Modern-day Hollywood is rife with franchises and sequels, and it's great for an actor to reach a point in their career where they can choose which film roles they want. However, some of the actors listed below were either forced to take roles or were not allowed to reject them. Contracts and even handshake deals can sometimes limit an actor's freedom.
If an actor signs on for a superhero character in a franchise like the
Marvel Cinematic Universe, they often have to take on the project even if the script for the sequel movie is bad. Even A-list celebrity power doesn't get them out of signing on the dotted line. Some actors, such as The Jonas Brothers, Eddie Murphy, and Emma Stone, initially expressed a strong desire to participate in the projects but afterward recognized it was a huge mistake.
Continue reading to find out which famous
actors play characters they don't like or regretted after finishing them.
#1 Penn Badgley as Dan on Gossip Girl
Source: Eric Liebowitz / The CW / Courtesy Everett Collection
Penn hasn't openly declared that he despises Dan or Gossip Girl in general, but he has criticized the program and Dan on some occasions (most notably, the *SPOILER ALERT* decision to make Dan Gossip Girl). He also referred to Dan as a "judgmental douchebag" (though he seemed to imply that this was warranted) and stated, while promoting a subsequent project, that it was good to be proud of something he worked on, describing it as a "new feeling."
#2 Anya Taylor-Joy as Thomasin in The Witch
Source: A24 / courtesy Everett Collection
Anya has revealed that she was "devastated" by her performance in the role, feeling that she let everyone down. She also seemed to indicate that she didn't feel secure in her acting even while filming, claiming that she never expected to be cast and was possibly not the best fit.
#3 Brad Pitt as Achilles in Troy
Source: Warner Brothers / courtesy Everett Collection
Pitt, who was forced to do the movie after opting out of another project with the studio, said the plot drove him insane and he didn't like the film's direction: "I realized that the way the movie was being told was not how I wanted it to be." He did, however, admit to making mistakes in the film. Pitt decided to be more selective about his assignments after starring in Troy.
#4 Eddie Murphy in basically everything he did from the 2000s.
Source: DreamWorks / courtesy Everett Collection
Murphy has since admitted to doing "shitty" films throughout the 2000s, and he even got the Razzie Award for Worst Actor of the Decade. In fact, it was his performance in these films that led him to take a long break from acting. "I was like, 'This shit ain't fun. They're giving me Razzies.' ... Motherfuckers gave me the 'Worst actor ever' Razzie. Maybe it's time to take a break," he stated. Fortunately, he's returned with a fury, winning the Razzie Award for best comeback for Dolemite Is My Name.
#5 Emma Stone as Allison in Aloha
Source: Neal Preston / Columbia Pictures / courtesy Everett Collection
Stone didn't appear to hate playing the half-Asian character while filming, but soon after talked about becoming the punchline to many jokes and learning about the subject of whitewashing. She also said, "I'm sorry!" when Sandra Oh called out Aloha for whitewashing at the Golden Globes.
#6 Ian McKellen as Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit films
Source: Warner Bros. Pictures / courtesy Everett Collection
McKellan did not hate Gandalf, but he confessed that neither he nor Peter Jackson liked Gandalf the White. He praised his performance in the Lord of the Rings films but described the experience of filming The Hobbit movie as "miserable" due to the usage of green screens instead of on-location shooting.
Source: Doane Gregory/ Marvel / 20th Century Fox / courtesy Everett Collection
Lawrence apparently likes the films but despises the body paint she had to wear to play Mystique, vowing not to reprise the role after X-Men: Apocalypse (though she later was "roped in" to appear as Mystique again). In X-Men: First Class, she claimed that her makeup took up to eight hours to do and that she couldn't even sit down to pee while dressed.
#8 Josh Brolin as Cable in Deadpool 2
Source: 20th Century Fox / courtesy Everett Collection
When comparing Thanos from the MCU to Cable from Deadpool 2, Brolin described the latter as a "business transaction," stating there was less freedom with his character and that it was difficult.
#9 Kathleen Turner as Chandler's dad on Friends
Source: Warner Bros. / Courtesy Everett Collection
Turner did not enjoy playing Chandler's father. First, she thought the Friends cast to be cliquey: "I didn’t feel very welcomed by the cast," she revealed. "I remember I was wearing this difficult sequined gown — and my high heels were absolutely killing me. I found it odd that none of the actors thought to offer me a seat." She also stated that she would no longer play the character, who was a drag queen who appeared to identify as a woman, implying that real drag queens or transgender actors would be more suitable for the role.
#10 Meryl Streep as Miranda in The Devil Wears Prada
Source: 20th Century Fox / Courtesy Everett Collection
Streep, who tried method acting for the role, said it was an unpleasant experience for her: "It was horrible! I was [miserable] in my trailer. I could hear them all rocking and laughing ... I was so depressed!" Streep stated that this was her final attempt at method acting.
#11 Nick, Kevin, and Joe Jonas as themselves in JONAS
Source: Isabella Vosmikova / Disney Channel / Courtesy Everett Collection
"We shouldn't have done that," Nick said of the second season of the series. "It really stunted our growth, you know? I feel like it was just a bad move. ... It was just not the time. Literally, we couldn’t evolve because of it.” Joe also said the program was "not good" and felt too young for them, and Kevin thought that the second season was not a good fit for them, adding it led to people seeing them as a joke.
#12 Sean Connery, Daniel Craig, and Pierce Brosnan as James Bond in the James Bond films
Source: Warner Brothers, Francois Duhamel/Columbia Pictures, and United Artists / courtesy Everett Collection
"I'd rather break this glass and slash my wrists," Daniel Craig replied when asked if he'd do another Bond film. ''No, not at the moment. Not at all. That’s fine. I’m over it at the moment. We’re done. All I want to do is move on. ... If I did another Bond movie, it would only be for the money.” "I have always hated that damned
James Bond, I'd like to kill him." Sean Connery said of the role. Pierce Brosnan also seemed to suggest that he didn't enjoy playing the role, speaking about the pressure to get it perfect and his own performance troubles.
#13 Stephen Dillane as Stannis in Game of Thrones
Source: HBO
Stephen talked about his difficulties understanding the show's plotline, claiming he relied on Liam Cunningham (who portrayed Davos) to explain to him what scenes were about: "I didn’t know what I was doing until we’d finished filming and it was too late. The damage had been done. I thought no one would believe in me and I was rather disheartened by the end." He also stated that the only thing he gained from the series was money and that while he had no regrets about portraying Stannis, it was not a character he was particularly interested in.
#14 Tyler Perry as Madea in the Madea films
Source: Chip Bergman /Lionsgate /Courtesy Everett Collection
When asked last year if he missed playing Madea, Perry answered no, stating he was done, and revealing, “It was never something I enjoyed doing. ... My hand to God. I hated the costume, the wig, all of it.”
#15 Viola Davis as Aibileen in The Help
Source: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection
While it's unknown whether Davis disliked playing Aibileen during filming, she has since stated that she regrets choosing the role. Davis criticized the film for its white savior narrative and failure to prioritize the maids, saying, "There’s a part of me that feels like I betrayed myself, and my people, because I was in a movie that wasn’t ready to [tell the whole truth]." She also said the movie was made "in the filter and the cesspool of systemic racism.”