Actors Confess What Roles Made Them Cringe
There’s nothing quite like kicking back with a bucket of popcorn and throwing on one of your favorite films. But did you know that a lot of our favorite actors have trouble watching their own work? Apparently, even though they’re Hollywood mega-celebrities, a lot of actors and actresses find themselves disappointed in their work after filming and can’t bring themselves to watch the films they starred in.
And this doesn’t just happen in bad movies! As you’ll see from the list down below, some of our favorite films wind up being the ones that the actors just can’t stand. There were a few on here that totally surprised us too. Do you think you can figure out which? Give it your best shot– or at least a better shot than these actors gave their performances…
Elizabeth Olson, WandaVision Pilot
Superhero television shows had a less than stellar reputation for a while (looking at you Inhumans), until Marvel studios came out with WandaVision on Disney+. The show took the world by storm and became an instant water cooler phenomenon. But, Elizabeth Olson, the actress who plays Wanda, wasn’t as excited about the show as the audience.
Apparently, the first episode was filmed in front of a live audience, and Olson wasn’t sure whether to act for the cameras or for the audience. Filming on sound stages and acting in a theater production are very different, so we can understand why she was thrown off. Still, we can’t say we were as critical of the performance as Olson was herself. But that’s the way it always goes.
Meryl Streep, The French Lieutenant’s Woman
When we talk about actors and actresses who are certifiably GOATed (meaning they’re some of the greatest of all time), there aren’t many people that come up quite as frequently as Meryl Streep. But after all her incredible performances through the years, and all her Oscar nominations, we were shocked to find out that this was the film that bothers her the most.
The French Lieutenant’s Woman was critically acclaimed, cleaned up at the BAFTAs, and remains a timeless classic. Streep even had to play two roles in the film (as did Jeremy Irons), but looking back she’s dissatisfied with the performance she put forward. As she told Graham Norton, that has a lot to do with how young she was.
Pierce Brosnan, Mamma Mia!
While Pierce Brosnan got a lot of flack for his portrayal of James Bond, that’s not the role that the actor personally takes issue with. According to Brosnan, he has a little bit of trouble rewatching Mamma Mia! and having to listen to himself sing. He clarified that he loves to sing, he’s just a bit embarrassed and worried others won’t like his voice.
Still, Brosnan was able to get over himself when he signed on for the movie’s sequel and was happy to belt it out alongside Meryl Streep once more. Although, we can’t disagree with Brosnan’s original statement. Watching people break out into song in the middle of a conversation is definitely a little cringey.
Helena Bonham Carter, Les Misérables
Like we said before, some of these celebrity confessions are pretty shocking. Often the movies they feel bad about were major box office hits, like Les Misérables. Even though the film got rave reviews, and changed the game when it comes to musicals, a few of the actors were dissatisfied with their performance. One of the most upset was Helena Bonham Carter.
We feel for Carter here, because she obviously tried her best to put forward a good performance in the film. We actually don’t mind any of her singing either, but she’s disappointed in herself regardless. We know that feeling, and it’s a real bummer– especially if you can’t do anything to go back and fix what you’re upset about!
Amanda Seyfried, Les Misérables
In any profession, you should always be most critical of your own work. This hyper-fixation on perfection will allow you to improve your craft. However, at a certain point, you’re going to need to let things go. That’s the advice we’d give to Amanda Seyfried, who said that she wished she could redo Les Misérables in its entirety.
We’re not saying we wouldn’t love to see another version of the film, but what’s wrong with the original? Seyfried’s singing isn’t as bad as she claims. It’s actually incredible. We can’t understand the disappointment. Like we said before, we guess you’ve just got to be your biggest critic.
Emily Blunt, Into the Woods
We didn’t want to admit this going in, but we’re not fans of musicals. Sorry, it’s just not our thing! Apparently, it’s not something that the actors and actresses relish either. There are so many confessions on this list that just come down to actors not enjoying their own singing. Emily Blunt is one of that bunch, who hated her performance in Into The Woods.
Somehow, that didn’t dissuade her from taking a role in Mary Poppins where she’d have to sing again. Thankfully, we’re a bigger fan of Blunt’s singing than she is, so we still could enjoy those movies. However, maybe we can start saving the singing for the musicians?
Adam Driver, Inside Llewyn Davis
Adam Driver has been catching a lot of press recently for being one of the more interesting characters in Hollywood. He’s very particular about his craft and has a few weird habits that people who aren’t actors might find strange. Like this one: after watching himself sing in the film Inside Llewyn Davis, Driver swore off watching any of his movies ever again.
We wish Driver had been a little kinder to himself about Inside Llewyn Davis, because honestly, they set him up for failure in that singing scene. There’s even a joke before they start singing where Oscar Isaac sarcastically asks who wrote the song, hinting that it’s actually just bad music.
Nicole Kidman, Australia
Australia, the 2008 Baz Luhrmann project, was an ambitious film to say the least. After early casting issues, Luhrmann wound up with Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman as his male and female leads. But during the film’s premiere, Kidman almost wound up leaving the theater. She was so disappointed in her performance that she told her husband that she doesn’t think she adds anything to the production.
To be fair, after watching that film, we didn’t find ourselves talking about Kidman much. The main Aboriginal character, played by Brandon Walters (who also narrates the film), steals the show. So we can understand Kidman feeling a bit upstaged, even though this works in the movie’s favor overall.
Sarah Silverman, Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is like a revolving door for great comedy writers. They come in, they go out, and they help create the sketches that we all love somewhere in the middle. But Sarah Silverman didn’t last long at SNL Studios in New York City. She was only there for a single season before she was fired from the show!
As Silverman explains it, she was there while the guard was changing. So, she didn’t have much chance to distinguish herself or latch onto any high-performing cast members that would be around for a while. But, this didn’t have much effect on her career, and she’s continued making people laugh in all her different roles since.
Zac Efron, High School Musical
Unlike a lot of the other actors on this list who wind up being upset with their singing after a movie finishes filming, Zac Efron was dissatisfied with his dancing instead. The High School Musical actor said in an interview that during the third movie he struggled with the choreography, and he still has trouble going back and watching the films over.
Since his Disney days, Efron has been able to contribute to some cool non-musical projects. We were particularly fond of his documentary cooking show on Netflix called Down To Earth. We’re also big fans of his collaborations with Seth Rogen in the Neighbors series.
Marilyn Monroe, The Misfits
Throughout history, has there been a woman as easy to fall in love with as Marilyn Monroe? She was America’s fixation and almost anything she touched turned to gold. That’s why the movie The Misfits, starring Monroe alongside Clark Gable, was such a critically acclaimed hit. But Monroe wasn’t a fan of her performance, and she later actually admitted that she hated the film.
We’ve read in prior interviews that Clark Gable was an absolute nightmare to film with, so that could’ve contributed to Monroe’s dissatisfaction. Apparently, America’s favorite casanova had a penchant for chain-smoking, not brushing his teeth, and eating garlic before takes. How disgusting is that?
Eddie Murphy, Raw
Eddie Murphy was the biggest comedian in the world for several years. He was selling out arenas by the time his standup special Raw came out. The show and the subsequent film of the set were both massive hits. But certain audiences found a lot of that material unsavory, which led Murphy to come out with an apology in the years following.
The problem with standup comedy is that almost every joke is going to offend somebody. Audiences have to be willing to sift through the material and make their own determination about whether a joke was funny or not. If they’re going to jump down a comics’ throat because they made a joke about an unsavory topic, that person has no business being at a show anyway.
Ewan McGregor, Emma
Every once in a while an actor comes along who can seemingly do no wrong, and Ewan McGregor is one of these special few. The Obi-Wan Kenobi actor is not only excellent in all of his movies, but he’s also a great interviewee and a nice human being to boot. Though when discussing his performance in the 1996 adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma, McGregor is less than complimentary of his work.
Showing his true character, McGregor stands by the film and says his co-stars were incredible. However, he feels his own performance was somewhat lacking. Still, with Gwyneth Paltrow by his side (before all the Goop nonsense), the film still holds up well.
Emma Watson, The Perks Of Being A Wallflower
It can be tough for a type-cast actor to break out and start getting other roles. That’s what happened to Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson after the Harry Potter films. The three were so well known while growing up as Harry, Ron, and Hermione, it took a while before they were being offered other roles. And once they were, they weren’t always happy with the way those films came out.
In The Perks Of Being A Wallflower, Emma Watson had to use an American accent and absolutely hated it. She felt like she wasn’t convincing enough and had trouble listening to herself when the movie premiered. But audiences didn’t seem to mind and the film was still a hit.
Eddie Redmayne, Jupiter Ascending
If you’re not familiar with the Razzies, you’re in for a treat. After reading this article, we get you’re going to be plumbing their website for hours. Anyway, the Razzies are a series of yearly movie awards, similar to the Oscars, but for the worst of the worst in Hollywood. In 2015, they gave the honor of Worst Supporting Actor in a Hollywood film to Eddie Redmayne for his performance in Jupiter Ascending.
Most audiences took issue with Redmayne’s voice in the film, but there were a lot of other issues as well. The CGI was tough, the other actors didn’t pull their weight, and the film ended up with six different Razzie nominations, including one for the worst film of the year. Thankfully for Redmayne, they didn’t win that one.
Christian Bale, The Dark Knight
Like James Bond, Batman is one of those characters that gets a fresh coat of paint every few years. When studios bring in a new actor to play an iconic character, it gives that actor a chance to make their mark, and put their own flair into that character’s story. Still, for Christian Bale that wasn’t so easy, especially because the performance by the villains in his films somewhat overshadowed his own hard work.
Ledger’s performance in The Dark Night was so stellar that it earned the actor a posthumous Oscar. This was only the second time in history the award had been given after an actor passed, the first time occurring more than twenty-five years prior.
Shay Mitchell, Pretty Little Liars Audition Tape
They say that 10,000 hours of practice will make you an expert in anything. So, it stands to reason that the more you practice, the better you’re going to get at your job. That’s what Shay Mitchell thinks about when she goes back and watches old audition tapes. Watching her young self work is pretty cringey, she admits. But it also allows her to be grateful for the way she’s grown as an actress over the years.
If you go back and watch the whole audition tape Mitchell did for Pretty Little Liars, you’ll notice a few funny things. At one point, she’s talking about the girls’ (supposedly) dead best friend Allison and actually starts smiling! Thankfully, nowadays she doesn’t make those same mistakes.
Anne Hathaway, The 2001 Oscars
Working with another great performer can either be the greatest thing for an actor, or the worst. There’s another energy source for everyone to feed off of, but if one actor clearly outshines the other, it’s going to affect the overall quality of the piece. That’s what happened in 2011 when Anne Hathaway hosted the Oscars alongside James Franco.
Regrettable roles don’t always have to involve acting! Franco has a penchant for always being able to relax. So he took the moment head-on and apparently enjoyed hosting the show. Hathaway on the other hand had trouble keeping up and wasn’t a huge fan of the whole experience.
Will Smith, Men In Black Sequels
There’s a famous quote from Will Smith about his work in the Men In Black sequels, where he admits that the original sequels were a cash-grab (shocker there). He claims that he worked much harder on Bad Boys For Life, where he was able to revitalize the movie series. Cash grabs might make a lot of money, but some actors end up regretting them down the line. Though that might be the least of Smith’s worries.
After Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars, a lot of people decided to boycott his work. People weren’t too pleased after that display of violence, it put the charismatic actor in a different light. Is anyone going to watch any of the Men in Black movies the same way again? Only time will tell.
Megan Fox, Transformers
With practice comes skill. No actor or actress should be expected to put forth a stellar performance in their first film. It’s up to the other people on set to uplift the rookies and make sure the film comes out alright. That’s what happened in Michael Bay’s Transformers, which Megan Fox admits was a good movie. She wasn’t happy with her performance in the film at all.
Considering this was her first major Hollywood movie, Fox did much better than expected. Plus, this film helped land her the most memorable role of her career so far, playing the possessed succubus Jennifer in Jennifer’s Body.
Jennifer Aniston, The Leprechaun
Everyone knows Jennifer Aniston from the show Friends, but she has a plethora of other credits to her name that aren’t talked about as often. One such role was the 1993 horror-comedy cult-classic Leprechaun. We won’t dive into the premise behind the film, but we will say that we can understand why Aniston has a hard time rewatching this one.
Despite Aniston’s frustration and the less-than-stellar critical response the film received, the Leprechaun series kept on rolling for seven more sequels! These eight slasher films redefined the comedy-horror genre, although the original cast isn’t really connected to the film anymore. The original Leprechaun, Warwick Davis, stopped participating after he had kids and began feeling like horror films weren’t right for his career anymore.
Daniel Radcliffe, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
The Harry Potter movies were a huge part of our childhood, we practically grew up alongside Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson. But, after reprising the same role for so many years, Radcliffe started to struggle as Harry Potter. In the sixth film in particular, he feels his acting wasn’t up to par with the rest of the series.
To be fair, the sixth Harry Potter movie is where things start taking a much darker turn. So we can understand why Radcliffe had a bit of trouble with his character in this one. That being said he definitely got it together for the last two films of the series.
Sam Worthington, Clash of the Titans
We all know the feeling of biting off more than we can chew. You start to get stressed, you wind up cutting corners, and inevitably your work suffers. That seems to be what happened with 2010’s Clash of the Titans. The film’s directors attempted to present one of the greatest stories from Greek mythology, the myth of Perseus, but couldn’t meet the expectations that audiences had for the film.
Sam Worthington, who plays Perseus in the film, was disappointed in the critical reception the film received. He said in multiple interviews that he knew he could act better, but the film’s sequel bombed the same way. Maybe it wasn’t Worthington’s fault after all and the movie was just too big a task for the studio to take on.
Brad Pitt, 12 Monkeys
Brad Pitt won a Golden Globe for his performance in Terry Gilliam’s 12 Monkeys, but that wasn’t enough for the actor to feel satisfied with the performance. Pitt actually was incredibly critical of his work, saying that he felt he nailed the first half of the film but that the second half left something to be desired.
This psychological effect may have actually played in the film’s favor. The science fiction background and general weirdness of the film were helped by Pitt’s confused performance. And, with all the jumping between timelines that happens in the plot, we’re glad we weren’t the only ones who were a little confused.
Colin Farrell, Miami Vice
In 2006, Michael Mann decided to repurpose his 80s TV lovechild and set out to make a Miami Vice movie. By now, the film has become a cult classic but upon its release a lot of fans were unhappy. The film distilled a lot of what was good about the original TV show, and as actor Colin Farrell tells it, the movie prioritized style and flashy scenes over actual substance for the viewers.
This kind of thing seems to happen pretty often whenever a studio tries to revamp a well-loved former project. The A-Team film received the same treatment when it came out, because audiences just weren’t ready to accept a new crew.
Anya Taylor-Joy, The Witch
When an actor is starting out, their first few movies are going to be extra stressful and challenging. Obviously you want to do well and secure more movie roles for the future, but this fixation can end up hindering your current performance. That’s what happened with Anya Taylor-Joy on the set of The Witch. The actress stressed herself out so much that she thought she’d never work again!
Obviously, that didn’t happen. Taylor-Joy has become a household fixture since then, starring in several popular shows and movies including Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit. Still any young actors reading this should heed her advice. Stay calm when you’re working and remember that you can always film another take.
John Boyega, Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Only recently we’ve begun to fully understand the power of representation in the media. But in the wake of these revelations, some corporations have been guilty of overselling the amount of representation they’re giving to people of color. No one has been worse about this than Disney with their treatment of John Boyega and the character Finn in the Star Wars universe.
If the company hadn’t leaned so heavily on Finn for its marketing campaigns this wouldn’t be so much of an issue. However, Boyega took issue with the fact that his character was used to draw performative praise for the films while he was constantly being pushed to the side.
Jennette McCurdy, iCarly
Even though the Nickelodeon and Disney shows brought us joy as children, behind the scenes the actors performing for us were really suffering a lot of the time. In Jennette McCurdy’s case, she was dealing with an abusive mother who was stealing her money, and on top of that she wasn’t happy with the work she was putting out.
These types of shows are made for kids. For somebody who’s trying to grow up and find themselves, the on-set environment can be pretty toxic. Plus, if you’re not proud of the work you’re creating, then each day the job just gets harder and harder. That’s actually why McCurdy retired from acting after she finished with Nickelodeon.
Michelle Pfeiffer, Grease 2
There’s nothing worse than an original movie we all love being repurposed for an awful sequel. Even if the directors bring in an all-star cast of actors, most sequels will never live up to the hype of the original. That’s why Hollywood superstar Michelle Pfeiffer is still so frustrated with herself after all these years. She should’ve known that Grease 2 was going to be a trainwreck!
The worst part about this film was the fact the creators didn’t even try to cover up the fact that they were remaking the first film. The plot was almost exactly the same, but without any of the same characters. There was no reason for anyone to watch the sequel since they could just rewatch the original.
Kate Winslet, Titanic
Who wants to cry tonight? Should we have a Titanic watch party? Considered possibly the greatest romance film of all time (as well as possibly the greatest Naval tragedy in history), Titanic is one of those films that makes all kinds of best-of lists. But leading actress Kate Winslett has an issue every time she goes back to rewatch the film: she doesn’t think her American accent is realistic enough.
Winslet still deserves some credit for her accent, even if she’s not fond of it. She’s an English actress attempting an American– but Transatlantic– accent. Besides, she was only 23 when the movie was filmed, so she deserves a little slack for not having tried it before.