Since Emily Dickinson once wrote, “Fame is a food of a moving plate,” and Hollywood has found this assertion to be true on numerous occasions. To a few actors, the glitz and glamour in the entertainment industry is not the end but just a part of a much bigger picture. Even though most of them pursue the limelight over several years, these celebrities decided to leave it, and re-invent themselves in a new way that even their most avid followers might not have expected.
Courtroom hectic to the keeping of exotic pets, their life after Hollywood shows an interesting fact: success can be very diverse and that in the case of the red carpet, it is not always the most rewarding professions. This list plunges into nine actors who swapped scripts with completely new things to do – and how they have created meaningful second acts to the cameras.
1. Jeff Cohen – Goonies to Entertainment Law
Demoted to perennial favorite Chunk in The Goonies, Jeff Cohen has had a career in Hollywood downward after his teenage years. According to him, puberty translated to less work and thus, he shifted to the field of academia where he got a business degree at UC and graduated at UCLA with a degree in law. He was co-founder of Cohen Gardner LLP representing film and TV clients in 2002. Cohen continues to be in showbiz, now negotiating a contract themselves, such as the one to obtain an Oscar-winning part in Everything Everywhere All At Once to his previous co-star, Ke Huy Quan. It is a change of screenside mischief to the life-and-death law approach.
2. Kay Panabaker – Disney Star Turned Zookeeper
Kay Panabaker, who starred in such series as Phil of the future and Summerland, dropped out of acting in 2012 after losing interest in the profession. One incident that she describes as a turning point was when a producer commented on her weight, which she told the Naperville Magazine. She studied history at UCLA and took some training in zoology and ended up an animal keeper at Disney in the Animal Kingdom as an associate. In 2022, she marked seven years in the position stating it her passion. Her professional change demonstrates that pursuing personal values may result in permanent satisfaction.
3. Jennifer Stone – Wizard to the ER
Today, Disney fans recollect Jennifer Stone who plays Harper in Wizards of Waverly Place. Diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes led her to the healthcare industry and she graduated nursing school and passed her boards in 2019. Stone has become a nurse of an ER department in Los Angeles after serving during the COVID-19 pandemic. She also features on the Wizards of Waverly Pod as a co-host with a reminder of her acting background but succeeding in her career of saving lives instead of reciting words.
4. Peter Ostrum – Willy Wonka Charlie Becomes a Veterinarian
The film was the only film that Peter Ostrum participated in where he played the role of Charlie Bucket in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. He was offered a three-picture deal but he turned it down, which was inspired by a veterinarian who treated the horse of his family. Ostrum is the recipient of a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree awarded by Cornell, and he practiced in upstate New York in a mixed-animal clinic with 37 years prior to his retirement in 2022. His experiences of winning golden tickets to becoming a reliable animal doctor is a lesson that you can become inspired by the least expected.
5. Danica McKellar – Mathematic Mission of Winnie Cooper
Danica McKellar, the star of the Wonder Years and a character known as Winnie Cooper, found out about her love of mathematics in UCLA. She has co-authored a mathematical result with Professor Lincoln Chayes and Brandy Winn, has written books that help to make math accessible to young readers. Although she continues to engage in it, her primary goal is on math literacy promotion, which demonstrates that the influence of celebrities can be a strong educational instrument.
6. Josh Saviano – Wonder Years to Legal Consulting
Josh Saviano, Paul Pfeiffer of The Wonder Years, became an academic instead of an actor, having earned a degree in political science at Yale, and a degree in law at Cardozo. After joining Morrison Cohen LLP as a partner, he co-founded JDS Legal and Act 3 Advisors assisting artists in solving legal and branding issues. The history of his career demonstrates how child star smarts may develop into business performance.
7. Danny Lloyd – The Shining’s Child Star Turned Professor
Danny Lloyd, who is not forgettable as Danny Torrance in the Shining, left acting early. He has a graduate degree in sciences and currently teaches in Elizabetown Community and Technical College in Kentucky as a teacher of biology. Lloyd has concentrated on education other than scaring audiences, except in a cameo appearance in Doctor Sleep.
8. Rick Moranis – Comedy Star Picks Family Over
Rick Moranis appeared everywhere like in the 80s and the 90s as a star of Ghostbusters, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and Little Shop of Horrors. His wife died in 1991; he retired to raise his kids and later indulged in voice work and even released an album that received Grammy nomination under the country-comedy category. He appeared in a 2020 advertisement by Mint Mobile with Ryan Reynolds and made a delight to the fans. Moranis told The Hollywood Reporter, that he has no regrets at all. I am so happy in life, and it teaches us to put our priorities on ourselves and not on the people.
9. Phoebe Cates – Former 80s Movie Star to Boutique Owner
Phoebe Cates who starred in Gremlins and Fast Times at Ridgemont High left acting to have more time with her children. She established Blue Tree, a boutique in Madison Avenue, and it is still in operation. Her transition away off film sets on to retail shelves is a conscious decision to stabilize and be creative in a more real world.
These nine reinventions show that Hollywood fame is not the single measure of success. Trading in stethoscopes, in courts, in classrooms, in animal cages, every one of these stars made a second act of passion and intent. Through their narrations, they dispute the notion that being out of the limelight is being forgotten; rather, being out of the limelight can be a move to a better role, which better fits her or him than the one that brought them to the limelight.
