8 Stars Who Left Movies for TV

Ryan Phillippe won our hearts with roles in memorable '90s films like Cruel Intentions, I Know What You Did Last Summer, and after taking a hiatus from the big screen, he returned in 2008's Stop-Loss and 2011's The Lincoln Lawyer. Fans of the actor will be able to see him looking hotter than ever in ABC's upcoming crime drama, Secrets & Lies.

It's hard to think of Alec Baldwin and not immediately associate him with Jack Donaghy. Like many of the other actors on this list, Baldwin found fame with late '80s/early '90s flicks like Working Girl and The Hunt for Red October, but he wasn't exactly on top of the A-list for nearly a decade until he walked onto 30 Rock. Since then, he's hosted the Oscars, and starred in films like It's Complicated, Blue Jasmine, and most recently, Still Alice.

SJP is a huge star now, thanks to Sex and the City. Back in the day, she was better known for '80s movies, like Footloose and Girls Just Want to Have Fun, and a few '90s ones that never quite let her take off (e.g., First Wives Club). But as soon as Carrie Bradshaw showed up on the scene in her Jimmy Choos, SJP became a fashion icon and a big-screen leading lady — lest we forget those two Sex and the City movies!

Charlie Sheen peaked with favorites like Major League and Wall Street but then sort of plateaued. Enter Two and a Half Men, a simple comedy on CBS that surprisingly took off like gangbusters, earning the actor countless Emmy and Globe nominations and putting him back on the public's radar for his career. Though the controversy in his personal life ultimately led to his being fired from the show (and replaced with Ashton Kutcher), you can't deny that Sheen contributed to its success in a big way.

Mary-Louise Parker was big in the early '90s with movies like Fried Green Tomatoes, but she changed her pop culture persona forever when she landed the lead role on Showtime's Weeds as the notorious Nancy Botwin.

Kerry Washington's movie career began with Save the Last Dance in 2001, and she's gone on to build an impressive resumé with films like The Last King of Scotland, Ray and Django Unchained. It is her role as crisis management expert Olivia Pope on ABC's Scandal that has made Washington a household name; she's starred on the hit show since 2012, and has been nominated for multiple Emmys and Screen Actors Guild awards, as well as a Golden Globe for her performance.

Kiefer Sutherland made a long career out of playing villains (Stand By Me, The Lost Boys, A Time to Kill), but the first thing you think of when you hear his name now is 24's Jack Bauer. As the new modern badass, he's become an icon to guys everywhere with a role that's sure to be remembered for years to come.

You'd be hard-pressed to find a person who doesn't remember Kevin Bacon from his starring role in 1984's Footloose, and he also went on star in A Few Good Men, Apollo 13, and Mystic River. Bacon made his small-screen debut in 2013 when he joined the Fox crime drama The Following, in which he stars as a former FBI agent hunting down a serial killer. The role garnered him a People's Choice Awards in 2014, and the show is about to begin its third season.