10 Iconic Stars From The ’80s and ’90s Who Made Impressive Career Comebacks

The ‘80s and ‘90s are the golden phases of entertainment. There are many stars who left the mark on the audience’s hearts with impressive roles in blockbuster movies or sweet voices in catchy tunes. They also shape a plethora of fashion trends: stirrup pants, leather jackets, big sleeves, and waist accessories.
But stars may come and go. Many singers and actors are hard-pressed to keep the momentum of their careers going. That could be due to a lull in work, or some occurrences keeping their on-screen appearance in pause. As fame is in the need of a lot of work and consistency, being absent after a period of time will make it hard for them to reclaim what they’ve achieved.
Be that as it may, there are many celebrities who strike a massively impressive comeback. With their hard work, they returned and got stronger. In this post, we’ve enlisted 8 stars who have a successful comeback after a long break.

#1 Winona Ryder

Source: 20thCentFox / Courtesy Everett Collection / East News, Invision / Invision / East News

Winona Ryder, known as the "It Girl" of the 1990s, starred in a number of big-budget movies, including Beetle Juice and Edward Scissorhands. But when Ryder became embroiled in a scandal, her fame quickly got tarnished, then she decided to take a break from the Entertainment industry. She made her long-awaited comeback by portraying an old dancer in Black Swan in 2010, and most recently, she played Joyce Byers in the hugely popular television series Stranger Things.

#2 Robert Downey Jr.

Source: TriStar Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection / East News, AFP / East News

Robert Downey Jr. got success in the '80s and '90s before he portrayed Iron Man with roles in films like Chances Are and Chaplin, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award. However, RDJ reached his lowest point in 1996, when he began to spend more time in courtrooms and treatment centers than on stage performing. Then, in 2008, he was granted a second chance to play Tony Stark in Marvel's Iron Man. His time with Marvel turned out to be his saving grace since it propelled his career to new heights and allowed him to hold the title of the highest-paid actor in the world for three years in a row.

#3 Paula Abdul

Source: Courtesy Everett Collection / East News, © s_bukley / Depositphotos.com

Paula Abdul, a pop singer, and choreographer scored numerous Billboard chart-topping singles in the 1980s and 1990s. But once she sustained an accident, her singing career gradually started to decline. She featured on various reality shows after that, but her appearance as a judge on American Idol in 2002 marked her biggest comeback.

#4 Drew Barrymore

Source: MGM/Courtesy Everett Collection/ East News, © drewbarrymore/Instagram

When Drew Barrymore turned into an "unemployable disaster" at the age of 14, her future didn't seem as promising. She was a child star in the 1980s, best known for her part in E.T. Years later, she was able to get back on track and continued to work on some of our favorite films, including 50 First Dates and The Wedding Singer.

#5 Kevin Costner

Source: Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection / East News, Hanashiro-USA TODAY/Sipa USA/East News

Kevin Costner, who starred in hit movies including The Bodyguard and Waterworld, was one of the most well-known actors of the 1990s. In addition, he received an Oscar for his role in Dances With Wolves. He took a break from acting in movies starting in 2000, but Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit and Draft Day marked his triumphant return.

#6 Neil Patrick Harris

Source: EAST NEWS, Kristin Callahan/Everett Collection/ East News

When celebrities grow up in the limelight, they get a special place in the hearts of their fans. Like Drew Barrymore, Neil Patrick Harris was a child actor and achieved many triumphs with his role in Doogie Howser, M.D. But after the show ended, Harris had no new tasks to complete. Harris, though, was cast as Barney in How I Met Your Mother after making a funny appearance in Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle. He rose to fame as a result of this role, which has since grown to be one of the most important ones in the program.

#7 Jeff Goldblum

Source: 20thCentFox/Courtesy Everett Collection/ / East News, Collin Xavier/Image Press Agency ABACA/Abaca/East News

In the 1990s, Jeff Goldblum played leading roles in blockbusters like Independence Day and Jurassic Park. He had a significant comeback in 2014 and was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award for his co-starring role in The Grand Budapest Hotel. He has since made appearances in Thor: Ragnarok and Thor: Love and Thunder from Marvel.

#8 Natasha Lyonne

Source: © Dennis the Menace / Hughes Entertainment and co-producers, © R*ian Doll / Universal Television and co-producers

Teen movie fans from the 1990s couldn’t have gotten enough of Natasha Lyonne in movies like American Pie or Dennis the Menace. She was a charming and amusing performer, but she also battled a number of personal problems that drove her to withdraw from the spotlight. Her biggest role to date in Orange Is the New Black came about after she overcame her problems. Her work on the comedy-drama series, for which she received three Emmy nods, is her most recent accomplishment.