Actors Who Inexplicably Disappeared

[DarkKnight88]

Yeah Biehn played a great support, but he was never the lead lead. Even other classics like The Abyss and Tombstone, you don’t think of him right away when you think of those. He’s always solid though. He just didn’t have the sense of humour that a Bill Paxton had in supporting roles where he could have broken out in the 90s as a leading man.

 

[Schlosser85]

I really like Biehn in both Terminator and Aliens, but as others have pointed out he had a lot of competition for '80s action hero, and I don't necessarily think he was that good of an actor to where he could play more of a variety of roles outside the sort of "sensitive soldier" Reese/Hicks type.

 

[bapi]

I should watch it. I have Amazon Prime.

I do slightly side-eye him making his "break" from movies sound intentional though. I mean maybe he wanted to focus on his young kids, but I just side-eye when actors make stuff like that sound like it was entirely of their own free will. Sometimes it is, but.......idk.

Agree. Mainly when he returned in a completely no-name movie. Something deffo happened there.

 

[Schlosser85]

Agree. Mainly when he returned in a completely no-name movie. Something deffo happened there.

He was super busy from like 2010-2015. Then his last couple movies The Walk and Snowden were flops.

 

[Deck Rickard]

Saw this the other day. Had some issues with the movie overall but JGL was excellent in it.

 

[Pink Ranger]

Yeah Biehn played a great support, but he was never the lead lead. Even other classics like The Abyss and Tombstone, you don’t think of him right away when you think of those. He’s always solid though. He just didn’t have the sense of humour that a Bill Paxton had in supporting roles where he could have broken out in the 90s as a leading man.

If Biehn was in his prime today, he'd be the man. He was basically the Jeremy Renner of his time. Unfortunately, the 1980s were all about over-the-top stars like Stallone and Arnold, broad comedians or pure dramatic actors.

 

[DarkKnight88]

If Biehn was in his prime today, he'd be the man. He was basically the Jeremy Renner of his time. Unfortunately, the 1980s were all about over-the-top stars like Stallone and Arnold, broad comedians or pure dramatic actors.

There were a few. Harrison Ford could do dramatic work and action in the 80s. I think Kevin Costner had his moment too.

 

[Pink Ranger]

There were a few. Harrison Ford could do dramatic work and action in the 80s. I think Kevin Costner had his moment too.

Good examples to bring up. I would argue that Kevin only became the Kevin we know now as the era of "1980s movies" was coming to an end, when he did Dances With Wolves, which to this day I still think was one of the most seminal defining films of the 1990s. As per Ford, what strikes me about him is one of his most cerebral, nuanced roles in the 1980s was Bladerunner, which as brilliant as it was, was also a box office flop at the time. So what I was getting at is the kind of actor that Biehn is/was, kind of a slow-burning, subtle, soft-spoken but deadly type, didn't seem to fit with the decade he was in.

 

[Asr]

Has Hayden Christiansen been mentioned? I know a lot of fans piled on him for his role in the Star Wars prequels, and he did a few films afterwards, but I haven't seen anything from him in years.

I don't think he's a terrible actor either, he's just been let down by incompetent directors and/or writers too often.

 

[GREEN =w= DAY]

I always thought it was weird because I think Michael Biehn was great in both Terminator and Aliens and outside those it just didn't seem to work.

While not exactly the same, it reminds me a bit of Bruce Campbell who I think is just wonderful in the Evil Dead trilogy (and the cameos in the Spider-Man films) but outside that his filmography is just mostly terrible B-movies. You could argue he was never a GREAT actor but when I see his performances in Evil Dead 2 or Army of Darkness I just feel like if he had been in better movies he could have been one of those classic 80s/90s action stars with the quippy oneliners.

I never really saw Bruce Campbell as an action star. He’s definitely best suited for comedy.

 

[MadVillainy]

Has Hayden Christiansen been mentioned? I know a lot of fans piled on him for his role in the Star Wars prequels, and he did a few films afterwards, but I haven't seen anything from him in years.

I don't think he's a terrible actor either, he's just been let down by incompetent directors and/or writers too often.

He retired as far as I know

 

[Schlosser85]

Christensen is a terrible actor in anything I've seen him in (which I'm not solely basing on Star Wars), so him disappearing is not surprising.

 

[RockSP]

I believe him, but I'm also a stan so I'm just being transparent.

I think with his break, he also has HitRecord which he's so active with, and he was writing and creating a TV show for Apple, so his "break" doesn't really sound like one. Seems he was always doing things, just not things we see.

I'm no stan, but I believe him as well. It's not like he was ever some huge box office star. The big movies he was, he had supporting roles. And though he had two movies in which he was the lead not perform well, they weren't big budget movies. I don't honestly think anyone thought Snowden was going to be some box office juggernaut lol.

 

[Batmannerism]

Yeah Biehn played a great support, but he was never the lead lead. Even other classics like The Abyss and Tombstone, you don’t think of him right away when you think of those. He’s always solid though. He just didn’t have the sense of humour that a Bill Paxton had in supporting roles where he could have broken out in the 90s as a leading man.

I really like Biehn in both Terminator and Aliens, but as others have pointed out he had a lot of competition for '80s action hero, and I don't necessarily think he was that good of an actor to where he could play more of a variety of roles outside the sort of "sensitive soldier" Reese/Hicks type.

If Biehn was in his prime today, he'd be the man. He was basically the Jeremy Renner of his time. Unfortunately, the 1980s were all about over-the-top stars like Stallone and Arnold, broad comedians or pure dramatic actors.

Wow, so glad that others are onto the Michael Biehn issue! I've always referred to him as one of the 80s great " nearly men" as in he nearly made it to A list acting roles....but somehow didn't.

What went wrong ? Some bad film choices maybe ? Did he piss off people in the industry ? I'm really surprised we didn't see him in Avatar , with other James Cameron alumni.

Anyway, I've always kind of felt sorry for him.

Christensen is a terrible actor in anything I've seen him in (which I'm not solely basing on Star Wars), so him disappearing is not surprising.

Sorry, but I have to agree. He was a big part of the failure of 2 SW prequel films- and was pretty mediocre in Jumper.

As for other actors who have all but vanished, has anyone brought up CARY ELWES yet ?

He was talented and a handsome dude, but seemed to vanish without a trace ( after Twister).

 

[Schlosser85]

Cary Elwes hasn’t aged the greatest either.

 

[DarkKnight88]

As for other actors who have all but vanished, has anyone brought up CARY ELWES yet ?

He was talented and a handsome dude, but seemed to vanish without a trace ( after Twister).

Yeah, Elwes has always been solid. He’s also had quite an eclectic career. He can play the hero, (Princess Bridge, Robin Hood: Men in Tights), the smarmy “villain“ (Jungle Book, Twister, Days of Thunder, Hot Shots), comedy (Liar Liar) drama (Glory), horror (Dracula, Saw, Kiss the Girls).

I think he was probably just more of a character actor stuck in a leading man’s body. Loved seeing him play smarmy in the latest Stranger Things.

 

[DarkKnight88]

Cary Elwes hasn’t aged the greatest either.

For 57, he’s aged actually quite well.

 

[Schlosser85]

My boss met him at a convention in Cleveland (I think) a few months ago and got him to autograph her unopened Wesley action figure in its original box and his memoirs about the making of The Princess Bride (her favorite movie) that I got her for Christmas.

 

[Batmannerism]

For 57, he’s aged actually quite well.

He's looking better than I am at 50 !

Also, I haven't found time to watch Stranger Things, yet, so I'm really glad to hear he's appearing in such an important Netflix show.

 

[Deck Rickard]

Definitely give it a watch; it’s fantastic.

 

[Black Narcissus]

Christensen is a terrible actor in anything I've seen him in (which I'm not solely basing on Star Wars), so him disappearing is not surprising.

I remember reading that he had some kind of acting course, but don't know if this was some joke online.

 

[Batmannerism]

Yeah Biehn played a great support, but he was never the lead lead. Even other classics like The Abyss and Tombstone, you don’t think of him right away when you think of those. He’s always solid though. He just didn’t have the sense of humour that a Bill Paxton had in supporting roles where he could have broken out in the 90s as a leading man.

Forgot about Tombstone, a great performance by Biehn as the unhinged Ringo...which is a natural lead in to another guy who was once an A lister and now has all but vanished, Val Kilmer.

 

[chamber-music]

Michael Biehn pretty much owes his career to James Cameron who cast him in his most high profile roles (besides Tombstone and The Rock).
Last thing I saw Micheal Beihn in was Curfew

 

[chamber-music]

Christensen is a terrible actor in anything I've seen him in (which I'm not solely basing on Star Wars), so him disappearing is not surprising.

Hayden Christensen was surprisingly solid in Shattered Glass. The movie was well received by critics and his performance got some praise.

It is laughable that George Lucas compared Christensen to James Dean when he cast him in Star wars though.

 

[zeptron]

He hasn't exactly disappeared, but back in the early to mid 00s, Orlando Jones would appear in a lot of movies. People were saying that he'd probably be the next Eddie Murphy. Nowadays he does mostly TV roles and hardly any movies. In fact, the last movie he was in came out four years ago.

Forgot about Tombstone, a great performance by Biehn as the unhinged Ringo...which is a natural lead in to another guy who was once an A lister and now has all but vanished, Val Kilmer.

He's been battling throat cancer for some years now.