It’s hard getting to the top, but it’s even harder staying on it. We’ve seen it many times – great acting careers spiraling downhill never to recover. One bad decision leads to another and soon once stellar reputations end up in the landfill of failures. This is the list of such actresses who went for quantity instead of quality and paid the price.
Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie started her career with some amazing roles in “Girl, Interrupted”, and “Gia”. She had it all – the talent, the looks, and the famous last name. A perfect recipe for success. However, a string of dreadful roles in even worse movies, like “The Tourist” and “By The Sea” deleted her name from the list of desirable cast. Jolie turned to direct movies with even less success.
Catherine Zeta-Jones
Zeta-Jones was the synonym for a great movie in the early 2000s. “Chicago” and “Traffic” brought fame and fortune to the Welsh beauty. And just like many others, Catherine made many bad judgments that cost her her acting career, like starring in flops “Side effects” and “Rock of Ages”. These days she is committed to her family putting acting on the back burner.
Demi Moore
Demi Moore and Bruce Willis were the power couple in the 90s. The actress worked tirelessly snatching all the good parts that fans still remember her by – “Ghost”, “A Few Good Men”, and “G.I. Jane”. In the past couple of decades, however, there weren’t any good roles for Demi. She starred in forgettable movies that were quickly crushed by critics.
Halle Berry
Sadly, there is only one good movie that Halle Berry can put in her CV – “Monster’s Ball”. The actress got an Oscar for the role and completely disappeared from any note-worthy films. She did star in some comedies and action thrillers, but the movies never left any mark in history. Nowadays, her only role is as a devoted mom.
Hillary Swank
Hillary Swank’s career was a rollercoaster ride. She had some brilliant roles only to drop from the face of the earth. Swank won two Academy Awards for “Boys Don’t Cry” and “Million Dollar Baby”. And that’s about it. Later, she appeared in some atrocious romantic comedies that got thumbs down from the audience.
Cameron Diaz
Cameron Diaz’s acting career peaked when she got the role in Martin Scorcese’s “Gangs of New York”. Before this part, Cameron got a great role in “Being John Malkovich” and “Mask”. However, since then, the actress got into an infinite loop of bad parts in mediocre comedies. Dian retired a few years ago and avoid the destiny of being slammed by movie critics even more.
Julia Roberts
Julia Roberts was once the most paid actress in Hollywood. She earned that poll position by selecting great roles in blockbuster movies. Roberts’ had a breakthrough in 1990 with “Pretty WOman” and continued the series with “Erin Brokovich” and “Steel Magnolias”. Still, for over a decade, Julia hasn’t had any memorable roles. It was just a string of boring dramas and ridiculous adaptations.
Nicole Kidman
Nicole Kidman was and still is a fantastic actress. In the 1990s, almost every role she took ended up being one step up from the previous one. However, An Australian beauty wasn’t so lucky in the past decade. Frustration from lousy roles led Nicole to take part in some TV shows that were also failures.
Ashley Judd
Ashley Judd is another actress that started off great. She starred in movies “Heat” and “A Time to Kill” which put her on the map as one of the most talented performers. Sadly, subsequent roles crushed her dreams and Ashley was soon forgotten.
Sarah Jessica Parker
Sarah Jessica Parker is the queen of TV shows. Her role as Carrie Bradshaw in the cult series “Sex and the City” launched her career. However, Sarah failed to carry over the same talent and energy to the big screen which resulted in her being completely erased from any future cast.
Kim Marks 
Nina Smith