Some actors nail villains so well you root for them. Anthony Hopkins did it. Christoph Waltz too. But what happens when the menace spills off set? You still clapping? This list tracks 10 performers whose off-camera behaviour turned them from fan favourites into genuine cautionary tales.
Danny Masterson
Not even Danny Masterson’s ties to Scientology saved him. In 2023, a jury convicted him and a judge handed down 30 years to life for raping two women in 2003.
Jared Fogle
People remember Jared Fogle as Subway’s mascot, not his failed acting cameos in Jack & Jill or Sharknado. Did you miss the warning signs back then? In 2015, aged 37, he fell hard, convicted on child pornography and exploitation charges, sentenced to 15 years in federal prison after years online.
Michael Jace
Most people remember Michael Jace as Officer Julien Lowe on FX’s The Shield. Then he disappeared. In 2014, at 48, he shot his wife, April, during an argument at their Los Angeles home. A jury convicted him of second-degree murder. He’s serving 40 years to life.
O.J. Simpson
O.J. Simpson nearly became The Terminator in 1984, until Hollywood called him a “nice guy.” By 1994, he was America’s most watched suspect after his wife and Ronald Goldman were killed. Acquitted criminally, he still lost in civil court. Public opinion made its own verdict.
Joe Son
Joe Son built a career playing henchmen, most famously Random Task in 1997’s Austin Powers. Off-screen, the menace was real. Convicted for a 1990 gang rape and felony torture, Son later killed his cellmate in 2011.
Victor Salva
Victor Salva, director of Jeepers Creepers, served 15 months for filming the abuse of 12-year-old Nathan Forrest Winters on Clownhouse. But Hollywood still rolled out the red carpet for him. He returned to directing.
Mark Salling
Mark Salling joined the so-called Glee curse list after pleading guilty to possessing child sexual abuse material. Investigators found tens of thousands of files on his computer. In 2018, before sentencing, he died by suicide.
Ryan Grantham
Ryan Grantham, the actor who played Rodney in Diary of a Wimpy Kid in 2010, went from kid-comedy laughs to courtroom silence. In 2020, in his early 20s, he killed his mother. A 2022 sentence brought life in prison, parole barred 14 years, eligibility landing 2036.
Isaiah Stokes
Isaiah Stokes played criminals on Blue Bloods and Law & Order: SVU, then crossed a line in 2021. Prosecutors say the 45-year-old tracked Tyrone Jones with GPS and fired 11 shots after a birthday party fight.
Bill Cosby
Bill Cosby sold sweaters, jokes, and trust for decades, then lost it all. Allegations from dozens of women wrecked the act. A 2018 conviction followed, prison time too. In 2021, a technicality freed him. But the damage stuck.
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