The Comeback Kids: Movies That Resurrected Actors’ Careers

Overcoming Tragedy

When his older brother River died in a heavily publicized overdose, child star Joaquin Phoenix, then known as Leaf, withdrew from the public eye. He returned to acting at 15, but didn’t achieve real celeb status until 2015, when he starred in Gladiator. He then acted in a number of acclaimed films and was praised for his portrayal of Johnny Cash in Walk the Line. Things then unraveled. He checked into rehab in 2005, wrecked his car while intoxicated in 2006, and publicly made a spectacle of himself numerous times. He gained notoriety once again in 2012 after starring in two critically acclaimed roles, in The Master and Her.