Top 10 Celebs Who Disappeared in the 2010s

Between 2001 and 2011, the “Harry Potter” franchise broke box office records and rocketed its three young leads to superstardom. Compared to co-stars Emma Watson and Daniel Radcliffe, though, Rupert Grint has kept things low-key since the series wrapped, becoming a relative stranger to the big screen. Since his Ron Weasley days, Grint has landed some starring roles on TV and his Apple TV+ series, “Servant,” is going into its third season, but none of his projects have come close to the impact of the mega-hit series that made him a star. When asked if he plans on returning to films, though, Grint seemed comfortable where he was.

For a hot minute in the 2000s, Megan Fox was everywhere. The "Transformers" star was such a hot topic in the industry that, in 2009, several men’s magazines announced an official ban on all stories featuring the actress for 24 whole hours. Fox didn’t appear in the third “Transformers” movie, allegedly over comments about director Michael Bay’s demanding work style. Fox's star then began to dim. Rumors of unprofessionalism and roles in underperforming movies like “Jennifer’s Body” and “Jonah Hex” didn’t help. But Fox didn’t disappear completely. She spent two seasons in a featured role on “New Girl” and has been steadily appearing in movies again since 2019.

Some stars fade and some go willingly. Oscar-winner Renée Zellweger was one of the biggest actors of the 2000s, but the “Chicago” and “Bridget Jones’s Diary” star left the industry in 2010. Citing exhaustion, the actress took a six-year hiatus from Hollywood. Aside from a highly publicized appearance at the “Elle” magazine Women in Hollywood Awards in 2014, Zellweger managed to keep a low profile until her return to acting in the 2016 sequel, “Bridget Jones’s Baby.” The time away didn’t do too much to dull her talent, as she later went on to win a second Oscar for her role as Judy Garland in the 2019 biopic “Judy.”

Known for her stunning beauty and versatile filmography, Jessica Alba spent the 2000s headlining box office hit after box office hit. If she wasn’t eluding government agents in “Dark Angel” or fighting crime in “The Fantastic Four,” she was dancing and… tripping her way into romance in movies like “Honey” and “Good Luck Chuck.” Alba didn’t totally give up acting in the 2010s, but she did reinvent herself as a businesswoman when she co-founded the eco-friendly brand, The Honest Company, in 2011. While she still makes appearances in movies here and there, her time seems to be devoted mainly to her business ventures.

Hilary Swank had Hollywood at her feet in the mid-2000s, but a string of box office and critical failures… and a really misguided appearance at the birthday party of a Chechen leader who has been accused of multiple human rights offenses… all had a hand in dulling her fame. However, personal tragedy may be the real reason for her few acting credits in the 2010s. Swank voluntarily put her career on hold in 2014 to care for her ailing father after his lung transplant. Though the recovery took longer than expected, Swank announced in a 2020 interview with Health Magazine that her father is doing well, and she has begun taking on new projects.

You can’t handle our number 5 pick. It’s Jack Nicholson, star of “A Few Good Men,” “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” and “The Shining,” among many, many, many more. When the veteran actor appeared in 2010’s “How Do You Know,” few could guess it would be his last role before his unofficial retirement from show business. With over 50 years in the business and more than 70 acting credits to his name, it's hard to believe we haven’t had a new Jack Nicholson performance to rave about in over a decade.

Like her “Chicago” co-star, Catherine Zeta-Jones made only occasional appearances in films and television throughout the last decade. In fact, she took a hiatus from acting not once, but twice. The Oscar-winning Welsh actress took time off in 2010 to address a health scare when her husband, actor Michael Douglas, was diagnosed with tongue cancer. She also came forward about her own mental health issues, including her struggles with bipolar disorder. Zeta-Jones returned to films for a short period between 2012 and 2013, but these projects did not perform well financially. She made sporadic appearances through the rest of the decade, working mainly in television.

At the start of the last decade, Taylor Lautner was on his way to becoming the highest-paid teenage actor in Hollywood. The former child star gained worldwide fame for his role as werewolf Jacob Black in the “Twilight” series, but his career didn’t blow up the way his co-stars’ have. While the hunky actor had a physique that the camera loved, Lautner’s acting skills came under fire with subsequent performances in high-octane action thrillers like “Abduction" and “Tracers.” Outside of a featured role on the BBC series “Cuckoo,” Lautner hasn’t acted in a high-profile project since 2016.

Cameron Diaz had never acted a day in her life when she was hired for “The Mask.” This didn’t stop her from starring in several of the biggest moneymakers of the next decade-and-a-half, and earning praise and major awards attention to boot. Despite her success, the “Annie” star announced she was taking a temporary break from acting in 2014. She confirmed her retirement was permanent almost three years later. But Diaz hasn’t slowed down. She’s gone full Gwyneth Paltrow, investing her hard-earned money and time in becoming a health and wellness guru with her own brand of organic wine. Given the wide variety of genres and roles she appeared in, no one can say she didn’t do it all before hanging up her acting hat.

Unlike everyone else on this list, Amanda Bynes’ time in the limelight didn’t end with her acting career. The first sign of trouble for this former child star came when she dropped out of multiple film projects over a two-year period before officially announcing her retirement from acting in 2010. What followed was a highly publicized series of arrests and increasingly bizarre social media antics that worried fans. She later attributed her erratic behavior to mental health and substance abuse issues. With the help of her parents, Bynes became sober in 2014 and, according to a 2018 interview with “Paper” magazine, has plans to return to acting after finishing her degree.