14. Joaquin Phoenix
Breaking out with his acclaimed turn as the villain in Gladiator, Phoenix won an Oscar nomination and immediately boosted to the Hollywood limelight. He was a great actor with turns in dramas and blockbusters, receiving a further Oscar nomination for Walk the Line and seemed to have a great career set. Then in 2008, Phoenix suddenly announced he was quitting acting and pursuing a rap career. Showing up on David Letterman with bushy hair and beard and sunglasses, Phoenix proceeded to do a bizarre interview rambling about and seeming totally out of it. He kept it up in various other appearances leading to serious concerns of either drug abuse or a full-scale breakdown. As it turned out, the whole thing was an act for a documentary I’m Still Here, which failed with critics and audiences. Phoenix would earn another Oscar nomination for The Master but his earlier statements of the Oscars “being full of crap” undoubtedly cost him votes and while he continues to act, Phoenix’s wild attempt to do performance art backfired on him big time.
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