10 Sexy Actresses Who Should Make A Comeback

We hear the same names being recycled over and over for coveted roles that it's gotten to the point where casting announcements have become stale and predictable. It's as if big name producers have forgotten about all of the beloved actresses on IMDB that aren't getting work at the rate they used to.

Note to filmmakers: While there is a rising group of impressive young actresses already competing for spots in A-list films, why not revisit the women who were once the talk of Tinseltown to switch it up? To make the process easier, we've put together a list of former Hollywood hotties whom we miss seeing on the silver screen.

Kim Basinger was once Hollywood’s epitome of “the blonde bombshell” and she had the credentials to prove it. She was a Bond girl in Never Say Never Again, a superhero’s girlfriend in Batman, and a mysterious prostitute in L.A. Confidential, a role which won her the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.

However, in 2000, Basinger’s ugly divorce and custody battle with Alec Baldwin overshadowed her professional work and her career has never been the same. While she temporarily returned to limelight as Eminem’s mother in 8 Mile, she’s only landed roles in limited release films and straight-to-DVD dramas. If only a director would give her a role in a guaranteed blockbuster, a la Demi Moore in Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle, Basinger would definitely be back.

Mischa Barton was never a contender for Best Actress, but she did have a way of making audiences fall in love with her. As Marissa Cooper, the rich and rebellious girl next door on The O.C., Barton portrayed the archetypal high school crush to perfection.

Then Barton left the teen drama in 2006 to focus on a film career that never took off. Her would-be 2009 comeback show, The Beautiful Life, was canceled after two episodes. The actress compensated for her dwindling popularity with hard partying that landed her a DUI arrest, a trip to rehab and Perez Hilton’s scathing nickname for her, “Mushy Fartone.”

Although her collection of unflattering paparazzi pictures on the web will be difficult to erase, Barton can regain respect as an actress if she takes on a film that that’s more intelligent than the C-list horror movies she’s been doing.

After winning the Best Actress Oscar for Boys Don’t Cry and Million Dollar Baby, Hilary Swank's choice of roles have been hit or miss. While her self-produced biopics Amelia and Conviction had all the makings of Oscar-winning films, both barely made a blip on the mainstream audience’s radar, let alone the members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

So, how can Hilary Swank get her swing back and start landing punches again? We recommend that she stop producing movies that are designed for awards glory and taking time-filler roles, such as in the ensemble rom-com New Year’s Eve. Swank was most impressive when she took on characters she and the audience couldn’t ever imagine her in.

Let’s be honest. No matter how hot Halle Berry is, she hasn’t had a memorable role in years. While a few of her recent dramas, like Frankie and Alice and Things We Lost In The Fire, gained critical acclaim, widespread audiences didn’t rush to see them. Nor did they rush to see her latest film, Dark Tide, which actually made us more interested in sharks than the actress herself.

We’re not blaming her waning career entirely on her. Recently, Berry has been distracted by an intense custody battle with her baby daddy.

Luckily, Berry has two star-studded projects slated for the end of this year and early 2013, Movie 43 and Cloud Atlas. Hopefully, by then, she’ll be less preoccupied with legal issues and more focused on making what are hopefully better movies.

It's like Kate Hudson stopped trying to land meaningful roles after winning a Golden Globe for Penny Lane in Cameron Crowe’s Almost Famous. With the exception of the female favorite, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Hudson has been starring in generic rom-coms that almost make us forget she was the same Stillwater muse we fell in love with.

With her latest film A Little Bit of Heaven coming in at 4% on Rotten Tomatoes and making less than $2 million dollars worldwide, Kate Hudson should take note that the world is tired of her romantic comedies. With that said, she should look into re-teaming with Cameron Crowe or inspiring a big name director to cast her for a film that doesn't require a cheesy meet-cute.

Amanda Bynes was the Kristen Wiig of All That. With her talent for playing a variety of original, screwball characters, the teen comedienne earned her own TV show, The Amanda Show, and led a few early Aughts teen classics, including What A Girl Wants and She’s The Man. However, her early success put too much pressure on her present career, which led to a disastrous turn of Lindsay Lohan proportions.

Although Easy A proved that Bynes hardly resembles the quirky and lanky actress she once was, the 26-year-old still has time to debut her new self. That is, if she doesn't retire from acting again.

Lacey Chabert, who broke out as a child star in Party of Five, peaked with Mean Girls. After starring in Tina Fey’s hit, she was the only Plastic whose career didn’t take off. Hell, even the chick who played Janice Ian (Lizzy Caplan) found success afterwards with roles in Cloverfield and the upcoming comedy Bachelorette.

Since then, Chabert has been relegated to never-released movies, including Slightly Single in L.A. and rejected pilots like The Hot Years. But if her former Party of Five co-star Jennifer Love Hewitt can redeem herself, we think Chabert can too. Judging from how hilarious she was as Gretchen Weiner, her comeback simply hinges on finding the right comedic role.

From starring in Boyz n the Hood to her recurring role on Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Nia Long built a career on playing the level-headed yet ride-or-die girlfriend you wanted to wife up. However, Long’s career began to lose traction after 2005 with a couple of canceled series—Third Watch and Big Shots—and by relinquishing her role as the voice of Roberta Tubbs on The Cleveland Show.

Although she hasn't added another film to her IMDB resume since the indie flick Mooz-Lum in 2010, we believe her return to mainstream movies is just a matter of when her maternity leave is over. Long had her second child last November.

Winona Ryder was the queen of cool in the late '80s through the '90s. The Edward Scissorhands actress had the devil-may-care sex appeal that earned her the title of “grunge era icon," the charm that got Johnny Depp to tattoo “Winona Forever” on his arm, and the talent that merited her an Academy Award nomination for Little Women.

However, her career was sideswiped after her leading role in Girl, Interrupted was overshadowed by Angelina Jolie’s supporting performance, which ultimately won her an Oscar. Ever since her reputation was crippled by a 2001 arrest for shoplifting, none of the films she starred in after redeemed her, including her role as a washed up veteran ballerina in Black Swan.

We think Ryder should return to what she does best: playing the quirky oddball leading lady in an darkly offbeat Tim Burton film, a la Beetlejuice. It's not too late for the former Hollywood queen to get her groove back.