One would think the actors would forever be appreciative of the role that helped shape who they are today. But unfortunately, that's not always the case. Because after all, acting is just a job, and of course, there will be people who like it and people who hate it. This means that there are a lot of actors and actresses out there who have bad memories of the character that propelled them into the spotlight.
In fact, for one reason or another, there is a list of Hollywood A-listers who have disliked their own films. Brad Pitt found filming "Interview With the Vampire" is like "in the f—king dark." Burt Reynolds was also uncomfortable with "Boogie Nights"'s subject (about the porn industry). Shailene Woodley found "The Secret Life of the American Teenager" didn't fit with her own personality.
Scroll down to find out more about these actors who "hate" filming, from the stars of huge movie franchises to famous TV shows. Who has most surprised you? Let us know in the comments!
#1 Leonardo DiCaprio & "Titanic"
Source: Titanic
For many people, Leonardo DiCaprio's role of Jack in "Titanic" is one of the most iconic characters of all time. Thanks to this role, Leonardo DiCaprio may have reached new heights of fame. But he had said that did NOT have fun on the film. In an interview, his costar Kate Winslet admitted that DiCaprio had told her he was miserable on the film.
#2 Kate Winslet & "Titanic"
Source: Titanic
Not only for DiCaprio, "Titanic" was also a bad experience for Winslet. She said "Though he had way more days off than I ever bloody did. I guess I was raised to be grateful and just get on with it. I didn’t feel it was my right to be miserable, and if I was miserable, I certainly would not have let a journalist know.”
#3 Zoe Saldaña & "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl."
Source: Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
We all know how "Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl" helped Zoe Saldaña in her acting debut. However in an interview, Saldaña admitted that role was a "hatful" experience for her. Saldaña said "Those weren’t the right people for me. I’m not talking about the cast. The cast was great. I’m talking about the political stuff that went on behind closed doors. It was a lot of above the line versus below the line, extras versus actors, producers versus PAs. It was very elitist." "I almost quit the business," she revealed. "I was 23 years old, and I was like, ‘F—k this!’ I am never putting myself in this situation again. People disrespecting me because they look at my number on a call sheet and they think I’m not important. F—k you."
#4 Bill Murray & "Groundhog Day"
Source: Groundhog Day
Although he never said it, Bill Murray is disgusted with doing "Groundhog Day". Director Harold Ramis claimed Murray was "irrationally rude" and had tantrums while it was being filmed because Murray intended the movie to be more serious and philosophical than humorous. In addition, he was going through a divorce at the time, which may have contributed to his difficult time on set. After all, the movie was a success and raised Bill Murray's profile.
#5 Burt Reynolds & "Boogie Nights"
Source: Boogie Nights
It's certain to say that Burt Reynolds' performance as Jack Horner in "Boogie Nights" (1997) brought him renewed critical attention. This role earned him another Golden Globe (for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture), with nominations for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and a BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor. However, Burt Reynolds actually detested the movie and his time working with Paul Thomas Anderson; after the shoot, Burt even intended to hit the director. He felt uneasy because the subject ( about the porn industry.) "It just wasn't my kind of film," he told Conan O'Brien. Burt hated the film so much that he refused to watch it.
#6 Sanaa Lathan & "Love & Basketball"
Source: Love & Basketball
Though "Love & Basketball" plays an notable role in her acting career, Sanaa Lathan said she was "miserable" filming. She felt as if director Gina Prince-Bythewood had recruited her because she couldn't find anybody else. "There wasn't a lot of joy, and there wasn't a lot of trust in me. It was her baby and it was her first time directing. It was a big deal for her, and nobody knows me then, really," she said. "I had to go through so much to get the part, and in all the basketball scenes, [they] surrounded me with real ballplayers," "There was a lot of crying behind the scenes for me."
#7 David Cross & "Alvin and the Chipmunks"
Source: Alvin and the Chipmunks
In spite of his displeasure, David Cross was required by contract to appear in all three "Alvin and the Chipmunks"
Movies. He even called the third movie, "Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked", "literally, without question, the most unpleasant experience I’ve ever had in my professional life.” He said “It’s safe to say I won’t be working with some of those people ever again. Not the actors. And the director [Mike Mitchell] was great. We got along. There were a couple of people, though…it was just a really awful, unpleasant experience.”
#8 Daniel Craig & "Spectre"
Source: Spectre
Though Daniel Craig didn't find his time filming the James Bond films miserable, he didn't like this experience too much because of the difficulty in taking a year away from home and getting injured, especially since he has a family. In particular, he was burned out after "Spectre". "I genuinely felt like I couldn't do that anymore. I felt like, What was the point?" In fact, after filming "Spectre", Craig famously said he'd rather "slash his wrists" than do another Bond movie, noting that if he did, "it would only be for the money." He ended up doing a final installment, "No Time to Die".
#9 Meryl Streep & "The Devil Wears Prada"
Source: The Devil Wears Prada
In "The Devil Wears Prada," Meryl Streep played the emotionless Miranda. Although Meryl Streep was nominated for an Oscar for her portrayal in the part, she tried Method acting and claimed that it was a painful 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 said this was her final effort at Method acting.
#10 Brad Pitt & "Interview With the Vampire"
Source: Interview With the Vampire
Brad Pitt said that he felt uncomfortable for six months while filming "Interview With the Vampire" because he was "in the f—king dark." He claimed that it shattered him, and he even phoned director David Geffen to inquire about the expense of removing him from the film. Additionally, he didn't read the script until two months before production and thought his part wasn't fascinating in the movie.
#11 Shailene Woodley & "The Secret Life of the American Teenager"
Source: The Secret Life of the American Teenager
"The Secret Life of the American Teenager" was one of Shailene Woodley's first leading roles. After the fifth season of the program, Woodley said she was relieved to be released from her contract. Despite being appreciative of her time spent on the show, she noted "Towards the end, morally, the things that we were preaching on that show weren't really aligned with my own integrity. So that was a bit hard, to show up to work every day knowing that we were going to project all of these themes to thousands — millions — of young adults across the country, when, in fact, they weren't what I would like to be sending out."
#12 Blake Lively & "Gossip Girl"
Source: Gossip Girl
On the teen drama "Gossip Girl", Blake Lively struggled with her Serena character. She expressed concern about the message her character put out and described some of the terrible things Serena did, calling her role of Serena "personally compromising."
#13 Ian McKellen & "The Hobbit"
Source: The Hobbit
Ian McKellen, who played Gandalf in the Hobbit films, described the filming experience as "miserable". McKellen was annoyed that he had to use green screens on a set to film rather than being able to shoot on location as he did for "Lord of the Rings".
#14 Jennette McCurdy & "iCarly" and "Sam & Cat"
Source: Nickelodeon
After eight years of portraying Sam on iCarly and Sam & Cat, Jennette McCurdy ultimately gave up acting. Later, she admitted that she was ashamed of the roles she played as an adolescent (most likely speaking about Sam). "[I] felt like it was the most cheesy, embarrassing. I did the shows that I was on from like 13 to 21, and by 15, I was already embarrassed.”
#15 Cast of "Saving Private Ryan"
Source: Saving Private Ryan
Filming a war movie was certainly difficult as well, but for the "Saving Private Ryan" actors, the preparation for the shoot was awful. Except for Matt Damon, the actors went through a rigorous boot camp to prepare for the movie, simulating the conditions that real soldiers would have faced. For around four days, they trained day and night with ex-US Marine Corps Capt. Dale Dye, who called them "turds," yelled at them, woke them up at five in the morning, and subjected them to pushups and situps as punishment. During the training, it also rained. Actor Giovanni Ribisi said, “We were soaking wet, hiking five miles a day with 40 pounds of gear on our backs, getting about three hours of sleep. Only, you don’t really sleep because you’re freezing and shaking in a tent.” The actors almost quit the training on day three but were convinced to continue by Tom Hanks.
#16 Jeremy Renner & "The Avengers"
Source: The Avengers
Jeremy Renner's first significant appearance as Hawkeye was in the superhero team-up film "The Avengers". However, heexpressed disappointment in the part, saying it wasn't what he'd signed on to play, and pointing out how much of the movie he spent Loki's mind-controlled servant. To suggest to the producers that his character could be killed off because he was having such a difficult time making the movie, he would walk about pretending his character was suffering a heart attack.
#17 Jessica Alba & "Fantastic Four"
Source: Fantastic Four
After Jessica Alba was cast as Sue in the "Fantastic Four" series, she had such a terrible experience acting that she almost quit, especially when filming her character's death scene in the sequel. “The director was like, ‘It looks too real. It looks too painful. Can you be prettier when you cry? … Don’t do that thing with your face. Just make it flat. We can CGI the tears in.’” She said that the incident left her questioning her instincts, feeling inadequate, and that nobody wanted her to be a real person.
Source: X-Men
Though she eventually reprised her part as Mystique, Jennifer Lawrence hate the body paint she had to don to play the character of Mystique. She said that doing her makeup for "X-Men: First Class" took up to eight hours, and that after she had put on her costume, she was unable to even sit down to relieve herself.
#19 Sarah Paulson & "AHS: Roanoke"
Source: AHS: Roanoke
Sarah Paulson had trouble going from a more fulfilling role (as Marcia Clark in "The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story") to a less fulfilling one (as Audrey on "AHS: Roanoke"). She expressed complete disinterest in the season and even said she wished she hadn't done it.
#20 Miley Cyrus & "Hannah Montana"
Source: Hannah Montana
Miley Cyrus struggled with taking on a character she felt was too juvenile for her as an older teenager. Cyrus was 18 years old when she first felt "absurd" while portraying Hannah/Miley on "Hannah Montana". She said "The minute I had sex, I was kind of like, I can’t put the fucking wig on again. It got weird. It just felt like...I was grown-up." She has also discussed the difficulties of choosing to become an actor when she was a young adolescent rather than follow the same path as other 13-year-olds.
#21 Idris Elba & "Thor: The Dark World"
Source: Thor: The Dark World
Idris Elba was not pleased when he returned to reprise his role as Heimdall in "Thor: The Dark World". Elba called his experience of going straight into "Thor: The Dark World" reshoots from "Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom" torture. He narrated his internal dialogue during a green-screen scene: "In between takes, I was stuck there, fake hair stuck onto my head with glue … while they reset. And I’m thinking, Twenty-four hours ago, I was Mandela." He said "When I walked into the set, the extras called me Madiba [Mandela's clan name]. I was literally walking in this man’s boots. Then there I was, in this stupid harness, with this wig and this sword and these contact lenses. It ripped my heart out.”
#22 Ben Affleck & "Justice League"
Source: Amy Sussman
Ben Affleck called the filming "Justice League" as "the worst experience," due to "a confluence of things: my own life, my divorce, being away too much, the competing agendas, and then Zack's personal tragedy and the reshooting." Affleck was making reference to director Zack Snyder's decision to leave the project after the passing of his daughter. "It was awful. It was everything that I didn’t like about this. That became the moment where I said, 'I’m not doing this anymore.' It’s not even about, like, Justice League was so bad. Because it could have been anything." Affleck would then drop out of directing and starring in "The Batman".
#23 Jim Carrey & "How the Grinch Stole Christmas"
Source: How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Jim Carrey also had a LOT of difficulty with "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" because of his makeup and costume. He said the process of being made into the Grinch was "like being buried alive every day." In order to properly prepare Carrey for the makeup every day, the movie then hired someone who trains CIA operatives on how to endure torture. Makeup on the very first day took eight and a half hours. "I went back to my trailer and put my leg through the wall," he said on The Graham Norton Show. "And I told Ron Howard that I couldn't do the movie."
#24 Cast of "Glee"
Source: Glee
Jenna Ushkowitz and Kevin McHale revealed that some of the cast detested being on the show. They acknowledged that Season 5 was exceedingly challenging to film. Amber Riley also posted a TikTok showing a clip of herself on the show and implying that she was only playing the part for pay. In addition, she stated that working with Lea Michele was "not the most comfortable environment"in response to Samantha Ware's tweets that claimed Michele made the set "a living hell." Various cast members have confirmed this.
#25 Rowan Atkinson & "Mr. Bean"
Source: Mr. Bean
In the "Mr. Bean" movie and TV series, Rowan Atkinson won over fans' hearts all over the world as Mr. Bean, but he did not like the part. He described it as difficult and draining, complaining that he had too much responsibility:"I look forward to the end of it," he said.