The Real Reason You Don't Hear From These Sci-Fi Stars Anymore

Few actors get pigeonholed more than sci-fi actors. Comedic actors often turn to drama, action stars will make slower paced movies — but once someone is labeled a "sci-fi star," that's often their lot in life. Leonard Nimoy famously had a hard time finding roles outside Spock, so much so that his first autobiography was titled I Am Not Spock. This, in part, explains why so many just disappear — which we're going to be looking at here.

These aren't just actors who have taken on smaller projects or became indie darlings when mainstream audiences weren't looking — these actors just up and stopped acting, period. Of course, it's hard to remain too anonymous in the internet age, especially when many of them weren't even hiding in the first place. Many just took new jobs in the industry, while some left it entirely. Here's explanations for why you don't see some of your favorite sci-fi stars anymore.

Keith Hamilton Cobb played tough-as-nails mercenary Tyr Anasazi on Andromeda. As natural as he was at playing an intergalactic leg-breaker, the role was something of an outlier for Cobb — he was a trained theater actor who made his name on soap operas. He returned to the soap world after Andromeda wrapped, and hasn't appeared in any kind of screen role since 2007. He hasn't, however, abandoned acting — he's just moved entirely to stage acting, alongside several other creative endeavors like furniture making and writing.

In particular, Cobb has spent the last several years working on and touring with his show American Moor. Based on an uncomfortable audition for a Shakespeare play, American Moor acts as Cobb's dissection of the issue of race in theater. During the 90 minute show, an actor — played by Cobb himself — auditions for the title role in Othello, all while the unseen director pushes back against the performance. The first reading took place in 2013, and he's since toured the country with it — including an off-Broadway run in 2019.

Brandy Ledford started her career as a Penthouse Pet, but dropped nude modeling and went to acting school. Her first movie role was a small part in Demolition Man and she had a major part during season two of Syfy's The Invisible Man, but her most notable role was the android Doyle in season five of Andromeda. She still describes it as her favorite role, saying on the Recovery Rockstars Uncut podcast, "I just got to be real strong and fierce and sexy and beautiful but still smart, and that was rare." But acting work dried up not long after that, due partially to motherhood but far more to addiction.

Ledford started smoking marijuana at age 11, and by 14 she was regularly doing coke and drinking alcohol. She spent almost all her modeling days doing uppers and downers to keep going, and would stay clean while shooting but party too much after work. Having a child kept her clean for a few years, but her old habits eventually destroyed her marriage and her relationship with her son. She stopped acting altogether. 

After a mental health incident forced her into rehab, she started getting her life back together. She also had what she deems a "miracle baby" at age 44. Ledford has been sober since 2012 and regularly shares her story of addiction to help people. She hasn't retired, and with a story like this a comeback can't be ruled out.

Jenette Goldstein is best known for playing space marine Vasquez in Aliens, which was just the start for the character actress. She'd appear in many sci-fi properties afterwards, including Max Headroom, Clockstoppers, and Star Trek Generations. She also played Janelle Voight, John Connor's foster mom in Terminator 2: Judgment Day – yes, that's her saying "Wolfie's just fine." Her screen credits started slowing down around the mid-2000s, with her last major live action role being a 2010 guest spot on Medium. This is, in large part, due to her starting a new business venture.

Goldstein started Jenette Bras with her husband in 2009. Stemming from her frustration in finding bras that could accommodate both her large bust and small ribcage, the store lives by the motto "the alphabet starts at D." She started by importing high end bras from Europe and her business grew so much that she now has five stores in two states. Goldstein told CNBC in 2016 that she was on pace for $1.7 million in sales that year and she was now more recognized around Los Angeles as "the bra lady" than as an actress.

Anthony Simcoe was the human behind D'Argo, Farscape's Luxan warrior. Playing the role from 1999 to 2004, the 6'5 Australian combined his intimidating figure with a natural charm to make one of the most memorable characters of the series. The heavy prosthetics meant that he could have had a long career post-Farscape just as himself. Instead, he spent a few years taking smaller roles before leaving acting altogether.

Simcoe's Twitter page describes him as a "former actor." After he retired, he started Simcoe Consulting, a global firm that teaches business communication. He's hired by companies across the world to help with professional training, using skills he learned during his time acting. He stated on the Punching Sideways podcast, "I've got a real passion for helping people get along," adding, "I'm one of those lucky people who found their thing." He's also a doctoral student studying storytelling and machine learning.

Jake Lloyd was a rising child star when he was cast as Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. It's hard to imagine a role with higher expectations, a burden too big for anyone — let alone a kid. Response to his performance, which many at the time deemed unremarkable if not worse, fed into issues that led to his retirement from acting.

Lloyd quit around 2001, but still made the odd convention appearance. In 2012, he made clear in an interview with the Sun (via the Daily Mail) that his disillusionment with acting was traced directly to Star Wars. "My entire school life was really a living hell," he said, "and I had to do up to 60 interviews a day." His schoolmates bullied him about the role, often making lightsaber sounds to mock him. Lloyd blamed George Lucas in particular and destroyed every piece of Star Wars memorabilia he owned.

In 2015, after Lloyd physically assaulted his mother, she confirmed to TMZ that he was diagnosed with schizophrenia when he was 19. Later that year, he was arrested after a high speed chase for reckless driving, driving without a license, and resisting arrest. He was moved to a psychiatric facility while awaiting trial, and his family issued a statement to Geek News Now in early 2020 saying that he had moved closer to them to help with his mental health struggles.

Jennifer Lien played Kes, one of the original ensemble members on Star Trek: Voyager. She played an Ocampa, a psionic race with a life expectancy of eight or nine years. Both her powers and her short lifespan were fodder for many stories, implying that viewers would watch her entire life within the series. Alas, this was not to be — Kes was written off the show in season four to accommodate the arrival of Seven of Nine.

Lien worked for a few more years after leaving Voyager, such as voicing Agent L on the Men in Black cartoon, before retiring from acting around 2001. During a 2010 interview with StarTrek.com, she said "I have kids, I study, and I'm active with a life that doesn't involve acting anymore." She added that she was taking college courses with the goal of becoming a nurse, dietician, or nutritionist — whatever would give her the most time with her family.

Things have taken a pretty sharp decline since that interview. From 2015 onward, Lien has been arrested and charged several times, stemming from mental health issues. In April of 2015, she was arrested after ramming the front of a police cruiser during a chase. Later that year, she was arrested for indecent exposure, apprehended nude after refusing to put on clothes. Both these charges were later dismissed after she paid restitution. In 2018, she was arrested twice in two weeks for driving with a revoked license.