15 Celebs Who Have Spoken Out About The Roles They Totally Regretted

Hollywood can be a little hit or miss sometimes. These days, the movie industry seems painfully paranoid about box office flops and is playing it safer than ever before. This is an era where producers cautiously cart out reboots, sequels, and spin-offs in an effort to ensure good box office numbers. Nobody is really too eager to take risks anymore. But aside from the producers and the directors, the people who have the most to lose are the actors. Reputations of even the most praised stars in the world can be ruined overnight by a bad film. And we've definitely seen that happen a few times in the past.

While most actors simply get on with their careers, trying their best to salvage their reputations, others publicly confess their regrets over being involved with terrible films. These confessions shed some light on why the actors took the roles in the first place, and how big of an impact that failure had on their careers. Sometimes, the movies were actually successful - yet still, actors had a bone to pick about their involvement. Here are 15 actors who publicly spoke out about roles they totally regretted.

15 Robert Pattinson - Wasn't Really A Fan Of 'Twilight'

Robert Pattinson is perhaps one of the most notorious actors who regrets taking a role, and most people will know exactly which role this is. Although this celebrity got his big break playing the role of Cedric Diggory in the Harry Potter films, he really became huge after landing the role of Edward Cullen in the Twilight series. There aren't many words to describe how popular this franchise really is.

Robert Pattinson was quoted in 2011 by Buzznet as saying:

"If I had known that this movie would bring so much craziness, I don't know if I would have said 'yes' to the Twilight Saga. I never asked to be a poster-boy."

While that doesn't necessarily express explicit regret for the film that made him famous, it definitely doesn't paint him as an enthusiastic participant, either. It's no secret that Robert Pattinson has been highly critical of the entire series over the years.

14 Elle Macpherson - Frustrated With The 'Friends' Re-Runs

One of the most memorable guest stars in the hit series Friends was Elle Macpherson. Although the actress has gone on to do many other things over the years, she's probably going to be remembered best for that one role, which only lasted a few episodes. She played the role of Janine Lecroix, Joey's roommate, and eventual love interest. And she's another actor that has expressed regret at taking on the role that made her big.

US Magazine quoted her in 2016 as saying:

“If I'd known how important it was in the U.S. or how long it would be on TV, I may not have chosen to do it. Friends is still very popular where we live in America, and reruns are on constantly… "

"… [My son and his friends] know me as Janine Lecroix and they are always like, 'Oh you know, Cy's mum, she is on Friends.' They haven't figured out it was nearly 20 years ago, they still think I am on Friends.”

13 Rooney Mara - Didn't Love That She Caused A Controversy In 'Pan'

Another celebrity you might recognize is Rooney Mara. This is one of the most talented women in film today, and she has some impressive credits under her belt, including Carol, for which she was nominated for an Oscar. Her other big role was in Pan, in which she played the iconic character of Tiger Lily. However, this casting proved to be a very controversial move.

As many of you probably know, Tiger Lily is supposed to be Native American - that's how he was portrayed in the original novel, and also in the movie Hook. As the Telegraph reports, there was public outrage that Rooney Mara was cast as the character. This caused her to regret taking the role, and she said: “I really hate, hate, hate that I am on that side of the whitewashing conversation. I really do. I don't ever want to be on that side of it again. I can understand why people were upset and frustrated.”

12 Jamie Dornan - Is Confused With Why '50 Shades Of Grey' Even Turned Into Movies

One huge film franchise that has really blown up in recent years is 50 Shades Of Grey. There are many fans who are totally obsessed with these movies, although many of the people involved in the making of these films have expressed regret working on them. The leading man in this movie is, of course, Jamie Dornan, who plays the character of Christian Grey. He has hinted at his dissatisfaction with the films before, and hardly seems too enthusiastic when he talks about the films during interviews.

Revelist quoted him as saying:

"A part of me still can't really believe I did those films. There's an element in me that's going, 'Why did they make movies out of those books?'”

This was apparently during one of his interviews while promoting the film, and many took this as an admission of regret for working on the movie.

11 Christopher Eccleston - 'Thor' Wasn't His Greatest Moment

Another famous actor that makes this article is Christopher Eccleston. He worked on the movie Thor: The Dark World, in which he played a Dark Elf and central antagonist to the Marvel story. It was a role that the actor admits he took for the money, but later he admitted that even with the large paycheck, it wasn't worth all the hassle he went through. And according to the star himself, it was all because of the insane amounts of makeup and prosthetics he was forced to wear.

Digital Spy quoted him in 2017 as saying: "Not my greatest moment, it has to be said. The first couple of days it was about seven hours, eight hours. I think we got it down to six and a half.It's a day's work before [anything].  Marvel were dishonest to me. Because they never, ever let me know that there'd be that amount of make-up. So yeah, that was not my finest moment."

10 Halle Berry - 'Catwoman' Was A Movie To Forget

One huge star that we've seen a lot of over the years is Halle Berry. This very talented actress has lent her acting skills to many great films over the years, including Swordfish, the X-Men franchise, and many others. But one film that the star will be trying to erase from her memory is Catwoman. The film was not very well-received and is widely considered one of the worst superhero films of all time, and also one of the worst films of all time, period.

It was so bad, in fact, that Catwoman actually won several awards for being terrible, including four "Razzie Awards," as reported by MTV back in 2005.

To everyone's surprise, Halle Berry actually showed up to accept the awards, and said in her acceptance speech: "I want to thank Warner Bros. for casting me in this piece-of-[explicit], god-awful movie."

9 Ben Affleck - 'Daredevil' Was His One Regret

Another actor who has been incredibly successful over the years is Ben Affleck. This veteran leading man has been involved in some great films, but also a few flops. Like Catwoman, Daredevil is another superhero movie that got a lot of flak from critics and the general public, and Ben Affleck admits that he regrets being involved with it.

Business Insider quotes the actor in 2o13 as saying:

"The only movie I actually regret is Daredevil. It just [hurts] me. I love that story, that character, and the fact that it got [messed] up the way it did stays with me. Maybe that's part of the motivation to do Batman."

But fans of the Daredevil comic book got another chance to see their character portrayed the "right" way when the Netflix series came out.

8 Shia Labeouf - Had Beef With Spielberg During Indiana Jones

One massively talented young actor today is Shia Labeouf. This amazing character started out as a child actor and quickly established himself as a force to be reckoned with in the film world. To call him a controversial figure would be something of an understatement considering his recent run-ins with the law, but he's always approached his acting career in a very professional manner. One movie that he was involved with that didn't get the best reception was Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull. 

Vanity Fair quoted the actor in 2016 as having harsh words for every Steven Spielberg movie he did, except for the first Transformers movie: “You get there, and you realize you're not meeting the Spielberg you dream of. You're meeting a different Spielberg, who is in a different stage in his career… "

"… I don't like the movies that I made with Spielberg. The only movie that I liked that we made together was Transformers one.”

This is essentially an admission that he regrets Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull.

7 Katherine Heigl - Really Didn't Like Her Character In 'Knocked Up'

Another star that has been quite successful in recent years is Katherine Heigl. This actress first became famous after appearing on the hit show, Grey's Anatomy, although later she made the jump to the big screen with some success. One of her most memorable films was Knocked Up, which she starred in alongside Seth Rogen. After the film, she referred to the film as "chauvinistic," and expressed regret over being part of it.

Although she was very critical about the film, she later backpedaled a little on the Howard Stern Show, as quoted by Refinery 29. She explained:

"I liked the movie a lot. I just didn't like me. She was kind of like, she was so judgmental and kind of uptight and controlling and all these things"…

"… I really went with it while we were doing it, and a lot of it, Judd allows everyone to be very free and improvise and whatever and afterward, I was like, 'Why is that where I went with this? What an [annoying person] she is!'"

6 Mark Wahlberg - Wants To Forget All About 'The Happening'

Mark Wahlberg is another massive star in today's scene, and he's been involved in some incredible films over the past few decades. Examples include The Departed, No Pain No Gain, and The Fighter. But one movie that he is desperately trying to forget is M. Night Shyamalan's flop, The Happening. The film earned a meager score of 18% on Rotten Tomatoes, and Mark Wahlberg is definitely aware of how bad the film is.

In 2010, Entertainment Weekly drew attention to a quote from Wahlberg which suggest tons of regret over the role: "I don't want to tell you what movie… all right, The Happening. [Forget] it. It is what it is. [Dang] trees, man. The plants. [Forget] it. You can't blame me for not wanting to try to play a science teacher. At least I wasn't playing a cop or a crook.”

5 Harrison Ford - Was Over 'Star Wars' After The Third Movie

Harrison Ford is probably one of the most successful actors of our time, and he's been involved in countless films. Most of these have been major successes, including iconic movies such as Blade Runner, the Indiana Jones series, and Air Force One. But one of his most iconic roles of all time is undoubtedly Han Solo, the space smuggler from the Star Wars franchise. It seems likely that this will be the role he's best remembered for.

But over the years, Harrison Ford has expressed less than enthusiastic feelings about the role and the character, as well as the entire series in general. He reportedly wanted Han Solo to die, and once said while promoting the third film: "Three is enough for me. I was glad to see that costume for the last time," as quoted by the Huffington Post.

4 Will Smith - 'After Earth' Was Painful For Him

Will Smith is another huge star, and this actor has enjoyed some phenomenal success over the years. He started off as a young actor in the classic show Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air, but quickly graduated to more challenging roles on the big screen. Some of his biggest past movies involve I-Robot, Bad Boys, and Men In Black. But one movie that he definitely regrets is After Earth, a film in which his son also starred.

Will Smith didn't hold back when talking about how much he regretted how After Earth panned out. Variety quoted him in 2015 as saying: "

Don't let success go to your head and failure go to your heart. That was a valuable lesson for me a few years ago with 'After Earth."… "

"… That was the most painful failure in my career. 'Wild Wild West' was less painful than 'After Earth' because my son was involved in 'After Earth,' and I led him into it. That was excruciating."

3 Carrie Fisher - 'Star Wars' Gave Her Too Much Fame

Carrie Fisher is another star that was massively popular during her successful career, and it's a sad moment in time when we have to look back on her memory. She was of course most famous for playing Princess Leia in the Star Wars series, and she appeared once again in the most recent Star Wars film, The Last Jedi. Her life was filled with a lot of ups and downs, but one thing she publicly stated was that she regretted taking the role that made her famous.

As revealed by Today, the star actress admitted that if she had known how popular the Star Wars franchise would eventually become, “I would never have done it. All I did when I was really famous was wait for it to end.” Now we're starting to see an interesting pattern - there were, in fact, a lot of people who regretted being involved with Star Wars.

2 Kate Winslet - Embarrassed By Her Own Acting In 'Titanic'

Kate Winslet is another actress who you're probably familiar with, and she's done some amazing films over the many years of her illustrious career. Although she has many huge roles under her belt, one movie that she will always be remembered for is Titanic, which she starred in alongside Leonardo DiCaprio. The star has some regrets about the film, however.

According to a quote posted by MTV, Kate doesn't regret taking the role, but she does regret her acting:

“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… "

"… Hopefully, it's so much better now. It sounds terribly self-indulgent but actors do tend to be very self-critical. I have a hard time watching any of my performances, but watching Titanic I was just like, 'Oh God, I want to do that again.'”

1 Alec Guinness - 'Star Wars' Was Childish To Him

One actor who will forever be remembered for his role as Obi-Wan Kinobe is Alec Guinness. But the actor famously revealed that he never liked the film, or thought it would be a success.

In a series of quotes posted by Gizmodo in 2013, Guinness said: "I just couldn't go on speaking those bloody awful lines. I'd had enough of the mumbo jumbo." Later, he recounted: "Twenty years ago, when it was first shown, [”Star Wars”] had a freshness, also a sense of moral good and fun. But it has led to a worldwide taste for a fantasy world of secondhand, childish banalities." And when he got news of the role he wrote to his friend: "Big part. Fairy-tale rubbish but could be interesting perhaps."

References: buzznet.com, revelist.com, mtv.com, businessinsider.com, flickeringmyth.com, bustle.com, avclub.com, usmagazine.com, refinery29.com, ew.com, huffingtonpost.com, variety.com, today.com, mtv.com, io9.gizmodo.com