When it comes to iconic actresses of the 90s, Helen Hunt’s name is always one of the first to come to mind. She became a true icon thanks to the series “Mad About You” and her participation in blockbusters, which guaranteed box office success. But since the early 2000s, her star seemed to fade. Why did this happen?

Breakup after many years together

One of the reasons was personal drama. In 2017, it became known that Hunt had separated from Matthew Carnahan, her partner of more than 15 years. In 2004, they had a daughter, and from that moment on, the actress’s priorities shifted towards family. The birth of the child was a turning point – Hunt distanced herself from the film industry and focused on raising her daughter. From Hollywood hits to Oblivion.

In the late 1990s, Hunt starred in some of the most successful films of her time, including “Twister,” “As Good As It Gets,” “What Women Want,” and “Cast Away.” These films collected hundreds of millions of dollars at the box office. However, after leaving the series and taking a break from her career, she returned to less popular projects, such as “The Curse of the Jade Scorpion” and “The Sessions,” which did not find a response from viewers.

Harrowing was the film “Every Day” (2011), which, despite being shown in only a few cinemas, collected an extremely modest box office.

Hunt’s attempt to establish herself as a director with the film “Then She Found Me” (2007) was also unsuccessful. The film received cool reviews: critics reproached Hunt for excessive emotionality and unconvincing presentation. Some even called her character irritating and her direction overly heavy-handed.

In 2006, Helen Hunt appeared on screen again, playing a cameo role in the film Bobby, directed by Emilio Estevez. The film was dedicated to the last day of the life of Robert Kennedy, who was assassinated at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. The project was conceived as a sharp social statement, but it did not elicit the expected public resonance.

Critics perceived the film with obvious disappointment. 

After a series of failures on the big screen, the actress began to focus on her work behind the camera. She began directing episodes of Mad About You and later released her first feature film, Then She Found Me, in 2007.

Since the 2010s, Hunt has increasingly worked in television, directing episodes of series such as Californication, Revenge, This Is Us, Feud: Bette and Joan, and House of Lies, among others. 

In an interview with The Daily Beast, Hunt admitted that her Oscar win for As Good as It Gets was paradoxically a turning point. After that, she received an offer from Sony and focused on writing scripts and working behind the scenes.

According to The Richest, actress Helen Hunt has a net worth of around $55 million. Her assets include a New York apartment with a market value of $2.75 million as of 2011.

One of the most profitable periods in her career was 1998, when she and her Mad About You co-star, Paul Reiser, were able to achieve a record salary increase — from a quarter of a million to a million dollars per episode. This level of payment was only in effect for the final season, but even that was enough for each of them to earn $22 million for 22 episodes.

Unfortunately, money cannot protect against loss. In December 2016, Hunt suffered a heavy personal loss — her father, Gordon Hunt, passed away. He was a famous director who worked on both cartoons and live-action series. He was 87 years old at the time of his death and had been battling Parkinson’s disease in recent years, The Hollywood Reporter reported.