking on the serious responsibility of playing Jesus, in Mel Gibson’s "The Passion of the Christ". This turned out to be a controversial film, some parts of it were questioned and suspiciously studied in religious detail.
Controversy aside, Caviezel’s performance was solid. At least none of the criticisms were about him, per se. Curiously though, he struggled to land a job after the film. For some mysterious reason, he had become less appealing, casting calls died down, and he slipped from the Hollywood scene.
Jada Pinkett Smith
Jada Pinkett-Smith did phenomenally well in the 90s. She was charming and confident, and the public seemed to always want to see her star in more roles. Her demand was soaring, and then she made a mistake in signing up for "Woo", which got poor reviews from movie critics.
After "Woo", the very same people who tried to sign her up for all sorts of roles seemed to disappear. Smith had to wriggle her way back up, settling for smaller roles.