Actors we wish were still making movies

Nicholson has retired to such a degree that he’s not even the staple of the Academy Awards anymore. If you want to see Nicholson these days, you have to go to a Lakers game. The three-time Oscar winner hasn’t been in a movie since 2010’s “How Do You Know,” which came a few years after the end-of-life-themed “The Bucket List.”

Hackman had a great career, including winning two Oscars. He played Lex Luthor! And yet, Hackman decided to hang it up after making the mediocre comedy “Welcome to Mooseport” way back in 2004. Yes, it’s been 15 years since we last saw him in any real role, though he did have a small uncredited cameo in Clint Eastwood’s “The Mule.”

Moranis was a staple of comedy movies in the 1980s. However, tragedy struck his life in the ‘90s when his wife passed away. As a single father who had plenty of money to fall back on, Moranis took what he called a hiatus from acting in 1997. Since then he has done a couple of voice acting roles, but we are still holding out hope that he will return to the screen. There’s still time, especially now that his kids are adults. Weirdly, and infamously, Moranis made a "return" of sorts by appearing in a Mint Mobile ad. No, really.

Day-Lewis is arguably the most accomplished actor of his generation. He’s also a somewhat eccentric guy known for going deep into roles and being a method actor. That can probably be a drain on you. As such, Day-Lewis has said that his most recent film, “Phantom Thread,” will be his last. With Day-Lewis, though, you never know for sure. He’s already got three Oscars for Best Actor. If he wants to retire to cobble shoes, another of his talents, that’s his business.

This is a fresh retirement, so you may not even realize that you’ve been missing out on Diaz just yet. Though she’s only 47, Diaz has declared that her final movie was 2014’s “Annie.” So far, she has stuck to that, as in 2017 she said she was tired of acting and dealing with the stress of a film career. If she doesn’t like acting anymore, we hope she stays retired for her sake, but we’d like to see the film star on screen again.

Bynes was a rising young star before her life became overwhelmed by her personal issues. that led to take an indefinite hiatus from acting way back in 2009, when she was only 23. Her last film was 2010’s “Easy A,” and she then turned her attention to fashion and getting her life on track. Her mental health is the most important thing, but if she wants to act and feels up to it, we’d love to see her restart her film career.

You know Gleeson better as the vile Joffrey from “Game of Thrones,” but he’s also done some film acting. It would have been great to see Gleeson get a chance to break free of that role, but he had other ideas. The Irish actor declared himself retired way back in 2014 when he was in his early 20s. Since then he has gotten back into acting a bit, but only on the stage. He also appeared on a wrestling show under the name of “TV’s Jack Gleeson.” However, he is listed as being in the cast of an upcoming BBC show, "Out of Her Mind."

Hey, Cates will always have been in “Gremlins” and “Gremlins 2,” so her career is golden. Then she married actor Kevin Kline and retired to focus on raising their children, which includes the musician Greta Kline from the band Frankie Cosmos. Since 1994, she’s appeared in all of one film, 2001’s “The Anniversary Party," which was directed by her “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” co-star Jennifer Jason Leigh, so it may have just been a favor. Hopefully she has more favors coming.

Redford has had an iconic career that has spanned decades. He’s starred in classic films and directed a few of them as well. He declared that his 2018 film, “The Old Man and the Gun,” would be his last, and it was a good movie to go out on. Of course since then he’s made a cameo in “Avengers: Endgame,” so maybe this isn’t as definitive of a retirement as others.

Wilson was one of the foremost child actors of her generation, but like a lot of child actors her career didn’t continue into adulthood. However, for Wilson, it seemed to be at least partially by choice. She’s emerged in recent years as a writer but has dipped her toe back into acting a bit. She’s done a few voice roles and had a small appearance in “Broad City,” but her last film was in 2000.

Cook has kept working, but you might not know it. She seemed primed to become a star, but then “Josie and the Pʊssycats” flopped and basically ended her movie career. Since then, almost all her films have been the “direct-to-video” type, and these days she’s one of those actresses starring in Hallmark movies. She should be starring in the equivalent of those Hallmark romantic comedies on the big screen still.

There are many child actors who don’t really make it into adult stardom. Thomas was a huge star in the ‘90s on TV and in the movies; however, since 2005, the only acting he has done is on four episodes of “Last Man Standing,” Tim Allen’s current sitcom. It would be interesting to see what he can do as an adult actor in a movie if given the chance.

We don’t need to go over Ryder’s resume. She’s starred in movies like “Beetlejuice” and “Edward Scissorhands," but then there was a time when Ryder was largely unseen. Fortunately, she’s back to being a star thanks to “Stranger Things,” where she plays Joyce Byers. That’s a TV show, though. Let’s get the ‘90s superstar back in movies!

Estevez, the once-and-future Gordon Bombay, has acted in only two movies since 2006, and both were small films he also wrote and directed. He seems content to be working on his own things at his whim, but he could be doing more than that if he chooses. Somehow, his brother Charlie Sheen is making more movies than Estevez is.

It feels fitting that Lange, a two-time Oscar winner, starred as Joan Crawford in “Feud,” a show that was in part about how women are often forgotten by Hollywood once they get to a certain age. Other than Ryan Murphy’s love of her — she appears in basically every show he does — Lange’s workload has dropped off from the days of movies like “Tootsie.”

If you grew up in the ‘80s, you’ll recognize Schoeffling’s name for sure. He was Jake Ryan in “Sixteen Candles,” after all. However, after 1991’s “Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken,” he hasn’t made a single acting appearance. There’s a reason for that, as Schoeffling decided to retire from acting and instead make a living making furniture. He will likely never act again, but we’d like to see it happen.

Susan Sarandon has been acting forever and shows no sign of stopping. That’s not the case for her daughter, Eva Amurri. After making the 2016 film “Mothers and Daughters,” which featured her mother, Amurri decided to retire from acting. She’s stuck to it so far, but she’s only 34, which means she has plenty of time to change her mind.

Speaking of Sarandon, she and Davis made quite the pair in the iconic film “Thelma and Louise.” That’s just the tip of the iceberg on Davis’ career. In the 2010s, though, she had only acting roles in three live-action movies, the last of which was in 2017. On a positive note, Davis had a recurring role in the three seasons of “GLOW,” where she proved her talent is still there. She’s also been working as the head of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, trying to improve the roles offered to women in entertainment.