Anyone feel bad for actors when their career dries up?

No, not very much

I do miss some actors who died before their time though

Patrick Swayze should have been in many more pictures, that guy had charisma, he was a boss on-screen but some illness got him...just horrible and sad

Nope, not at all.

😎

Real actors or stars?

Little bit. But it seems to be a brutal and fickle career with the vast majority having pretty patchy careers or none at all. So you could argue those who've had any success are actually the lucky ones.

A bit, my first career dried up when all the jobs in that field were sent overseas, so I had to go back to school. I ended up tripling my income and doing something much more interesting, but it was rough and risky for a while there. I have some sympathy for anyone who has to go through an involuntary career change, but I know from personal experience that it's not necessarily the end of the world.

The fact is that acting is like sports or dancing, a profession where most people in the field can only stay there for a few years, and for the vast majority there's no alternative but to find something new to do in one's thirties or forties. It can be interesting to see what the starlets and one-hit-wonders of yesteryear do with the rest of their lives. Did you know Peter Weller of 80s films like "Robocop" and "Buckaroo Banzai" has a PhD in Art History, and is a professor of history at a good college?

Just with actresses. You know Hollywood, you hit that certain age and you're out of a job. But i've spent the last ten years getting emotionally attached to her so it's pretty annoying.

I feel bad for the ones who only had/have small parts. They have dreams to be in bigger stuff, but they never get their chance.

Not really. They get paid very well for what they do and if they weren't smart enough to save for a rainy day then it's not my fault. Some actors also start choosing roles badly or roles that don't suit them hoping to expand or whatever and it doesn't work out. Brendan Fraser is a good example.