Top 10 Celebs Who Have Left Hollywood Due To Being Burnt Out
#10: Emma Watson
Top 10 Shocking Things You Didn't Know About Emma Stone
In 2016, Emma Watson decided to take a brief break from the movie-scene in order to focus on herself and her work on feminist projects. After working on eight “Harry Potter” movies, she seemed as busy as ever with other big titles like “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” and “Noah”. When the actress inevitably started to feel snowed under, she zeroed in on the work that was currently the most important to her. It was all very Hermione-ish of her - which we couldn’t love more. She has since returned to Hollywood to partake in the live action “Beauty and the Beast” and the widely acclaimed “Little Women.” She’s now taking her acting career one project at a time and continuing to focus on the things that make her happiest.
#9: Queen Latifah
Top 10 Iconic Queen Elizabeth Fashion Moments
While speaking to Parade in 2019, Queen Latifah shared her experience of burnout and offered up some advice for readers who may be in a similar place. Latifah, who made her fame as an actress, singer and rapper, may be multi-talented, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t also have to take a break every once in a while. “I’ve had to literally go away and recover from burnout”, Latifah said, and went on to explain the physical toll burnout takes on a person. For the “Hairspray” actress, the best way to deal with the problem was checking in with herself and ultimately taking a step back.
#8: Sandra Bullock
Top 10 Moments That Made Us Love Sandra Oh
After recently making three movies in the span of two years, the Oscar-winning actress has decided it’s time to take a break. In 2022, she explained that work had become a crutch for her, but that it’s since left her exhausted. With a career spanning over 50 movies, we can’t say we blame her. She also admitted that she’s “not capable of making healthy, smart decisions” due to burnout. The hiatus will allow her to step away from the rigorous schedules and time pressures of film-making, as well as focus on her children, who she adopted in 2010 and 2015.
#7: Hilary Duff
Hilary Duff burst onto our screens as the titular character in “Lizzie McGuire” and became so beloved that there was no shortage of opportunities for her. She branched out into movies, launched a music career, a clothing line and a perfume all within a few years. In 2009, after wrapping three films, a sold-out tour and an album, she put it all on pause when burnout began to really set in. She explained it as the sort of exhaustion that “one night of sleep doesn't fix”. Looking back on her career, Duff says that the decision to take breaks is what’s helped her maintain success.
#6: Taylor Lautner
Top 10 Best Taylor Swift Red Carpet Outfits
In 2016, “Twilight” star Taylor Lautner took a step back from the limelight. Plenty of child actors leave the industry once they reach adulthood, but Lautner was working non-stop into his twenties. When he was cast as Jacob Black in the popular teen franchise, the job became a whole different animal – yes, pun intended. No one could have predicted the scale of the “Twilight” phenomenon, which catapulted Lautner, and the rest of the cast, to superstardom. It seems pretty natural that once he left Jacob behind, the actor was ready for rest. Lautner returned in 2022 with Netflix’s “Home Team”.
#5: Winona Ryder
Winona Ryder’s acting career was at its peak in the late ‘80s and throughout the ‘90s. From cult classics like “Beetlejuice” and “Heathers” to Oscar nominated roles in big budget period pieces, she couldn’t put a foot wrong. But, the pressures of fame, a mounting work-schedule, reliance on wrongly-prescribed prescription drugs and a very public shoplifting charge all took their toll. Ryder has since revealed that she was clinically depressed. She had previously withdrawn from projects due to nervous exhaustion and, in 2001, she embarked on an official hiatus from acting. Four years later, she would return, much to our delight. Nowadays, Gen Z will probably know her best as Joyce from “Stranger Things.”
#4: Lindsay Lohan
The Troubled Life of Lindsay Lohan
Stardom seems challenging enough as an adult, but we can’t imagine what it’s like to navigate as a child. From “The Parent Trap” to “Mean Girls”, Lohan definitely knows a thing or two about child stardom. While she demonstrated her skills and on-screen charisma for years, the mid-2000s would unfortunately see her more likely to be making headlines for DUIs and other legal issues. It’s been a long road for the actress, but taking a break from Hollywood seems to have helped. She’s had some positive reviews for her TV and stage work lately, and things seem to be looking up.
#3: Corey Feldman
Corey Feldman began his acting career at the age of three. Over 100 commercials, 50 TV series and various movie roles later, this is an actor with an insane resume. Unfortunately, it wasn’t all glitz and glamor. His memoirs reveal that he was on diet pills as a child and emancipated himself from his abusive parents at the age of fifteen. He suffered abuse from industry professionals and struggled with substance use disorder. After a ten-month rehabilitation program, he returned to acting. Because of his experiences, as well as those of friends in the industry, Feldman now advocates for child victims of abuse in Hollywood and is passionate about raising awareness around the issue.
#2: Amanda Bynes
The Nickelodeon child-star-turned-Hollywood-leading-lady was just twenty-four when she announced her retirement on Twitter. She said that acting was something she no longer loved doing, and decided to stop for that reason. A combination of substance use disorder and low-self esteem was behind her decision, but stepping back from the limelight didn’t seem to make things better, unfortunately. Following this, she would make headlines for the wrong reasons. However, Bynes eventually with the support of her parents, sought professional treatment and enrolled in fashion school. As of 2022, she seems to be in a much better place.
#1: Macaulay Culkin
Macaulay Culkin may have become the poster boy for burnt out child stars, but really, who can blame him? He began his career at a very young age and the release of “Home Alone” saw him skyrocket to fame in the 1990s. By fourteen, he’d had enough. In pursuit of a “normal life” the actor left Hollywood and enrolled in high school instead. The years following his retirement were clouded by family tragedy and a substance-possession arrest, but nowadays, he seems to be doing alright. He relocated to Paris in 2013 and has been slowly returning to the limelight. In a 2018 interview, he said he lives “a very rich, full, silly, life. And [he] wouldn't have it any other way."
