but for most, that's about it.

With a rising career just ten years ago, Cuthbert was predicted to be one of Hollywood's hottest

up and coming actresses.

Now fans are left to wonder what she's been up to these days.

So, why won't Hollywood cast Elisha Cuthbert anymore?

TV trap

Cuthbert's acting career began at the age of 14 with her breakout role as Megan on Nickelodeon's

Are You Afraid of the Dark?

She played the same character steadily from 1996-2000, which resulted in her earning lead

roles in small movies like Dancing on the Moon and Time at the Top.

While none of these films were received very well by audiences or critics, the added experience

helped pave the way for her to grab her most recognizable role as Kim Bauer on the hit

television show 24.

Cuthbert probably couldn't have foreseen it would still be her most recognizable role

ten years later, especially once she ditched the series after three seasons to focus on

her film career and was met with middling results.

Girl Next Door

In 2004, Cuthbert played Danielle in The Girl Next Door, a young retired porn star who moves

in next door to an average high school senior, ultimately changing his life forever.

The studio hoped it would be a huge hit, somewhere in the vein of Pretty Woman and American Pie,

but that … wasn't the case.

The movie didn't exactly flop, but it wasn't the breakout hit Cuthbert might've hoped for

to catapult her into big screen relevance.

Then House of Wax happened.

In the humdrum horror movie, Cuthbert starred as one of a half dozen teens trapped in a

wax museum that turns real people into statues.

The film wasn't a flop, but like The Girl Next Door, it wasn't anything to write home

about and didn't help to establish Cuthbert as a must-have for movie roles.

Bad company

Paris Hilton, who also starred in House of Wax, was the very definition of Famous for

Being Famous and hobnobbed with a host of celebs whose reputations she'd sully with

her notorious nightlife antics, and that included Elisha Cuthbert.

The two bonded on the set of their movie and Cuthbert joined Hilton's party entourage,

even appearing in the music video for Paris Hilton's song "Nothing in this World."

Given Hilton's reputation for ranking tabloid presence above her resume, though, that wasn't

the kind of kinship that would help Cuthbert advance in the biz.

The flops

Soon after House of Wax was released, Cuthbert's next film The Quiet hit theatres.

In this dramatic thriller she played a cheerleader whose social life was ruined by her parent's

decision to adopt her deaf cousin, bringing to light some dark family secrets.

While the role was certainly far from the typical hot-girl persona she was used to playing,

critics and audiences dismissed the pic, and it made back just one third of its low production

budget upon release.

Her next film, Captivity, received even worse reviews.

In the little-seen pic, Cuthbert played a model, stalked and kidnapped by a sadistic psychopath.

The movie tanked at the box office, was labeled "torture porn" by critics and was nominated

for a Razzie in three categories that year including worst horror movie and worst director

— and Cuthbert was nominated for worst actress.

"Thanks for the lesson."

Cuthbert eventually went back to taking roles on television and found that the small screen

scene wasn't as welcoming to her as it was in the 24 days.

Unhappy endings

In 2011, Cuthbert was cast as a ditzy runaway bride on ABC's Happy Endings.

With several similar comedies premiering on other networks around the same time, the show

wasn't exactly a starmaker.

While it did earn a cult following, the show was cancelled after just three seasons.

She was then cast as a young lesbian who decided to have a baby with her male best friend in

NBC's One Big Happy.

But the show was panned as a Three's Company rip-off that delivered too many damaging stereotypes

to survive.

"How would I do in the lesbian market?

I don't think I've ever been appraised."

"You'd do good.

You'd be… really really good."

The program was cancelled after only six episodes were aired.

Leaving Los Angeles

After Cuthbert spent time frequenting the club scene with Paris Hilton, she expressed

her feelings toward being young in Hollywood in an interview with Women's Health Magazine

and said she didn't feel like she quite fit in.

She told the magazine, "For a long time I was naïve about who I was surrounded by.

I got caught up in the L.A. scene.

Not that they were bad people, I just couldn't ask any of them to drive me to the airport."

She notably started focusing on her personal life, spending more time with her then boyfriend,

Canadian hockey player Dion Phaneuf.

The two married in 2013 and now choose to split their time between L.A. and Toronto.

While being away from the spotlight has its health benefits, it's also had a negative

effect on her exposure.

How she can turn it around

She has done a couple of Canadian films including Goon: Last of the Enforcers — the sequel

to the well-received 2012 hockey comedy Goon — and she stars as Ashton Kutcher's adorable

ex on Netflix's The Ranch.

She's hardly earning placement on producers' speed dials these days, thanks to her series

of letdowns and separation from the limelight.

But these new developments might just mark the start of a new direction for the Girl

Next Door.

Here's hoping she can turn it around soon!

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