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Pink Villa
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Pink Villa
Celebrities Who Quit Hollywood and Acting: From Ian Somerhalder to Brendan Fraser
Hollywood attracts several talents because of fame and money. But while many never leave the industry due to its glitz and glamour, a few actors willingly walk away. And when these stars announce their last projects, fans often wonder why they are quitting the industry at the peak of their careers. Some cite personal reasons for the decision, while others leave to pursue different passions. And some just need a quieter life away from the media attention. Several well-known actors have stepped away from the spotlight over the years. Some made a clear announcement about retiring from acting, while others simply stopped taking new roles. The reasons may be different, but their stories give a glimpse of the challenges of Tinseltown. Cameron Diaz left Hollywood to focus on herself. Meanwhile, Daniel Day-Lewis said that he no longer found acting meaningful. Here's a list of actors who walked away from Hollywood and the reasons for the same. Ian Somerhalder Career Highlights: The actor played the role of Damon Salvatore in the hit series The Vampire Diaries from 2009 to 2017. He was also seen as Boone Carlyle in Lost in the early 2000s. His last project was Netflix's V-Wars. Reason for Leaving Hollywood: Shortly after The Vampire Diaries, Somerhalder left Hollywood to raise his children on a farm. His wife and Twilight alum Nikki Reed also took a break from acting and dedicated her time to environmentalism. Life After Hollywood: The actor is currently busy with regenerative farming and environmental advocacy. In an interview with People, he revealed that he is quite happy off-camera and his acting career is in the "rearview mirror." Impact on Fans and Hollywood: His fans have expressed disappointment at his absence from Hollywood, but many also praise the actor for his environmental activism. Brendan Fraser Career Highlights: Fraser emerged as a star playing Rick O'Connell in The Mummy trilogy between 1999 to 2008. He also played pivotal roles in Gods and Monsters (1998), The Quiet American (2002), Crash (2004), Bedazzled (2000), and Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008). Reason for Leaving Hollywood: The actor left acting in the early 2000s due to multiple surgeries and the death of his mother. In 2018, he also opened up about getting sexually assaulted by former president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, Philip Berk, in 2003. Life After Hollywood: He spent most of his time off-screen recovering from surgeries and focusing on his health. After 13 years of absence, the actor decided to make his comeback in Hollywood with The Whale in 2022. He underwent a major body transformation to play a 600-lb man in the film, and he also won an Oscar for his performance. Impact on Fans and Hollywood: Fraser's decision to quit Hollywood at the peak of his career came as a shock to his fans. Cate Blanchett Career Highlights: Blanchett's best roles include the enigmatic elf Galadriel in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Katharine Hepburn in The Aviator, and Jasmine French in Blue Jasmine. She is also known for her performances in Elizabeth and Blue Jasmine, where she won an Academy Award for Best Actress. Reason for Leaving Hollywood: In April, the actress announced her decision to quit Hollywood. She told the Radio Times that she was "serious about giving up acting." She also revealed that aspects of fame make her uncomfortable, specifically seeing headlines following interviews or being photographed. Life After Hollywood: The actress wants to spend more time with her family and focus on other creative pursuits. She may also make a return to the theatre, according to reports. Impact on Fans and Hollywood: While fans may miss seeing her on screen, many have expressed support for her decision to pursue other interests. Gene Hackman Career Highlights: He made his acting debut in the drama Lilith in 1964. He has won two Academy Awards. He won Best Actor for his role as Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle in The French Connection (1971) and also won Best Supporting Actor for playing a sheriff in Clint Eastwood's Western Unforgiven (1992). His acting credits also include The Poseidon Adventure (1972), Scarecrow (1973), The Conversation (1974), Night Moves (1975), A Bridge Too Far (1977), Under Fire (1983), Hoosiers (1986), The Firm (1993), Wyatt Earp (1994), Crimson Tide (1995), The Quick and the Dead (1995), Get Shorty (1995), The Birdcage (1996), Absolute Power (1997), Enemy of the State (1998), The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), and Runaway Jury (2003). Reason for Leaving Hollywood: Hackman bid adieu to Hollywood in 2004 because he had no new scripts in front of him. His last film was 2004's Welcome to Mooseport. Life After Hollywood: After retiring, he lived a quiet life with his wife Betsy Arakawa in a Santa Fe, New Mexico, home. He suffered from Alzheimer's disease. He died at his home around February 18 due to severe heart disease, complicated by advanced Alzheimer's disease and kidney disease. He was 95. On February 26, the bodies of Hackman, Arakawa, and one of their dogs, named Zinna, were found at their home. Impact on Fans and Hollywood: Hackman's decision to step away from Hollywood both shocked and intrigued fans and critics. Bridget Fonda Career Highlights: Fonda is known for her performances in films such as The Godfather Part III (1990), Single White Female (1992), Singles (1992), Point of No Return (1993), It Could Happen to You (1994), Balto (1995), City Hall (1996), Jackie Brown (1997), A Simple Plan (1998), Lake Placid (1999), and Kiss of the Dragon (2001). Reason for Leaving Hollywood: Fonda retired from the film industry in 2002. When asked for the reason, she revealed that she wants to start a family with husband Danny Elfman and focus on her personal life. More than two decades later, she confirmed that she had no plans to return to the big screen. Life After Hollywood: Fonda welcomed a son with film composer and former Oingo Boingo frontman Danny Elfman in 2005. She has largely remained out of the public eye, living a quiet life with her family. Impact on Fans and Hollywood: Fans were upset to know that the actress is quitting Hollywood, but they also wished her well for her family life. Daniel Day-Lewis Career Highlights: He won three Academy Awards for Best Actor for his roles as Christy Brown in My Left Foot (1989), an oil tycoon in There Will Be Blood (2007), and Abraham Lincoln in Lincoln (2012). He also scored Oscar nominations for In the Name of the Father (1993), Gangs of New York (2002), and Phantom Thread (2017). His other notable projects include The Last of the Mohicans (1992), The Age of Innocence (1993), The Crucible (1996), and The Boxer (1997). Reason for Leaving Hollywood: The actor retired from acting twice. His first retirement was from 1997 to 2000. He later retired from acting again in 2017. Life After Hollywood: Lewis worked as an apprentice shoemaker in Italy. He is also an Ambassador for The Lir Academy, a new drama school at Trinity College Dublin, founded in 2011. Impact on Fans and Hollywood: Fans and critics were not happy with his decision to quit acting because he was one of the best actors at the time. He is planning to return to the screen with his son Ronan Day-Lewis' Anemone. Phoebe Cates Career Highlights: Cates played pivotal roles in several films such as Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), Gremlins (1984), Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990), Drop Dead Fred (1991), and Princess Caraboo (1994). Reason for Leaving Hollywood: In 1994, after starring in Princess Caraboo, Cates stepped away from acting to focus on raising her children, Owen and Greta, who have since become a successful filmmaker and musician, respectively. Life After Hollywood: She has been happily married to Kevin Kline for the last 30 years. In 2005, she founded the Blue Tree boutique, located on the Upper East Side of New York City. In 2015, she voiced her Gremlins character Kate Beringer for the video game Lego Dimensions. Impact on Fans and Hollywood: Her decision to quit Hollywood left fans and the industry shocked. Many expressed disappointment to see her go. For stars, the decision to quit Hollywood must have been very difficult, but stepping away to pursue their passions or focus on their mental health shows their strength. While some actors have made their comebacks after retirement, others have decided not to return to the screen ever. Whatever the case may be, you can always watch their old films and appreciate their talent.
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Why the Golden Globe Foundation remains committed to supporting journalists
May 3 marks World Press Freedom Day, a day perhaps of greater significance this year when journalists around the globe are under more fire than ever. With jobs, sources of funding, and editorial independence all being cut and under threat, every bit of support matters, including that of the Golden Globe Foundation, which includes support of journalism and free speech among its charitable priorities. The foundation, which was established in 2023 following the sale of the Golden Globes and the dissolution of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, has funded over $60 million over the last 30 years, including 83 grants last year to organizations including Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, International Women's Media Foundation, Los Angeles Press Club, Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, ProPublica, Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. Journalism students have also received grants and scholarships, like those at Cal State Los Angeles (pictured above). More from GoldDerby For the first time in 9 years, the Critics Choice Awards will take place before the Golden Globes 2026 Golden Globes ceremony date revealed 'A Minecraft Movie' surprised everyone with record-breaking box office. Could awards be next? "The Golden Globe Foundation champions freedom of the press and expression, recognizing them as essential pillars to our democracy," says Henry Arnaud, president of the Golden Globe Foundation. "We're committed to supporting the vital role journalists play in safeguarding our communities, disseminating important information, uncovering truths and holding power to account, often at great personal risk.' The scope of the grants, which are funded partly by the licensing fees from the awards show, is wide, from film restoration to film schools to institutions that help and support the press. 'We try to see where the impact is going to go the furthest,' says Miriam Spritzer, a member of the board which disperses the grants. But for her, the cause is personal. 'We're all international journalists; we're all foreign correspondents to outlets outside of the U.S.' she says. 'And I think as journalists, one of the common beliefs [among us] is that freedom of press and the First Amendment are very important. It was a sentiment that a lot of [members] had that we should be helping our colleagues and our industry in a way that was to support freedom of press and to support journalists so that they are able to do what they're supposed to do.' Italian journalist Silvio Bizio, who has been on the committee dispensing grants since the HFPA era, has seen first-hand the impact the donations can make. 'I have personally known so many students and aspiring journalists whose lives have really been helped tremendously or changed by the amount of scholarships and support that we've given them,' she says. Bizio recounts meeting a student from India who was granted a scholarship to the University of Southern California. 'She was just overjoyed at the idea of being there,' she recalls. 'She said never in a million years in her wildest dreams as she thought that she could have ended up in Los Angeles.' Another GGF grantee is the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, a 25-year-old independent non-profit organization which works with investigative reporters from around the world on breaking global stories. Gerard Ryle, who heads the ICIJ, credits the annual $100,000 grant from the GGF for literally allowing them to keep the lights on — the organization has a building in D.C. that serves as a home base for working reporters. 'We don't just bring journalists the story,' he says, 'we build the technology and tools that allow them to work.' He points to the Panama Papers and the Pandora Papers as examples of projects they led where millions of pages of documents could be parsed by journalists around the world. A more recent example was a story about dissidents around the world being targeted by China, which was shared with The Guardian, The Washington Post, and Le Monde. 'The essential role that I think investigative reporting plays is really telling the world something's wrong so that the world can help make it right. So our role is really to expose abuses, foster transparency, and contribute to trust building but most importantly of course it's holding power to account.' But funding, like that provided by the GGF, is increasingly rare, says Ryle — especially support that comes with no demands of editorial control. 'We're very careful not to take any funding where someone's telling us what to do,' he says. 'We're suffering because we used to get funding from the U.S. government through the State Department, and we've just lost that.' The need for rigorous journalistic training is more important than ever, says Bizio, pointing to the recent Los Angeles wildfires, where local reporters delivered critical safety news to Los Angelenos. 'I was glued to the TV, watching them brave fires right in front of them, and I was thinking, thank goodness that they exist,' she recalls. 'If it wasn't for them, we wouldn't know what's going on. it's so important the role of journalists in today's world. So I hope they can continue to exist and have the access and the means to make it to survive as journalists.' But the risk has never been more profound than now, in the current political climate. 'There has been a natural reaction that a lot of people are concerned about freedom of press and the security of journalists,' says Spritzer. 'The job of the journalist is to go and ask the hard questions and kind of be of almost like a watchdog to power. I think that that's becoming harder and harder throughout the world to actually have a say, to have an impact, to be able to even have the access to ask the hard questions.' International journalists report fearing the fallout not just from the administration's anti-press stance but also the anti-immigration stance as well. 'There is a difference between being a citizen and someone with a visa,' says Spritzer. 'My lawyer explained to me that as a foreigner with a work visa, you have a privilege, not a right. It's different from when you when you're an American citizen. And I remember that that was a big insight for me.' International journalists are sharing advice on social media sites about whether or not to leave the country, what to store on their phones, or whether to even be on social media at all. 'Journalists are not getting back into the country,' says one reporter, who asked not to be named. 'A couple of people I know, when they went through immigration, were being asked to hand over their phones. And if there was anything negative about [President Donald] Trump, they were detained.' She's now thinking twice, she says, about covering the upcoming Cannes Film Festival, over fears about being let back into the U.S. But beyond just the privilege of festival travel, some international journalists interviewed by Gold Derby said they'd think twice about writing about a film critical of the president, like last year's The Apprentice. 'I think it would definitely impact my decision on whether to write about it and how I'd write about it,' said one journalist. 'It just wouldn't be worth me writing the story.' For Ryle, the main concern is media literacy, which has never been more critical. 'We have to teach the upcoming generation the difference between real and not real,' he says. 'You've got to fund the journalism, but you've got to fund the people that are educating the future generation.' What advice do you give to journalists that are coming into the field now? Says Spritzer: 'Brace yourself.' Note: Golden Globes producer Dick Clark Productions is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a joint venture between Eldridge and Penske Media Corporation, which owns Gold Derby. Best of GoldDerby Streamy Awards 2023: Everything to know about 13th annual event Click here to read the full article.
Yahoo
17-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The 10 worst Oscar Best Picture winners of all time, from Braveheart to Green Book
To win a Best Picture Oscar, a film has to have something about it. Only 94 films in history have been given this award. They're not voted on by the eccentric members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, who pick the Golden Globes, or by specialist groups of critics, but by the roughly 10,000 members of the Academy. That is to say, the choice is made by distinguished figures from within the industry. Sometimes, though, they do still make some baffling choices. By the time the Oscars roll around at the end of the awards process, a herd mentality tends to have set in. When everybody has already voted at all the other awards shows for, say, The King's Speech or The Shape of Water, the Academy members follow suit. It's rare for a Best Picture winner ever to be a complete surprise. Nonetheless, a few questionable films have stolen glory that rightfully belonged elsewhere. Read below to see the 10 worst winners of Hollywood's most prestigious award. Prestige counts at the Oscars. That is why a stodgy literary biopic like The Life of Emile Zola somehow won the main award at the 1937 Oscars. It's a solid and worthy piece of work, with a grandstanding performance from Paul Muni (under a lot of whiskers) as the campaigning French novelist. The idea, though, that it is one of the 'few truly great pictures of all time', as its own publicity suggested, is clearly idiotic. Green Book told the true story of an unlikely friendship between a black classical pianist (Mahershala Ali) and his bigoted Italian-American driver (Viggo Mortensen). In an interview with The Independent in 2020, Mortensen argued: 'It's become a cliché to say, 'Is this movie going to be the Green Book of this year?' Green Book has become a pejorative.' He described the criticisms levelled at the film as 'hurtful', 'destructive' as well as 'mendacious and irresponsible'. Nonetheless, Green Book remains a ignominious winner: trite, saccharine, and problematic. This was a perfectly amiable big-budget travelogue but you can't help but suspect its Best Picture Oscar was more to do with the marketing and hustling skills of its producer, Mike Todd, than with any brilliance in the filmmaking. It was directed by the Englishman Michael Anderson, previously best known for The Dam Busters, and featured David Niven as the intrepid traveller, Phileas Fogg, who bets he can travel all the way round the world in a little over two months. Paul Haggis's Crash is a decent and well-meaning study of the consequences of racism and violence in contemporary LA. It was independently made and had a large ensemble cast, all giving heartfelt performances. However, Robert Altman had covered similar territory better in Short Cuts and the feeling persisted that it had won the Best Picture award because some Academy voters were determined not to give the Oscar to the gay-themed contemporary western Brokeback Mountain. You rarely win an Oscar without a strong marketing campaign. The now disgraced distributor/producer Harvey Weinstein knew the secrets of getting Academy voters on his side better than anyone else in the business. Whether it was the Blitz-like approach to advertising in the trade press, or the timing of the awards screenings, or the way he kept the film's stars in front of the media or his relentless courtship of the Academy members, he was arguably as important to the Oscar success of the so-so musical Chicago as any of the creative talent behind it. It's not bad. It's a love story that touches on mental illness and mathematics (neither usually subjects that Hollywood embraces). Russell Crowe gives a fine performance as John Nash, the Nobel prize-winning boffin with the beautiful but unstable mind. Nonetheless, Ron Howard's biopic isn't any kind of classic. It won its Best Picture Oscar in an unusually thin year. Marty, the 1955 winner, isn't even the best version of its own subject matter. This story, scripted by the great Paddy Chayevsky, about an emotionally repressed Italian-American butcher from the Bronx looking for love, had already been made as a live TV drama the year before. In the small-screen version, Rod Steiger gave a superlative performance in the lead role. Ernest Borgnine in the film version can't help but seem like second best to anyone who saw Steiger in the same part. Whereas the puggish Borgnine makes Marty a figure of pity, Steiger turned him into a full blown tragic hero. You'll remember the pink flamingos and all those scenes of beautiful Kenyan landscapes that looked as if they were cribbed from a David Attenborough natural history documentary. You won't ever forget Meryl Streep's eccentric accent as the Danish baroness and author, Karen Blixen ('I had a farm in Africa at the foot of the Ngong hills'). This is mushy stuff, though, and hardly deserving of its Oscar. This rousing, Scottish-set (but partly Irish-filmed) medieval epic is famous for its scenes of William Wallace's army in blue faces lifting their kilts and baring their bums. Regardless of how accurate this was as history, it played into ongoing debates about devolution and Scottish independence. The film also did its bit for the Scottish tourism business. Mel Gibson knows how to stage a battle scene. Whether that qualifies his film for a Best Picture Oscar is another matter. From a vantage point 71 years on, the decision to give the Best Picture Oscar to Cecil B DeMille's circus epic in 1952 is truly baffling. British viewers who have seen it will almost certainly have done so on TV (where its 152-minute running time made it useful for filling in gaps in the schedule). It has a decent cast and some reasonable stunts but Academy voters were surely clowning around when they chose it over other nominees in the same year which have aged far, far better like High Noon and The Quiet Man.
The Independent
17-02-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
The 10 worst Oscar Best Picture winners of all time, from Braveheart to Green Book
To win a Best Picture Oscar, a film has to have something about it. Only 94 films in history have been given this award. They're not voted on by the eccentric members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, who pick the Golden Globes, or by specialist groups of critics, but by the roughly 10,000 members of the Academy. That is to say, the choice is made by distinguished figures from within the industry. Sometimes, though, they do still make some baffling choices. By the time the Oscars roll around at the end of the awards process, a herd mentality tends to have set in. When everybody has already voted at all the other awards shows for, say, The King's Speech or The Shape of Water, the Academy members follow suit. It's rare for a Best Picture winner ever to be a complete surprise. Nonetheless, a few questionable films have stolen glory that rightfully belonged elsewhere. Read below to see the 10 worst winners of Hollywood's most prestigious award. 10. The Life of Emile Zola Prestige counts at the Oscars. That is why a stodgy literary biopic like The Life of Emile Zola somehow won the main award at the 1937 Oscars. It's a solid and worthy piece of work, with a grandstanding performance from Paul Muni (under a lot of whiskers) as the campaigning French novelist. The idea, though, that it is one of the 'few truly great pictures of all time', as its own publicity suggested, is clearly idiotic. 9. Green Book Green Book told the true story of an unlikely friendship between a black classical pianist (Mahershala Ali) and his bigoted Italian-American driver (Viggo Mortensen). In an interview with The Independent in 2020, Mortensen argued: 'It's become a cliché to say, 'Is this movie going to be the Green Book of this year?' Green Book has become a pejorative.' He described the criticisms levelled at the film as 'hurtful', 'destructive' as well as 'mendacious and irresponsible'. Nonetheless, Green Book remains a ignominious winner: trite, saccharine, and problematic. 8. Around the World in 80 Days This was a perfectly amiable big-budget travelogue but you can't help but suspect its Best Picture Oscar was more to do with the marketing and hustling skills of its producer, Mike Todd, than with any brilliance in the filmmaking. It was directed by the Englishman Michael Anderson, previously best known for The Dam Busters, and featured David Niven as the intrepid traveller, Phileas Fogg, who bets he can travel all the way round the world in a little over two months. 7. Crash Paul Haggis's Crash is a decent and well-meaning study of the consequences of racism and violence in contemporary LA. It was independently made and had a large ensemble cast, all giving heartfelt performances. However, Robert Altman had covered similar territory better in Short Cuts and the feeling persisted that it had won the Best Picture award because some Academy voters were determined not to give the Oscar to the gay-themed contemporary western Brokeback Mountain. 6. Chicago You rarely win an Oscar without a strong marketing campaign. The now disgraced distributor/producer Harvey Weinstein knew the secrets of getting Academy voters on his side better than anyone else in the business. Whether it was the Blitz-like approach to advertising in the trade press, or the timing of the awards screenings, or the way he kept the film's stars in front of the media or his relentless courtship of the Academy members, he was arguably as important to the Oscar success of the so-so musical Chicago as any of the creative talent behind it. 5. A Beautiful Mind It's not bad. It's a love story that touches on mental illness and mathematics (neither usually subjects that Hollywood embraces). Russell Crowe gives a fine performance as John Nash, the Nobel prize-winning boffin with the beautiful but unstable mind. Nonetheless, Ron Howard's biopic isn't any kind of classic. It won its Best Picture Oscar in an unusually thin year. 4. Marty Marty, the 1955 winner, isn't even the best version of its own subject matter. This story, scripted by the great Paddy Chayevsky, about an emotionally repressed Italian-American butcher from the Bronx looking for love, had already been made as a live TV drama the year before. In the small-screen version, Rod Steiger gave a superlative performance in the lead role. Ernest Borgnine in the film version can't help but seem like second best to anyone who saw Steiger in the same part. Whereas the puggish Borgnine makes Marty a figure of pity, Steiger turned him into a full blown tragic hero. 3. Out of Africa You'll remember the pink flamingos and all those scenes of beautiful Kenyan landscapes that looked as if they were cribbed from a David Attenborough natural history documentary. You won't ever forget Meryl Streep's eccentric accent as the Danish baroness and author, Karen Blixen ('I had a farm in Africa at the foot of the Ngong hills'). This is mushy stuff, though, and hardly deserving of its Oscar. 2. Braveheart This rousing, Scottish-set (but partly Irish-filmed) medieval epic is famous for its scenes of William Wallace's army in blue faces lifting their kilts and baring their bums. Regardless of how accurate this was as history, it played into ongoing debates about devolution and Scottish independence. The film also did its bit for the Scottish tourism business. Mel Gibson knows how to stage a battle scene. Whether that qualifies his film for a Best Picture Oscar is another matter. 1. The Greatest Show on Earth From a vantage point 71 years on, the decision to give the Best Picture Oscar to Cecil B DeMille's circus epic in 1952 is truly baffling. British viewers who have seen it will almost certainly have done so on TV (where its 152-minute running time made it useful for filling in gaps in the schedule). It has a decent cast and some reasonable stunts but Academy voters were surely clowning around when they chose it over other nominees in the same year which have aged far, far better like High Noon and The Quiet Man.
