'Overnight I lost everything': 17 acting careers ruined by a single role

"Released in 1981, the Joan Crawford biopic Mommie Dearest - starring Faye Dunaway and adapted from a harrowing bestseller by Crawford's daughter Christina - painted the star in a less than flattering light. Namely, as an unhinged tyrant prone to chewing up her daughter as well as the scenery of every room she was in. The latter, in fairness, was more Dunaway's fault - and it promptly took a pick-axe to her leading-lady roles."

"In a series of rare comments made in 2016, Dunaway said the film "turned my career in a direction where people would irretrievably have the wrong impression of me," adding: "That's an awful hard thing to beat. I should have known better, but sometimes you're vulnerable and you don't realise what you're getting into.""

"Often this is unfair - women historically tend to bear the brunt of career-shaking backlash, and there are typically many different reasons why movie stardom hits a wall. But whenever an actor does seem to drop off the radar, it's usually a specific film that is to blame."

Some movie roles have the power to derail entire careers, leaving actors struggling to recover professionally or permanently altering public perception. While most stars can survive occasional flops, certain performances become so defining that they overshadow an actor's entire body of work. Women historically face disproportionate career damage from such roles. Faye Dunaway's performance in Mommie Dearest exemplifies this phenomenon—her over-the-top portrayal of Joan Crawford earned her a Razzie and worst reviews of her career, fundamentally shifting how audiences perceived her as a leading lady. Dunaway later reflected that the film caused irreversible damage to her career trajectory and public image.

Read at The Independent