She was one of Hollywood's biggest stars. Then she disappeared

1 Marlon Brando

Marlon Brando was already known in Hollywood for his rebellious attitude, but in 1973 he went a step further and shocked the entire industry . After his remarkable performance as Vito Corleone in The Godfather (1972), Brando won the Oscar for Best Actor.

But instead of attending the ceremony as any other actor would have done, he sent Native American activist Sacheen Littlefeather to decline the award on his behalf to protest against the poor treatment and stereotypical portrayal of Native Americans in movies and television. Brando used the biggest night of his career to challenge an industry that was celebrating him.

2 Meryl Streep

Before she became one of the greatest actresses of our time, Meryl Streep had to overcome severe mistreatment by the producer of King Kong (1976), who reportedly called her "ugly" during the audition. Streep simply replied that she was sorry she wasn’t beautiful enough and left. Jessica Lange got the role instead.

What could’ve killed her self-esteem and career actually propelled her forward and later became a three-time Oscar winner and the most-nominated actor in Academy Award history with 21 total acting nominations.

3 Greta Garbo

Imagine being one of Hollywood’s biggest names and suddenly, at a young age and at the peak of your career, simply disappearing from the spotlight forever? That’s what Greta Garbo did, and here’s the reason.

Garbo would rarely give interviews or sign autographs, attend premieres, or participate in Hollywood’s social scene. And after Two-Faced Woman (1941), Garbo quit acting completely at just 36, even though she was still a major star. She even stayed away from the 1955 Academy Awards, where she received an honorary Oscar. In a 1955 interview with Life magazine, she explained that she simply wanted to be left alone .

4 Bill Murray

Having an agent seems like a quintessential element of success in Hollywood, but what if one of the biggest comedy stars managed to succeed without ever having one? Bill Murray is known for never really having a conventional manager , so how do producers get in touch with him? You may be wondering.

Filmmakers have reportedly had to find unusual ways to contact him directly, and one of the main ways has been via Murray’s voicemail and an unlisted phone number.

5 Kirk Douglas

Many Hollywood actors audition for one role and then end up getting another one that directors believe suits them best. When this happened to Kirk Douglas, he simply walked away and made his own movie. And how did this go?

Director William Wyler offered Douglas the villain in the 1959 epic Ben-Hur , but he wanted the lead role. Instead of taking what was still a great opportunity, he turned it down and made Spartacus (1960), a competing Roman epic with his production company, Bryna Productions. Later, he admitted that what he did was a childish "I'll show them" attitude_. Spartacus_ won four Academy Awards.

6 Denzel Washington

Would you turn down $600,000 for a movie role if you believed the script could insult an entire community? That’s exactly what Denzel Washington reportedly did after he got an offer for a comedy film called The N They Couldn't Kill, about a Black man falsely accused of sexually assaulting a white woman.

Washington found the premise not funny and deeply offensive to the Black community and turned the role down. About six months later, he landed a role in Cry Freedom (1987) and won his first Academy Award nomination for playing South African activist Steve Biko. The comedy film he rejected was not released.

7 Katherine Heigl

Would you criticize your own hit movies and TV shows, even if that damages your reputation in Hollywood? In a 2008 interview, Katherine Heigl called her hit movie Knocked Up (2007) "a little sexist," and in the same year she spoke out about Grey's Anatomy , withdrawing her name from Emmy consideration and saying she hadn’t been given material worthy of a nomination.

The backlash for speaking up against the works that had made her famous was significant and earned her a reputation for being difficult to work with .

8 Charlize Theron

Hollywood’s expectations can quickly shift when an actress gets older, and Charlize Theron refused to play along when she was approached about a role in Wonder Woman (2017). Instead of asking her to play the superheroine, the filmmakers offered her the part of Wonder Woman’s mother because of her age.

Theron rejected the offer and later said in a 2019 interview on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen that it felt like a "slap in the face." She went on to lead major movies like Atomic Blonde (2017) and The Old Guard (2020), proving she wasn’t ready to step aside.

9 Joaquin Phoenix

Oscar-winning actor Joaquin Phoenix has never been one to play along with Hollywood’s usual publicity routine, especially when it comes to interviews. In a 2018 interview with The Independent , Phoenix said he preferred genuine conversations over rehearsed interviews . He has walked out of interviews when he felt uncomfortable and has openly criticized awards campaigning, calling it "total, utter bullshit."

10 Robin Williams

Making an enemy of a major Hollywood studio is a risky move. Although legendary actor Robin Williams didn't directly confront Warner Bros., he made sure they wouldn't pull the same stunt on him twice. But what exactly happened? Warner Bros. approached Williams about playing the Joker in Batman (1989) after Jack Nicholson had hesitated about taking the role first.

Williams accepted, but the studio eventually dropped him when Nicholson finally agreed to play the role. Reports say he felt he had been used to persuade Nicholson. Later in 1995, the studio offered him the role of the Riddler in Batman Forever (1995), but he rejected it over what had happened with Batman .