Top 10 Actors Who Had a Career Resurgence in their Later Years
#10: Sylvester Stallone
After landing roles in a handful of small films in the early seventies, Stallone achieved international recognition with the success of “Rocky.” The franchise – like Stallone’s career – has had its ups and downs, but the most recent films centered around Adonis Creed have received major critical acclaim. “The Expendables” series, in which Stallone plays a lead role, has also produced one box office hit after another, and the actor has made appearances in both the MCU and the DCEU. He even claimed his first starring role in a non-reality TV series starting in 2022 with “Tulsa King.” When most people hit retirement age they, well, retire, but Stallone is working harder than ever.
#9: Marlon Brando
He may have been a generational talent, but he was notoriously difficult to work with. Despite starring in multiple hit films in his younger years, Brando went through a career slump in the sixties. By the early 1970s, almost no one was willing to cast him. But luckily, director Francis Ford Coppola was determined to get him into the role of Vito Corleone in “The Godfather” despite heavy pushback from studio heads. Coppola won that battle, and the film started a trilogy now widely regarded as one of the greatest ever made. Brando and Coppola later reunited for “Apocalypse Now,” which was almost universally praised by critics. That’s quite a comeback for an actor who was once considered persona non grata in Hollywood.
#8: Jane Fonda
This uniquely talented blonde bombshell was in high demand through the sixties, seventies, and eighties. During those three decades, she established an impressive résumé of comedies, dramas – and workout videos. But after her marriage to Ted Turner in 1991, Fonda announced her sudden retirement from acting. She later made a triumphant return to the screen with the success of 2005’s “Monster-in-Law,” which launched a new chapter in the star’s career. Thanks to hits like “Book Club” and the beloved TV series “Grace and Frankie,” Fonda has stayed at the top of her game well into her eighties.
#7: Liam Neeson
He’s a man with a very particular set of skills. Neeson’s career didn’t really take off until he was already in his forties, when he appeared as the lead in the sweeping historical drama “Schindler’s List.” He followed that epic performance with roles in a slew of major franchises, from “Star Wars,” to “The Dark Knight” trilogy, to “The Chronicles of Narnia.” And of course, we can’t forget his turn as devoted stepdad Daniel in “Love Actually.” But it wasn’t until 2008’s “Taken” that people really started to think of Neeson as a big name in action movies. The film kicked off a run of successful thrillers that made Neeson the action hero of the 21st century.
#6: Winona Ryder
After making a name for herself at a young age in classics like “Beetlejuice” and “Edward Scissorhands,” it seemed Ryder’s star was destined to keep rising. And for a while, that’s exactly what happened. Unfortunately, it all came crashing down when Ryder was convicted of shoplifting in 2002, leading her to take a brief break from acting. She started her comeback in 2006 with a series of smaller movies. It was her role as divorced mom Joyce Byers in Netflix’s massively popular “Stranger Things” that cemented Ryder once again as a major player in Hollywood. She’s been working steadily since then, including in her fourth team-up with America’s sweetheart, Keanu Reeves.
#5: Michael Keaton
This actor first gained fame in the eighties with his comedic roles. But it was his controversial casting as Bruce Wayne in 1989’s “Batman” that really rocketed Keaton to superstardom. By the 2000s, though, he was mostly limited to smaller films and side characters, including a turn as Ken more than a decade before Ryan Gosling took on the part. Then, a starring role in 2014’s “Birdman” gave Keaton’s career a sudden shot in the arm. Since then, he’s starred in dramas and thrillers, joined the MCU as the supervillain Vulture, and reprised his role as the caped crusader in DC properties. Now in his fifth decade on screen, Keaton is busier than ever.
#4: Ke Huy Quan
This one is a comeback story for the ages. Quan won audiences over as a child actor in a pair of beloved eighties classics. As an adult, he found almost no acting opportunities in the U.S. So he stepped out of the spotlight, instead working behind the camera as an assistant director and fight choreographer. Nearly twenty years later, he returned to the screen with a small role in Netflix’s family film “Finding ʻOhana.” He soon followed it up with his award-winning performance as Waymond Wang in the mega-hit “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” Throughout that award season, we got used to Quan doing two things: winning and leaving us in tears.
#3: Betty White
Younger viewers probably know her from “The Golden Girls,” but White was co-starring on her own talk show way back in 1949. She later became the first female sitcom producer with “Life with Elizabeth,” which she also starred in. From the late seventies through the early eighties, White did the majority of her work on game shows, only occasionally appearing in scripted TV series. Her portrayal of the naive but big-hearted Rose Nylund starting in 1985 proved that she still had the comedy chops to help carry a sitcom. White’s supporting role as a sarcastic granny in 2009’s “The Proposal” gave her career yet another boost, and she continued working in both film and television until her late nineties.
#2: Jamie Lee Curtis
She might have risen to fame as a scream queen, but films like “My Girl” and “True Lies” proved that she can do drama, comedy, and action too. Curtis announced her retirement from acting in 2006, but it didn’t last. She was soon back on the big screen, though through most of the 2010s, she stuck to voice work, minor characters, and occasional TV appearances. It was her reprisal of the character that made her a star in 2018’s “Halloween” that brought her back into the spotlight in a big way. Since then, Curtis has been busy, with starring roles in multiple hits. She even took home her first Oscar in 2023 for her performance alongside Ke Huy Quan in “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”
#1: Brendan Fraser
The handsome, wide-eyed actor was one of the breakout stars of the 1990s, with hits like “Encino Man,” “George of the Jungle,” and of course, “The Mummy.” At the time, it seemed Fraser might become an all-time great leading man. But the grueling work of action movies eventually began to take its toll, and Fraser went through multiple surgeries on his back, his knee, and even his vocal cords. His career slowed down significantly in the 2010s, until a run of strong TV appearances, including a starring role in the superhero series “Doom Patrol,” led to what some critics have called the “Brenaissance.” His heartbreaking performance in 2022’s “The Whale” showed that he still deserves to be a leading man on the big screen too.
Which actors do you think did their best work later in life? Be sure to let us know in the comments below.