Why You Don't Hear About Liv Tyler Anymore

There was a time when actress Liv Tyler seemed well on her way to becoming a household name. She starred in numerous high-profile projects, including some of the biggest blockbuster franchises in all of Hollywood — from "The Lord of the Rings" to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Tyler still acts, of course, but over time, her big-name roles became fewer and farther between. It's enough to make anyone who followed her earlier work wonder what exactly happened and why they don't hear from her much anymore.

Tyler is someone who has never blindly worshipped at the altar of Hollywood. In fact, even before she decided to take a step back from acting, she was always willing to criticize the sexism and ageism she has both seen and experienced within the film industry. "When you're in your teens or 20s, there is an abundance of ingénue parts which are exciting to play," Tyler said in a 2015 interview with More magazine when she was about 38 years old (via El País English). "But at [my age], you're usually the wife or the girlfriend — a sort of second-class citizen," More than that, however, another reason Tyler seems to keep her acting career at arm's length is that her priorities simply lie elsewhere these days — both figuratively and literally. After all, fame comes and goes, but family is forever. And raising her family has often placed Tyler an ocean away from the glitz and glamor of Hollywood.

Liv Tyler underwent a stunning transformation over the course of her time in Hollywood — but her early career is certainly nothing to sneeze at. One of her first major projects was the 1995 film "Empire Records." Not long after that, she landed her first leading role in the 1996 release "Stealing Beauty." She then got top billing over future beau Joaquin Phoenix in 1997's "Inventing the Abbotts." One year later, Tyler would make her first big impact in the world of genre films, starring opposite Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck in the Michael Bay sci-fi flick "Armageddon."

Tyler's momentum only continued to build in the early 2000s, when she landed the role of Arwen Undómiel in director Peter Jackson's beloved "Lord of the Rings" film trilogy. The actor confessed that filming the fantasy epics wasn't always easy, but that she ultimately had fond memories of the experience. "It was like after a love story, you remember only the good moments," she told One magazine in early 2003, in between the release of "The Two Towers" and "The Return of the King" (via The One Ring). "I'm very proud to be part of this project. It was the best film I've ever shot!" A few years later, Tyler was on the ground floor of the Marvel Cinematic Universe playing Betty Ross in the 2008 film "The Incredible Hulk." It was shortly after that, however, that her on-screen career began to slow down somewhat.

Liv Tyler married English musician Royston Langdon in 2003 and gave birth to their son, Milo, the following year. They split in 2008 — the same year she starred in "The Strangers," "Smother," and "The Incredible Hulk." In a 2011 interview with Bust, Tyler confessed that these changes in her life prompted her to put her career on pause. "I just had a rough couple of years, having Milo and then getting divorced and trying to rebuild my life again. ... I've been rebuilding and trying to be patient," she said (via the Daily Mail). Indeed, Tyler took a two-year sabbatical from acting after her divorce, next gracing the screen in the 2010 film "Super."

Tyler reevaluating her priorities and becoming more family-oriented would become a recurring theme in her story. She eventually had two more kids — another son and a daughter — with ex-fiancé David Gardner, an English sports agent. Tyler ended up moving to London after their daughter was born in 2016. After leaving the United States, the actor seemed more or less done with Hollywood blockbusters. However, she did go on to star in some British television series, such as BBC One's "Gunpowder" and ITV Encore's "Harlots." Still, Tyler's family life has remained her focus. "I get the greatest pleasure out of that," she told The Sunday Post in 2020. Tyler and Gardner called it quits in 2021, though they maintain a co-parenting relationship.

Liv Tyler made her return to American TV in January 2020, when she debuted as part of the main cast of Fox's "9-1-1: Lone Star." Filmed in Los Angeles (despite its Texas setting), the "9-1-1" spinoff series marked Tyler's first U.S.-produced show since her time on HBO's "The Leftovers" from 2014 to 2017. But while "9-1-1: Lone Star" would go on to run for a total of five seasons, Tyler was only around for the first. Tyler left "9-1-1: Lone Star" due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The "Lord of the Rings" alum was still living in London with her family, and commuting between the U.K. and California suddenly became both difficult and potentially dangerous due to the global health crisis.

Deadline broke the news of Tyler's "9-1-1: Lone Star" departure in September 2020. "What a thrill it was having a movie star of Liv Tyler's stature to help us launch the first season of '9-1-1: Lone Star,'" showrunner Tim Minear told the outlet at the time. "We loved working with Liv and will be forever indebted to her for her haunting, powerful portrayal of Michelle Blake. While we were able to tell a complete chapter in Michelle's story, as with Connie Britton on our mothership, we also feel like there are more stories to be told." Minear noted that the door was open for Tyler to come back, though such a return ultimately wasn't in the cards.

Though her time on the show was cut short, Liv Tyler's stint on "9-1-1: Lone Star" proves that while she isn't nearly as active in Hollywood as she used to be, she does still appear in some major productions. For instance, just a few months before the "9-1-1" spinoff premiered, she appeared in the Brad Pitt-led sci-fi film "Ad Astra." Not only that, but Tyler makes her long-awaited return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the 2025 film "Captain America: Brave New World."

The Hollywood Reporter was among the first to break the news of Tyler's MCU comeback in March 2023. The Anthony Mackie-led "Captain America" sequel marks her first on-screen appearance as the character of Betty Ross since the release of "The Incredible Hulk" in 2008. On that note, though, the MCU Tyler is coming back to is indicative of just how long she's been away from the superhero spotlight.

For the initiated, Betty Ross is the daughter of Thaddeus Ross and the main love interest of the Hulk's alter ego, Bruce Banner. In "The Incredible Hulk," Edward Norton played Banner, while William Hurt played Thaddeus. Fast-forward 17 years, and things look quite different. Mark Ruffalo replaced Norton as Banner in 2012, while Harrison Ford stepped up to play Thaddeus following the death of Hurt in 2022. It goes to show that actors come and go, but the world of Hollywood just keeps spinning.