Top 10 Times Actors Shaded Their Own Movies

Who isn’t a fan of this classic musical? Captain Von Trapp himself, apparently. Christopher Plummer may have seemed to be enjoying himself in the film, but the actor has reportedly referred to the film as “The Sound of Mucus”. Plummer did say the film itself is good, but he found it a movie difficult to perform in, as it was “so awful and sentimental and gooey”. He couldn’t find any sort of humor in the film, hence his distaste for it. In his lengthy, illustrious career, Mr. Plummer has said that “The Sound of Music” was his most challenging role.

Every actor has a few duds on their filmography list. In a 2008 interview with Esquire magazine, Charlize Theron was asked which film she liked the least. She didn’t hold back in saying that “Reindeer Games” was “a bad, bad, bad movie”. It wasn’t a total loss, however, as Theron went on to say she did get to work with director John Frankenheimer, which is the main reason she took the role in the first place. She admitted that she knew the film might not be so great when she took the job. The thriller didn’t quite please cinema-goers either, scoring a mere 25% on Rotten Tomatoes.

This film was apparently so awful that we’re still talking about it 17 years later. Affleck is no stranger to box office bombs (see the same year’s “Daredevil” attempt). In fact, he appears more than once on our list! However, he doesn’t always express his dislike for his own films, unless perhaps everyone else is doing it. The widely-panned film is bad, and Affleck has said so. However, he has also said that the reason it drew so much attention was his and J-Lo’s real-life romance at the time, citing that Angelina Jolie was in a couple of critical failures that same year and got nowhere near as much attention. Or maybe it was just that bad, Ben.

In 2020, at the height of lockdown status, a fan tweeted a question to Ryan Reynolds. He asked him if he should rent “Green Lantern” for 99 cents on Apple TV. Reynolds responded with a simple “Walk away.” In fact, Reynolds has attributed his difficulties in getting cast in any major role for a long time to this film. He blames the film’s failure on some unfortunate practices in Hollywood, as the script was given relatively minimal attention compared to the hype and advertising. Reynolds redeemed himself in the superhero genre with “Deadpool”, and is probably grateful to be remembered for that role rather than for “Green Lantern”.

Halle Berry was definitely the portrait of good sportsmanship when it came to 2004’s “Catwoman”. The film won big at the Razzie Awards, a ceremony dedicated to the worst of the year in cinema. Berry won worst actress, and graciously attended and accepted her Razzie award, feigning sobs and thanking Warner Brothers for casting her in “this piece of shit movie”. Berry had won the Oscar for best actress for “Monster’s Ball” in 2002, and following it up with a cinematic dumpster fire wasn’t exactly heartening. However, she took it in stride, and managed to not let failure map out her future.

This one is a little different. Jim Carrey starred in 2013’s “Kick-Ass 2” as Colonel Stars and Stripes. A month after the production wrapped, the Sandy Hook school shooting occurred. Carrey then took to Twitter, denouncing the film’s violence in the wake of such a tragedy. Producers of the film were taken aback by his reaction, with writer Matt Millar responding by saying Carrey had the script 18 months prior to the job, and knew what he was getting into from the start. Producers maintain that the film was for entertainment purposes, and had nothing to do with any real-life violence.

In this case, the actor’s distaste developed following a misunderstanding on his part. 2004’s “Garfield” film cast Bill Murray in the starring role, voicing the famous feline. The film was a critical flop, and spawned an interesting story. Murray claims he joined the production because of a mix-up: he thought the screenwriter was Joel Coen (C-O-E-N), of Coen Brothers fame. However, it turned out to be Joel Cohen (Cohen with an H), a different film writer. Apparently, the production was difficult, with Murray trying to “fix” the script wherever he could.

Though a lot of actors have bashed their own films, this one is perhaps one of the most publicized instances. “Knocked Up” came out in 2007, and in 2008, Heigl did an interview with Vanity Fair, in which she expressed some regret in playing her role in the film. She called the film “a little bit sexist”, and criticized its portrayal of women. The film’s director, Judd Apatow, was not too pleased with the news, claiming he was expecting an apology from Heigl, yet never received one. The film itself received much box office praise, and it seemed Heigl was one of the relatively few who didn’t like it.

Poor George Clooney. Poor, poor Mr. Bat-Nipples. 1997’s “Batman & Robin” is the notoriously bad Batman film, and its lead actor, George Clooney, knows this, and is quite apologetic. At the 2014 New York Comic-Con, when Clooney was making an appearance, he took the opportunity to apologize to the crowd (as well as to veteran Batman actor Adam West) for the unnecessary anatomy and the terrible scripted puns. Clooney also blamed his turn as the caped crusader for the lack of Comic-Con invites, citing the comment sections on various platforms. At least he knows what he did.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

Channing Tatum, “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra” (2009)
He Was Forced to Do the Film & Hated It

Jessica Alba, “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer” (2007)
She Had a Terrible Time During Filming

Colin Farrell,“Miami Vice” (2006)
He’s Said He Didn’t Like It Much

Michelle Pfeiffer, “Grease 2” (1982)
She Hated the Film With a Vengeance

Brad Pitt, “The Devil’s Own” (1997)
He Called It “the Most Irresponsible Bit of Film-Making”

Here’s a case of constant, plentiful shade being thrown at an entire franchise. In multiple interviews, Pattinson has done nothing to hide his distaste for the five films. He has commented on the fanbase, the story, his regret for taking the role and the aftermath for him as a professional actor, his loss of dignity… and the list goes on. His co-star, Kristen Stewart has expressed similar feelings. The franchise was high-grossing and hugely popular with fans, and helped launch the two lead actors into the limelight. However, in the case of the sparkly vampire, we get the feeling Pattinson would have done without any of it had he known the misery it would entail for him.