17 Actors Who Didn't Like or Regretted Major Movie & TV Roles

Throughout an actor's extensive career, there's bound to be a couple of projects that they're not quite proud of. Reflecting on their past film and television roles, many actors admit that they do have some cinematic regrets. Whether it's an issue with the cast, the script or just how the movie was pieced together, the projects no longer reflect the actor they have become. But despite the disdain for their prior roles, they definitely learned some valuable lessons that will stay with them for the rest of their career!

Find out which actors weren't a fan of their films...

1. Sandra Bullock

During her 2022 press tour for "The Lost City," Sandra Bullock expressed serious regret for two sequels in her past: "Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous" and "Speed 2: Cruise Control."

When asked by Metro about a possible third "Miss Congeniality" film, she exclaimed, "God no! No No. Two shouldn't have been done but I'm glad that it did because of [costar Regina King], who I just freaking adore. That one should have remained a one-off." She added that she would, however, be open to seeing a prequel featuring a 10-year-old Gracie Hart.

Speaking with TooFab, she was also dissed the second "Speed" movie, which moved the action from a bus to a boat.

"I have one no one came around to and I'm still embarrassed I was in. It's called 'Speed 2.' I've been very vocal about it. Makes no sense. Slow boat. Slowly going towards an island," she said. "That's one I wished I hadn't done and no fans came around, that I know of."

"Every one of them has been an absolute stinker," she also said of her past sequels.

2. Eddie Redmayne

While Eddie Redmayne was nominated for an Oscar for his work as transgender artist Lili Elbe in "The Danish Girl," he went on to regret taking on the role, amid ongoing conversations about roles for trans actors in Hollywood.

"No, I wouldn’t take it on now,"he told Sunday Times. "I made that film with the best intentions, but I think it was a mistake."

"The bigger discussion about the frustrations around casting is because many people don't have a chair at the table," he added. "There must be a leveling, otherwise we are going to carry on having these debates."

3. Gwyneth Paltrow

Gwyneth Paltrow says she has some major regrets about her role in "Shallow Hal," a film that she's since called a "disaster."

"The first day I tried the fat suit on, I was in the Tribeca Grand and I walked through the lobby. It was so sad. It was so disturbing. No one would make eye contact with me because I was obese. For some reason the clothes they make for women that are overweight are horrible. I felt humiliated because people were really dismissive," she told Netflix.

4. George Clooney

George Clooney has some pretty big regrets about taking on the role of Batman in "Batman & Robin." In fact, he also called it a "disaster" and thought he had ruined the entire franchise.

"I always apologize for Batman & Robin. Let me just say that I'd actually thought I'd destroyed the franchise until somebody else brought it back years later and changed it. I thought at the time that this was going to be a very good career move. It wasn't," he said on "The Graham Norton Show."

5. Robert Pattinson

Robert Pattinson isn't shy about letting fans know just how he feels about his role in "Twilight." He's even said that he thought the "Twilight" books shouldn't have been published and if he hadn't been in the film, he'd definitely hate it.

"I think I am a judgmental and cynical person who would just mindlessly hate it without having seen anything; I just think I'm a bad person," Robert told Moviefone.

6. Channing Tatum

Channing Tatum took on the title role of G.I. Joe in "G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra," but disliked the movie once it was released.

"I'll be honest. I f****** hate that movie. I was pushed into doing that movie. The script wasn't any good. And I didn’t want to do something that I...that I was a fan of since I was a kid and watched every morning growing up - and didn't want to do something that was 1. bad, and 2. I just didn't know if I wanted to be G.I. Joe," Channing told Howard Stern.

7. Emilia Clarke

Emilia Clarke says she didn't enjoy her time filming "Terminator Genisys," explaining that she watched director Alan Taylor get "eaten and chewed up on... He was not the director I remembered. He didn't have a good time. No one had a good time."

She even went as far to say that she was glad when the movie didn't do well at the box office, and was "relieved" to not have to return for any sequels.

8. Shia LaBeouf

Shia LaBeouf says he isn’t happy with his acting in "Indiana Jones," which was released back in 2008.

"I feel like I dropped the ball on the legacy that people loved and cherished. You get to monkey-swinging and things like that and you can blame it on the writer and you can blame it on Steven [Spielberg]. But the actor's job is to make it come alive and make it work, and I couldn't do it. So that's my fault. Simple," he told the LA Times.

9. Katherine Heigl

Looking back, Katherine Heigl wasn't pleased with her role in "Knocked Up," which she called a "little sexist."

"It paints the women as shrews, as humorless and uptight. I had a hard time with it, on some days. I’m playing such a b****. Why is she being such a killjoy? Why is this how you're portraying women? Ninety-eight percent of the time it was an amazing experience, but it was hard for me to love the movie," Katherine told Vanity Fair.

10. Mariah Carey

Mariah Carey considers her role in "Glitter" a major regret and refused to talk about it for several years.

"It was called the "G" word, we couldn't bring it up. In retrospect, I'm like, you know what, I learned something, and I'm grateful for that experience. But, it was a horrible couple of years, and then I had to get my momentum back for people to let it go," Mariah said on "Watch What Happens Live."

11. Ben Affleck

Ben Affleck has some pretty strong feelings about his role in "Daredevil," which did pretty badly at the box office.

"Part of it was I wanted for once to get one of these movies and do it right–to do a good version. I hate 'Daredevil' so much. The Netflix show does really cool stuff. I feel like that was there for us to do with that character, and we never kind of got it right. I wanted to do one of those movies and sort of get it right," Ben said during a TimesTalk.

12. Charlize Theron

Charlize Theron admitted that she wasn't a big fan of her role in "Reindeer Games" and even knew the movie "might suck" when she accepted the job.

"That was a bad, bad, bad movie. But... I got to work with John Frankenheimer. I wasn't lying to myself — that's why I did it. I mean, he directed 'The Manchurian Candidate,' which is like the movie of all movies," Charlize told Esquire.

13. Colin Farrell

Colin Farrell didn't care for his film "Miami Vice," which he thought didn't have enough substance.

"Miami Vice? I didn't like it so much. I thought it was style over substance and I accept a good bit of the responsibility... It was a very big story and I know that [director] Oliver [Stone] was very rushed to do a cut, but for me it just failed gloriously. It kept in step with the magnitude of Alexander's ambition and ego," Colin said.

14. Dev Patel

Dev Patel says that while watching "The Last Airbender," he "saw a stranger on the screen that I couldn't relate to." It made him realize that he wasn't interested in big studio movies.

"After 'Slumdog,' I did a film that was not well received at all. The budget of 'Slumdog' was like the budget of the craft services of this movie. And I completely felt overwhelmed by the experience. I felt like I wasn't being heard. That was really scary for me, and that's really when I learned the power of no, the idea of saying no. Listen to that instinct you get when you read those words for the first time," Dev said during a Hollywood Reporter actor roundtable.

15. Michelle Pfeiffer

Michelle Pfeiffer wasn't happy with "Grease 2" but blames her youth for taking part in the movie.

"I hated that film with a vengeance and could not believe how bad it was. At the time I was young and didn't know any better," reportedly said.

16. Kate Winslet

While Kate Winslet doesn't hate "Titanic," she doesn't like the way she played her iconic role.

"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,'" Kate told Telegraph.

17. Mark Wahlberg

Mark Wahlberg has expressed regrets about a few of his films, including "The Fighter," "The Happening," and "Boogie Nights," which he jokingly asked for forgiveness for making.

"I just always hope that God is a movie fan and also forgiving because I've made some poor choices in my past. 'Boogie Nights' is up there at the top of the list," Mark told Chicago Tribune.