Top 10 Actors Who Hated Their Most Famous Roles

For a man whose life was as varied and filled with incredible achievements as actor, musician and author, pegging Christopher Lee in just one role seems impossible. The man acted in over 200 films, with notable performances in multiple franchises, including “The Lord of the Rings”, “Star Wars” and “James Bond”. However, to many he will always be Count Dracula, a role he dominated on ten different occasions. Lee was never fond of the Hammer Dracula films, however, once stating, “Emotional blackmail. That’s the only reason I did them,” in reference to the fact that producer Jimmy Carreras would use fear tactics to bully him into accepting the role.

“Bloody awful”, “Excruciating”, “Fairy tale rubbish”. These are just some of the ways the late great Alec Guinness described the first “Star Wars” film. His detest of the film is the stuff of legend, speaking candidly about his experiences on numerous occasions. Guinness was nominated for both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for his performance as Obi-Wan Kenobi. However, he maintains it was his idea to kill off Obi-Wan and in the years following the films’ release refused to read fan mail related to the film, once telling a young fan he’d only give him an autograph if he promised to never watch “Star Wars” again. Yikes!

It seems impossible for an actor to be nominated for an Academy Award and yet in retrospect look back on the performance in question and cringe. Alas, such is the case for Kate Winslet, who now regards her performance as Rose Dewitt-Bukater in “Titanic” as one of her worst. While she never outright admits to hating the role which, let’s be honest, is easily her most famous, she has remarked that her accent in the film is “awful” and that she has trouble listening to it. She goes on to state that there are multiple scenes that she wishes she could re-do.

Christopher Plummer’s film career began in the late 50s. A storied actor whose won numerous awards, one of his most memorable roles is that of Captain George von Trapp from 1965’s Academy Award winning musical “The Sound of Music”. And yet, for the better part of 50 years Plummer despised his part in the film, maintaining that his character was a bore to play, and that the role was “awful and sentimental and gooey.” Until recently he had even refused to attend cast reunions! However, in 2015 Plummer relented, admitting that “it’s a marvelous family movie” and that he “respects it.” We suppose it’s never too late to change.

Katherine Heigl was already a household name thanks to “Grey’s Anatomy”, but she found new name recognition on the big screen with “Knocked Up.” Unfortunately, that name would be dragged through the mud just months after the film was released. In response to an interview she gave to Vanity Fair, in which she called the film “a little sexist” due to its tendency to portray “the women as shrews, as humorless and uptight”, Heigl experienced vicious personal attacks from both fans and the media. What many failed to notice is that in that same interview she claims her time on set was enjoyable, but that she ultimately wasn’t a fan of the finished product. Fair enough!

While the “Transformers” franchise has had its ups and downs, it’s clear that the second installment isn’t one that lead actor Shia LaBeouf looks back on fondly. In fact, he’s openly stated that he despises the film, once quipping "There are a lot of people that liked the second one, but I hated it. I just didn't enjoy it.” It doesn’t get much blunter than that! LaBeouf cited the 2007-08 Writers Guild of America strike has one of the reasons for why the film was a personal disappointment, claiming, “Everything was sort of made on the fly.” Sounds stressful!

One of the most celebrated actors of the 20th century, Marlon Brando was one of Hollywood earliest male sex symbols. Much of this was due to his portrayal of the working class hot head and domestic abuser Stanley Kowalski in both the stage and film versions of “A Streetcar Named Desire”. Ironically it was the character’s “sexy outlaw” personality that formed the basis of Brando’s hatred towards him. In real life, Brando hated the fact that women found him sexy, going so far as to quip “I detest the character”. Jeez, tell us how you really feel.

Nowadays most actors would be psyched to land the lead role in a television series, but back in the 1950’s television was considered film’s less respectable little brother. So, when George Reeves landed the titular role in “Adventures of Superman” he wasn’t exactly thrilled. He considered it “beneath his dignity”; a fair assessment seeing as how he was originally only paid $200 per episode! Nevertheless, the show was a massive success, with Reeves suddenly a household name in America and beyond. Unfortunately, he became typecast, and roles that didn’t require him to wear tights dried up.

In a moment of unabashed honesty, legendary actor and Academy Award winner Sean Connery revealed that he has, “always hated that damned James Bond” and that if possible he’d “like to kill him.” Clearly this is a man who doesn’t mince words. While the role catapulted him to the top of the Hollywood A-list, he was always reluctant to reprise it when producers came a knockin’. Yet despite his reservations, Connery wound up playing the womanizing British secret agent seven times. Of course, he often gave sizeable parts of his Bond paychecks to charity.

How do we begin to describe Pattinson’s hatred of his most iconic character? Shall we discuss his description of what “Twilight” fangirls sound like, which he describes as “the sound you hear at the gates of hell”? How about his numerous press junkets; you know, the places where he is supposed to be promoting the film, not trashing it? Some of the highlights include when he likens Edward Cullen to an axe murderer, when he recalls reading the book and thinking it shouldn’t have been published and when he literally can’t name a single co-star that made his time on set rewarding. In the pantheon of actors who hate their most iconic roles, Pattinson takes the cake.