'80s leading movie stars whose careers changed almost overnight — and the surprising reasons why

Treatments and tweakments are a common enough sight on the red carpet, but for Jennifer Grey a nose job ended up changing the path of her career entirely. In her 2022 memoir Out of the Corner, Jennifer recalled via Vanity Fair: “After Dirty Dancing, I was America’s sweetheart, which you would think would be the key to unlocking all my hopes and dreams. But it didn’t go down that way.”

After her star role opposite Patrick Swayze, the actress was told her nose was "a problem" and had two rhinoplasties which left it "truncated" and "dwarfed". Such a noticeable change meant that the actress looked completely different overnight, to such an extent that photographers struggled to recognise her.

Rob Lowe might have been the '80s resident heartthrob, but he didn't have a squeaky clean reputation to match his teen star status. In 1988, he allegedly picked up a 16-year-old girl and her 23-year-old friend outside Club Rio in Atlanta, proceeding to film a sex tape that was later leaked to the press. After its release, Rob maintained he wasn't aware one of the girls was underage and settled a lawsuit with her family.

He has since changed his life for the better, tackling personal issues with substance abuse. Rob told Sirius XM' The Jess Cagle Show, "It's one of the reasons why I got sober. I woke up one day and I was like, 'What am I doing with my life?' I'm 29 years in and like people talk, but it's the best thing that ever happened to me."

Making the decision to walk away from fame often comes from a combination of personal changes and practical necessity. For Ghostbusters star Rick Moranis, both weighed heavily following the death of his wife. 

The actor stepped away from the spotlight at the height of his career to prioritize raising his children. Now that they're all grown-up, it seems a major comedy comeback might be on the cards with a return to the Star Wars spoof franchise Spaceballs due in 2027.

Blade Runner star Sean Young found fame throughout the '80s but also became the target of Hollywood high-ups, including directors and co-stars. After rejecting the advances of several powerful industry stars, the actress was 'locked out' of the industry and labelled "difficult" to work with.

She claimed that directors like Ridley Scott and Warren Beatty blacklisted her for rejecting their advances, and recounted to Top 10 Films that she underwent an incredibly uncomfortable audition process for director Roger Donaldson, who asked the actress to lift up her skirt so he could check for scars in 1987.

With recent star roles in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice and Stranger Things, it's hard to imagine a world where Winona Ryder wasn't ruling the screen. But after a run of '80s successes including Girl, Interrupted and Heathers, Winona made headlines when she was convicted with shoplifting $5,000 worth of clothes from Saks Fifth Avenue in December 2001. 

She subsequently took a break from Hollywood, taking time to focus on her own passions away from the red carpet. “A lot of people had the perception that I just disappeared in the 2000s. And I did, but only from that world," she explained to Porter, via The Independent. “I appeared elsewhere, I promise you. I was transformed into doing stuff I really wanted to do – it was a great awakening. It just wasn’t in the public eye.”

For Kelly McGillis, continued stardom seemed an inevitable end for the actress with star roles in Top Gun, Witness and The Accused. But right before the Millennium, Kelly stepped back from the spotlight to focus on her family and her own wellbeing.

She's now working away from the screen at a drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre in South Jersey, supporting women on their own journey to sobriety. "I work a five-day, 40-hour week… It's just an amazing gift to see people come in hopeless and to be given some hope," she told The Oklahoman. 

Ferris Bueller's Day Off star Matthew Broderick's life changed forever during a tragic car crash in 1987. While driving with his then-girlfriend Jennifer Grey, Matthew crossed into the wrong lane and struck a Volvo, instantly killing its two passengers, Anna Gallagher and Margaret Doherty.

He was charged with causing death by dangerous driving and convicted of a lesser charge of careless driving in 1988. He was ordered to pay a fine of $175.