In recent years, Ethan Embry has been able to pull off something not every actor can: a career comeback. In 2015, BuzzFeed noted that Embry nearly lost his way as he battled to become sober, but landing the role of Coyote on Netflix's Grace and Frankie proved to be the game changer he needed.
The year 2015 also marked the 20th anniversary of cult classic Empire Records, which, even though Embry was only 15 at the time, may be where many viewers of Sweet Home Alabama remember him by. And as Looper explains it, Embry's portrayal of Empire Records employee Mark may be what landed him his role as Rusty Griswold in National Lampoon's fourth vacation movie Vegas Vacation two years later in 1997. In between those two films, Embry also appeared in That Thing You Do; that's a lot of early success for an actor who wasn't even yet 18.
And as Embry's comeback is evidence of, it was a success he wasn't able to maintain over the years that followed. He told BuzzFeed that it's easy to lose sight of what you have, and that his past drinking definitely could've impacted his career trajectory: "[Y]ou become greedy and want something different, you lose what's already been given to you. I think that's a common action in people that drink too much. You get really selfish. I couldn't tell you if the timing of me making changes and working more is related, but it would be silly if I didn't think that had something to do with it."
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