From vampire heartthrobs to secret agents, some stars regretted the roles that made them famous. Join us as we explore the surprising stories of acclaimed actors who weren't thrilled with their breakthrough performances. From franchise favorites to award-winning films, these stars had some serious second thoughts.
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00:00Hey beautiful. I'm breaking up with you Sam.
00:03Welcome to WatchMojo and today we're looking at actors who are dissatisfied with their big
00:07breakthrough role. Some spoilers to come. I ain't in this for your revolution man,
00:11I'm not in it for you princess. I expect to be well paid, I'm in it for the money.
00:17Sean Connery, James Bond franchise. Do you expect me to talk? No Mr Bond, I expect you to die.
00:24Is this the Bond that launched a thousand movies? This Scottish thespian's suave and
00:28sophisticated portrayal of the secret agent is still the gold standard of this decades-long
00:33franchise, appearing in no less than seven films. Oh, how reckless of me, I made you all wet. Yes,
00:43but my martini's still dry. My name's James. Much of the character's signature style and quirks
00:48come directly from Connery's Bond. Despite his hard work in realizing Bond,
00:52Connery grew quickly bored with the character. Why do Chinese girls taste different from all
00:57other girls? You think we better, huh? No, just different. In one interview,
01:03he even admitted he hated Bond, refusing to do a retrospective of the icon's 50th anniversary.
01:08Connery quit after five films and had to be lured with a hefty fee to star as Bond
01:13in Diamonds Are Forever. Zac Efron, high school musical franchise.
01:17Now, who'd have ever thought that we'd both be here tonight?
01:24One of the biggest hits of the aughts, this Disney Channel original movie made its indelible mark on
01:29teen culture. At least one of the major actors, Efron himself, admitted his performance was not
01:34to his liking. Efron, who became a star overnight in his role as Troy Bolton, expressed mixed
01:39feelings about his career-defying role. He refused to go on tour and perform the songs live.
01:44Troy, look, the music in those shows isn't hip-hop, okay, or rock, or anything essential
01:49to culture. It's like show music. It's all costumes and makeup. Dude, it's frightening.
01:58Yeah, I know. I just thought it might be a good laugh.
01:59Part of this dislike no doubt stems from being pigeonholed into this wholesome heartthrob
02:04persona. It is one that Efron tried to escape from in his later projects,
02:08including playing serial killer Ted Bundy.
02:10I wish that we could be alone, and we could really talk. I can't tell you anything right
02:15now unless there's people listening. Are you telling me that you're sick, Ted?
02:19Back off!
02:25Jessica Alba wasn't an unknown. She reached a new frontier of fame with 2005's Fantastic Four,
02:31which seemed poised to kick off a blockbuster franchise.
02:34It's happening again, isn't it?
02:35Yeah, sure.
02:37No. We're not postponing anything. Not this time.
02:40Although Sue Storm would become her most famous movie role,
02:43it wasn't a pleasant experience for Alba. In fact, she nearly quit acting altogether.
02:47We'll be going directly to our lab to diagnose our symptoms.
02:50Symptoms? Is this some kind of disease?
02:52Director Tim Story discouraged her from injecting realism into her acting,
02:56directing her instead to cry pretty. This limiting sexism frustrated Alba.
03:01The actress did soften up a few years later, giving encouraging advice to Vanessa Kirby,
03:05cast as Sue Storm in the 2025 version. It was not pretty for Alba to cry pretty.
03:12There he is.
03:13Yes. Unfortunately.
03:16Jacob O'Lourdy, The Kissing Booth Franchise
03:19This WattPod novel turned teen rom-com was a big hit for Netflix, although it was panned by
03:24critics as hopelessly cliche and even sexist. Sorry I ruined your makeout sesh.
03:31It's fine. She kind of tasted like Cheetos anyway.
03:34That's gross. So, Kissing Booth?
03:40One naysayer was also Jacob O'Lourdy himself, who played Noah opposite Joey King's Elle.
03:45O'Lourdy generated a bit of controversy when he admitted his dislike of the franchise,
03:49bluntly saying the movies were ridiculous and escapist. He even confessed he didn't see the
03:54second movie. There were also tensions between O'Lourdy and the Netflix executives, who refused
03:59to allow his character to smoke cigarettes. Being restricted as an actor is not pleasant,
04:07and O'Lourdy clearly felt the limitations.
04:16Viola Davis, The Help
04:18Although she had already been nominated for an Oscar, this film adaptation of Katherine
04:22Stockett's best-selling novel cemented Viola Davis as a leading lady.
04:31Davis played maid Aveline Clark, working for socialite Elizabeth Leifvold in the early 60s.
04:37Despite a bravura performance, Davis came to regret her role in the movie,
04:41feeling her character didn't have much of a voice.
04:43While she had praise for the director and the majority female cast,
04:53she felt the film did not go far enough in exposing the truth of systemic racism.
04:57Davis preferred to look for more black-centered projects instead.
05:08Marlon Brando, A Streetcar Named Desire
05:10After his acclaimed performance in the stage production of this Tennessee Williams classic,
05:14this legendary actor went on to reprise his role in the film adaptation.
05:29Brando's searing performance as Stanley Kowalski scored him an Oscar nomination,
05:34and thus, an icon was born. But Brando openly hated the role,
05:38detesting the character's meathead machismo.
05:47He also bristled at the claims he could portray Stanley so well because he was like his character.
05:52Brando personally detested Stanley's brutish coarseness,
05:55claiming he could play him because he had come across some Stanleys in his lifetime.
05:58It's a shame, because Brando clearly turned out a mesmerizing performance and an iconic yell.
06:09Christopher Plummer, The Sound of Music
06:14One of the most successful movie musicals of all time,
06:16even this crowd-pleasing blockbuster did not please everyone.
06:19Most famously, Christopher Plummer was dissatisfied with his role as Captain Von Trapp,
06:39calling him boring. Not only that, but the film was not to his liking much at all.
06:43Although his opinion did eventually soften, Plummer had long dubbed the film
06:47The Sound of Mucus, and derided the film as sentimental and gooey.
07:00He also had to put up with the early negative reviews of the movie at the time criticizing
07:04his performance. The fact that his acting opportunities were limited thanks to the
07:08film's icon status did not help either.
07:19Megan Fox, Transformers Franchise
07:22Now, this one is definitely understandable.
07:32Much has been said and written about director Michael Bay's infamous Transformers franchise,
07:37and much of it negative, Megan Fox herself has expressed dissatisfaction with her performance,
07:42the films, and even Bay himself. She has criticized her breakthrough role as
07:46Michaela Baines, saying she played more of a sex symbol than a character.
08:01In an infamous interview, Fox claimed Bay was like Hitler on the set,
08:05and a nightmare to work with. This led to her resignation, or her firing.
08:09The details of her exit are a little murky. Either way,
08:12Fox did not return for the third Transformers movie. It was perhaps for the best.
08:27Harrison Ford, Star Wars Franchise
08:30Star Wars fans have long known, and been disappointed by, this beloved actor's
08:34dislike of the fan-favorite character.
08:46Harrison Ford never made a secret out of his dislike of his first major role as Han Solo
08:51in this blockbuster space opera. For one thing, he didn't purposely try out for the role,
08:55working as a carpenter when George Lucas invited him to read lines for Star Wars.
08:59For another, he viewed Han as a one-note, and resented being second fiddle to Luke and Leia,
09:08without much of an arc. Ford repeatedly tried to get him killed off in subsequent films. He
09:13signed up to do The Force Awakens, which provided an opportunity for Han to meet his end. His wish
09:18was granted. Rip.
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09:46Robert Pattinson, Twilight Franchise
10:00By far, the most consistently vocal hater must be Robert Pattinson in his career-launching role
10:05as brooding vampire Edward Cullen in this paranormal romance phenomenon.
10:16Pattinson's dislike for the role is deep and many varied. From criticizing the original
10:20books as a sexual fantasy, to trashing its plot, to likening Edward to an axe murderer,
10:26Pattinson has never minced words in his dislike. No doubt the intense fan behavior turned him off
10:30as well, but even the greatest of hate softens over time. In an interview in 2022,
10:35Pattinson expressed awe that the franchise is still popular and feels the hate towards it was so
10:402010. For never was a story of more hate than this of Pattinson and his role as Bella's mate.
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