7 Actors Who Decided To Ditch Entire Film Genres

“I’m not trying to compete with 25-year-old leading men.”

Talented actors are often capable of taking on a variety of roles across many different film genres -- but they don’t always get the chance to showcase their full range. Instead, actors sometimes get caught up making one kind of movie on repeat or get typecast in a certain role. That’s why a handful of film stars have decided to swear off certain genres, in the hopes of showing off their capabilities elsewhere. Whether it was rom-coms or action flicks, these stars said “no” while working to redefine their careers.

Find out why these stars gave up on certain genres..

George Clooney

George Clooney has portrayed an onscreen heartthrob for the majority of his career but he no longer has any interest in taking on romantic roles. Following 2022’s Ticket to Paradise, George explained that he just doesn’t feel like competing against younger actors in the romance genre.

“Look, I’m 63 years old. I’m not trying to compete with 25-year-old leading men,” George recently said on 60 Minutes. “That’s not my job. I’m not doing romantic films anymore.”

Liam Neeson

Liam Neeson has made over a dozen movies in the action film genre but he says he’s ready to hang up his hat. While Liam says he currently has no problem keeping up with action roles physically, he knows that one day he won’t be able to fight like he used to and doesn’t want to have to constantly rely on his stunt double Mark Vanselow. He shared that he plans to step away from action movies “maybe the end of” 2025.

“I’m 72 -- it has to stop at some stage,” Liam recently told PEOPLE “You can’t fool audiences. I don’t want Mark to be fighting my fight scenes for me.”

Matthew McConaughey

Early in Matthew McConaughey’s career, he made a name for himself starring in rom-coms -- but eventually decided that it wasn’t the direction he wanted to take his career. He made a conscious decision to turn down any rom-coms that came his way and even notably turned down a $14.5 million payday. Once studios realized he was serious about taking different kinds of roles, the offers dried up.

“No offers came in for almost a year and a half. I was now shaking hands with the fact that I may never work in Hollywood again. It pinched me a little, but I was okay with it. It was time for a new chapter in my life,” Matthew told AARP.

It took time but studios finally began to accept that Matthew was on a new path. He went on to land major roles in dramas like Dallas Buyers Club and The Lincoln Lawyer.

Clint Eastwood

Clint Eastwood’s early career focused on playing the leading man in Western films like The Outlaw Josey Wales and Pale Rider but after years of playing a cowboy-type, Clint decided to walk away from Westerns. In 1992, after his film Unforgiven took home Best Picture at the Oscars, he said he didn’t think he’d do any more.

“That was a wonderful script. But it seemed like it was the end of the road for me with the genre, because it sort of summarized everything I felt about the Western at that particular time," he shared with Esquire in 2008.

Although he walked away from the genre for decades, he eventually returned to his roots in 2021’s Cry Macho.

Jackie Chan

In 2012, Jackie Chan announced that he was done with action films after building his career on his martial arts and stunt skills. He explained that he thought the world was already too violent and wanted to make Chinese Zodiac his “last big action movie.” While he did say he would still keep his commitments to The Karate Kid and Rush Hour franchises, he said he wanted to focus on more serious parts.

“The world is too violent now. I love fighting but I hate violence,” he said during a press conference. “I want the audience to know I’m not just about fighting, also I can act. And so, day by day, year by year, I said, ‘Right, I’m going to show you the real Jackie Chan.’ I don’t just want to be an action star, I want to be a true actor.”

Michael Douglas

Michael Douglas has appeared in his fair share of Marvel movies but he doesn’t want to take part in any further MCU flicks. In fact, Michael says he asked to be killed off Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania but his pitch was turned down. In the future, he says he’s just not going to show up to film.

“[Getting killed off] actually was my request for the third one,” he said on The View. “I said I’d like to have a serious [death], with all these great special effects. There’s got to be some fantastic way where I can shrink to an ant size and explode, whatever it is. I want to use all those effects. But, that was on the last one. Now, I don’t think I’m going to show up.”

Viggo Mortensen

Since taking part in the Lord of the Rings franchise, Viggo Mortensen has taken a step back from franchise films. While he’s not completely opposed, he says most of them are “not usually that good” and “not usually that well written.” Instead, he opts for films that tell “interesting stories.”

“I would never do a movie just because so-and-so is directing it. It has to be about the story. And if I think I’m right for the character, that always comes first. That goes for franchises,” he told Vanity Fair. “But they’re not usually that good. I mean, to me, they’re not usually that well written. They’re kind of predictable. I mean, of course there’s always the issue of if I run out of money.”