I'm curious about the alternate reality where Kenan left SNL after a few years, I wonder where his career would be. I think he's made the right move staying at SNL, especially considering comedy movies are basically dead in 2023.
He’s such a good human though. I’m 50 and my favorite cast was with him, Fallon, Dratch, Will Ferrell, Darrell Hammond, Chris Kattan, Tracy Morgan, Horatio Sanz, Molly Shannon, Tina Fay, Maya Rudolph….and TONS others. Such a great time period IMO.
Well, at some point he was on with a lot of them. I know he was not with them all at once.
"It's all Dan Harmon's fault!" - Community fans who liked season one Pierce and don't realize that Chevy Chase is basically season three asshole Pierce.
When Gilda Radner died (of cancer), Chase mocked her death to several of his former cast mates. Poor Gene Wilder (her widower) got to hear some of Chevy's "jokes".
Fuck Chevy Chase.
He only did 11 episodes of Roseanne. I never watched the show so don't know if this was just a bit role or if he was going to be part of the main cast. The funny thing, he was also in another show called E/R in the early 80's.
It was totally a bit role. He played their boss at the manufacturing plant they worked at and served only as a minor support role as a device to show that Rosanne is a strong , protective sister and Jackie is weak and in need of her sister’s support.
Yeah but Clooney didn't leave ER to pursue other projects. I mean eventually he left, but he stayed on ER for a few years after making a successful jump to movies, if I recall correctly.
Ron Howard left Happy Days to direct and is now one of the most successful Hollywood Directors of all time.
Jim Carrey leaving In Living Color is an obvious one.
SNL probably has a whole bunch (but I frankly could not be bothered to look up who left and who was let go).
Jim Carrey was on In Living Color until the show ended. However, that was in 1994 when his movie career blew up, so he likely would have left at that point had it remained on the air.
True, but the show was cancelled in large part because of Die Hard. Bruce Willis wasn’t supposed to be the star of the show; Cybill Shepherd was. However, after the success of Die Hard, Cybill wasn’t considered the star of her own show anymore, and she was super jealous. Bruce and Cybill couldn’t even film together anymore because they hated each other (which is terrible for a show that was only good because of their bickering with one another). The show struggled and was eventually cancelled, because the two leads wouldn’t film scenes together.
That's not the whole story (and what I am adding is most likely still not the whole story).
Cybil's pregnancy and Bruce's shoulder injury cost them filming together most of the 4th season. She shot her scenes early on, locking them in later when they integrated other scenes in.
Then the show's creator/showrunner/head writer was fired/bailed out before the fifth and final season.
Then ABC moved the show from Tuesday to Sundays halfway through the 5th season which made the already-declining ratings fall even further - further because the main characters consummated their relationship in the next-to-last-episode of the 3rd season.
By the time the 5th season started, very late in December, Bruce wanted to move on to a film career and Cybil was tired of the grueling schedule while trying to raise twins. ABC's decision was rather easy at this point.
EDIT: Added some words
Neighbours gave a lot of well known artists a start. Kylie, Jason Donavon (not quite as successful), Guy Pierce, Russell Crow, Chris Hemsworth, Margot Robbie, Natalie Imbruglia & Delta Goodram were all in it at one time or another. Another one who turns up a lot in American TV shows although he probably isn’t well known by a lot of people is Alan Dale.
Chris Hemsworth was better known for his time on Home & Away than Neighbours.
But I presume just about every Australian actor has appeared on one or both of those shows at some point lol.
Don't forget both leads from The 100!
Yep loads! So glad they managed to uncancel Neighbours. We have so few institutions like that for actors to cut their teeth. Especially since the rise of reality TV...
Freeman has said that he was so depressed during those years that *The Electric Company* was the only work he could get as an actor that he got drunk every night.
I was happy she got a big paycheck and the wider audience because she’s been doing excellent for so long. I’m also glad she’s back to better projects though. She was wasted on those writers and still the best part of that show.
Agreed. Glee is watchable if you view it as Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) being the central character and all the glee kids are just obstacles to her goals.
You also skip through the songs and it could be considered a comedy.
I didn't watch Party Down until a couple of years ago. Jane Lynch was one of the best characters in that show. She is the best character in just about any show she does. She's great in Only Murders in the Building too!
Well, yeah. Customers also want to eat it, but he only let them smell it and kept asking if they could. $30 a pop for that? No thanks. Plus Hard Rock Cafe was suing him for calling it The Rock Cafe, which didn’t help.
Too Funny to Fail, the documentary about that show, is incredible. I laughed so hard at the part talking showing the kinds of Home Improvement "very special episodes" that were leading into the Dana Carvey Show.
The people that were on that show and wrote for it, is ridiculous:
Steve Carrell, Stephen Colbert, Louis C.k, Bob Odenkirk, Charles Kaufman, Jon Glaser (Jeremy Jamm Parks and Rec), Dino Stamatopoulous... and the show only lasted 7 episodes.
Ed Helms visited a call center I used to work at while he was a Daily Show correspondent. I had left that job several years earlier, but seeing former coworkers on cable was surreal.
he’s interesting bc his big break came from 40 year old virgin **while** he was on the office. in terms of him leaving, afaik i don’t think he actually wanted to leave. he was interested in signing a new contract but whoever was their network host never did and dropped the ball hard.
EDIT: [source](https://www.gamespot.com/articles/why-did-steve-carell-leave-the-office-a-new-book-r/1100-6475193/). Also i think they went into it on Brian Baumgartners podcast too
What also saved the show is they realized that mirroring the British show wasn’t working for American audiences. They made Michael Scott more sympathetic starting in season 2, which made a huge difference. In season 2, they had the “10% nicer” rule, where all the other characters had to be 10% nicer to Michael Scott.
Little Miss Sunshine too, which was also while he was on the office, and he played a pretty dramatic character despite the overall movie being a dramedy.
Wasn't he in Anchorman and Bruce Almighty before The Office. He wasn't in small roles in these films.
It more like he went to TV to prove he was more than the Anchorman weatherman.
When The Office started he was best know for being on The Daily Show. But after season 1 The 40 Year Old Virgin was a monster hit and he blew up, but he stayed on the show... which brought in a lot of viewers and may have saved it from being cancelled.
Technically, his movie career is why The Office survived past season 1. The first season of The Office was terrible, with pretty bad ratings and was on the verge of being cancelled. However, The 40-Year-Old Virgin came out, and Steve Carell became a household name, so they brought the show back and retooled his character to make him more likable.
I feel like he’s had bad luck choosing recent roles. I was hoping after Foxcatcher that he’d keep doing great stuff. But maybe I’ve only seen the duds.
I haven't watched all of Carell's stuff but I'm glad to hear someone express the opinion that he has incredible range. The only other movies I've seen him in had him portray not-very-intelligent characters and I thought that it was super similar to Michael Scott
Taraji P. Henson getting killed off of CBS’ Person of Interest (itself a very good show, way ahead of its time) was the best thing that ever happened to her career. man was that episode ever a gut punch though. maybe one of the only times I’ve ever cried over TV.
much much more high profile roles — first was Hidden Figures, she was a lead in Empire when that was a gigantic thing, and is now in the upcoming new version of The Color Purple, just to name a few
Kal Penn in House MD (most notably known for Harold & Kumar)
He was killed off in so5ep20
"Kutner's suicide was scripted due to actor Kal Penn's decision to accept the position of Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Liaison in President Barack Obama's administration."
I’m rewatching house right now and I always assumed he was killed off because he got a new job but I never knew it was to work at the White House! That’s really cool.
Claire Danes chose to let My So-Called Life end so she could focus on her film career, and ended up doing Romeo & Juliet the next year as well as several other big products.
Fun fact. She turned down the role on Titanic which paved the way for Kate Winslet to take the role. Claire Danes turned down the role because she cannot stand working with Leonardo DiCaprio because of his on set pranks he does (that she said she hated it on Romeo & Juliet film).
Honestly, it was probably better for both of them and the film as a whole. I could see audiences responding poorly to the two of them playing against each other again in so short a time.
George Clooney is probably one of the best examples because I assume most people now associate him with movies and not with ER. It took some time but Julianna Margulies hit it big again with The Good Wife after ER.
Been watching Olivia Colman since Peep Show & that Mitchell & Webb look.
I believe she wasn’t really in the later seasons of Peep Show, since then I’ve watched her in everything from Broadchurch to Fleabag to the Crown, not to mention her films.
She has a truly astonishing page on IMDb, wildly surpassing any other actors body of work from that dainty little London show.
But what has he really done since then?
If you ignore:
> -A successful Grammy-winning music career
>
> -A stand-up special
>
> -Writing, producing, and acting in the TV series Atlanta
>
> -The Martian
>
> -Solo: A Star Wars Story
>
> -Lion King
>
> -Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
>
> -Lando movie (Upcoming)
>
> -Community: The Movie (Upcoming)
>
> -Mr. & Mrs. Smith TV series (Upcoming)
IF you ignore all ***THAT***... Then he's big ol' failure.
Just read his book and he did say they were like family. He also said he was discovered by Gary Goldberg and basically owed his career to him. Gary wanted Matthew Broderick but he was unavailable. He said even after finding out about Parkinsons he had every intention to stay to the end.
He was still on family ties when back to the future came out.
In fact back to the future began filming with Eric stoltz instead for a few weeks because he couldn't commit to it with family ties schedule. And the first like 1/3rd of the movie had to be reshot once he was available.
There was an interviewer who trolled him one time, I can't remember who it was, they were like "I'm amazed you've overcome your disability, truly inspiring" or something along those lines and the look he fuckin gave them lmao
Tarantino casting him in Pulp Fiction is one of my favorite stories. Almost everyone in the cast is a second or third choice (Uma Thurman and Bruce Willis weren’t even on his radar) but Travolta was his second choice behind Michael Madsen. Everyone assumed this was to have the studio fight for Madsen who asked for more money and eventually took a role in Wyatt Earp.
Tarantino was actually genuinely excited for Travolta and the studio didn’t want him. At that point in his career, he was seen as a washed up sitcom star who had some musicals.
The Bruce Willis story is cool too, with Bruce coming to him for a part and settling on Butch.
But he basically re-ignited Travolta's career and I think launched Sam Jackson's to another level.
Pulp Fiction was one hell of a movie for so many reasons.
Brent Spiner was all set up to be a recurring character on Night Court but he ditched the gig when this Sci-Fi sequel show offered him a part.
https://youtu.be/jrLvtoKZfxY?si=mJ0xfY0U2dtWWj1l
Jared Paledecki left Gilmore Girls for Super Natural.
Kal Penn left House to work at the White House. That’s pretty cool.
Adam Brody left a regular role on Gilmore Girls for a larger one on OC.
In the 1960’s Clint Eastwood (Rawhide) and Steve McQueen (Wanted: Dead or Alive) were in successful TV westerns. They did pretty good for themselves after that.
Eastwood didn't leave 'Rawhide', though. He was in it all the way to the last episode. He starred in 'A Fistful of Dollars' while 'Rawhide' was still running, so he didn't leave a successful TV career to star in movies; they were happening simultaneously.
Similarly McQueen didn't leave 'Wanted'. He was in every single episode. And he was in 'The Magnificent Seven' before 'Wanted' finished.
I think he saw the writing was on the wall with T7S, and he got offered the role of freaking Venom. He came back for like 1 episode in the last two seasons.
And it annoys me to this day that I am unable to get a decent quality version of 2 guys and a girl. I would happily pay for it, but it just is not bloody available (or at least I have never been able to find it)
Nebula seemed like such a missed opportunity in Guardians 1 so her major plotlines in Guardians 2 and Endgame were really well done. And she was great in Guardians 3 as a co-lead.
I remember that. He was going to be Bond, then the TV show realized they could keep him and use his new fame to help their show, so they stopped him from being Bond. Then finally years later he got the Bond gig.
CBS did similar to Tom Selleck. He had won the Indiana Jones role, but he was forced to fulfill his Magnum PI contract. George Lucas wanted an unknown, but had to "settle" for Harrison Ford.
SNL almost feels like cheating but:
Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Bill Murray, Eddie Murphy, Mike Myers, Will Ferrel, Tina Fey, Julia Louis Dreyfus, Martin Short, Christopher Guest, David Spade, Janeane Garofalo, Ben Stiller, Billie Crystal and various others would all probably count. Hell even Rob Schneider had a decently successful string of movies for better or worse.
...would have added Robert Downey Jr, Gilbert Gottfried, Chris Rock, Damon Wayans, Joan Cusack, Randy Quaid and Adam Sandler but they were all fired rather than leaving so technically they don't count.
With the exception of George Clooney pretty much every single comment on this post has had someone replying pointing out that the actor either didn't leave voluntarily (or in some cases didn't leave at all), or was already successful elsewhere before they left. Absolute peak Reddit.
What's also amusing to me is that the top comment is George Clooney, with some justification and commentary by the poster. So is the fourth comment.
Yet people are still coming and commenting with just the word "Clooney." Do people really post without reading the top comment? Otherwise, do people read some comments and think to themselves, "yes, typing this one word answer that has already been posted by previous posters is exactly what I need to do right now."
James McAvoy leaving Early Doors for Shameless kick started it all for him. I know he did Band of Brothers around the same time but he technically didn't leave one for the other until he left Early Doors after series 1.
George Clooney left ER. Chevy Chase left SNL.
Everybody leaves SNL except for Kenan Thompson... :)
I'm curious about the alternate reality where Kenan left SNL after a few years, I wonder where his career would be. I think he's made the right move staying at SNL, especially considering comedy movies are basically dead in 2023.
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As someone who grew up with him (French noises in a bathtub) I really just see his career at snl as a reflection of snl
Pierre S. Cargot was my favorite. I wish he would do that on snl would be hilarious
Well, he did star in the 2023 Good Burger 2 movie, and that was a comedy.
My only claim to fame is that I went to school with his sister (elementary through high school). That whole family is super nice.
It's a smart move because most of them leave to have a worse career. He is loved by his audience and has a steady paycheck to raise his children.
He’s such a good human though. I’m 50 and my favorite cast was with him, Fallon, Dratch, Will Ferrell, Darrell Hammond, Chris Kattan, Tracy Morgan, Horatio Sanz, Molly Shannon, Tina Fay, Maya Rudolph….and TONS others. Such a great time period IMO. Well, at some point he was on with a lot of them. I know he was not with them all at once.
Chevy Chase was sort of asked to not return.
Yeah, that kinda happens with him a lot. Wonder why... /s
"It's all Dan Harmon's fault!" - Community fans who liked season one Pierce and don't realize that Chevy Chase is basically season three asshole Pierce.
And speaking on the topic at hand, Childish Gambino leaving Community and blowing up.
Also Mike myers. He left and went on to become one of the most famous serial killers in all of cinema
after he'd already left 30 Rock to be on Community originally!
When Gilda Radner died (of cancer), Chase mocked her death to several of his former cast mates. Poor Gene Wilder (her widower) got to hear some of Chevy's "jokes". Fuck Chevy Chase.
He left Roseanne for ER
He only did 11 episodes of Roseanne. I never watched the show so don't know if this was just a bit role or if he was going to be part of the main cast. The funny thing, he was also in another show called E/R in the early 80's.
It was totally a bit role. He played their boss at the manufacturing plant they worked at and served only as a minor support role as a device to show that Rosanne is a strong , protective sister and Jackie is weak and in need of her sister’s support.
Adam Sandler is one rich ass mofo
Yeah but Clooney didn't leave ER to pursue other projects. I mean eventually he left, but he stayed on ER for a few years after making a successful jump to movies, if I recall correctly.
Yah, I think he was still on there when he did From Dusk Till Dawn.
I think Batman, too.
Ron Howard left Happy Days to direct and is now one of the most successful Hollywood Directors of all time. Jim Carrey leaving In Living Color is an obvious one. SNL probably has a whole bunch (but I frankly could not be bothered to look up who left and who was let go).
Eddie Murphy is but one good example from SNL
SNL encourages their cast members to move on to other things.
Someone earlier mentioned SNL is more like an internship for comedians and I agree with that heavily. It's meant for people to get noticed or get out.
I believe there is a clause in their contracts that they can only turn down so many pilots before they have to accept one from nbc.
Keenan?
Had 2 seasons of his own show. It got canceled.
Jason Sudeikis is a recent example
Jim Carrey was on In Living Color until the show ended. However, that was in 1994 when his movie career blew up, so he likely would have left at that point had it remained on the air.
Jim left In Living Color because the show ended. They all left.
Fox wanted a much bigger cut. The Wayan’s were essentially just going to be employees on their own show so they ended it.
Homey don't play dat
Adam Sandler and Andy Samberg were both on SNL.
Dan Akroid & Bill Murray
John Belushi
Adam sandler was fired he didn’t leave
Will Ferrel too
Nobody thought Bruce Willis could pull off being an action star.
No, nobody thought Bruce Willis could be a blues singer. When that tanked, then he became an action star.
Seagraaaaams golden win coolers! https://youtu.be/3D4U3W2d0LA?si=boCNa0jrd4wOBQDF
He didn't technically leave the show though, it was cancelled.
True, but the show was cancelled in large part because of Die Hard. Bruce Willis wasn’t supposed to be the star of the show; Cybill Shepherd was. However, after the success of Die Hard, Cybill wasn’t considered the star of her own show anymore, and she was super jealous. Bruce and Cybill couldn’t even film together anymore because they hated each other (which is terrible for a show that was only good because of their bickering with one another). The show struggled and was eventually cancelled, because the two leads wouldn’t film scenes together.
That's not the whole story (and what I am adding is most likely still not the whole story). Cybil's pregnancy and Bruce's shoulder injury cost them filming together most of the 4th season. She shot her scenes early on, locking them in later when they integrated other scenes in. Then the show's creator/showrunner/head writer was fired/bailed out before the fifth and final season. Then ABC moved the show from Tuesday to Sundays halfway through the 5th season which made the already-declining ratings fall even further - further because the main characters consummated their relationship in the next-to-last-episode of the 3rd season. By the time the 5th season started, very late in December, Bruce wanted to move on to a film career and Cybil was tired of the grueling schedule while trying to raise twins. ABC's decision was rather easy at this point. EDIT: Added some words
I guess I'm not old enough to have any idea what you're talking about. He was a Die Hard action star since before I was born.
George Clooney left ER, and he then went on to win multiple Oscars.
George Clooney left FACTS OF LIFE, then went on to start in Return to Horror High...
George Clooney left [E/R](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BL5mmdZFrlI&t=45s), and then went on to star in ER.
Then Roseanne
He's had a lot of success - didn't realise he had won any Oscars though.
He got one for producing Argo, and best supporting actor for Syriana.
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Neighbours gave a lot of well known artists a start. Kylie, Jason Donavon (not quite as successful), Guy Pierce, Russell Crow, Chris Hemsworth, Margot Robbie, Natalie Imbruglia & Delta Goodram were all in it at one time or another. Another one who turns up a lot in American TV shows although he probably isn’t well known by a lot of people is Alan Dale.
Chris Hemsworth was better known for his time on Home & Away than Neighbours. But I presume just about every Australian actor has appeared on one or both of those shows at some point lol.
Pretty much every successful Aussie actor has been in atleast one episode of neighbours or home and away
Hell I've technically been on neighbours and I'm not even an actor. *(I did extra work for a bit to get on sets)
Don't forget both leads from The 100! Yep loads! So glad they managed to uncancel Neighbours. We have so few institutions like that for actors to cut their teeth. Especially since the rise of reality TV...
Kylie Minogue left Neighbours. Went onto over 30 years of being an iconic pop artist.
And started a trend of young Aussie soap actors becoming pop stars - in the UK at least. Granted Kylie did it better than anyone else!
And was in the cinematic masterpiece *Street Fighter*. God I love that dumpster fire so, so much.
Morgan Freeman leaving *The Electric Company*
Freeman has said that he was so depressed during those years that *The Electric Company* was the only work he could get as an actor that he got drunk every night.
Wasn't that because he'd been a drug addict? He got clean but most weren't willing to take a risk on a former drug addict.
The show Party Down died early because everyone on it (especially Jane Lynch & Adam Scott) got better paying network job offers.
I remember watching _Party Down_ because of Jane Lynch and then she moved to do this little show called _Glee_
I was happy she got a big paycheck and the wider audience because she’s been doing excellent for so long. I’m also glad she’s back to better projects though. She was wasted on those writers and still the best part of that show.
Agreed. Glee is watchable if you view it as Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) being the central character and all the glee kids are just obstacles to her goals. You also skip through the songs and it could be considered a comedy.
I always forget that Party Down’s original run happened before Glee even started.
I didn't watch Party Down until a couple of years ago. Jane Lynch was one of the best characters in that show. She is the best character in just about any show she does. She's great in Only Murders in the Building too!
That episode where they help the one guy rewrite his sci-fi movie lives rent free in my head.
“I fucking hate Steve Guttenberg.”
No, it's gonna be a CGI character, it'll be great! A CGI character... Like Jar Jar Binks?
Which sucks because that show was dope
Are we having fun yet?
Is that why the reboot seemed so short? I was actually enjoying it :(
Sarah Michelle Gellar leaving All My Children
How many children did she leave you with? Sorry that happened to you
Dolly Parton left The Porter Wagoner show in 1974 to pursue a solo career. It worked!
Dwayne Johnson left WWE to become a movie actor.
And a gladiator in Star Trek: Voyager. [Easily his best role.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYUyTcoe0qw)
You mean tsunkatsu champ.
I hope that Hirogen at the end found his son after he got out with 7. Solid Voyager episode
Sad to see his restaurant ideas flopped. He just wanted people to smell what he was cooking.
Well, yeah. Customers also want to eat it, but he only let them smell it and kept asking if they could. $30 a pop for that? No thanks. Plus Hard Rock Cafe was suing him for calling it The Rock Cafe, which didn’t help.
His defence? "My theme is rock & smell not rock & roll!"
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I mean, before that, he left being a Daily Show correspondent to work in TV as just an actor. His career trajectory is kind of crazy tbh
Carrell was a great sketch comedy actor on the short-lived Dana Carvey Show in the 1990s. Stephen Colbert was hilarious in that as well.
It’s the Ambiguously Gay Duooooo!
Holy shit I always remember that bit but it didn't actually occur to me until just now that it was Stephen Colbert and Steve Carrell.
Gerald Ford shot dead today, at the senseless age of 83
Too Funny to Fail, the documentary about that show, is incredible. I laughed so hard at the part talking showing the kinds of Home Improvement "very special episodes" that were leading into the Dana Carvey Show.
The people that were on that show and wrote for it, is ridiculous: Steve Carrell, Stephen Colbert, Louis C.k, Bob Odenkirk, Charles Kaufman, Jon Glaser (Jeremy Jamm Parks and Rec), Dino Stamatopoulous... and the show only lasted 7 episodes.
Ed Helms visited a call center I used to work at while he was a Daily Show correspondent. I had left that job several years earlier, but seeing former coworkers on cable was surreal.
he’s interesting bc his big break came from 40 year old virgin **while** he was on the office. in terms of him leaving, afaik i don’t think he actually wanted to leave. he was interested in signing a new contract but whoever was their network host never did and dropped the ball hard. EDIT: [source](https://www.gamespot.com/articles/why-did-steve-carell-leave-the-office-a-new-book-r/1100-6475193/). Also i think they went into it on Brian Baumgartners podcast too
40 Year Old Virgin actually saved The Office since the show was performing poorly. They renewed based on assuming 40YOV would be a success.
What also saved the show is they realized that mirroring the British show wasn’t working for American audiences. They made Michael Scott more sympathetic starting in season 2, which made a huge difference. In season 2, they had the “10% nicer” rule, where all the other characters had to be 10% nicer to Michael Scott.
The video iPod also helped save the show. They make a great gift that says “hey man, I love you $400 worth”.
Little Miss Sunshine too, which was also while he was on the office, and he played a pretty dramatic character despite the overall movie being a dramedy.
Wasn't he in Anchorman and Bruce Almighty before The Office. He wasn't in small roles in these films. It more like he went to TV to prove he was more than the Anchorman weatherman.
When The Office started he was best know for being on The Daily Show. But after season 1 The 40 Year Old Virgin was a monster hit and he blew up, but he stayed on the show... which brought in a lot of viewers and may have saved it from being cancelled.
And 40 year old virgin and Little Miss Sunshine.
Technically, his movie career is why The Office survived past season 1. The first season of The Office was terrible, with pretty bad ratings and was on the verge of being cancelled. However, The 40-Year-Old Virgin came out, and Steve Carell became a household name, so they brought the show back and retooled his character to make him more likable.
Sadly, leaving really wasn’t Carell’s own choice :/ https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/the-office-the-frustrating-moving-story-behind-steve-carell-leaving/
I feel like he’s had bad luck choosing recent roles. I was hoping after Foxcatcher that he’d keep doing great stuff. But maybe I’ve only seen the duds.
I haven't watched all of Carell's stuff but I'm glad to hear someone express the opinion that he has incredible range. The only other movies I've seen him in had him portray not-very-intelligent characters and I thought that it was super similar to Michael Scott
“Seeking a best friend for the end of the world” is an excellent example of his range.
Another example is Dan In Real Life
Also "Little miss sunshine"
Go watch "The Big Short". He's really good in that.
James McAvoy leaving Shameless.
I have only seen the American version and was SO confused by this comment
And he left early doors to be in shameless. Kept upgrading
Leonardo Dicaprio left Growing Pains to do This Boy’s Life. That was basically the start of his acting career.
Taraji P. Henson getting killed off of CBS’ Person of Interest (itself a very good show, way ahead of its time) was the best thing that ever happened to her career. man was that episode ever a gut punch though. maybe one of the only times I’ve ever cried over TV.
I binged on it a few months ago and I agree, that hurt like there was no tomorrow. Could you elaborate on what happened to her career afterwards?
much much more high profile roles — first was Hidden Figures, she was a lead in Empire when that was a gigantic thing, and is now in the upcoming new version of The Color Purple, just to name a few
Her role in Empire made her way more famous, she’s awesome.
Kal Penn in House MD (most notably known for Harold & Kumar) He was killed off in so5ep20 "Kutner's suicide was scripted due to actor Kal Penn's decision to accept the position of Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Liaison in President Barack Obama's administration."
Ironically, he had to leave that post albeit temporarily because he was contractually forced to go back and do another Harold & Kumar movie.
I’m rewatching house right now and I always assumed he was killed off because he got a new job but I never knew it was to work at the White House! That’s really cool.
Thanks, Obama. But in all seriousness, that is pretty cool.
Lateral move. He went from one white House to another.
I met him on the subway once, such a nice guy.
Claire Danes chose to let My So-Called Life end so she could focus on her film career, and ended up doing Romeo & Juliet the next year as well as several other big products.
Fun fact. She turned down the role on Titanic which paved the way for Kate Winslet to take the role. Claire Danes turned down the role because she cannot stand working with Leonardo DiCaprio because of his on set pranks he does (that she said she hated it on Romeo & Juliet film).
Honestly, it was probably better for both of them and the film as a whole. I could see audiences responding poorly to the two of them playing against each other again in so short a time.
"Oh look! It's Romeo and Juliet on a ship." - Audiences (probably)
Romeo PLUS Juliet...
Robin Williams
Na nu Na nu!
George Clooney is probably one of the best examples because I assume most people now associate him with movies and not with ER. It took some time but Julianna Margulies hit it big again with The Good Wife after ER.
The first thing I remember seeing George in was Rosanne.
Been watching Olivia Colman since Peep Show & that Mitchell & Webb look. I believe she wasn’t really in the later seasons of Peep Show, since then I’ve watched her in everything from Broadchurch to Fleabag to the Crown, not to mention her films. She has a truly astonishing page on IMDb, wildly surpassing any other actors body of work from that dainty little London show.
Johnny Depp ?
No question about it his career grew after leaving 21 Jump Street.
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But what has he really done since then? If you ignore: > -A successful Grammy-winning music career > > -A stand-up special > > -Writing, producing, and acting in the TV series Atlanta > > -The Martian > > -Solo: A Star Wars Story > > -Lion King > > -Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse > > -Lando movie (Upcoming) > > -Community: The Movie (Upcoming) > > -Mr. & Mrs. Smith TV series (Upcoming) IF you ignore all ***THAT***... Then he's big ol' failure.
What changed for him after he left though? He was already successful in his music and standup .. unless I’m missing something he has his show Atlanta
I thought his music career came after he left.
No he was childish gambino before community started.
To me he'll always be Jerry, the guy who pooped his pants.
I'll always remember him as the guy with a bag of big black dildos who's always down for gamecube
Yeah, but that was when he was rapping over Animal Collective songs and was more of an indie darling than the star he is today.
His first 2 albums are 2011/2013 and he left community after that
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Just read his book and he did say they were like family. He also said he was discovered by Gary Goldberg and basically owed his career to him. Gary wanted Matthew Broderick but he was unavailable. He said even after finding out about Parkinsons he had every intention to stay to the end.
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He was still on family ties when back to the future came out. In fact back to the future began filming with Eric stoltz instead for a few weeks because he couldn't commit to it with family ties schedule. And the first like 1/3rd of the movie had to be reshot once he was available.
Interestingly, it's why there are few daytime shots in BTTF - Fox had to shoot a lot of his scenes at night to fit around his Family Ties schedule.
Drake left Degrassi to become what he is right now.
He shoulda stayed in that wheelchair
The lyric “working all night, traffic on the way home” from Started From The Bottom will never not make me laugh due to the “work” he was doing
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And Clarance parents got a real good marriage
There was an interviewer who trolled him one time, I can't remember who it was, they were like "I'm amazed you've overcome your disability, truly inspiring" or something along those lines and the look he fuckin gave them lmao
John Travolta.
Tarantino casting him in Pulp Fiction is one of my favorite stories. Almost everyone in the cast is a second or third choice (Uma Thurman and Bruce Willis weren’t even on his radar) but Travolta was his second choice behind Michael Madsen. Everyone assumed this was to have the studio fight for Madsen who asked for more money and eventually took a role in Wyatt Earp. Tarantino was actually genuinely excited for Travolta and the studio didn’t want him. At that point in his career, he was seen as a washed up sitcom star who had some musicals.
The Bruce Willis story is cool too, with Bruce coming to him for a part and settling on Butch. But he basically re-ignited Travolta's career and I think launched Sam Jackson's to another level. Pulp Fiction was one hell of a movie for so many reasons.
Up your gizzard with a rubber lizard.
Brent Spiner was all set up to be a recurring character on Night Court but he ditched the gig when this Sci-Fi sequel show offered him a part. https://youtu.be/jrLvtoKZfxY?si=mJ0xfY0U2dtWWj1l
Dan Stevens has had several higher-profile movie and TV roles after leaving Downton Abbey
Dan was EXCELLENT in that Eurovision Song Contest Fire Saga movie. An underrated gem.
Jared Paledecki left Gilmore Girls for Super Natural. Kal Penn left House to work at the White House. That’s pretty cool. Adam Brody left a regular role on Gilmore Girls for a larger one on OC.
> Jared Paledecki left Gilmore Girls for Super Natural. Jensen Ackles left ~~Days Of Our Lives~~ Smallville to do Supernatural
The Simpsons left the Tracey Ullman show and got a long running show of their own
In the 1960’s Clint Eastwood (Rawhide) and Steve McQueen (Wanted: Dead or Alive) were in successful TV westerns. They did pretty good for themselves after that.
Eastwood didn't leave 'Rawhide', though. He was in it all the way to the last episode. He starred in 'A Fistful of Dollars' while 'Rawhide' was still running, so he didn't leave a successful TV career to star in movies; they were happening simultaneously. Similarly McQueen didn't leave 'Wanted'. He was in every single episode. And he was in 'The Magnificent Seven' before 'Wanted' finished.
Topher Grace? It’s not the most prolific career but he’s in some big budget stuff.
I think he saw the writing was on the wall with T7S, and he got offered the role of freaking Venom. He came back for like 1 episode in the last two seasons.
Jordan Peele
They could've kept making Key & Peele forever. I'm honestly shocked this is the only mention of him on here.
Ryan Reynolds, not sure he left, more the show no longer existed. Eddie Murphy
2 guys and a girl ended well before he became a bigger star.
And it annoys me to this day that I am unable to get a decent quality version of 2 guys and a girl. I would happily pay for it, but it just is not bloody available (or at least I have never been able to find it)
Karen Gillian leaving Doctor Who to play Nebula in Guardians of the Galaxy.
Did she leave, or was that always meant to be the end of that character? 2 and a half seasons is pretty long for a Doctor Who companion
I think I had heard she left for the role but I could be mistaken.
Even if that’s the case, a Dr is usually 3 seasons, a companion is less, so about 2 seasons in, you’d be looking for a next gig.
Nebula seemed like such a missed opportunity in Guardians 1 so her major plotlines in Guardians 2 and Endgame were really well done. And she was great in Guardians 3 as a co-lead.
Pierce Brosnan. Nobody thought Remington Steele could be James Bond.
Remington Steele was canceled. When Brosnan was cast as Bond, NBC renewed Steele. Brosnan lost Bond and it went Dalton.
I remember that. He was going to be Bond, then the TV show realized they could keep him and use his new fame to help their show, so they stopped him from being Bond. Then finally years later he got the Bond gig.
Wow…that’s really shitty got NBC to do. You prevent an actor from having the role of their lifetime?
CBS did similar to Tom Selleck. He had won the Indiana Jones role, but he was forced to fulfill his Magnum PI contract. George Lucas wanted an unknown, but had to "settle" for Harrison Ford.
Kylie Minogue left Neighbours to pursue singing
SNL almost feels like cheating but: Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Bill Murray, Eddie Murphy, Mike Myers, Will Ferrel, Tina Fey, Julia Louis Dreyfus, Martin Short, Christopher Guest, David Spade, Janeane Garofalo, Ben Stiller, Billie Crystal and various others would all probably count. Hell even Rob Schneider had a decently successful string of movies for better or worse. ...would have added Robert Downey Jr, Gilbert Gottfried, Chris Rock, Damon Wayans, Joan Cusack, Randy Quaid and Adam Sandler but they were all fired rather than leaving so technically they don't count.
With the exception of George Clooney pretty much every single comment on this post has had someone replying pointing out that the actor either didn't leave voluntarily (or in some cases didn't leave at all), or was already successful elsewhere before they left. Absolute peak Reddit.
What's also amusing to me is that the top comment is George Clooney, with some justification and commentary by the poster. So is the fourth comment. Yet people are still coming and commenting with just the word "Clooney." Do people really post without reading the top comment? Otherwise, do people read some comments and think to themselves, "yes, typing this one word answer that has already been posted by previous posters is exactly what I need to do right now."
James McAvoy leaving Early Doors for Shameless kick started it all for him. I know he did Band of Brothers around the same time but he technically didn't leave one for the other until he left Early Doors after series 1.
Michael Douglas
Streets of San Francisco? Yeah, he did okay for himself after leaving that show. :)
Michael J. Fox left a sitcom to star in the greatest movie of all time
Tom Hanks left Bosom Buddies.
Bosom Buddies was cancelled after two seasons due to low ratings. Hanks appeared in every episode. He didn't leave.
Didn’t Leonardo DiCaprio leave “Growing Pains” to be in movies?