As I recall, Snipes started going out of control, with brushes with the law – had a misdemeanor charge of carrying a loaded weapon, led police on a car chase in Florida and crashed a motorcycle to end the chase, and then faced tax evasion and fraud charges.

His movies were also getting poor reviews and box office roller coaster. He tried branching out but it seemed his best route were action films. So, he slumped, but then made a comeback with “Blade” and “Blade 2” which both did well, but the third film was a disappointment and he ended up suing the producers. So, he’s been hit or miss for years, and if you look at box office and Rotten Tomatoes ratings, he’s all over the place. He’s got some great box office but lower ratings, high ratings but low box office, and a lack of consistency.

It’s hard to know why, but the inconsistency may have been a factor. Hollywood likes best its bankable stars, and as a top billed actor, Snipes was inconsistent, which makes investing in his films a risk. He had a good fit in action films but even there, film performance was unreliable.

There is a time when an actor peaks, and most actors settle after that into a more moderate career. The issue I think with Snipes is that he isn’t a character actor, could never settle into humming along at a nice level career. He is for all intents and purposes, a star. He’s the kind of actor that fills a big screen, and that suits him best. So the problem is what do you do with a star that doesn’t fit in smaller roles or on a smaller screen, and who doesn’t get consistent good reviews or box office. It’s really the problem of where does he fit.

Many major actors from the 80s disappeared from view, and many of them came back in different context. Being a big star can certainly have its disadvantages – the one main problem being how do you stay on top. Many don’t. To be more correct I think would be to say, few do.