50 times actors hated their own movies

This Oscar-winning musical may be beloved by millions, but Christopher Plummer (who played Captain von Trapp) never believed the hype. The actor reportedly referred to it as "The Sound of Mucus" in 1966, and in 2011, he told The Hollywood Reporter, "It was so awful and sentimental and gooey. You had to work terribly hard to try and infuse some miniscule bit of humor into it."

After a legendary acting career, English actor Alec Guinness didn't have the same awestruck reaction to being in "Star Wars" that many actors involved with the franchise do now. He expressed regret at taking the role in his book "A Positively Final Appearance" and even agreed to give a young "Star Wars" fan an autograph on the condition that the boy never watch the film again.

Although the landmark sci-fi film "Blade Runner" features one of Harrison Ford's most famous roles (to which he returned for 2017's "Blade Runner 2049"), he doesn't have super-favorable feelings about Ridley Scott's movie. "I didn't like the movie one way or the other, with or without," Ford admitted in 1999. "In terms of how I related to the material, I found it very difficult."

Although Michelle Pfeiffer is a three-time Oscar nominee, she still has a few regrets about her acting resume—particularly her early role as Stephanie in the musical sequel "Grease 2." "I hated that film with a vengeance and could not believe how bad it was," the actor said in a 2007 interview with Hollywood.com. "At the time, I was young and didn't know any better."

Crispin Glover, who portrayed Marty McFly's dad George in "Back to the Future," didn't like how things ended for the family. He told director Robert Zemeckis, "I think if the characters have money, if our characters are rich, it's a bad message," according to a 2012 interview with The A.V. Club. "That reward should not be there."

The New York-set musical "Newsies" eventually became a cult favorite, but star Christian Bale didn't love the commercial flop. "At 17, you want to be taken seriously—you don't want to be doing a musical," he said in a 2007 Entertainment Weekly interview. "Time healed those wounds. But it took a while."

In the underperforming action comedy, Sylvester Stallone played a cop who takes his mom along after she accidentally witnesses a series of murders. Stallone later told Ain't It Cool News that the movie was "maybe one of the worst films in the entire solar system, including alien productions we've never seen."

Critics and fans alike haven't been kind to the campy 1997 sequel "Batman and Robin," and although star George Clooney appreciates how it impacted his career, he also isn't particularly happy with it. "'Batman' is still the biggest break I ever had and it completely changed my career, even if it was weak and I was weak in it," he told Total Film in 2011. "I don't know what I could have done differently."

Before his 1997 thriller "The Devil's Own" even hit theaters, Brad Pitt panned it during an interview with Newsweek. "We had no script," the actor said. "... It was the most irresponsible bit of filmmaking—if you can even call it that—that I've ever seen."

Kate Winslet doesn't seem to hate "Titanic" so much as she hates her breakout performance in it. "Every single scene, I'm like 'Really, really? You did it like that?' Oh my God. … Even my American accent, I can't listen to it. It's awful," the actor said in a 2012 Telegraph interview.

Oscar-winner Charlize Theron will openly admit that her 2000 thriller "Reindeer Games" (in which she plays a woman who falls in love with a prison inmate penpal) is bad. "That was a bad, bad, bad movie," Theron admitted in a 2008 interview with Esquire. "But even though the movie might suck, I got to work with [director] John Frankenheimer. I wasn't lying to myself—that's why I did it."

Mariah Carey, who starred in "Glitter," didn't enjoy the film's impact on her career. "It was a horrible couple of years," she told Andy Cohen on a 2013 episode of "Watch What Happens Live." "And I had to get my momentum back for people to let it go."

The Gwyneth Paltrow-led comedy "Shallow Hal" hasn't held up well, especially due to its fatphobic attitude toward its protagonist. While promoting the movie in 2021, Paltrow told W magazine, "For some reason, the clothes they make for women that are overweight are horrible. I felt humiliated because people were really dismissive." Nearly a decade later, in 2020, Paltrow told Netflix in 2020 that the movie was a "disaster."

British actor Miriam Margolyes, who plays Hogwarts teacher Professor Sprout, isn't the biggest "Harry Potter" fan. While filming a Cameo birthday message for a fan in 2020 in which she introduced herself as the character, she said, "I've never seen a film, I've never seen the books, I've never read them. I just pocket the money when it comes in, and I'm very grateful for it."

In a 2016 TimesTalk interview, Ben Affleck revealed that his disdain for his 2003 film "Daredevil" inspired him to later play Batman in a series of DC films. "Part of it was I wanted for once to get one of these movies and do it right—to do a good version," the actor said. "I hate 'Daredevil' so much."

Justin Guarini and Kelly Clarkson led this rom-com musical after becoming the respective runner-up and winner of the first season of "American Idol." However, Guarini later called the movie "abysmal" in a 2013 episode of "Oprah: Where Are They Now?," although he added that he enjoyed making it.

"Love Actually" has become a beloved Christmas rom-com, yet star Andrew Lincoln still has sour feelings about his character, Mark, as he told Entertainment Weekly in 2017. "In one of the most romantic movies of all time, I got to play the only guy who doesn't get the girl. ... I got to be this weird stalker guy."

Jude Law took over Michael Caine's title character in the 2004 "Alfie" reboot, but the movie ultimately received lukewarm reviews and low box-office returns. The actor owned up to its poor quality at 2007's Venice Film Festival, saying, "When I was approached originally to work on the new version of 'Alfie,' it seemed like a brilliant idea because the original was so successful. But from my point of view, it didn't quite turn out the way I wanted it to."

The 2004 movie "Catwoman" received notoriously bad reviews, and star Halle Berry certainly agrees with critics. "I want to thank Warner Bros. for casting me in this piece-of-s---, god-awful movie," she said when accepting her 2005 Razzie Award for worst actor. "It was just what my career needed—I was at the top, now I'm at the bottom." The "win" came just a few years after she became the first Black woman to win Best Actress at the Oscars for her performance in "Monster's Ball."

While promoting his 2007 movie "The Kingdom," Jamie Foxx admitted that he felt inclined to lie about the quality of his forgettable 2005 military sci-fi film "Stealth." "Sometimes you do a movie and you have to go promote it, so on 'Stealth' I was like, 'Yeah this is the greatest.' And people would see me after seeing the movie and say, 'I can't believe you lied to me like that,'" Foxx explained to Hollywood.com.

"High School Musical'' protagonist Troy Bolton was an important character in many Gen Zers' childhoods, but actor Zac Efron noted that he sometimes resents the character for casting such a large shadow over his professional reputation. "I step back and look at myself, and I still want to kick that guy's a-- sometimes," he said in a 2016 interview with Men's Fitness. "He's done some kind of cool things with some cool people—he did that one thing ['Neighbors'] that was funny—but, I mean, he's still just that f------ kid from 'High School Musical.'"

"Miami Vice" star Colin Farrell agreed with critics of the 2006 film adaptation of the popular TV series. "I didn't like it so much—I thought it was style over substance, and I accept a good bit of responsibility," he said in a 2010 Total Film interview.

Although the third installment in the Bourne film series was overwhelmingly praised by critics, star Matt Damon himself wasn't so pleased with it. "I don't blame [screenwriter] Tony [Gilrow] for taking a boatload of money and handing in what he handed in," the actor told GQ in 2011. "It's just that it was unreadable. This is a career-ender." Damon did, however, come back to the franchise in 2016 for "Jason Bourne" and, as of February 2024, it's been reported that he'll return for a sixth Bourne film.

In a 2010 interview with Elle, actor Jessica Alba revealed that working on the superhero movie almost made her quit acting. She noted that she had a hard time working with director Tim Story, who asked her to "be prettier when you cry."

In this 2007 film, Lindsay Lohan plays a woman who claims to be someone else after she returns from a traumatic kidnapping. Six years later, when a Twitter fan claimed to have watched the movie twice in one night in 2013, Lohan responded, "Two times too many!"

Although actor Katherine Heigl played one of the leads in the 2007 comedy "Knocked Up," she wasn't a fan of how the movie portrayed women. In 2008, Heigl told Vanity Fair that in her opinion, the comedy "paints the women as shrews, as humorless and uptight, and it paints the men as lovable, goofy, fun-loving guys." She added: "I'm playing such a b----; why is she being such a killjoy? Why is this how you're portraying women?"

Megan Fox found her breakthrough role as Mikaela Banes in the first two "Transformers" movies, but she was ultimately fired before the third after calling director Michael Bay "a nightmare to work for" and "a tyrant" on set. Fox told Entertainment Weekly in 2009 that she isn't a fan of her performance in the first movie, saying, "I just wasn't proud of what I did. … But unless you're a seasoned veteran, working with Michael Bay is not about acting experience."

Although Nicole Kidman gave one of her most iconic performances in Baz Luhrmann's 2001 musical "Moulin Rouge," she wasn't fond of their follow-up collaboration, the 2008 romance "Australia." "I can't look at this movie and be proud of what I've done," she said during a Sydney radio interview to promote the film. "It's just impossible for me to connect to it emotionally."

Director M. Night Shyamalan's films have been pretty hit-or-miss with critics—and sometimes even with his own lead actors. One major dissenter is "The Happening" star Mark Wahlberg, who wasn't too happy about leading a movie about killer trees. During a 2010 press conference for his film "The Fighter," the actor said that Amy Adams "dodged a bullet" by not getting cast in "The Happening" and described it as "a bad movie that I did."

Actor Robert Pattinson's name is pretty much synonymous with "Twilight" vampire Edward Cullen, but he's made his distaste for parts of the franchise clear from the beginning. He told E! in 2008 that Stephenie Meyer's original novel read like "a book that wasn't supposed to be published." That same year, he also criticized the character of Edward in an interview with Empire Magazine, saying, "The more I read the script, the more I hated this guy, so that's how I played him, as a manic-depressive who hates himself."

Channing Tatum signed a three-picture deal with Paramount Studios in the mid-2000s, but he wasn't too thrilled about having to do 2009's "G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra" as part of his contract. "I'll be honest, I f------ hate that movie. I was pushed into doing it," the actor told Howard Stern in 2015. "The script wasn't any good."

In 2014, "Harry Potter" star Daniel Radcliffe told the Mail on Sunday that the sixth movie in the franchise was his worst performance. "I'm just not very good in it. I hate it," the actor admitted. "My acting is very one-note, and I can see I got complacent, and what I was trying to do just didn't come across."

Legendary singer Cher has also had a strong acting career (and even won an Oscar for "Moonstruck"). But she didn't feel like her talents translated to the critically panned musical "Burlesque." She called filmmaker Steve Antin a "really terrible director" and said the script was also "really terrible" in a 2013 interview with The Guardian. "It could have been a much better film. It was always sad that it was not a good film," she added.

This 2010 fantasy remake of the 1981 movie of the same name wasn't well-received on any front. Even lead actor Sam Worthington ultimately disliked it, telling Moviefone, "I think the first one, we kind of let down some people. ... I think I can f------ act better, to be honest."

M. Night Shyamalan's live-action adaptation of "Avatar: The Last Airbender" has always been mired in controversy, from its whitewashed casting to its flat rendition of the beloved animated series on which it's based. Dev Patel, who played Prince Zuko in the film, also doesn't remember it fondly. "I completely felt overwhelmed by the experience. I felt like I wasn't being heard," Patel told The Hollywood Reporter in 2016.

The rom-com "Leap Year" was criticized for being unfunny and full of genre clichés, but lead actor Matthew Goode was happy to admit that he didn't do the movie because he thought it would be good. "The main reason I took it—so that I could come home at the weekends," the British actor explained to The Telegraph in 2010, noting the set's proximity to his house. "Do I feel I let myself down? No. Was it a bad job? Yes, it was."

At 2017's Vulture Festival, "Sex and the City" star Sarah Jessica Parker admitted that the team had missed the mark in the show's second film sequel, set in Abu Dhabi. "I can see where we fell short," she said. "I'm perfectly happy to say that publicly."

Actor James Franco has openly admitted that one of his least favorite jobs was "Your Highness," a parody of medieval fantasy stories. "That movie sucks," the actor admitted to GQ in 2013. "You can't get around that."

The 2012 musical comedy "Rock of Ages" isn't one of Alec Baldwin's better-known movies, and he seems content to keep it that way. The year after it was released, he called the movie "a complete disaster" during an interview at the American Magazine Media Conference, according to The Wrap.

Superhero action-comedy "Kick-A-- 2" came out less than a year after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, and star Jim Carrey (who played Colonel Stars and Stripes) was compelled to apologize for his involvement on Twitter. "I did 'Kick-A--' a month before Sandy Hook, and now in all good conscience I cannot support that level of violence," he tweeted ahead of its 2013 release.

Sally Field, who played Aunt May in the "Spider-Man" movies starring Andrew Garfield, said in a 2016 appearance on "The Howard Stern Show" that she didn't care for the second installment. "It's really hard to find a three-dimensional character in it, and you work it as much as you can, but you can't put 10 pounds of s--- in a five-pound bag," she said.

Actor Jason Bateman was dismissive of this comedy, confessing to The Hollywood Reporter in 2015, "The second one was garbage, as far as box-office goes. Who knows whether it was on the merits or when they released it, but it did not do any money."

Rooney Mara's casting as the Native American character Tiger Lily in 2015's "Pan" was a major whitewashing controversy. She then told The Telegraph in 2016 that she hates being "on that side of the whitewashing conversation," and that she "can understand why people were upset and frustrated."

Cara Delevingne may have been lighthearted during a promotional interview for her 2015 young-adult film "Paper Towns," but she had an unfavorable comment about her character, Margo. When asked if she has anything in common with the heroine, the actor responded, "No, I actually hate her."

Although Daniel Craig starred as James Bond one last time in 2021's "No Time to Die," he initially never had any plans to return after "Spectre." When Time Out asked him if he'd do another movie in the franchise in 2015, he responded, "I'd rather break this glass and slash my wrists. ... All I want to do is move on."

Although Emilia Clarke starred in this "Terminator" spin-off in an attempt to kickstart a film career apart from her iconic TV role on "Game of Thrones," she ultimately told Vanity Fair in 2018 that she got "eaten and chewed up on 'Terminator.'" She also noted her relief that the movie never spawned any sequels.

The 2016 film adaptation of the video game series Assassin's Creed received a ghastly 18% score on Rotten Tomatoes, and star Michael Fassbender agreed that it could've been much better. "For sure, it wasn't ideal. … I think we missed an opportunity there a little bit," the actor told Movie'n'co in 2016. "... I think [the film] took itself too seriously, and I would get to the action a lot quicker."

"Batman v. Superman" was panned for its bleak tone and torturous worldbuilding, and actor Jeremy Irons (who played Bruce Wayne's butler, Alfred) wasn't a fan, either. "It was sort of overstuffed," he said when The Daily Mail brought up its poor reception. "It was very muddled."

After leaving the popular show "Silicon Valley," actor TJ Miller was dissatisfied with his next project, 2017's maligned "The Emoji Movie." The actor told The Hollywood Reporter, "Instead of dying, like everybody in my family would love, I go and make 'The Emoji Movie.' It's worse for American culture."

Jennifer Lawrence starred in this polarizing, artsy horror film (which was directed by her then-boyfriend Darren Aronofsky), but after seeing the movie, she told Variety that she felt "we took it too far. … We have a message and if we watered it down to make people comfortable, then what's the point?"