Five Hollywood Stars You Completely Forgot Existed

As a profession, acting can have a lot of ups and downs.

One second, you can be the leading man or woman every studio wants in its summer blockbuster — and the next, you can be just a character actor moving from mid-budget film to film.

Or, you can land one job that’s the equivalent to winning the lottery — and suddenly you have an artist’s dream. You work only when you want to, which may be never.

There are a million reasons an actor or actress might be pushed in our faces every day and then all of sudden, we don’t hear anything from that person — and every one of them has a story.

Here’s a look at five actors you likely forgot even existed.

1.) David Caruso. The star of “CSI: Miami” had a career full of twists and turns — and a comeback that should be put down as legendary in the business.

Caruso (pictured above left) surprised many when he stepped away from the highly praised “NYPD Blue” only four episodes into its second season in 1994. The show premiered in 1993 to rave reviews; Caruso had even earned a Golden Globe nomination. He was a rising star to watch.

The actor left the project after he didn’t secure the raise he wanted — and because he wanted to be a movie star as opposed to a television star.

For years Caruso floundered with his movie career, never matching his “NYPD Blue” success. He appeared in forgettable fare like “Jade” and “Kiss of Death,” movies barely noticed by audiences.

Then along came “CSI: Miami,” the popular spinoff of the “CSI” franchise that gave the world a David Caruso comeback. Caruso spouted off one liners and endlessly fumbled with his sunglasses for 10 seasons — until the show’s cancellation in 2012 after 232 episodes.

Now the show’s in syndication and royalty checks must be pretty good, as Caruso hasn’t had an official acting gig since the series ended.

There are still occasional TMZ and fan videos of people running into the 62-year-old Caruso. The actor looks healthy enough, but he seems to be enjoying semi-retirement right now.

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2.) Val Kilmer. In the ‘90s, Kilmer was the actor every director wanted. He was not only a charismatic leading man (“Batman Forever,” “The Doors”), he was also an engaging supporting player in some pretty fantastic films (“Tombstone,” “Heat”).

Then, toward the late ‘90s, Kilmer began making poor film choices. He turned down another “Batman” movie to work with Marlon Brando on the horrible “Island of Dr. Moreau,” for instance. The actor then for years headlined some forgettable movies that skipped theaters entirely.

Any potential comeback for him was stalled by a years-long battle with cancer that The Hollywood Reporter revealed in 2017.

Kilmer is now reportedly cancer free and is looking to revive his movie career. He’s still headlining small, independent genre fare — you probably never heard of this year’s “The Super” — but he also is reprising one of his most famous roles in “Top Gun: Maverick,” the long-awaited sequel to the classic Tom Cruise movie. That film is set to hit theaters in 2020 and will be Kilmer’s biggest gig in a long, long time.

It’s likely to remind many audience members that he’s still kicking.

3.) Joe Pesci. He’s not your typical leading man at five foot four — but Pesci (above right) has one of the most successful Hollywood careers of any actor. The hits are almost endless: “My Cousin Vinny,” “Casino,” “Goodfellas,” “Raging Bull,” “Home Alone,” “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York,” “Lethal Weapon 2,” “Lethal Weapon 3,” “Lethal Weapon 4,” etc.

He’s 75 now and moviegoers see very little of Pesci. He’s been in semi-retirement since 2006.

The actor originally said he was leaving the game to focus on his music after 1998’s “Lethal Weapon 4.” He’s released a few albums, but nothing that’s gained real traction beyond novelty appeal.

Since “Lethal Weapon 4,” Pesci has been hesitant to jump back in front of the camera. He had a small role in 2006’s “The Good Shepherd” as a favor to friend and director Robert De Niro; he appeared in 2010’s little seen “The Love Ranch”; and he even did a Snickers commercial in 2011 with the late Don Rickles. Pesci was also set to star in this year’s “Gotti” and even allegedly gained 30 pounds for his role as real-life mobster Angelo Ruggiero, but he ended up suing producers; he claimed they backed down on their promise to cast him in the film. The matter was settled out of court and the actor never appeared in the film.

Pesci is apparently still quietly focusing on his music: He appeared in the 2016 music documentary “Jimmy Scott: I Go Back Home,” and he’s seen recording a song in the film.

But Pesci soon will be making a return to the big screen. He’ll appear in Netflix’s mobster drama “The Irishman,” set to hit the streaming service next year. He’s been filming his part for the movie and it marks a reunion with director Martin Scorsese and actor Robert De Niro. The trio worked together on “Raging Bull,” “Casino” and “Goodfellas.”

(Bonus fun fact: Growing up in Newark, New Jersey, Pesci was a childhood friend of Frankie Valli — yes, that Frankie Valli — and played a key role not just in the growth of the Four Seasons but in “Jersey Boys,” the hit Broadway play and film that told their story.)

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4.) Dennis Franz. Best known for the popular series “NYPD Blue,” Franz loves life away from the camera — and it seems to be completely his choice.

“What happened was, at the end of that [‘NYPD Blue’] run, I needed a break. I was just tired. It was becoming a job, as much as I loved the work and the challenges and the creative process. At one point, in about the ninth season, I told [series creator] Steven Bochco that if we made it to season 12, that’s a good number. When we finished up, I told my agents I needed a year off, and that year went by in about 10 minutes,” the actor told the New York Post in 2015.

He continued, “I realized I’m pretty good at this and I’d like another year to think about what’s next — and during that second period of time, I sort of made my mind up that this is where I wanna be. I just wanted to live an enjoyable, irresponsible, spend-time-with-my-family kind of life. I haven’t regretted one minute of it. I’m pretty good at doing nothing.”

Franz, one of the most engaging actors to grace the small screen, is now 74. He gave “NYPD Blue” 12 seasons and over 261 episodes. He also has appeared in films like “Die Hard 2: Die Harder” and “City of Angels.”

He’s been offered TV projects since leaving “Blue,” he told the Post, but nothing has been tempting enough.

There’s still time for a Franz comeback, though, especially with the recent announcement that an “NYPD Blue” sequel series is possibly headed to the small screen soon.

5.) Linda Fiorentino. For a while, it was hard to go to the movies without seeing the Fiorentino (above middle) name on a movie poster. She starred in “After Hours,” “The Last Seduction,” “Jade,” “Men in Black,” and “Dogma,” among many other films.

Her last role, however, was in 2009.

Unfortunately, some of Fiorentino’s final roles may have soured her on Hollywood.

Director Kevin Smith revealed during a director’s commentary for 1999’s “Dogma” that even the actress was the lead in his movie, she rarely spoke to him on set. Smith has talked about Fiorentino in several other interviews, revealing she did not have a good time making “Dogma,” a controversial comedy that was a hit at the box office.

“Linda created crisis and trauma and anguish. She created drama while we were making a comedy. She was ticked off that there were other people in the movie who were more famous than she was,” said Smith.

He also said of her, “She saw the poster and went nuts. They put her head on another body because she never did a photo shoot. The body had more cleavage than she has and she was pissed that nobody approved it with her, so she refused to do any more press. It’s not like we were hinging on all that Fiorentino press — I fought to cast the woman in the movie.“

The actress, now 58, was also sued in 2001 by Art Oko Film, a German production company, that alleged she caused so many delays on a film that she forced it to cease production. She countersued, saying nude scenes were added to the film that she had not agreed to when developing the movie. The lawsuits were eventually dropped.

Since that debacle, Fiorentino has stayed out of the limelight. She has not acted, but she will occasionally put projects into development that never come to fruition.

She optioned the rights to a screenplay that never came to be in 2007 and has since tried to develop a television show about motherhood and a few documentaries.