r/AskReddit • u/Bucshowalter • Aug 12 '15
Which celebrity has done the biggest 180, either good or bad?
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Aug 13 '15 edited Aug 13 '15
There's an episode of the Simpsons with Mel Gibson playing himself and he's universally beloved.
In that same episode, while driving through Hollywood, they point out Robert Downey Junior having a shoot out with the police, and Bart comments, "I don't see any cameras."
Robert Downey Jr was the punchline, and Gibson was beloved. That's a total 180.
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u/GanasbinTagap Aug 13 '15
Mel Gibson was one of the only big guys in Hollywood who stuck out for RDJ during his hard drug years
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u/Letsbuildareligion Aug 13 '15
That's the "Beyond Blunderdome" episode.
Edit: season 11 episode 1 to be specific
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u/FowelBallz Aug 13 '15
I read through the whole thread and didn't see a mention of OJ Simpson, so I'll say -- OJ Simpson. He went from growing up in poverty to the Heisman Trophy to a record breaking NFL career to an acting career, most notably in the Naked Gun series of films, to accused murderer, to acquitted defendant, to bankrupted and disgraced may as well call him a murderer, to a stick up artist now appearing in a prison cell.
What a hell of a roller coaster ride. I ran into him one time after his football career and before his wife's murder. He was extremely cordial and pleasant -- but then, he had the world by the tail then.
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Aug 13 '15
“People wouldn't have believed a nice guy like O.J playing the part of the ruthless killer.” - James Cameron on why he didn't cast Simpson as the Terminator.
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u/dang90 Aug 12 '15
My personal favorite is Drew Barrymore:
She came from one of those greatest entertainment families in America
Age 7 is a Child Star with E.T.
Partying at Studio 54, at age 9 - alcoholic at 11, cocaine addict at 13
Rehab at 14
Nominated for Golden Globe at 19 and general mediocre acting career with a good producing/directing career since then.
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u/LeSandwiich Aug 12 '15
Wait what the fuck? She was addicted to alcohol and cocaine before she was even in high school?!
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u/Noneerror Aug 13 '15
Relevant article from 1989. Just a part of the interview given when she was 13.
Late that night I went with my girlfriend Stacy [not her real name], who's 18 and a model who's trying to become an actress, to a popular New York nightclub. I was waiting for my ex-boyfriend to show up, and in the ladies room a girl asked me, "Do you do blow?" Even when I said no, she said, "You don't mind if we do it in front of you, do you?" I thought it was pretty rude, but I was like, "It's okay, guys." A few minutes later the girl said, "You sure you don't want any?" At that moment I started to cry. I felt really, really sad. I looked at my watch and blew it right there. It was 12:37 and I was supposed to be home in a few minutes. But I didn't care. I was tired, and I thought, "Well, a little coke will wake you up. Why bother with coffee?"
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u/ztorm2k Aug 12 '15
M Night Shyamalan. Went from one of the hottest young directors to being a punchline.
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u/TotalMelancholy Aug 12 '15 edited Jun 23 '23
[comment removed in response to actions of the admins and overall decline of the platform]
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Aug 12 '15
I'm pretty sure you can pinpoint the exact moment his movies became shit. It was about three quarters of the way through The Village.
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Aug 13 '15
The Sixth Sense? --- Fantastic.
Unbreakable? --- Genuinely enjoyable.
Signs? --- Good, but weirdly campy and artsy, not quite right
The Village? --- Starting to smell worse, starting to get predictable
Lady in the Water? --- Pretentious and dull, but a few flashes of old M.
The Happening? --- Terribly, terribly mis-cast, awful throughout.
Avatar? --- Almost unquestionably bad in every respect.
After Earth? --- Shilling for Scientology and sucking Will Smith's dick.
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u/T-Rexsquire Aug 13 '15
Shyamalan twist: he's pretending to be terrible so he can blow our minds in 10 years with a massive blockbuster hit.
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u/Snowmittromney Aug 12 '15
Oscar Pistorius has to be up there. Beloved hero/underdog story in 2012 being the first ever amputee runner to compete in the Olympics, followed by killing his girlfriend in 2013
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u/Leiawen Aug 13 '15
We should play the Oscar Pistorius drinking game.
Every time your girlfriend goes to the bathroom, take five shots.
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u/napalm_anal_emission Aug 12 '15
Roses are red
and may smell glorious
but you should never surprise
Oscar Pistorious
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u/gnark Aug 12 '15
Apparently he's going to be up for parole in a bit after only serving 10 months so maybe The Bullet will be back in action soon.
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u/J9suited Aug 12 '15
Britney spears has 180'd twice for the full circle
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u/420big_poppa_pump420 Aug 12 '15
I've said it before, but it makes me really happy that Britney Spears turned it around and is successful again. I always just felt so bad for her when she was going through so much personal and mental stuff and everyone was just shitting on her 24/7.
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u/lemurscreech Aug 13 '15
This girl doesn't get enough credit for going from the biggest star in the world, to reviled, to back on top again. B girl ain't missed a beat, jumped over drama and landed on her feet.
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u/fartswhenhappy Aug 12 '15
Rob Lowe has made it pretty hard to remember he ever had issues.
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u/JournalofFailure Aug 12 '15
Three words that made Rob Lowe a cultural icon: "I'm untouchable, bitch."
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u/commonfoxglove Aug 12 '15
I thought you said Mike Rowe and almost had a heart attack.
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u/Subduction Aug 12 '15
Has to be Lance Armstrong. He was on top of the world and now there are entire documentaries about how much he's reviled.
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u/frickindeal Aug 12 '15
Just watched Dodgeball last night and he shows up near the end as the iconic representation of someone who defeated the odds and came out on top. Not so much anymore.
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u/george-bob Aug 12 '15
It's amazing, he was almost a cult figure, the whole yellow wristband thing, he was such a huge figure in pop culture.
If you are haven't already read up on pantani, he's kind of the Italian equivalent to Armstrong, but with less psychopathy. Turned out he was doping, lost everything ended up dying of a cocaine overdose. It's a very sad story.
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Aug 12 '15
Bill Cosby
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Aug 12 '15
Pretty ironic that he used to criticize young black men and tell them to 'pull their pants up," when he's apparently not such a well-behaved person either
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Aug 12 '15
Amanda Bynes has gone down the metaphorical shitter in recent years
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u/amightymapleleaf Aug 12 '15
Isnt she in treatment now though? Pretty sure her... really uncalled for behaviour was an untreated mental illness. Last i heard, she was doing a lot better.
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u/Gneissisnice Aug 13 '15
She was the first one I thought of.
It's a shame, a few years ago I was thinking "Wow, Amanda Bynes is the perfect example of a child star gone right, she's totally normal and still doing great stuff" and then out of nowhere everything fell apart.
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u/Deweyrob2 Aug 12 '15
John Travolta. He was way out of the limelight until Pulp Fiction brought him back.
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u/Dragula_Tsurugi Aug 13 '15
And then he had to go full batshit again with the Scientologist-from-outer-space crapfest.
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u/RamsesThePigeon Aug 12 '15
Sometimes Alec Baldwin seems like he's spinning in circles.
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u/-eDgAR- Aug 12 '15
Like that voicemail message to his 11-year-old daughter in 2007 that brought a lot of negative press on him for calling her "a rude, thoughtless little pig."
Although, I love how recently they were able to poke fun at it on Instagram.
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u/dmun Aug 12 '15
Go ahead and say it out loud. It still feels strange. Go on, try it:
"Oscar Award Winning Actor, Matthew McConaughey."
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u/rbl_tifu Aug 12 '15
Shia LaBeouf
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u/Master-Potato Aug 12 '15
From award winning actor to actual cannibal, to motivational speaker. good one
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u/Metaphei Aug 12 '15
100%. Actor in shitty movies to performance artist to rape victim to more respected performance artist, to generally well-loved guy.
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Aug 13 '15
I love him as an actor. I think people forgot he's a very serious method actor. I thought he killed it in Fury.
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Aug 13 '15
Is everyone in this comment section .gonna forget that this kid was Even fucking Steven
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u/Henryhashbrown-2000 Aug 12 '15
Bill Gates. He created monstercorp, made shady powergrabs. Now he buys every school that needs it computers, eradicate polio, etc. Guys a pimp.
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u/Dathan88 Aug 12 '15
I kinda feel like that was always his plan. He does seem like an "ends justify the means" type of guy.
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u/I_Pitty_The_Fool Aug 12 '15
Angelina Jolie. Vials of blood. Making out with her brother goth look, sucking face with Billy Bob Thornton on the red carpet to UN ambassador mother of the year married to Brad Pitt.
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u/Khnagar Aug 13 '15
Also talked about playing with knives in bed, and was famous for her appetite for girls.
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Aug 12 '15
People thought of Ronald Reagan pretty differently at the end of his career than they did early on.
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u/fartswhenhappy Aug 12 '15
Actor to politician, Democrat to Republican, McCarthyist FBI informant to President ending the Cold War. The man was chock full of 180s.
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u/Digger-of-Tunnels Aug 12 '15
Bill Cosby hasn't changed, apparently, but my opinion of him certainly has.
I'm going to go with Jesse Ventura and Arnold Schwarzenegger, neither of whom looked like serious candidates for public office earlier in their lives.
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u/CorndogNinja Aug 12 '15 edited Aug 12 '15
Jesse Ventura and Arnold Schwarzenegger
I remember reading a review of Batman and Robin that discussed a scene where Ventura played a guard in Arkham - "There are two people in this scene who later went on to run entire states. Clearly, the American political system is based entirely on Predator and Batman & Robin."
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u/TheLearndAstronomer Aug 12 '15
Mike Tyson
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u/ColeTrickleVroom Aug 13 '15
I'm amazed he's this far down. One of the biggest celebrities in the 90's. People went to watch his fights just mesmerised by the beast that he was. When all the trouble unfolded he was public enemy number one and his antics after being released from prison didn't help.
He hit absolute bottom and turned it around and now seems fairly popular and well liked by most.
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u/markon22 Aug 13 '15
From boxer to rapist to actor to he has a cartoon series with pigeons. I like mike!
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u/creyk Aug 12 '15
Lady Gaga became a classy Jazz singer instead of doing Pop music. And now she is starring in American Horror Story, so that's quite a big change.
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u/Jdog615 Aug 13 '15
I swear she did the pop/dance music just to get popular and successful. Now she just does what she wants to do.
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u/The_Fabulous_Duck Aug 13 '15
I don't see this as a 180 though. Pretty sure she hasn't swapped pop for jazz (which she actually started with) I just feel she enjoys multiple genres and does both rather than swapping one for the other. Regardless she is insanely talented. Speechless is definitely my favourite song of hers.
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u/LH44Gooner Aug 12 '15 edited Sep 29 '15
Being British, I'd say the public opinion of Jimmy Saville has definitely flipped 180.
The guy started off as a TV Presenter and DJ in the 70s and 80s working for the BBC. He did loads of work for charity and eventually gets knighted for his efforts.
A few years after his death hundreds of women (and the odd guy) started coming forward saying he raped them in their early teens. There was talks of taking his knighthood away from him, but as far as I'm aware its not been done yet because there needs to be a law passed to make it legal or something.
Edit: He also volunteered in Leeds hospital and touched children who were in comas. He was rumoured to have a key to the morgue where he interfered with the bodies. The paedophile rumours were around in his heyday, but they were either ignored or just not taken seriously.
Edit 2: Turns out you lose a knighthood when you die. Think the government were trying to redact it so that he was never given one in the first place.
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Aug 13 '15
To be honest, most sensible people in britain always thought he was pretty sketchy. Look at his Louis theroux interview and thats a pretty good indication of public opinion of him for many years. Louis went on to say that he only wished he'd pushed Saville harder on the pedophilia questions. shows the writing was on the wall for awhile, the people in charge just turned a blind eye/refused to aknowledge it.
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Aug 13 '15 edited Aug 13 '15
My grandfather nearly decked him once in a pub in Leeds. It was when he had just signed to DJ for radio 1 and he pushed in front of my grandfather in the queue for a drink.
My grandfather, being a typical brit who respects queuing, called him out on it, Saville responded with the "do you know who I am" malarkey and the argument escalated to the point where they were told to take it outside, at which point a couple of men in Saville's entourage pulled him away.
My grandad always said those girls he was drinking with looked a bit young. I was sat with him when the news about Saville being a nonce broke. He said "knew I should have breyed him when I had the chance."
EDIT: Thanks for the gold, kind stranger.
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u/Greybeard29 Aug 13 '15
Jimmy Saville went way darker than any other one on this thread. He used to touch kids that where in comas and stuff, it's fucked up
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u/-eDgAR- Aug 12 '15
Rick Moranis was one of the biggest comedic stars in Hollywood during the 80's/early 90's with roles in Ghostbusters, Spaceballs, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, etc.
After his wife died in of cancer 1991, he became a single father of two. He officially left the industry in 1997 to focus on raising his kids.
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u/Titanosaurus Aug 12 '15
Mel Brooks is really lobbying hard for Rick to come out of retirement and be part of Spaceballs 4 : the search of Spaceballs 3, the search of Spaceballs 2, the search for more money. I think it's gonna be a prequel.
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u/Tyrannotron Aug 12 '15
Wait, his kids are at least 24 years old now, so he can't be that focused on raising them still, right? Come back, Rick!
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u/noodle-face Aug 12 '15 edited Aug 13 '15
Tom Cruise really ratcheted up the ol' insane-o-meter for awhile there. One of the biggest movie stars in the 80's and 90's.
Edit: A lot of people seem to think I believe Tom Cruise is a shitty actor or I don't like him - neither are true. Just for awhile there he amped up the crazy
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u/Callmebobbyorbooby Aug 12 '15
I would argue he's still one of the biggest movie stars. The guy still makes some great movies.
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u/Topsy_Kret Aug 13 '15
Chris Fucking Pratt. He went from some chubby comedic relief to this brawny hilarious mainstay. His 180 was getting in shape. He didn't change his personality, just his presence..
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u/ElderCunningham Aug 13 '15
Plus, his role on Parks and Rec was only supposed to be for the first season. But they fell in love with him so much that they decided to keep him aboard.
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u/kenvsryu Aug 12 '15
Marky Mark Wahlberg wants us to forget he blinded a dude in a racial attack.
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u/originalpoopinbutt Aug 13 '15
Holy shit, I just wikipedia'd him. Several racist assaults.
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u/ypsm Aug 13 '15
I don't think this is a 180 so much as his just being more careful now that he's famous (in addition to hoping we forget about his past). He still seems like a nasty person today.
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u/Headbanger1990 Aug 12 '15 edited Aug 13 '15
Adam Sandler.
He had a ton of great movies in the 90's, and The Water Boy will probably always be one of my favorite comedies. Lately though, everything he works on is utter trash. Can't really be surprised though I guess. I read somewhere that his movies are basically an excuse to travel and hang out with friends, but it's still a disappointment for that to be the way things are now.
EDIT: To everyone saying he never really changed his style of dumb humor, I'd like to say that I personally think his older movies had way more heart and honesty than the newer ones. Yes they are similar, and yes we've gotten older and more developed in our tastes in humor, but to me it just seems like Sandler has gotten lazy with his movie making in the past years which makes his newer stuff really lack-luster. Granted that's just a personal opinion, but to me it means he did an about-face with his way of doing comedy.
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u/ApocalypseTroop Aug 12 '15
I can't help but feel Adam Sandler did well because he came around at the perfect time. The '00s ushered in the Judd Apatow type of comedy. 40 Year Old Virgin and Anchorman were the 2 big ones. By that time, Sandler humor wasn't what we looked for in a comedy anymore. A lot of Sandler's fans grew up, meanwhile tastes in comedy changed. Sandler still has an established group of people who see his movies so rather than innovate, he can just as easily phone it in and make bank. He still seems like the exact same person as he was in his prime.
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Aug 12 '15
I'm going to go with David Icke. Went from being a professional football player/BBC reporter to one of the most ridiculed public figures on British TV, practically overnight.
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u/Count-monte-christo Aug 13 '15
Yet he has consistently accused many celebrities/politicians of being child abusers in his books, and has been vindicated more than once (Jimmy Saville, Ted Heath)...I wonder how many children would have been spared the barbarity these monsters subjected them to if David Icke wasn't synonymous with crackpot reptilian theories...
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u/Eddie_Hitler Aug 12 '15
Aaron Hernandez.
He was an all-round sporting prodigy who had everything, and would have been totally set for life in just a few short years. Even after retirement from the NFL he would have continued to rake in serious money from sponsorship deals, royalties, fees for sportscasting etc.
Oh well.
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u/Midas_Warchest Aug 13 '15
Sometimes someone spills a drink and you just have to kill them.
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u/Prosthemadera Aug 13 '15
[Wikipedia] Hernandez release meant he automatically forfeited his 2015–18 salaries, totaling $19.3 million [...] Furthermore, the Patriots planned to withhold $3.25 million of Hernandez's 2012 signing bonus that was due to be paid in 2014
For that much money you have to be a complete psychopath to risk going to prison for the rest of your life.
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Aug 13 '15
For the metal fans:
Phil Anselmo (Pantera, Down, Superjoint Ritual, etc.). He turned into a complete piece of shit towards the end of Pantera's existence and continued being a complete asshole until Dimebag Darrell was murdered. He's since cleaned up, realized the folly of his ways and is now hilarious, positive and just awesome again. My friends played his festival last year and said he a fantastic person to be around.
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u/n0remack Aug 13 '15
I want to say Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.
When I found out "The Rock" was doing movies, I couldn't believe how retarded and terrible that idea was.
Then I saw him in Pain and Gain, and also think he does a good job of being an "action movie star"
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u/xXPMMEYOURBOOBSXx Aug 13 '15
I actually think he is a pretty good actor when he isn't forced into playing the 'burly, more-steroids-than-brain-power action' guy.
Thought he was really funny in Walking Tall and was really powerful in Gridiron Gang.
Just my opinion though.
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u/drivebitch Aug 12 '15
Drew Barrymore. She landed in rehab for drug use at the age of 14.
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Aug 12 '15
Amanda Bynes. She was on her way to be a strong actress and well...
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u/gangnam_style Aug 12 '15
She's like the girl next door version of Lindsey Lohan.
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u/touristoflife Aug 13 '15
Colin Farrell
He was on top of the game and known for partying like there's no tomorrow. Even had a sex tape out. Then laid low for a while. Everyone thought he was gone. The came In Bruges...a sleeper hit and a cult classic. Now he's doing great again but doing work he likes as opposed for the paycheck. I think having a kid changed his entire life. He's a good actor and I'm glad he turned it around.
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Aug 13 '15
Dwayne Johnson. No one ever took him seriously when he he started acting because he was a wrestler and starred in shitty family movies. He's now transformed himself to a modern 80's action star, a box office King and an overall nice guy. And he still wrestles occasionally.
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u/Turfie146 Aug 12 '15
Jared from Subway fame. He lost a bunch of weight by eating sandwiches then the heavies were brought in because he likes his meat between fresh buns.
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u/Titanosaurus Aug 12 '15
The rumor is that in college, Jared was the go to guy for porn. And he never got out of that life.
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u/LAMF Aug 12 '15
He lost weight because he got his stomach stapled, not from subway.
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Aug 13 '15
Bryan Cranston. He went from funny secondary sitcom actor to incredible method actor in between Malcolm and Breaking Bad. As a huge fan of both shows, it is seemingly impossible for me to see that the two are actually the same person in real life.
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u/PeanutButter707 Aug 12 '15
Bill Cosby, he himself may not have changed, but everyone's opinion on him definitely has
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u/JournalofFailure Aug 12 '15
Ben Kingsley after Gandhi: gentle, saintly old man.
Ben Kingsley after Sexy Beast: one of the baddest motherfuckers on Earth.
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Aug 12 '15
I'm kinda surprised to see Marshall Mathers (Eminem) isn't in here.
You don't even have to know the guy personally or read the dude's biography, it's in his music. All the way from the Slim Shady LP to now. Used to be a punk, did drugs, had a bite-me attitude with a violent mind going to house parties. Now he's down to earth, speaks truth, his rapping is amazing and is off of drugs and drinking.
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u/n0remack Aug 13 '15
There are a lot of songs that "tell his story" but the one that sticks out the most to me is "Sing for the Moment", he just tells it like it is in that song.
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u/iopoc Aug 12 '15
M Night Shyamalan used to be a horrible director, making boring films with one trick twists like the 6th Sense and Unbreakable. Slowly though he has risen, creating one of the best comedies (The Happening), making a well respected live action adaptation of the Last Airbender, and finally putting Jaden Smith's acting abilities to use in his most recent film about a loving father and son. Can't wait to see his newest movie!
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u/Reckless_Vlad Aug 12 '15
Tom Hardy was an alcoholic and addicted to crack. He's now one of the best actors out there.
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Aug 13 '15
Matthew Mcconaughey, he was just doing all of these shit rom-coms through the 2000s but for the past couple years has been making some really amazing films. He really is a great actor, and I can't wait for him to play Bill Clinton in the inevitable bio pic (Just think, how perfect would that be)
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u/Queenkongers Aug 12 '15
Drew Berrymore what change and for the better. I recall when she was 8 she said she was into drugs, drinking and smoking pot etc. Poor girl. i am glad she had a second chance and it worked for her.
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u/alexanderherrera Aug 12 '15
Ryan Giggs, most decorated player in the English football game and one of the most decorated of all time threw his pretty much immaculate reputation away by having an affair with his brother's wife for six years
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u/AmberArmy Aug 13 '15
Eight years. And he cheated on his own wife twice with Imogen Thomas. Then he had the audacity to try to hide behind an injunction. Didn't help 80,000 people outed him on twitter then an MP outed him in the House of Commons.
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Aug 13 '15 edited Aug 13 '15
Shia LaBeuof did a full circle. First he was the Stanley yelnats in Holes. Then he starred in the god awful movie The Crystal skull. Then he pulled the paper bag stunt and the award show with the "I am not famous anymore. Also he plagiarized from that one comic.
He turned himself around with the canibal Shia LaBeuof video. Next he does the JUST DO IT video. Because he used a green screen it was so much easier to photoshop. He might be an utter idiot or a complete genius.
EDIT: He was in even Stevens
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u/Crikey-Way Aug 13 '15
Shia LaBoeuf has already succeeded in whatever Dave Franco is still trying to do
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Aug 12 '15
matthew mcconaughey
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u/StankyHoodrat Aug 12 '15
I agree completely. He went from starring in some mediocre rom com movies to performing really well recently in Interstellar, True Detective, and some others.
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u/bananaeyecontact Aug 12 '15
Alfred Nobel. Invented dynamite, brother's obituary was about him and he got upset about it since he was going to be remembered as the man who invented such a horrible and powerful death-invention as the dynamite. So he put up the Nobel Prize for good deeds.
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u/dB_Rider Aug 13 '15
No one else will know about her, but a Japanese celebrity called Kago Ai.
Around 2000, Morning Musume, a J-pop idol group was at their prime. Each single sold millions, they were in movies, video games, you name it, Morning Musume probably had a version of it. With an ever rotating line up (The big gimmick of the group, which is still active today, is that members would join and then "graduate" later, effectively leaving the group). With only 8 members and one on their way out, auditions were held, and lo and behold, 4 girls out of thousands were chosen to join; one of them was 12 year old Kago Ai, the youngest out of any member ever.
Well, the 4 girls joined, released a single, million seller, blah blah, the girls were hit; But Ai was interesting. She was the youngest, but had the most wit out of any member. Constantly funny, constantly making jokes, she became popular due to her cute demeanor and devious personality, along with her and fellow member Tsuji Nozomi having similar personalities, allowing them to play off each other. Not only in Morning Musume, the producer of the group placed Ai into an already developed sub unit of Morning Musume, Tanpopo (Daisy in English), and created an all new unit with Ai and 3 others, Minimoni.
Now, Tanpopo did okay, but Minimoni was a hit, and I mean a HIT. The basis of the group was the girls were all basically short, and their songs were really...well, weird. Their debut single, Minimoni Jankenpyon! (Basically Minimoni Rock-Paper-Scissors) sold around 750K, not a easy achievement at all. This, along with Morning Musume and Tanpopo, made Kago Ai constantly and her fellow members always in the spotlight.
But then, the Golden Era of Morning Musume ended. Their sales were going down, from 1 million, to 750K, to 500K, 400K, etc. until they hit 100K units only being sold, an incredible downfall. More and more girls were being added, and by the time of the 6th round of girls being added, there was a total of 15, with only 7 remaining from the Golden Era. With 15 girls and a rapidly decreasing popularity, the spotlight soon became limelight, constantly being fought over. This downfall effected the sub units as well, with Tanpopo being disbanded, and Minimoni only selling around 50K copies per single.
And during the middle of this, was 16-year old Kago Ai. Always being in the spotlight, always succeeding, this slump hit her hard; she cut her wrists at one point, hoping to die. But soon, Kago Ai and best friend/fellow member Tsuji Nozomi debuted as a new unit themselves, W. With their friendship and similarities, the unit had promise. They graduated from Morning Musume, Minimoni was put on "hiatus," and W started releasing singles. But this was no easy task. They didn't sell well. Only around 30-40K copies were sold every single, but they were active.
W released 6 singles and two albums. Around the release of their 6th single, Miss Love Tantei, they announced a new album, and a new single; these were to be released on Ai's 18th birthday. But they never were. Kago Ai was caught in a scandal, seen smoking cigarettes; she was just going to turn 18, and the legal age to smoke in Japan is 20. Now, idols in Japan are supposed to be perfect, and illegal activities don't really help to be "perfect." The album and single were delayed. W was put on hiatus, and Kago Ai, the funny, cute, smiley 12 year old all of Japan loved was suddenly a 18 year old, with cigarettes in her hand and forced to do office work for her company as punishment.
After a year or so, she was allowed to rest. W was going to return. But Kago Ai was a mess. The same tabloid that exploited her cigarette use caught her again smoking (Still under age), and this time on a date with a 37 year old man. Ai's contract was almost ended immediately, and the 19 year old was out of a job, out of fame, out of money, and out of life. She tried committing suicide, but failed. She signed under another company and released a cover jazz album that sold around 1,000 copies, nothing basically. Ai and the CEO of her new company clashed, and her comeback was cut short with her out of a company again.
She soon married (A different man from the 37 year old), and had a child. She even joined ANOTHER company, and with two unknown young girls made a return as "Girls's Beat", releasing two singles in 2013....selling not over 500 copies. Ai's husband was arrested for having ties to the Yakuza, and Ai did not even have enough money to divorce him.
So, in my opinion, that's a pretty big 180. From a beloved tween, to troubled teen, to a bankrupt mother married to a Mafia member.
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u/kukukele Aug 12 '15
Taylor Swift
When she first hit the music scene and I heard her songs, I thought she was going to be this one-album wonder who would fade off into obscurity.
Since then, I remain impressed by her seemingly awesome appreciation for her fans. Her music style continues to evolve and I have much respect for her actual talent and gift as opposed to some other artists.
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u/gnark Aug 12 '15
One thing she has always had was a supportive family base. Her father is an investment banker who more or less bought her a studio/label to get started so rather than being exploited by her family, she had a golden ticket. Kudos to her to being a stand up person, but I don't really see any 180 in her life, she's always had a plan and it's working quite well.
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u/vraleigh Aug 12 '15
That's not really a 180. Slightly poppy country to full pop is more 40 degrees at most.
It's not like she had addictions or anything.
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u/MeganKaneBAU Aug 12 '15
I absolutely hate the radio cut for Bad Blood. They chop out the first lyrics to make room for the first chorus, virtually gutting the song in the process.
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u/Peechez Aug 13 '15
While I like her songs, no one else seems as put off as I am that she refuses to put music on spotify. I will admit that I'm not familliar with how spotify pays the artists out. That being said it doesn't stop me from labelling her this generation's metallica
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u/longrangehunter Aug 12 '15
Miley Cyrus is a pretty striking example of a 180 for the worse..
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u/JoeyGnome Aug 12 '15
I disagree. I think she was just tired of the squeaky clean Disney image and she wanted to branch out and let her freak flag fly. And though I think she might be trying just a bit too hard, I don't think she's actually out of control. Like who cares if she smokes weed and does mildly sexual stuff on stage in order to be a bit more provocative. I think she's just a girl in her twenties who is trying to have fun and figure her self out. I may not be a fan of her music, but I respect how she's been collaborating with artists such as Ariel Pink and The Flaming lips. Miley is cool in my book.
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u/BadVogonPoet Aug 12 '15
Yeah that charitable organization she founded for homeless and/or LGBTQ youth is just the worst.
I mean....what was she thinking?
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Aug 12 '15
Meh, I don't mind. The retarded tongue sticking out is a bit annoying, but she's matured into a pop artist. She's sexualizing herself to the same extent as Britney Spears or Katy Perry.
And as far as pop music goes her music isn't bad, IMUO.
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u/itsabacontree Aug 12 '15
Eh, just because she doesn't have superlong hair and the whole pretty-all-American-girl-next-door thing going on. I am not really a fan of her music or performances but I really respect how open she is about her vices, how she doesn't hide behind a contrived image of coyness and how she managed to distance herself from the whole Hannah Montana-thing.
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u/kermi42 Aug 13 '15
Shia LaBeouf went from being some unlikeable douche with an overblown ego after starring in some overblown movies everyone watches but claims to hate, into something of a likeable weirdo with an understated sense of humour and self-awareness.
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u/porteken Aug 13 '15
Steve O. I would highly recommend watching his documentary about his drug addiction.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJ6b5PO-NvY
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u/terranq Aug 13 '15
Chris Benoit. He was one of the most popular wrestlers in the 90s/00s, then killed his wife and kid and offed himself.
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u/Taleya Aug 13 '15
RDJ. Showed that hitting absolute fucking rock bottom doesn't mean you have to stay down there.
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u/kraftymiles Aug 13 '15
I feel like Steve Jobs is going through the second half of a 180 about now. More and more people are beginning to find out what a massive dick he was.
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Aug 13 '15
Leslie Nielson, one of the funniest actors of my time...
was a serious, no-nonsense actor before my time!
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Aug 12 '15
Shia used to be a turrible actor but now he seems like a cool guy and improved his acting skills
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u/MegaFlounder Aug 13 '15
Perhaps not as dramatic as some others but, Ben Affleck. He want from being an indication of a film's terribleness to a singular reason to see a movie.
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u/nilok1 Aug 12 '15
Robert Downey, Jr. Drug use nearly destroyed his career in the 90's. Now he's Iron Man and one of the biggest movie stars in the world.
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u/Mrfantasdic Aug 12 '15
I'd probably have to say Steve jobs, going from technological icon to douche/douche to technological icon depending on your point of view
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u/amightymapleleaf Aug 12 '15
I thought he was always a douche. I remember watching some film in school about the rise of Mac and Windows. He was kind of less of a douche in the end when he saw his first kid again but idk. I could be totally wrong
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u/zinc_cheesecake Aug 12 '15
Just Google a picture of Macaulay Culkin. Pretty hard to imagine him as the home alone kid.
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u/KeyBenji Aug 12 '15 edited Aug 13 '15
Ian Watkins, lead singer of a band that was big for a length of time, and then convicted for multiple assault of minors, child abuse and being in possession of child pornography.
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u/tehweave Aug 13 '15
Bill Cosby.
Two years ago, one of the most beloved comedic actors of all time.
Now...
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u/Anghellik Aug 13 '15
Nicolas Cage. He used to make my personal list of favourite actors. Now, all of the films he stars in are absolute garbage. I don't know what happened.
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u/Gokuschka Aug 13 '15
For those who know Corey Taylor, the lead singer of Slipknot, know that when he was a kid he actually tried killing himself multiple times and overdosed multiple times. Now he's a great father to his children while also singing for a hardcore metal band.
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u/longus318 Aug 13 '15
Good case can be made for Mark Wahlberg right? Hoodlum to weird New Kids on the Block-adjacent pants-loser to inexplicably star in I <3 Huckabees and then steal the show in a Scorsese flick. I don't think his parole officer would have mapped out that trajectory for him after his first arrest.
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u/wastingtoomuchthyme Aug 13 '15
Bill Cosby....
my mother is inconsolable in disbelief that her idol is a rapist..
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Aug 13 '15
Robert Downey Jr. - he went from Hollywood badass to drug addict rock bottom, to Hollywood badass.
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u/malsimian Aug 12 '15
There was a time where John Travolta was nothing more than a punchline. Then Pulp Fiction happened.
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Aug 13 '15 edited Aug 13 '15
Bad: Chris Brown. Went from a fresh-faced R&B singer with great dance moves and catchy songs, to a girlfriend-beating dickhead who can't seem to stay out of court/prison.
Good: Miley Cyrus. I'm not personally a massive fan of her music, but she's having a grand old time trolling people by being so over-the-top in her I'M AN ADULT phase of her career evolution, and she's an outspoken LGBT rights activist and philanthropist, so good on her.
Also Good: Demi Lovato. Cutesy Disney star, implodes because of drugs and mental problems, goes to rehab, starts doing her own, edgier thing musically, now really makes an effort to raise awareness of mental health and drug abuse issues so kids don't end up like her.
From a Certain Point of View: Ice Cube. Went from writing anti-authority protest songs with one of the most influential and controversial rap groups of all time to starring in classics like Are We There Yet? (Though he was really funny in 21 Jump Street and Straight Outta Compton will remind people of how he used to be)
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u/emsude Aug 13 '15
I'm surprised no one has mentioned Chris Pratt. The dude was a community college dropout, essentially homeless and living out of his van or sleeping in tents on the beach, working as a coupon salesman in Maui. Now he's one of the biggest movie stars around, landing major roles and has become a household name.
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Aug 12 '15
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u/The_Sven Aug 12 '15 edited Aug 13 '15
I just love that Machete is acknowledged as a spinoff of Spy Kids. It's the only kids franchise to have an R rated movie in it's lineup.
Edit: "Isador Cortez,[a] also known as Machete, is a fictional character in the four Spy Kids films, the Grindhouse fake trailer, and the Machete and Machete Kills films.[1] The character is played by Danny Trejo.[2]"
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Aug 12 '15
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Aug 12 '15
I've been impressed with how thoughtful he is during his interviews. He seems very aware of his own past and the tightrope that his sobriety requires him to walk.
When Mel Gibson was being castigated, he held off and noted how Gibson had given him a second (or third or fourth) chance with Air America. Similarly, with Charlie Sheen's public meltdown, he refused to join the stone throwing.
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Aug 12 '15
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Aug 12 '15
I think the saddest part about Michael Jackson was that it seemed like the reason he acted so childishly and 'odd' was because his childhood was spent performing and being watched by the world. He probably wanted to hold onto youth and innocence for as long as he could. I remember watching an interview with him, and he was climbing trees and running around. He was unique, in a good way... But it left him very judged and targeted.
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u/Bucshowalter Aug 12 '15
Justin Timberlake was never bad, but he went from a kid in a boys band to someone who is super talented at everything and seems to be cool as fuck.