I was reading about Ross Kemp who went from zero to hero in the eyes of the British military. Similarly, I don’t believe Jane Fonda has overcome her visit to Hanoi. But have other actors and celebs turned around their reputations? Not necessarily with the military.
Angelina Jolie is the first one that comes to mind.
Paris Hilton certainly didn’t get to hero, but she grew from “earthworm” to “ground scampering mammal” with her response to the John McCain ad.
Not sure about Jolie or Hilton, but I thought of Mark Wahlberg. When he first hit the scene, he was a preening boy band tool with a history of thuggish behavior. After Boogie Nights he’s become a respected actor.
Similarly, Justin Timberlake. Boy band singer, Britney’s boyfriend, wardrobe malfunction… a few good albums, good films (he was awesome in Alpha Dog), and great SNL performances, and he’s credible.
Wil Wheaton went from that extraordinarily annoying character and general mamby-pamby to celeb I’d most like to spark up with at a P-Funk show. All on the basis of his blog and ST:TNG reviews.
William Shatner managed to reverse a pretty widely held negative image of himself as a self-important blowhard by relentlessly lampooning his image as a self-important blowhard.
agreed
I don’t know that he’s turned into a hero, but with Brittany Spears’ post-divorce meltdown, Kevin Federline has been left looking like a mature adult and responsible parent in comparison.
John Travolta was definitely at the bottom of the list before “Pulp Fiction.”
What is he now, after “Battlefield Earth”?
I caught 5 minutes of that and 5 minutes was far too long.
Not sure Jane Fonda is rehabilitated that much it’s just that she is allowed get away with it and a lot of people either don’t remember or never heard about the incidents in the first place.
I’d say Bruce Willis.
Oh, I always thought Tom Cruise was a nob till he did that skit on MTV with Ben Stiller as his “double”.
Of course he’s since slipped back to a big fat 0 …
Jamie Oliver - from mockney moron to health crusader…possibly on the way back down again now though.
I know it was just the character she played, but I can’t say I had a whole lot of respect for Christina Applegate back in her Kelly Bundy days. Now… wow. Even before the whole breast cancer thing, I thought she had really turned her career around with her last couple of sitcoms, but I definitely have a newfound respect for her seeing how she is facing adversity with such a positive attitude.
Drew Barrymore…she got the drug stuff out of the way early, but into her early 20s she definitely had a “bad girl” image, posing nude, flashing Dave Letterman, and starring in movies like Poison Ivy.
Her image is now that of the perpetually smiling girl-next-door. It seems to have started with The Wedding Singer.