Actors Who Made A Comeback In 2023

Very few actors, even the ones at the highest level of celebrity and acclaim, can maintain careers with all peaks and no valleys. A natural ebb and flow happens to pretty much everyone in Hollywood, and many factors play into the fickle nature of the business. Not counting those that experienced some catastrophic, career-tainting controversy, most actors bounce back after a few lean years — which, for the record, are sometimes self-imposed.

Now, it's important to note that not all of the actors in this feature dealt with a significant or long-lasting career lull. In fact, many hadn't been especially far removed from their last noteworthy project. But what unites them all is that 2023 has seen their careers enjoy a renaissance of sorts, with one or more projects that are their most important or acclaimed in a while and follow a period where they'd been either voluntarily flying under the radar or just hadn't appeared in anything that made a sizable impact on the pop culture landscape. 

Even if she had retired in 2022, Christa Miller would've already cemented her television legacy. She spent many seasons as a series regular on both "The Drew Carey Show" and "Cougar Town," and recurred on "Scrubs" so often that she logged nearly 100 episodes of the hospital comedy. This, in addition to her main role on the cult classic MTV animated series "Clone High" as a modern teenaged version of Cleopatra, has allowed Miller to put more beloved TV shows on her resume than most actors could ever claim. But Miller wasn't done, as she has proven by her output in 2023 so far. 

When the aforementioned "Clone High" got the revival treatment this year, Miller once again served as a series regular — though, in the wake of there being more of an effort not to have white actors play characters of color, Cleo was recast and Miller now portrays a new character named Candide Sampson. Miller also turned in a fantastic performance in the Apple+ comedy series "Shrinking," showing yet again that she plays hilarious neighbor characters as well as anyone on television in the last 30 years. With both "Clone High" and "Shrinking" confirmed for another season, Miller's small-screen dominance will continue beyond 2023. 

Josh Hartnett has already launched a couple of "comebacks" in his career. The first came when he appeared in the 2006 thriller "The Black Dahlia," which gave us Hartnett's first high-profile role in several years. He had taken a step back from acting in an attempt to escape being typecast in shallow, handsome-young-Hollywood hunk roles. But that movie ended up being a critical and commercial disappointment, a common occurrence among Hartnett's bigger projects, and he once again backed off for a bit to regroup.

Nearly a decade passed before Hartnett popped up in anything that garnered significant mainstream attention. He initially returned to prominence as a series regular in the well-received horror series "Penny Dreadful" in 2014. A few years later, filmmaker Guy Ritchie brought Hartnett into his fold with a major role in his 2021 heist film "Wrath of Man," though that came and went with little fanfare. This year, however? Hartnett really and truly returned to both acclaim and box office success, playing a pretty sizeable role among a cast of A-listers in Christopher Nolan's massive financial and critical hit, "Oppenheimer." In addition, Hartnett also starred in his second Guy Ritchie film, "Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre," and fronted an episode of the 2023 season of "Black Mirror."

The actors who starred as the lead young wizards in the "Harry Potter" film series seemed to apparate out of nowhere. This included Rupert Grint, who played Ron Weasley like it wasn't his first film or television role — even though it very much was. All of the principals in the "Harry Potter" movies are essentially set for life in terms of money, which affords them the luxury of being choosy with their roles, so they need not make anything other than projects they find interesting. 

While co-stars Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson stayed pretty busy on the big screen, Grint only appeared in a few other non-"Harry Potter" films before taking a break from movies after 2015's "Moonwalkers." He did some television in the meantime — including Crackle's adaptation of the movie "Snatch" as well as the M. Night Shyamalan-produced "Servant" — but didn't shoot a movie for eight years. And it was Shyamalan who got Grint back on the big screen with the horror thriller "Knock at the Cabin," the director's best-reviewed film since 2016's "Split." Is Grint back as a movie star or will "Knock at the Cabin" serve as a one-off? That remains to be seen, but he'd be a great fit as a continued Shyamalan collaborator if he so chooses.

After he first went behind the camera with his 1987 satire "Hollywood Shuffle," Robert Townsend quickly reduced his acting output and has been mostly content to spend the last 30-plus years as a writer, director, and producer. His 1995-99 sitcom "The Parent 'Hood" marked his last major mainstream acting role until 2023, with his scant on-screen credits during that timeframe comprised of small indie or made-for-TV films or fairly minor roles in his own projects. And even then, he only has seven non-director credits between 1999 and 2023, one of which was a voice role.

So, for Townsend to take on a prominent role as the father of a main character during Season 2 of FX's acclaimed "The Bear" was a big deal indeed. Many viewers didn't even initially recognize the veteran performer, as it had been so long since people saw him in anything. But Townsend — one of several guest stars who are noted native Chicagoans — proved that he retains his knack for acting, delivering a wonderfully understated performance as Sydney's (Ayo Edebiri) cautiously supportive father, Emmanuel. Don't be surprised to see a guest actor Emmy nomination for Townsend during the next awards season.

Jay Baruchel worked in the big studio machine in the 2000s and into the early-2010s — in large part because of his collaborations with Judd Apatow and Seth Rogen — but largely shifted to smaller, more indie-minded projects after that. He also became a filmmaker during that time, most recently writing, directing, producing, and starring in the 2019 slasher movie "Random Acts of Violence. Though not a huge hit with critics, many horror aficionados embraced it.  

While he did some minor television work in the meantime, Baruchel didn't make another movie until the 2023 biopic "BlackBerry," in which he starred as BlackBerry founder Mike Lazaridis. The comedy-drama definitely marked a triumphant return for the actor to the big screen and ranks as his best-reviewed film since the first installment of "How to Train Your Dragon" back in 2010. Baruchel also returned to narrative television this year with a main role in Netflix's popular action-comedy series "FUBAR," starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, with a confirmed second season on the way. Both of Baruchel's most recent television projects — the Fox sitcom "The Moodys" and the science docu-series "We're All Gonna Die (Even Jay Baruchel)" — had already come to an end before the start of this year. 

A very busy actor in the 2000s and 2010s, Rachel McAdams fired off at least one movie every year for 10 consecutive years between 2008 and 2018. After that, McAdams slowed down a bit, releasing only the Netflix comedy "Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga" and "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" from 2019 and 2022. While it can be argued that appearing in a movie that grossed nearly $1 billion at the box office made 2022 more of a comeback year for McAdams than 2023, Christine Palmer rated as more of a side character in that movie and — unless you're one of the Avengers — you kind of got lost in the crowd during the first four phases of the MCU.

Our argument that 2023 marked the true renaissance of McAdams's career centers on the kinds of roles she's played this year. As the mom of the titular character in "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret," it's the first time McAdams starred in a coming-of-age film focused on the teenage experience in which she wasn't one of said teenagers but was instead a parent character. And she handled that transition flawlessly. In addition, McAdams appeared in a multi-episode Season 3 stint of FX's "Dave" that cast her as a version of herself, another career landmark that shows that she's at a point where she's comfortable poking fun at herself and her image. 

Mel Gibson warned Jim Caviezel that taking the lead role in "The Passion of the Christ" would ruin his future in Hollywood. And, based on Caviezel's movie output since the 2004 religious epic, Gibson sounded prophetic. 2006 saw Caviezel star in "Déjà Vu," ultimately his most recent big-budget major-studio movie to date. But Caviezel hasn't been completely absent from mainstream attention in the meantime, as he spent five seasons as the lead in the CBS crime series "Person of Interest" (2011-2016).

That might've been the last time the world at large heard much about Caviezel if not for his 2023 action biopic "Sound of Freedom" making headlines as a surprise box office hit. Of course, the movie also made headlines for other reasons — including accusations that it pushes conspiracy theories, and that both Caviezel and the real-life person that he plays in the film have done the same. Caviezel, as well as "Sound of Freedom" subject Tim Ballard and director Alejandro Monteverde, all denied the aforementioned accusations. Either way, "Sound of Freedom" exploded into a massive financial success and got everyone talking, the first time that could be said about a Jim Caviezel movie in nearly 20 years. 

Despite him being a household name and seeming to be ever-present throughout the '90s, actor and comedian Chris Tucker only has 14 film credits to his name. In fact, in the entire 2000s decade, he made a mere two movies — both of which were "Rush Hour" sequels. The 2010s were no different, with Tucker again only adding two movies to his resume. In an interview with GQ, Tucker brushed off the notion that he's ever taken any kind of a career break. "It's shocking because I guess I'm the last person to know it. 'Cause I'm always working. Stand-up comedy or something else, I'm working," he explained.

Still, in terms of movies, Tucker had clearly grown much more selective about his projects after his '90s heyday, even turning down sequels to his breakthrough hit "Friday." 2016's "Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk" had been Tucker's last movie, and 2015's "Chris Tucker Live" was his most recent filmed comedy special, certainly giving the impression that he didn't prioritize screen work. But 2023 saw Tucker make a triumphant return to acting when he played Nike executive Howard White in the biopic "Air" about the origins of Michael Jordan's extraordinarily successful line of sneakers, his first film in seven years. And he's got at least one more in him, having already confirmed his involvement in a fourth "Rush Hour" movie — though as of March 2023, the script remained unwritten. So, don't expect it anytime soon.

Michael Cera began acting as a child, with his earliest screen credits hitting at age 11. Before he finished his teenage years, Cera already had under his belt not only the full pre-Netflix run of "Arrested Development" but the movies "Juno" and "Superbad." He stayed plenty busy on both the big and small screens ever since, though voicing Robin in "The Lego Batman Movie" would represent his only major release of note in the latter half of the 2010s. 

After flying under the radar these last few years, Cera landed as big a comeback role as any actor ever has when he played Allan, the forgotten male doll doomed to live, in Ken's shadow in "Barbie." The movie cruised well past the $1 billion mark, the biggest hit of Cera's career by a pink-bricked mile. But Cera is also celebrating a big year on the small screen, making a hilarious cameo in the "Joan is Awful" episode of "Black Mirror," starring in Steven Soderbergh's well-received sci-fi miniseries "Command Z," and reprising his role as Scott Pilgrim in Netflix's upcoming "Scott Pilgrim Takes Off" animated series. 

After spending the first decade of his career known primarily as André 3000, half of the legendary hip-hop duo Outkast, André Benjamin began to scale back on music around the same moment that he started giving acting a serious shot. Following the release of the final Outkast album, "Idlewild," in 2006, Benjamin shifted to primarily being an actor who creates music on occasion rather than the other way around. 

Particuarly busy between 2005 and 2007, Benjamin appeared in nine movies as well as launched and starred in his own animated series, "Class of 3000." Most of his roles were supporting roles, with his first lead film role — the 2013 Jimi Hendrix biopic "Jimi: All Is by My Side" — earning him praise for his budding acting abilities (but being marred by not being allowed to use any songs penned by Hendrix per the late musician's estate). Benjamin seemed to pump the brakes on the acting after that, only turning up in 2018's "High Life." But 2023 saw Benjamin the actor finally come into his own, as he delivered strong performances in both "White Noise" (technically released at the tail end of 2022) and "Showing Up." It apparently takes indie-minded auteurs like Noah Baumbach and Kelly Reichardt to transform Benjamin into the actor he always believed he could be.

Since his impressive initial run in the 1980s, Matthew Broderick has always been the kind of actor who never fully goes away but comes back big every few years. 1999's "Election," for instance, helped him bounce back from the disappointing "Godzilla" the previous year, with his then-most-recent role of note being 1996's "The Cable Guy" — though that wasn't especially well-received in its day and took a while to be recognized as an underrated comedy classic. 

In the new millennium, however, it had been some time since Broderick tackled a non-cameo part in a movie that got any sort of significant attention or acclaim. That said, he carved out a character actor niche for himself on television in the 2010s with roles on series like "30 Rock," "Louie," and "The Connors," and continued to enjoy success as a Broadway superstar in plays and musicals. Still, years seemed to pass Broderick assumed any major presence on either the big or small screen. It all changed in 2023 with the double-whammy of an appearance in the well-received Jennifer Lawrence comedy "No Hard Feelings" and a starring role in Netflix's limited series "Painkiller" as the real-life man who ran the company that first developed OxyContin and was said to play a pivotal role in America's opioid crisis. Playing such opposing characters — and one each for film and television — served as a great showcase for Broderick and a reminder of why he's still around nearly 40 years after breathing life into his most famous character. 

To be fair, martial arts legend Jackie Chan never really took anything resembling a real break since his career got going. From 1970 all the way to 2021, Chan put out at least one movie every single year for an astounding 51 straight years. With that in mind, the fact that 2022 came and went without a Jackie Chan movie was a pretty big deal. But that's only a small part of the reason why we are declaring 2023 a comeback year for the multi-hyphenate performer.

In 2018, Chan announced a plan to step back from Hollywood, expressing frustration over how much flak he got from American critics for not possessing a flawless grasp of the English language. For a time, it seemed as though the drama "The Foreigner" (2017) might be his last American production, which makes his role voicing Splinter in "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem" so noteworthy. In addition, his Netflix buddy action comedy "Hidden Strike" with John Cena proved a surprise hit when it reached the streamer in July 2023, marking the first time in a handful of years that a Chan film gained any significant traction in the U.S. 

Chan certainly seems to be warming back up to Hollywood, as he will also appear in the upcoming fourth installments of both the "Rush Hour" and "Kung-Fu Panda" franchises.