10 Formerly Great Actors That Have Completely Lost Their Way

There's little else more tragic than watching a great actor's career go to the dogs. It's no surprise when lesser performers fall by the wayside, the movies moving on as they fail to prove they belong (*cough* Orlando Bloom *cough*). But it doesn't just happen to the substandard and the shoddy - it happens to the best of them as well. In cinemas right now is a little film called Dirty Grandpa, a dirty old man bawdy sex comedy starring Zac Efron and none other than double Oscar-winning legend Robert De Niro. The film's been trashed so far, called by some critics a low point for the actor. What those critics are failing to realize, however, is that Bobby De Niro seemingly gave up years ago. He's not the only one, either. Here, then, are ten other great actors that, far from living up to their potential or repeating the glory of days past, are currently drifting in a sea of cinematic mediocrity. 10) Mickey Rourke Then: There are two peak stages of Mickey Rourke: his 80s heartthrob period, which included hits like Diner, Angel Heart, Rumble Fish and Barfly, and his brief 00s revival as a battered washout, which yielded comic book classic Sin City and Rourke's undisputed masterpiece, The Wrestler. Now: After fighting his way back to the top following a public self-implosion in the 90s (boxing, plastic surgery, rumors he was awful to everyone), Rourke has seemingly burned his bridges again. If you thought The Wrestler was going to be Rourke's ticket back to the big time, you were wrong: the Oscar nominee is now starring in direct-to-video dreck like Dead in Tombstone, Blunt Force Trauma and Skin Traffik, movies which will have you wondering what on Earth Rourke did to piss off Hollywood this time. 9) Nick Nolte Then: He was once crowned People Magazine's Sexiest Man Alive (seriously, that actually happened), but Nick Nolte wasn't always just a mere piece of eye candy. In the 80s and 90s, he was a real star, collaborating with Scorsese and co-inventing the buddy cop movie with Eddie Murphy in the 48 Hrs films. He also has three Oscar nominations to his name. Now: Some projects Nolte has been involved with lately include Arthur, Gangster Squad, Return to Sender and The Ridiculous Six. There's some OK stuff thrown in there as well - Noah, Warrior, to name two that aren't utter garbage - but even more worrying than the diminished quality of work is how much Nolte has deteriorated into a kind of grizzled Gary Busey, a vibe nobody should be going for. Once a great screen presence, Nolte now looks like that crazy distant uncle you choose to avoid at family gatherings. 8) Adrien Brody Then: A lanky live-wire making an impression in films by auteurs like Steven Soderbergh, Terrence Malick, Spike Lee, Ken Loach and Roman Polanski. Malick may have screwed him by editing his lead role in The Thin Red Line down into a cameo, but Polanski directed Brody to a Best Actor Oscar win in The Pianist. Now: Now churning out movies - few of them good - like a cash-strapped content factory, Brody must be one of the most unfortunate Best Actor Oscar winners alive. After a brief period of stardom (The Village, King Kong), Brody's stock plummeted, to the point where now the only name director willing to take a punt on him is Wes Anderson. Otherwise for Brody it's flop stoner comedies like High School, dud indies like American Heist, or movies you've never heard of like InAPPropriate Comedy with Lindsay Lohan, which has a high score of 1 on Metacritic. 7) Johnny Depp Then: Loveable weirdo star of cult films such as Edward Scissorhands, What's Eating Gilbert Grape, Ed Wood, Dead Man and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and a mainstream hit in Donnie Brasco and Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. Now: Irritating weirdo star of such tosh as Alice in Wonderland, The Tourist, Dark Shadows, Transcendence, Mortdecai and two Kevin Smith movies that even Smith fans prefer to pretend don't exist. Having for the past decade-plus dragged out both the Pirates franchise and his working relationship with the faltering Tim Burton, Depp at least had some success last year with Black Mass. But looking at what he has coming up next, it seems that what some called his 'comeback' was just a blip. 6) Jeremy Irons Then: Mesmerizing British import, star of Dead Ringers, The Mission, Die Hard With a Vengeance and - vocally at least - The Lion King. He also won a Best Actor Oscar for Reversal of Fortune in 1991. Now: Long before he got confused about the legalities of gay marriage ("Could a father not marry his son? It's not incest between men"), Jeremy Irons' career was already heading on a downward turn - Eragon, The Pink Panther 2, Beautiful Creatures, films you've never heard of like Night Train to Lisbon, the list goes on. Thankfully, he's got Batman V Superman coming up, so there could be a comeback in sight for the once great thesp. 5) Nicolas Cage Then: Love him or hate him, Nic Cage has always been unhinged, but at the beginning of his career he at least brought that intensity to a more consistently interesting quality of film: Rumble Fish, Racing With the Moon, Raising Arizona, Wild at Heart, Red Rock West, and of course, Leaving Las Vegas, for which he binge-drank his way to an Oscar. Now: The thing about being way in the hole in debt is people can be forced to work not particularly pleasant or rewarding jobs just for the money. In the case of Nicolas Cage (money owed to the IRS in 2009: $13 million), his sticky situation has meant agreeing to everything - EVERYTHING - that comes across his agent's desk. The Wicker Man, Bangkok Dangerous, Knowing, Drive Angry, Trespass, Stolen, Rage, Outcast, Left Behind, Pay The Ghost - all are critically maligned films. And if you've heard of half of them, then you're more in the know than most. 4) Mel Gibson Then: The 80s and 90s were very good to Mel Gibson. In those two decades he made three Mad Max films, four Lethal Weapons, a couple of acclaimed efforts with Peter Weir, a Shakespeare adaptation with Franco Zeffirelli, Braveheart, plus a bunch of popular tough guy films like Ransom and Payback. Now: Gibson's downfall has been in large part not through choice: a series of racially-charged altercations - with the police, with his wife, with his colleagues - is what led him to become a Hollywood pariah. Since 2003, he's managed to make just five films, none of which have been particularly well-received. He does, however, have a fresh directorial effort, the war drama Hacksaw Ridge, due for release this year. No doubt he's hoping it's good enough to help everyone forget that time he called a cop "sugar tits." 3) Harrison Ford Then: A star of some of the greatest American classics: American Graffiti, The Conversation, Apocalypse Now, the Star Wars movies, the Indiana Jones movies, Blade Runner, Witness and The Fugitive, amongst other solid efforts. Now: OK, so Harrison Ford is currently appearing on screens in a hugely successful, critically acclaimed film, but The Force Awakens is very much a blip for the actor, and a film he probably didn't have much choice in making in the first place (no one was going to make a new Star Wars movie without Han Solo). Otherwise, just look at the state of Ford's recent filmography: The Expendables 3, Ender's Game, Paranoia, Extraordinary Measures, Firewall. These are films you make when you're just in it for the money, as Ford has openly admitted he now is. 2) Al Pacino Then: Once the greatest actor in the world (apart from Robert De Niro), Al Pacino arrived in the 70s and, for a little while, seemed untouchable. The Godfather was followed by Serpico, which was followed by The Godfather Part II, then Dog Day Afternoon, and then Scarface. He also had a pretty great 90s, too, with Glengarry Glen Ross, Carlito's Way, Heat, Donnie Brasco and The Insider all on the roster. Now: Pacino started to lose his way around the same time as Bobby D did. After S1m0ne in 2002, there was Gigli, 88 Minutes, Righteous Kill, Jack and Jill and Stand Up Guys. Still, at least Pacino doesn't seem to be sleepwalking through his recent terrible movies, unlike De Niro. Pacino instead looks like he's having enormous fun gobbling up scenery like he no longer even gives a shit. 1) Robert De Niro Then: Also once considered the greatest actor in the world (apart from Al Pacino), an icon of 70s cinema, and star of some of the greatest movies of all time, De Niro was an acting god at one point. Mean Streets, The Godfather Part II, Taxi Driver, The Deer Hunter, Raging Bull, The King of Comedy, Once Upon a Time in America, Brazil, The Untouchables, Midnight Run, Goodfellas, Heat, Casino, Jackie Brown - all made in one remarkable 25 year period. Now: Some are saying Dirty Grandpa is De Niro at his worst. Those people obviously haven't been paying attention. For a good 16 years, beginning with Rocky & Bullwinkle in 2000, Robert De Niro has seemingly made it his mission to banish society's collective fond memories of him. The films have included Godsend, Shark Tale, two Fockers movies, Hide and Seek, Righteous Kill, New Year's Eve, Last Vegas, Grudge Match - the list goes on, but, mercifully, we won't.