Actors Hollywood Stopped Casting In 2017

One day, you're a movie star on top of the world; the next, your career is all but over. It's a pretty familiar story in the entertainment industry—especially in 2017, a year full of scandals, shocking revelations, and controversies that caused a lot of actors to lose their livelihoods. As always, there were also plenty of stars who found themselves looking for work simply because fame is fickle and Hollywood can be awfully cruel. Whether it's because they're creeps or casualties of box office bombs, these are the actors Hollywood stopped casting in 2017.

Once the leading man of an insanely popular TV show, it seems Matthew Fox has lost his way in recent years. While he found success playing Dr. Jack Shephard, Fox could never seem to capture the cinematic spotlight. After Lost ended in 2010, he appeared in movies like Alex Cross, Emperor, and Extinction, all of which failed to impress either critics or audiences. On top of that, the guy was almost entirely edited out of World War Z, and while he gave an incredible performance as a racist gunfighter in 2015's Bone Tomahawk, that indie film wasn't enough to spark a full-fledged career comeback.

It probably hasn't helped that Fox is a pretty controversial character in real life. He was arrested for drunk driving in 2012, and he's been accused of assaulting women on more than one occasion. Even Lost co-star Dominic Monaghan once claimed on Twitter that Fox "beats women," and that we're not talking about "isolated incidents" here. According to Charlie, this kind of thing actually happened "often." So with an inability to draw at the box office and a private life filled with public incidents, it may come as no surprise that Fox has zero projects lined up.

One of half of New Zealand's fourth most popular folk parody duo, Bret McKenzie is best known for appearing in Lord of the Rings, playing in Flight of the Conchords, and winning an Oscar for his work on The Muppets. And although taking home that little gold statue was an impressive feat, McKenzie has never had the popular appeal of his Conchords cohort, Jemaine Clement; while Jemaine has popped up in everything from Moana to What We Do in the Shadows, Bret hasn't really found the same footing when it comes to feature films.

In fact, McKenzie has starred in just one movie since 2013, a Keri Russell flick called Austenland that earned an abysmal 30 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. Since then, McKenzie has shown up in one episode of a 2017 TV series called Bajillion Dollar Propertie$, but other than, his acting future looks pretty empty. Of course, McKenzie does more work these days in the musical department. Most recently, he wrote songs for a New Zealand film called Tip Top Taj Mahal, but it's been awhile since he's been a part of any Hollywood projects.

Fortunately, McKenzie recently announced he was getting the band back together and going on tour with Clement. Also, in August 2016, it was reported that McKenzie was writing the screenplay for a Warner Bros. fantasy called Moonland. However, there have been very few updates on the project, and while we wish him luck on his writing endeavors, it would be nice to see this Conchord fly back onto the silver screen.

There's no power in the 'verse that can stop Summer Glau...with the possible exception of Hollywood casting directors. She made a name for herself in sci-fi circles by playing River Tam, the monosyllabic, super-powered psychic suffering from PTSD in Firefly and Serenity, and she's kept busy over the past few years by appearing in a wide array of genre shows, from Arrow to Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

But despite her dancing skills, martial arts prowess, and sci-fi appeal, Glau hasn't gotten much work lately. Her last gig was in 2016, playing in an episode of Castle, a role that reunited Glau with her old Firefly captain, Nathan Fillion; since then, she hasn't appeared in a single film or TV show. Of course, Glau recently had a little girl, which might explain her absence from the spotlight. After all, she generally takes action roles, and that's difficult to do when you're pregnant. Now that she's given birth, here's hoping she'll return soon—if casting directors continue to keep her on the sidelines, we've seen what Glau can do when she gets mad.

There's a famous old expression that goes, "Just because you can, doesn't mean you should." It's an insightful proverb, one that Kathy Griffin should've kept in mind when she posed for a photo holding the decapitated head of Donald Trump. Sure, it was just a dummy. Yeah, it was all a joke. But as it turns out, there are a lot of people who don't appreciate it when you pose with the president's bloody head.

Thanks to her stunt, Griffin was fired from her job working on CNN's New Year's Eve broadcast, and that was just the start of her troubles. If you take a look at her IMDb profile, you'll see things are looking pretty grim for Griffin. In all of 2017, she's only appeared in one short film—a five-minute parody of Annie—and there's absolutely nothing on her horizon. No movies, no TV shows, nada. According to Griffin, that's because she's "in the middle of a Hollywood blacklist"—and that probably isn't just self-pitying hyperbole. After all, why would any studio hire her when she's made herself such a magnet for controversy? As long as she keeps taking offensive photos, Kathy Griffin will never get ahead.

Everybody loves Cameron Diaz, so it's kind of sad that she's seemingly disappeared from Hollywood. She hasn't made a film since 2014, and claims she's taking a break to make herself "whole." However, that might possibly be a convenient excuse to cover up for a long string of flops and failures that culminated in critical bombs and box office disasters like The Other Woman, Sex Tape, and Annie. Worse still, she "won" a Razzie for her performances in 2014, and 2013 wasn't much better thanks to The Counselor, an underwhelming Ridley Scott film that tanked at the box office. So while Diaz is probably glad to be taking a break from Hollywood for a bit, you have to wonder if the feeling is mutual.

Once upon a time, Sacha Baron Cohen was the king of the comedy world. He gained a following with Da Ali G Show, got an Oscar nod for Borat, and kept the zeitgeist going with Brüno. But you can only mine that comedy gold for so long before you start coming up empty. While Cohen appeared in critically acclaimed films like Sweeney Todd and Hugo, he made his first major misstep with The Dictator, and things only got worse in 2016, when Cohen suffered the double whammy of starring in Tim Burton's forgettable Alice Through the Looking Glass before offending everyone—in all the wrong ways—with The Brothers Grimsby.

With Cohen's films failing at the box office, Hollywood seems to have turned its back on the star. And while there were rumblings in 2016 of potential future projects—an adaptation of Mandrake the Magician and a remake of the Danish comedy Klown—there haven't been many recent updates. Sadly, Cohen could've salvaged his career if he hadn't given up the opportunity to play Freddie Mercury. The actor allegedly left the Queen biopic after creative differences with the band, and without that Mercury mojo to give him a much-needed boost, Cohen's career is definitely under pressure.

Not so long ago, Danny Masterson was making people laugh for a living, playing Hyde in That '70s Show and "Rooster" Bennett on the Netflix sitcom The Ranch. But not everyone thinks the curly-haired comic is particularly funny. In 2017, four women claimed they were raped by the actor and then silenced by the Church of Scientology, where Masterson is a high-profile member. Naturally, Masterson denied the allegations, but after a lengthy investigation, the streaming service parted ways with the comedian.

Instead of taking him out of The Ranch completely, Netflix decided to continue releasing episodes featuring Masterson, but as the actor won't be working on the show anymore, eventually Rooster will disappear sometime in 2018. And while he has at least one project lined up (which he's also directing), it's probably safe to say that Masterson won't be getting many calls from casting directors in the near future.

After years as an open secret, some of Hollywood's worst behaviors were exposed to the light in 2017. Big names like Brett Ratner and Dustin Hoffman were accused of sexual abuse, and influential figures like Harvey Weinstein were basically kicked out of the business altogether. One of the biggest power players to wind up in the headlines was Louis C.K., who faced ruin when the New York Times published a scathing expose, accusing the comedian of sexual misconduct against five separate women.

Hot on the heels of the Weinstein debacle, the fallout was immediate. "These stories are true," C.K. admitted to the Times, but his contrition was too little, too late; film distributor the Orchard shelved his comedy I Love You, Daddy, Netflix dropped his upcoming standup special, the FX network completely cut ties, and his management company decided to part ways. Essentially everyone in the entertainment world—from HBO to C.K.'s own publicist—put Louis in limbo, and it's almost impossible to imagine him having any kind of career in the coming years.

Daniel Day-Lewis is an actor that filmmakers wish they could keep on casting, but unfortunately for Hollywood, he has no intention of making another movie. In June 2017, Variety reported that Day-Lewis was retiring for good, an announcement that sent shockwaves across the cinematic community. Known for completely immersing himself in his roles, he's the only guy in history to win three Oscars for Best Actor, so naturally, fans were heartbroken when they discovered they'd never see him again after 2017's Phantom Thread.

But what motivated one of the greatest living actors to step away from his craft? Well, nobody knows for sure...not even Day-Lewis. Speaking with W magazine, he admitted Phantom Thread was somehow to blame for his decision, although he didn't know how. During filming, both he and director Paul Thomas Anderson were overcome "by a sense of sadness," and that depression led to Day-Lewis' decision. He also confessed that, recently, he hasn't really believed in the "value" of his work. He's decidedly in the minority on that count—but until he gets that spark back, we've seen the last of this living legend.

Kevin Spacey has starred in classics like Seven, The Usual Suspects, and American Beauty. He also revived his career in recent years with his performance as Frank Underwood in the Netflix series House of Cards. But his Oscar wins and high-profile roles weren't enough to cover for accusations that he sexually harassed—and in some cases, far worse—more than 30 victims.

The saga started when Anthony Rapp accused Spacey of harassing him when Rapp was just 14...12 years younger than the veteran actor. Emboldened by Rapp's stand, more victims began coming forward, each with their own Kevin Spacey horror story. As a result, he was kicked out of House of Cards, and all his scenes were removed from Ridley Scott's All the Money in the World. With just weeks before the film's theatrical debut, Scott allegedly spent $10 million on reshoots, using Christopher Plummer to fill in for Spacey.

This was an incredible move on Scott's part, and one that sent a clear message. As for Spacey, his career prospects are equally clear—and like his footage in All the Money in the World, they've suddenly vanished.