The 10 Most Shocking Career Choices Made By Famous Actors

It takes wisdom for an actor to turn down some roles and courage to accept some. Sometimes actors make shocking decisions by choosing a completely different role from their previous screen personas. As you can see in the following examples, these risky choices either pushed them to greater success or easily ruined their careers.

10. Macaulay Culkin – The Good Son (1993)

The Home Alone movies established Macaulay Culkin as a smart and cute boy, we totally enjoyed the likable kid beat the crap out of the two stupid thieves with all kinds of tricks. The movies were very successful in the box-office and Culkin became one of the most famous kid star overnight.

Maybe Culkin chose it himself, maybe his agent signed the contract for him, but in 1993 American psychological thriller film The Good Son, Culkin played a psychopath kid – the total opposite character to his role in Home Alone movies – who even killed a dog. The film received a mostly negative response from critics. Roger Ebert, who deemed the film inappropriate for children, awarded it just half a star, calling the project a “creepy, unpleasant experience”.

9. Tom Cruise – Collateral (2004)

Think about the previous roles Tom Cruise had played before Collateral: the handsome and passionate aviator in Top Gun, the anti-war activist in Born on the Fourth of July, the righteous lawyer in A Few Good Men, every single character embodies the American value.

In Michael Mann’s 2004 American crime thriller film, Tom Cruise surprised everyone by dyeing his hair to grey and portrayed a assassin whose task was to kill four witnesses and a prosecutor. The film received positive reviews, with particular praise going to Tom Cruise’s brilliant performances.