The Comeback
8 members
Not every fallen star gets back up. These eight did, each arriving back with a performance that made their years away feel like the whole point.
Members (8)
Robert Downey Jr.
61
From rock bottom to Iron Man
Mickey Rourke
73
The Wrestler brought him back
Matthew McConaughey
56
The McConaissance
John Travolta
72
Pulp Fiction resurrected his career
Brendan Fraser
57
Won an Oscar after vanishing for a decade
Michael Keaton
74
Birdman made it personal
Demi Moore
63
The Substance earned her first Oscar nod at 62
Ke Huy Quan
54
Short Round to Oscar winner, 39 years apart
Aftermath
Robert Downey Jr. returned to Marvel not as Iron Man but as Doctor Doom, the franchise's next major villain.
Michael Keaton suited up as Batman again in The Flash, 31 years after Batman Returns.
Brendan Fraser landed in Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon the same year he won his Oscar.
Ke Huy Quan went from Oscar winner to leading man in Love Hurts, an action-comedy from the producers of John Wick.
Matthew McConaughey stepped back from live-action film for six years after the McConaissance, then returned with a crime thriller.