6) Jeremy Irons
Then:
Mesmerizing British import, star of Dead Ringers, The Mission, Die Hard With a Vengeance and – vocally at least – The Lion King. He also won a Best Actor Oscar for Reversal of Fortune in 1991.
Now:
Long before he got confused about the legalities of gay marriage (“Could a father not marry his son? It’s not incest between men”), Jeremy Irons’ career was already heading on a downward turn – Eragon, The Pink Panther 2, Beautiful Creatures, films you’ve never heard of like Night Train to Lisbon, the list goes on. Thankfully, he’s got Batman V Superman coming up, so there could be a comeback in sight for the once great thesp.
5) Nicolas Cage
Then:
Love him or hate him, Nic Cage has always been unhinged, but at the beginning of his career he at least brought that intensity to a more consistently interesting quality of film: Rumble Fish, Racing With the Moon, Raising Arizona, Wild at Heart, Red Rock West, and of course, Leaving Las Vegas, for which he binge-drank his way to an Oscar.
Now:
The thing about being way in the hole in debt is people can be forced to work not particularly pleasant or rewarding jobs just for the money. In the case of Nicolas Cage (money owed to the IRS in 2009: $13 million), his sticky situation has meant agreeing to everything – EVERYTHING – that comes across his agent’s desk. The Wicker Man, Bangkok Dangerous, Knowing, Drive Angry, Trespass, Stolen, Rage, Outcast, Left Behind, Pay The Ghost – all are critically maligned films. And if you’ve heard of half of them, then you’re more in the know than most.