Credit: DisneyArmie Hammer, the titular star of The Lone Ranger (2013), didn’t lose his film career for starring in one of the biggest box office bombs in history. Instead, bizarre sexual assault and cannibalism allegations derailed him from Disney and the other major studios, but it appears that he is ready for a comeback.
The Lone Ranger is a now nearly-forgotten entry in the Disney canon, something that the Mouse is probably pretty happy about. The film starred Armie Hammer as Western hero John Reid and the then-beloved Johnny Depp, the latter as the Comanche warrior Tonto; it also co-starred William Fichtner, Barry Pepper, Ruth Wilson, James Badge Dale, Tom Wilkinson, Curtis Cregan, and Helena Bonham Carter.
It was directed by Gore Verbinski, who had helmed the massively popular Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, which had transformed Depp from a respected character actor to a family-friendly Disney superstar. Undoubtedly, the powers that be in Anaheim hoped that The Lone Ranger would kick off the same kind of mega-series.
It did not. The movie ended up losing Disney nearly $200 million, received heavy criticism for casting Johnny Depp as a Native American (which he excused because of his vague belief that he very well might have Indigenous heritage), and failed to launch Armie Hammer into the next Disney star generation of leading men.
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But over the next near-decade, Hammer starred in increasingly prominent films, like the Henry Cavill vehicle The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015), the critically acclaimed Call Me by Your Name (2017), and the less critically acclaimed but still profitable Pixar sequel Cars 3 (2017).
Things looked up for Armie Hammer until 2021, when he faced a series of allegations of sexual misconduct, abuse, and even cannibalism. He was dropped or recast in numerous high-profile projects and dropped by his representation, though the Los Angeles Police Department declined to pursue criminal charges against him.
Armie Hammer dropped out of the public eye for several years during the allegations but has recently resurfaced to explain himself, likely in preparation for some kind of career rehabilitation. He recently appeared on Bill Maher’s Club Random, where he revealed that he is “broke” but “happier than ever.”
Discussing the period of the allegations against him, Armie Hammer said, “The good place only comes from walking through hell…Someone might look at me and go, ‘Yeah, but financially, you are in a very different position than you’ve ever been in your entire life.’ And I look at that, and I go, ‘Yeah, and you know what, it’s taught me is that I don’t need that because I’ve never been happier than I’ve ever been in my entire life.’”
The former Disney star credited therapy for his recovery and discussed his substance abuse, saying:
“Therapy for me has been a life changer. I needed an adjustment. There was some s*** going on. Here’s what I think would have happened had none of this gone on and like the cataclysmic tectonic shift in my life wouldn’t have happened. My life would have kept going exactly as it was, and I know that would ultimately only lead in one place and that’s death.”
“I was doing a lot of drugs. I was partying hard. I was being real fast and loose about what I put in text messages and I was also engaging in risky behavior that, if you really think about it, was stupid!”
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Armier Hammer continued using therapy speak, ultimately using a mythological reference to describe himself. He said, “I experienced an ego death, a career death, a financial death—all of these things, right? And [Carl] Jung talks about this. Joseph Campbell talks about this. You’ve got to die, and once you die, you can then be reborn. A phoenix isn’t going to rise if there’s no ashes.”
The actor does not have any new roles listed on his professional credits, but it is notable that he has begun to re-emerge into public life around the same time that his former c0-star (and fellow recipient of abuse allegations) Johnny Depp has done so. Combined with his phoenix metaphor, it seems all but certain that the Lone Ranger is ready to return to Hollywood.
Do you think Armie Hammer can make a comeback?