Top 20 Promising Stars Who Fell Off the Map

Even if you didn’t watch “The O.C.” back in the aughts, there’s a good chance you knew who Mischa Barton was. While she'd appeared onscreen since the mid-90s, it was her role as Marissa Cooper on the Fox television show that made her not only a star, but the “It Girl” of 2003, according to Entertainment Weekly. Since the end of the 2000s, Barton has continued to work, earning praise for her roles in various independent movies, including 2014’s “Starcrossed”. While “The O.C.” didn’t mark the end of Barton’s career by any means, she hasn’t really seen the same type of mainstream success since she left the show after its third season.

#19: Jane Child

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If your first thought was “Jane who?” you surely aren’t alone. Back in 1989, the thought that Jane Child would be pretty much forgotten seemed almost impossible after the release of her self-titled debut album. An album that spent 22 weeks on the Billboard 200. An album on which she wrote and produced every song, and played almost every instrument. This feat earned her the title of “the female Prince”. With her signature nose chain piercing and a number-two hit single on the Billboard Hot 100, the music world appeared to be Child’s melodic oyster. However, she only managed to put out two unsuccessful efforts after that - the last one being all the way back in 2002.

These days it seems like a Herculean task coming across Pauly Shore, but back in the ‘90s, it was almost impossible to avoid him. Shore was one of the biggest MTV VJs of the decade, and starred in a slew of mindless comedies from “Encino Man” to “In the Army Now” to “Jury Duty”. None of these were massive hits, and yet they kept making them - at least until the critically bashed, box-office disappointment “Bio-Dome”. The 1996 stoner comedy flick sure felt like the beginning of Shore’s fall off the map. A fall so steep that he co-wrote, produced, directed and starred in a 2003 mockumentary about his fictional attempt to fake his own death just to reboot his career.

Falls off the map are obviously relative, but few people on this list started theirs from a greater height than Macaulay Culkin. Following the uber-success of “Home Alone” in 1990, Culkin saw his star skyrocket to a level few child actors have ever reached. In 1992, he was paid $4.5 million for “Home Alone 2” and made five more films in the following two years. VH1 called him the 2nd greatest kid-star of all time. Culkin took a break from acting between 1994 and 2003, and has appeared in a few movies and TV shows since - including a well-received turn in season 10 of “American Horror Story”. So, while Culkin might still be on a map, it’s decidedly a much, much smaller one.

In 1999, Piper Perabo was a struggling actress earning a living as a waitress in New York. Then in 2000, she starred in “Coyote Ugly” and everything changed. Critics might not have liked the film, but with its over $110 million gross at the box office, it’s clear audiences disagreed with them. “Coyote Ugly” made Perabo a star, but instead of riding that wave to superstardom, the Texas-born actress turned to indie films. Notwithstanding, she’s found consistent work, appearing in “The Prestige” and starring in USA Network’s “Covert Affairs” in the early 2010s. Despite this, her star has never shined brighter than it did in 2000.

Did you know that Shannon Elizabeth was a very active poker player in the second half of the 2000s? That she had four cashes at the World Series of Poker and was hailed as “one of the leading celebrity poker players”? Did you also know that she’s an environmentalist and activist who has spent decades fighting for animal protection and conservation? Though impressive, none of that comes close to making a dent in pop culture like her appearance in 1999’s “American Pie”. Elizabeth bared it all - or almost all - for her role as foreign exchange student Nadia and became a teen comedy legend. While she might have fallen off the map, we think the one she’s on now is still pretty important.

From his 1998 film debut in “Halloween H20: 20 Years Later,” Josh Hartnett was on the fast track to Hollywood stardom. Over the next five years, he appeared in Teen People magazine's "21 Hottest Stars Under 21" and "25 Hottest Stars under 25". The aughts saw Hartnett in huge blockbusters, including “Black Hawk Down” and “Pearl Harbor,” as well as smaller dramas like “The Virgin Suicides”. Since 2010, Hartnett has done good work in TV shows like “Penny Dreadful”, but he is nowhere near the huge star he was back in the day. However, he seems very happy about it, saying, in regards to his fame, “I was up there for a couple of years, and it was uncomfortable”.

#13: Alicia Silverstone

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As endearing as Paul Rudd and Brittany Murphy were in “Clueless,” it was Alicia Silverstone who became a household name after the film’s 1995 release. “Clueless” was so popular that it got Silverstone a multimillion dollar deal with Columbia-Tristar and landed her the role of Batgirl in 1997’s “Batman & Robin”. Unfortunately, the movie was a critical disaster and earned Silverstone the Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actress. As the 21st Century rolled around, Silverstone slowly transitioned from leading lady able to open a film on her own, to overlooked supporting actress. Regardless, she still allows herself to have a little fun revisiting her “Clueless” days in commercials and lip sync battles.

#12: Freddie Prinze Jr.

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If you were a teen girl in the late ‘90s and early 2000s, there’s a good chance you had a picture of Freddie Prinze Jr. hanging in your locker or taped inside your Trapper Keeper. From “She's All That,” to the “I Know What You Did Last Summer” franchise, plus a couple “Scooby-Doo” flicks, Prinze Jr. was a mainstay teen dream of that era. He even got his own eponymous sitcom in 2005, which lasted one season. Had he been heard in a “Star Wars” movie back then, it would have been big news. But in 2019, his voice cameo as Kanan Jarrus in “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” probably went unnoticed by half the audience.

Hollywood will always have room for a pretty, blue-eyed blondie, and in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Tara Reid rose above the rest. “American Pie”, “Van Wilder” and “Josie and the Pussycats” fit her talents to a T. There was a section of the public so interested in her that in 2005, E! gave her her own reality travel show called “Taradise”. But while she was a definite “it” girl, she was never really respected as an actress by the media. She also had to deal with some botched plastic surgery and a barrage of negative comments about her body by the tabloid press and fans. She did do 6 “Sharknado” movies though, so that ought to count for something.

#10: Jonathan Taylor Thomas

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He went from being a bowl-cut babe to a “Tiger Beat” king before he was old enough to drive! In the 1990s, ‘JTT’ was a walking and talking teen dream. He starred on one of the decade’s most popular TV shows “Home Improvement,” lent his voice to one of the most iconic animated movies of all time when he played Simba in “The Lion King,” and his photo was plastered on the walls of countless bedrooms. What more could someone want? The answer was to trade the spotlight for his studies. At the height of his fame, Thomas left “Home Improvement” to hit the books, openly expressing his desire to attend college. Today, the rarely photographed Thomas continues to live away from the spotlight, though he has continued to act periodically.

He had boyish good looks, a bit of a mysterious streak, and Donna Martin’s eye. What more could Jamie Walters want? Lots of teen idols from the Nineties have strong name recognition and in some cases, a decades-long career, but the pinnacle of Jamie Walters’ success occurred during the decade of plaid. Walters achieved peak popularity between 1992 and 1994 after starring in two drama series “The Heights” and the smash hit “Beverly Hills 90210," and scoring a number one hit with the former's theme song, "How Do You Talk To An Angel." He wasn’t able to match his career success in the years that followed, however, so Walters left the entertainment business and traded fame for fanning out flames as a firefighter!

If you were channel surfing during the ‘80s or ‘90s, there was a very good chance you would’ve come across Staci Keanan, who was then a teen queen (or soon-to-be one) of the small screen! She starred in two back-to-back television success stories, “My Two Dads” and “Step By Step,” and a few guest appearances on TV shows and a handful of films, but the actress gradually disappeared from the entertainment circuit by the 2010s. Not only did Keanan completely fall off the map, she decided to embark on an entirely different career trajectory! She now spends her time away from the spotlight, channeling her passion for education into teaching, while also exploring the world of law through working as a district attorney.

Compared to the whirlwind lifestyle of his “Two and a Half Men” co-star Charlie Sheen, Angus T. Jones’ life after finding career-defining success followed a completely opposite path! Known for playing the “half” portion of the show’s titular “men,” Jones underwent a “profound religious experience,” as co-star Jon Cryer later described. He also began to publicly analyze the show’s conflicts with his newfound religion, later describing its contents as “filth.” Jones fueled his distaste for the series further by calling himself “a paid hypocrite” for staying on despite his hesitation. While he apologized for his comments and even appeared in the series finale, Jones rarely makes public appearances these days, and he appeared in only a handful of productions in the late 2010s after his departure from the show.

Life certainly turned out to imitate art for Mara Wilson! The young actress, who was a silver screen staple in the early ’90s, landed her breakout role in the 1996 adaptation of Roald Dahl’s “Matilda,” capturing audience’s hearts with her big eyes and an even bigger sense of self-awareness! Following “Matilda’s” massive success, Wilson was acutely aware of the way she related to her newfound fame, telling CBC’s “Q” in 2016, [“It was hard because it felt like everybody liked her more than they liked me.”] The bookish beauty later learned she would rather live a life away from the spotlight, later describing its effects as ["A lifestyle I couldn't really deal with."] Today, Mara pursues her true passion as a full-time writer, though she’s done some brief acting and some voice-work in the 2010s.

By 2005, Orlando Brown had appeared in multiple successful Disney Channel shows from a guest spot on “Lizzie McGuire” to starring roles in “The Proud Family” and “That’s So Raven.” However, even Raven Baxter’s psychic powers couldn’t possibly predict Brown’s downfall a decade later. The actor gradually fell off the map, appearing in very few notable projects between 2005 and 2012 and had his first drug-related arrest in 2016. After two more arrests, the stark reality of Orlando’s downfall was shown to the public when he appeared on an episode of “Dr. Phil” in 2018. The actor incorrectly answered Dr. Phil's questions, while also refusing his invitation for further medical intervention.

She was a fierce fashionista and always game for a trip to the mall; could there be a cooler best friend than Miranda Sanchez? The character of Miranda from the quintessential Disney Channel show “Lizzie McGuire” put Lalaine on the map and made people everywhere strive for a friendship like Lizzie and Miranda’s! Like many Disney divas of the ‘00s, Lalaine’s “cool girl next door” demeanor drew massive attention to the then-teenager, making fame difficult for Lalaine to deal with. Opening up to fellow Disney diva Christy Carlson Romano, she explained her younger self wasn’t mentally prepared for the reality of being a role model. Today Lalaine, who struggled with drugs in 2007, lives life mostly away from the spotlight, though the musician connects with fans on social media.

#3: Frankie Muniz

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Aspiring actors typically do whatever they can to reach superstardom, but this stereotypical plan wasn't Frankie Muniz's course of action! The "Malcolm In The Middle" star added a few film roles to his name during the seven years he played Malcolm, but his behind-the-scenes passions were what captured his attention. Instead of 'falling off the map' for any of the cliche reasons teen actors do, things slowed down on the acting front following the sitcom’s end. While he had some big screen and small screen roles, he also suffered from two mini-strokes in less than a year and began struggling with memory loss in the 2010s. However, Muniz doesn't view his experience as a struggle. With his now-wife Paige's guidance as she records memories for him to look back on through journaling, Muniz is able to fully concentrate and thrive with passion projects!

#2: Taylor Lautner

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Between playing a werewolf by day and dating outrageously popular superstars by night, the late 2000s and early 2010s were the peak period for breakout star Taylor Lautner! Lautner became a teen idol practically overnight by playing beloved werewolf Jacob Black in the blockbuster "Twilight" franchise and was consistently featured as a 'cover boy' on countless teen magazines between 2008 and 2012. Lautner's career had big 'leading man' potential after the series' final film was released in 2012, but the subsequent roles the actor chose were much less popular with audiences compared to the cultural phenomenon that was "Twilight." Lautner's pivot to roles that shared few similarities to his werewolf gig was intentional, as he once explained to "GMA."

It didn't matter if you 'asked Ashley' or your friend down the street, Amanda Bynes was the new kid on the comedy block everyone wanted to watch back in the mid-nineties and beyond. This funny gal made audiences giggle with her precocious comedic timing as a cast member on Nickelodeon's "All That," and later as the host of her own variety show. Bynes' continued success during the aughts made her one of the era's most promising teen queens, but unfortunately, a string of worrisome incidents led to her professional downfall and pushed her off the map. These personal issues were shocking due to her reputation of appearing more 'put together' than some of her Hollywood peers, causing lots of intense media scrutiny that she has never really recovered from - though.