Top 10 Most Disturbing Movie Characters Because of What We Know Now

“Blade: Trinity” (2004)

This series didn’t end on the highest of notes, did it? Unfortunately, some of that is due to Blade himself, which makes re-watching this film kind of difficult. By all accounts, Wesley Snipes was an enormous pain in the you-know-what. Director David S. Goyer has called shooting the film “the [most] painful thing [he’s] ever been through,” which is largely due to Snipes’s behavior. According to numerous stories, Snipes wouldn’t talk to the cast or crew, spent much of his time getting high, became violent with Goyer, and hurled a racist slur at Ryan Reynolds. Following the movie’s release, Snipes sued both New Line Cinema and Goyer, and he was sued by the United Talent Agency. So, yeah, not a great time.

“Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” (1986)

Ed Rooney is one of those great teen movie villains, the representative of authoritarianism and conformity that tries to stop the free-wheeling protagonist. Unfortunately, his character was utterly ruined once we learned more about Jeffrey Jones, the man who portrayed him. In 2002, the actor was charged with some crimes involving an underage individual - which puts his character as a school official into a new and entirely disturbing light. We can no longer watch his interactions with these young teens without thinking of Jones’s real offenses, and it makes watching his scenes very difficult. As of 2021, Jones remains on the national list of registered offenders.

“Groundhog Day” (1993)

We don’t think Bill Murray had to do too much acting in “Groundhog Day.” You know how Phil is a huge dink in the first half of the movie? By all accounts, that’s how Murray actually was on set. He often clashed with director Harold Ramis over the direction of the film, had an enormous temper, physically assaulted Ramis, and was known to unleash curse-filled rants. It was enough to ruin Murray’s long relationship with Ramis, and the two would remain estranged for decades. Murray’s behavior has been attributed to multiple causes, including the constant cold weather and his ongoing divorce from Margaret Kelly, both of which put a permanent damper on his mood.

“Music” (2021)

For many, “Music” is one of the most miscalculated and offensive movies of the 2020s. To start with, Music Gamble is a nonverbal autistic girl, played by Maddie Ziegler, a dancer who is both a) verbal, and b) not autistic. Even if you think that’s not a problem, her portrayal of Music certainly was. The film has been widely criticized for its harmful depiction of autism and the specific scene in which Music is restrained. Some have hilariously compared it to the fictional Tugg Speedman playing Simple Jack in “Tropic Thunder,” and even those who call the movie well-intentioned admit that Ziegler’s performance was misjudged.

“Suicide Squad” (2016)

The Joker is almost always a disturbing character, but this interpretation is made even more so thanks to the behavior of Jared Leto. Many people involved in the production report that Leto remained in character the whole time. We don’t know about you, but spending your day with the Joker doesn’t sound fun. But it gets worse. Leto reportedly sent a number of weird gifts to the cast and crew, including live rats and a dead pig, which one of his “henchmen” dropped on a table in the rehearsal room. Leto later defended his gifts and claimed that they were made in jest and exaggerated by the media. But tell that to Viola Davis, who called them “horrific.”

“The Shining” (1980)

Stanley Kubrick was a notoriously difficult director, and his demands eventually got to Shelley Duvall on the set of “The Shining.” There have been many stories regarding Kubrick’s treatment towards Duvall, some of which have been called exaggerated. But stories and video evidence corroborate that she had a tough time on set. Vivian Kubrick’s documentary shows Duvall often arguing with Kubrick, laying on the floor in total exhaustion, and even losing her hair from the constant stress. Jack Nicholson has also verified the stories, claiming that Kubrick was “a different director” with Duvall. She later told esteemed critic Roger Ebert that making the movie and working with Kubrick was “almost unbearable.”

“Kramer vs. Kramer” (1979)

Dustin Hoffman may have won an Oscar for playing Ted Kramer, but watching his performance now is more difficult thanks to some worrying behind-the-scenes stories. According to Meryl Streep, working with Hoffman was an absolutely miserable experience - an experience filled with physical violence, verbal abuse, and even sexual assault. According to Streep, Hoffman groped her breast during their very first meeting, but this story was later rescinded by one of her representatives. He also slapped her during a scene and taunted her with the recent death of her fiancé, John Cazale, who died of cancer just one year before the movie’s release.

“Call Me by Your Name” (2017)

It’s hard to separate the art from the artist, and sometimes that makes watching beloved movies really hard. Such is the case with “Call Me by Your Name,” an acclaimed film starring Armie Hammer. Hammer was on the rise in 2017, and this movie raised his stock even higher, earning him a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor. But that stock plummeted in 2021, when multiple women accused Hammer of abuse. One of the women entered a program for treating PTSD, and multiple have accused Hammer of violent assaults and harboring disturbing fantasies. Hammer has since quit acting, and while he has denied the criminal elements of the story, he has admitted that he was emotionally abusive towards his partners.

“Manhattan” (1979)

Really, we could have put any Woody Allen character on this list, but we’re going with Isaac Davis due to some unfortunate comparisons to Allen’s real life. Isaac is a 42-year-old comedy writer dating a 17-year-old named Tracy. It’s a disturbing character beat, even though their problematic age difference is directly addressed in the story. While this wasn’t much of a problem at the time, Isaac’s character has since come into question thanks to the horrific allegations that have been made against Allen regarding Dylan Farrow, his and Mia Farrow’s adopted daughter. There’s also the fact that he married Soon-Yi Previn, another adopted daughter of Mia Farrow. Their relationship began in 1991, when Allen was 56 and Previn just 21.

“American Beauty” (1999)

Just like Woody Allen, we could have put any Kevin Spacey role on this list, but again, we’re going with Lester Burnham because of some tragic real world analogs. Spacey won an Oscar for playing Lester, an unhappy middle aged man who begins lusting after a friend of his teenage daughter. At the time, many people related to Lester and his midlife crisis. But now many viewers find him creepy, as the parallels with Spacey’s infamous assault allegations are just way too similar to be comfortable. This includes his lusting after an underage girl, which bears some similarities to the story Anthony Rapp has alleged.