20 Movie Stars of the ‘90s Who Disappeared From Hollywood

Vietnam-born actor Ke Huy Quan starred in both Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (his debut) and The Goonies in the 1980s. But despite having two of the previous decade’s biggest hits on his resumé, in the 1990s he found that the parts dried up and the opportunities just weren’t falling for him as they were for other actors.

After a string of minor film roles and TV bit-parts, he stepped away from acting in 2002 to focus instead behind the camera, working as an AD and stunt coordinator. That was until the 2020s, when, approaching 50, he decided to give acting one more try and ended up auditioning for an off-the-wall sci-fi fantasy drama called Everything Everywhere All at Once. The film was a critical and box office smash, and not only thrust Quan back into the spotlight after a two-decade hiatus, but earned him his first Oscar. 

Clearly, not every ‘90s movie star who steps away from the limelight ends up disappearing altogether, and in the notoriously fickle world of acting, there’s no telling what might lie in a performer’s future—including those on this list! 

KATE CAPSHAW 

Kate Capshaw starred alongside Ke Huy Quan and Harrison Ford in 1984’s Temple of Doom (directed by her future husband, Steven Spielberg), followed by a string of movies and TV roles in the 1990s including crime thriller Just Cause and How to Make an American Quilt.

She retired from acting in the early 2000s, however, and has since forged a successful career as a painter, exhibiting her work at the likes of the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, and the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago.

PHOEBE CATES

Having broken out in ‘80s hits like Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Gremlins, actress Phoebe Cates stepped away from acting after a series of lacklustre movies in the early ‘90s, including Drop Dead Fred and Bodies, Rest & Motion.

Her last movie, Princess Cariboo in 1994, was made with her husband Kevin Kline, after which she stepped away from movies to focus on raising her and Kline’s two children. In 2005, she opened a boutique gift store on Madison Avenue in New York, called Blue Tree, and has worked successfully in business ever since. 

DAVID CARUSO 

Having appeared in the likes of ‘80s box office smashes First Blood and Twins, David Caruso became a household name in the 1990s thanks to his role as Detective John Kelly in the ABC police drama NYPD Blue. He famously stepped away from the series just a few episodes into its second series allegedly over a pay dispute, but struggled to monopolize on the show’s success until returning to television in 2002 with a lead role in CSI: Miami.

When the show ended 10 years later in 2012, Caruso quietly retired from acting altogether and now works successfully in the art world.

JOAN CUSACK 

Saturday Night Live alumnus Joan Cusack earned an Oscar nomination for her role in Working Girl in 1988, which led to a string of successes in the 1990s, including a now legendary supporting role the cult classic Addams Family Values and a second Oscar-nominated performance in critically acclaimed comedy In & Out opposite Kevin Kline.

After appearing in 2003’s School of Rock, however, Cusack stepped away from acting to raise her children, and quietly opened a gift shop in Chicago named Judy Maxwell Home. Asked to reprise her performance as the feisty cowgirl Jessie in 2026’s Toy Story 5, however, Cusack recently made her first red carpet appearance in over a decade and has since stepped out on occasion to promote the animated movie.

CAMERON DIAZ

Still one of the most recognizable and successful movie stars of recent decades, The Mask and There’s Something About Mary star Cameron Diaz quietly retired from acting in the early 2010s to focus on her family. After a 10-year hiatus, she recently made a tentative return to Hollywood with the appropriately titled spy thriller Back in Action in 2025.  

SHELLEY DUVALL

Perhaps best known for her staggering appearance in Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 horror The Shining (a performance that, despite its veneration today, originally earned her a Razzie Award nomination), Shelley Duvall’s career in fact spanned six decades.

But having struggled to find good roles or critical success in the ‘90s, Duvall abandoned acting at the end of the decade when her brother was diagnosed with cancer. She quickly took to a quieter life back home in Texas, and became a regular sight around the small town where she lived until making a singular return to acting in 2023’s indie horror flick The Forest Hills.

Duvall died in 2024 at the age of 75—two years after the Razzie Awards made the rare honor of rescinding her Shining nomination more than four decades earlier. 

LEE EVANS

British standup comic Lee Evans broke into Hollywood in the late 1990s with roles in the likes of The Fifth Element, There’s Something About Mary, and Mouse Hunt. With his Hollywood career just beginning to take off, however, Evans stepped away from film roles and returned to standup comedy in the UK, becoming one of the first British comics to sell out an arena tour.

At the height of his standup career, however, Evans retired from comedy too, and has quietly worked in both theatre and music ever since. 

LINDA FIORENTINO 

Having made her debut in 1985’s Vision Quest, Linda Fiorentino became one of the most talked-about actresses of the late 1990s with starring roles in 1997’s Men in Black and 1999’s Dogma. Rumors of on-set difficulties and an infamous clash with Dogma director Kevin Smith (which he later walked back and largely took responsibility, more than 20 years later) derailed Fiorentino’s career in the early 2000s, and she made her most recent on-screen appearance in 2009. 

BRIDGET FONDA

Bridget Fonda is all but Hollywood royalty: daughter of Peter Fonda and niece of Jane Fonda, she’s also been married to legendary movie composer and musician Danny Elfman since 2003.

With ‘90s roles in the likes of The Godfather Part III, Single White Female, and Jackie Brown, however, Fonda’s own Hollywood resumé is just as impressive as those of her family tree’s. But at the height of her career Fonda stepped back from acting to focus on her and Elfman’s family (and to recover from a car accident that left her with a fractured vertebra), and has not been seen on screen since 2002. 

DENNIS FRANZ

Despite having acted on screen since the 1960s, it wasn’t until the ‘90s that Dennis Franz became a household name when he was cast as New York Detective Andy Sipowicz in NYPD Blue. The role earned him a Golden Globe and four Emmy Awards, but when the series came to an end in 2005, Franz all but immediately retired from acting, and now leads a quiet life in rural Idaho.  

HEATHER GRAHAM 

A supporting role in 1998’s Boogie Nights, a decade into her acting career, made Heather Graham one of the biggest actresses of the millennium, and roles in Bowfinger, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, and acclaimed Jack the Ripper horror From Hell soon followed. At the height of her career, however, Graham had a series of encounters with now disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, and in the aftermath found lead roles hard to come by for some time.

She has continued to work ever since, however, mixing film with television—including regular roles in Scrubs and Californication in the 2000s and 2010s, and more recently in 2026’s Prime Video adaptation of Carrie. Up next, she will appear in The White Lotus season 4.

OMRI KATZ

The star of ‘90s supernatural series Eerie, Indiana and cult Halloween classic Hocus Pocus, Omri Katz largely stepped away from acting shortly afterward and reportedly retired in 2022. With a film like Hocus Pocus on his resumé, however, Katz remains a fan favorite at conventions and regularly reunites with his former castmates. 

CHARLIE KORSMO

Known for his childhood roles in Dick Tracy and Hook in the early 1990s, Charlie Korsmo has since stepped away from acting altogether. Having studied at MIT and Yale, he worked as a lawyer for the Environmental Protection Agency, and is currently a law professor at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio. 

EVA MENDES

Having made her acting debut in the late 1990s, actress and model Eva Mendes went on to star in the likes of Training Day, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Hitch, and Ghost Rider in the 2000s, before stepping away from acting altogether.

“I got tired fighting for the good roles,” she said in an interview with Variety in 2022. “There just was a point where I thought, ‘I’m going to create my own opportunities and become a producer on things and create my own material.’”

RICK MORANIS

Rick Moranis followed up ‘80s blockbusters like the Ghostbusters movies, Little Shop of Horrors, and Spaceballs with ‘90s hits including the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids trilogy and 1994’s Flintstones movie. After his wife Ann Belsky died of breast cancer in 1991, however, Moranis gradually wound down his acting career to take care of the couple’s two children as a single dad, making only occasional returns to film and television ever since.

Now in his 70s, Moranis is set to reprise his Spaceballs role as Lord Dark Helmet in its long-awaited sequel, The New One, in 2027. 

CHRIS OWEN

His role as Chuck “Sherminator” Sherman in the classic teen comedy American Pie kickstarted Chris Owen’s career in 1999, and besides the original movie’s sequels, Owen also went on to star in the likes of October Sky, Black Sheep, and The Mist in the 2000s.

In the 2010s, however, roles became harder to come by and Owen was reported to be working a sushi restaurant by the New York Daily News in 2014. “Life doesn’t always go the way you planned,” he was quoted as saying at the time. “I love acting, and this job lets me stay in the fight.” The article, ironically, led to a flurry of film and TV roles in the 2020s.  

KARYN PARSONS

Best known for her ‘90s role as Hilary Banks in TV’s The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Karyn Parsons has continued to act ever since but largely stepped away from the spotlight in the 2000s to focus on her family. In 2005, she established the Sweet Blackberry Foundation, which works to educate children about African American history and achievement through short films, and has also since made a successful career as an author of books for young adults. 

JOE PESCI

Having made his film debut way back in 1961, roles in the likes of Goodfellas (which earned him an Oscar), JFK, My Cousin Vinnie, and the Home Alone movies made Joe Pesci one of the 1990s’ biggest movie stars.

At the height of his career, however, Pesci stepped back from acting; seemingly never one to enjoy the spotlight (he famously gave one of the shortest Oscar acceptance speeches in history), he also expressed a lack of enthusiasm for the roles he was being offered and opted instead to focus on music.

He effectively remained in semi-retirement for over 20 years, before a late-career return in Martin Scorsese’s epic The Irishman in 2019. Despite reportedly turning down Scorsese’s request to star in the movie some 50 times, Pesci’s performance went on to earn him an Oscar nomination at the age of 76. He has continued to make occasional screen appearances ever since. 

MEG RYAN

Star of ‘90s hits Sleepless in Seattle, You’ve Got Mail, and City of Angels, at one point in her career Meg Ryan was commanding a reported $15 million per role—but largely stepped away from lead roles in the mid 2000s, to work instead on smaller projects, and behind the camera.

She made her directorial debut with Ithaca in 2015 (which also marked her first on-screen film role in six years), followed by 2023’s What Happens Later (which was likewise her first on-screen role in eight years). 

MARA WILSON 

Known for roles in the likes of Matilda, Miracle on 34th Street, and Mrs. Doubtfire, Mara Wilson was one of the 1990s’ most in-demand child actresses. In 2000, however, Wilson took a hiatus from acting to focus instead on her work as a writer, and as an advocate for a number of charitable organizations.

Although she has made occasional forays back into acting, she continues to work as a writer and, more recently, as voice artist and audiobook narrator.