Actors We’d Love to See Make a Comeback 

Last Updated on February 23, 2023

After years toiling in obscurity, two beloved icons, Brendan Fraser and Ke Huy Quan, launched major comebacks this year with The Whale and Everything Everywhere All At Once. In light of their recent Oscar nominations, we thought it would be fun to brainstorm a list of other actors we think are overdue for a comeback.

Tia Carrere 

While technically, she’s been around without a break in her career, her parts over the last decade and more have been mostly voice work and guest appearances on television shows and in lower budget movies. Her work is always stellar and her presence online during the pandemic was a breath of fresh air. Her Aloha Friday live posts were something that kept many in a positive mood. Anyone who has met her will most likely say the same thing, she’s a joy to meet and absolutely fantastic. Online buzz has been building in some circles to get her Relic Hunter series rebooted and get her back on our screens regularly. Fans of the show, fans of Wayne’s World, and Tia’s fans in general loved seeing her in Easter Sunday recently and she’s been seen in action films like Showdown in Manila, so a comeback with a lead part for her seems like a no-brainer!  

Rick Moranis 

Spotted recently in a commercial, Moranis was supposed to be retired, but interviews seem to indicate that he may be open to some work in front of the camera, so perhaps it’s a question of the right part coming along for him. In Ghostbusters: Afterlife, he was the only old school actor whose character did not even get a mention. How hard would it have been to just name drop Louis Tully? Even if Moranis passed on the part, they could have added Tully to the staff at Zeddemore’s new business or mentioned him at some point. Most fans would love to have him in the next Ghostbusters – even in a small part. Of course, we’d all love to see him in a massive, major role where he gets to be the lead and shine, potentially leading to an award or two. His work back in the day was always fun, and oftentimes touching even when it was meant to be silly. A whole generation grew up watching him and they want him back. 

Staci Keanan 

A 1990s television darling and one of the many teens in Step by Step, Keanan was a household name at one point. Before Step by Step, she was on My Two Dads and Going Places. However, Staci has pretty much fully disappeared from screen since 2017 and was making herself scarce even before that. While a lot of her peers seem to have found careers making family films, holiday movies, and horror/scifi direct to VOD films, she just has not been seen much, especially these last few years. Some of her fans want her back and she has some fun films on her resume including the Gregg Araki movie Nowhere which had a stellar cast who are all still active or coming back lately, so why not Keanan as well?  

Fairuza Balk 

Another case of someone who’s not fully done, but she’s been pretty quiet, with some voice work and some appearances here and there. Balk was beloved in the 1990s and she was an idol for many a goth girl back in the day. Those goth girls are now happily weird adults who for sure would want to see her again and get more of her than appearances and voice over work. She was an icon and still is basically. Her convention appearances recently have been fun and she’s always so great with fans. She seems like shoe-in for a return to perhaps horror, maybe she could even join a major horror franchise. It feels like she’s overdue another big movie in the genre and that fans would eat it up were she to be the lead in something with a big budget and a few sequels all starring her. Her style and her personality would make for a welcome change in leading ladies. Also, her The Craft costars Neve Campbell and Rachel True have been doing quite well recently. Maybe teaming them up and bringing Robin Tunney, who’s also due for a comeback, would create a fun film for all to watch. 

Rider Strong 

Rider Strong is another case where the actor has kept working, with lots of voice work and guest appearances, such as a part on the Girl Meets World reboot of Boy Meets World. That being said, Strong hasn’t been in anything huge in terms of films and it would be really fun to see him back in some horror part, maybe some body horror even. His work in Cabin Fever was interesting and most teen girls of the 1990s remember him fondly for his comedic timing, his knack for drama in less serious settings (honestly, go rewatch Boy Meets World with grown-up eyes, his work is great), and he was always all over those magazines like Bop and Tiger beat along with Devon Sawa who is seeing a serious resurgence in his career in the last few years with some fantastic action and horror films as well as in the Chucky television series.  

Of course, a ton more would be more than welcome to make comebacks and some we are most likely forgetting in this trek into our past entertainment stars and who we’d want back on our screens. Some are already making comebacks, so we basically left them out of this on purpose. Of course, we’re forgetting plenty, and you are more than welcome to remind us of them in the comments. Who would you have included? JTT, Sasha Mitchell, Kary Parsons, Jordan Ladd, Stuart Townsend? The film business is a fickle one and many seem to fall into the forgotten realm for one reason or another, while some deliberately leave the industry, but their fans never seem to forget them.