25 Celebrities Who Hated Filming Their Iconic Roles In Fan-Favorite Movies And TV Series
You can't always love your job, eh?
Celebrities, politicians, and rich people have one thing in common: they live in a different version of reality from the rest of us. They can afford a certain level of comfort and security we common folks dream about.
It's not a criticism of them or their lifestyles, it is simply a fact of life. They may shop in the same places, wear clothes from the same brand, and eat at the same restaurants but they live very different lives.
However, we may have stumbled upon something that regular people like us have in common with famous people. We learned that they don't always like their jobs.
Granted, our jobs are not displayed on large screens all over the world but it is amusing to think that this is the one thing we have in common. Not liking your day job is pretty much a universal struggle for the working class.
The glaring contrast is the working class doesn't have millions worth of assets to dip into if we do decide to leave our jobs. Celebrities on the other hand are safe in the knowledge that their money won't run out as fast.
Still, just like us, they have to grit their teeth and fulfill their commitments anyway. It doesn't matter if their roles were well-received or their movies raked in a lot of money, these celebrities hated filming them, and here's why:
1. Zoe Saldaña in Pirates of the Carribean: The Curse of The Black Pearl
The actress was just 23 years old back then and it was one of her first major roles. She says she hated it so much she almost quit acting entirely.
The actress said in an interview, that the cast was wonderful but what happened behind the production was toxic. The politics behind the scenes were horrible where the cast was pitted against extras, producers were fighting against production assistants, and the elitism was the cherry on top of that awful cake.
Buena Vista Pictures DistributionAfter her experience on that set, the actress vowed to never put herself through something like it again.
Stuart C. Wilson / Getty Images2. Leonardo DiCaprio in Titanic
Playing Jack Dawson in Titanic has arguably cemented Leonardo's A-list status in Hollywood. However, the actor reportedly told Kate Winslet that he felt miserable during filming.
20th Century Fox / Courtesy Everett Collection
3. Kate Winslet in Titanic
The actress shared Leonardo's sentiment and revealed it wasn't pleasant for any of the actors in the movie. She said she just kept that to herself because she was raised to be "grateful and get on with it."
She felt she didn't have the right to be miserable. Even though she truly felt bad while filming, the actress said she would have never confided in a journalist.
20th Century Fox / Courtesy Everett Collection
4. Burt Reynolds in Boogie Nights
Burt Reynolds called the director of the movie, "young and full of himself." The subject of the film, which was the porn industry, made the veteran actor uncomfortable.
New Line Cinema / Courtesy Everett Collection
He hated the movie so much, he refused to ever watch it
He told Conan O'Brien that it wasn't his kind of movie. He actually refused 7 initial offers to star in the film but they eventually wore him down.
Noam Galai / Getty Images for Tribeca Film Festival
5. Bill Murray in Groundhog Day
The actor never said it himself that he hated his role but the director, Harold Ramis, knew he was because Bill was irrationally mean on the set and threw several tantrums.
Columbia Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection
He wanted the movie to take a more philosophical direction instead of being a comedy
At that time, Murray was also going through a divorce which, in hindsight, could have affected his temperament. He was also apparently bitten by the groundhog during filming which needed several rabies shots.
Ron Galella Ltd. / Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images
6. Daniel Craig in Spectre
Daniel Craig didn't exactly say he hated the process but he did express the difficulty of being away from his family for a year to film and getting injuries. He felt like he couldn't do it anymore after Spectre and began asking what was the point of doing more Bond films.
Jonathan Olley / Columbia Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection
He was actually quoted saying that he would rather slash his wrist than make another Bond film but if he ever did, he would only do it for the money.
Max Mumby/Indigo / Getty Images
7. Sanaa Lathan in Love & Basketball
The actress said she felt as if she had been cast because the director Gina Prince-Bythewood couldn't find another actress for the role. "There wasn't a lot of joy, and there wasn't a lot of trust in me."
"It was her baby and it was her first time directing. It was a big deal for her, and nobody knows me then, really," she said of her experience.
New Line Cinema / Courtesy Everett Collection
She said she had gone through so much to keep the role and she had to keep up with real basketball players. A lot of tears were shed behind the scenes according to the actress.
Ken Hively / The Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
8. Brad Pitt in Interview With The Vampire
Brad Pitt said he felt miserable while filming Interview With The Vampire because he had to spend six months in the dark. He called one of the producers how much it would cost him to break his contract.
François Duhamel / Sygma via Getty Images
For $40,000,000 Bradd Pitt could have walked away from the movie
Hearing the number made the actor less anxious and he decided to "man up and ride this through." He only saw the script for the movie, two months before filming began and felt his character was not interesting.
Ray Tamarra / Getty Images
9. Ian McKellen in The Hobbit
Sir Ian McKellen had to reprise his role of Gandalf the Grey for The Hobbit franchise. Unlike in the original Lord of The Rings, they had to film his scenes using green screens and sound stages.
Gone are the rolling hills of New Zealand, here comes bright green nothing. The legendary actor said filming the movies was a miserable experience.
Warner Bros. / Courtesy Everett Collection
10. Edward Burns and the other actors of Saving Private Ryan
Edward burns said it was the worst experience of his life. The cast, except Matt Damon, had to go through an intense boot camp in preparation for the movies.
DreamWorks / Courtesy Everett Collection
The boot camp was to simulate what the troops had to go through during the war
They trained for four days, morning until evening with former US Marine Corps Captain Dale Dye who yelled at them, called them turds, and punished them. It also rained during their training and almost all of them quit on the third day if not for Tom Hanks convincing them to continue.
DreamWorks / Courtesy Everett Collection
11. David Cross in Alvin and the Chimpmunks
The actor had no choice but to film all three Alvin and The Chipmunks movie because he was contractually obligated to do so. He hated each and every one of them.
20th Century Fox
In fact, he said the third movie was, "literally, without question, the most unpleasant experience I’ve ever had in my professional life."
He said in an interview with Conan that all he wanted to do was walk away and buy a summer home with the check from the movie. He couldn't do that but he promised to never work with some of the people involved in the movie.
Jason Merritt / Getty Images for Sundance Film Festival
12. Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada
The award-winning actress tried Method acting for her role as Miranda Priestly in the iconic movie, The Devil Wears Prada. It was an Oscar-nominated role.
20th Century Fox / Courtesy Everett Collection
But she was miserable the whole time
She said Method acting was not worth it because it made for a terrible experience. She was all alone in her trailer while the rest of the cast were goofing off outside; needless to say, it was the last time the actress tried Method acting.
Dan Macmedan / WireImage via Getty Images
13. Shailene Woodley in The Secret Life of the American Teenager
After five seasons as Amy, Shailene said she was happy to be free from her contract. She shared that towards the end, some of the things they were preaching in the show were not aligned with her own morals.
Bob D'Amico / ABC Family / Courtesy Everett Collection
She said it was difficult to show up to work and send messages she didn't believe in to millions of young adult across America.
Vince Bucci / NBC / NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
14. Blake Lively in Gossip Girl
Blake Lively didn't love playing the New York it-girl, Serena van der Woodsen in Gossip Girl. She listed several terrible things her character did and was concerned about the message her character was sending out.
Michael Desmond / The CW / Courtesy Everett Collection
15. Jennette McCurdy in iCarly and Sam & Cat
The former actress said she was embarrassed by the roles she portrayed as a teen. She was mostly referring to her character Sam.
The actress was cast in those roles at age 13 and played them until she was 21 years old but at 15 years old, she was already ashamed of the roles. She quit acting entirely after the series ended.
Nickelodeon
16. Miley Cyrus in Hannah Montana
Miley said she had trouble playing a juvenile role as an older teenager at that time. She also struggled with being a working actor instead of doing normal teenager stuff other people her age were doing.
Jaimie Trueblood / Disney Channel / Courtesy Everett Collection
17. Rowan Atkinson in Mr. Bean
Rowan Atkinson said he looks forward to the end of his role as Mr. Bean because it was too much responsibility for him. He says portraying a character that millions of people love is exhausting and stressful.
Universal Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection
18. Jeremy Renner in the first Avengers movie
Renner spent the majority of The Avenger movie being a mind-controlled servant of Loki. He was unhappy with the role because it wasn't what he originally signed on to play.
Zade Rosenthal / Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection
The experience was so bad for him, he would go around the set pretending Hawkeye was having a heart attack and trying to convince the producers his character could finally be killed off.
Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty Images for Disney
19. Jessica Alba in Fantastic Four
Jessica Alba did not enjoy her time as the Invisible Girl in Fantastic Four. She had a bad experience filming her death scene in the Fantastic Four sequel.
20th Century Fox / Courtesy Everett Collection
It was so bad, she almost quit acting
The experience made her question her own acting instincts because the director would say her death scene looked too real, too painful, and asked if she could look prettier when she cried. She was made to feel like nobody wanted her to be a real person.
Robin Platzer / FilmMagic via Getty Images
20. Idris Elba in Thor: The Dark World
Idris did not look forward to playing Heimdall again in Thor: The Dark World. At that time, the actor was also playing former South African President and activist, Nelson Mandela in the movie about his life.
Walt Disney Studios / Courtesy Everett Collection
With fake hair stuck to his head as Heimdall, Idris was thinking, "24 hours ago, I was Mandela."
He said it ripped his heart out when extras called him by Nelson Mandela's name while he was in a wig, a stupid harness, and carrying a sword. The contrast between portraying an important historical figure and Heimdall was too much.
Keith Bernstein / Weinstein Co. / Courtesy Everett Collection
21. Sarah Paulson in American Horror Story: Roanoke
Sarah said she didn't care about this particular season of AHS and even wishes she had not committed to it. At that time she was playing Marcia Clark in the limited series The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story which makes playing Amy in Roanoke less fulfilling.
FX
22. Ben Affleck in Justice League
Ben Affleck said filming Justice League was the worst experience due to several reasons. The actor was going through a divorce, he was away too much, and the "competing agendas."
Warner Bros. Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection
Director Zack Snyder also stepped away from filming after dealing with a personal tragedy
Ben Affleck said filming Justice League was the worst experience due to several reasons. The actor was going through a divorce, he was away too much, and the "competing agendas."
Amy Sussman / Getty Images
23. Jennifer Lawrence in X-Men
The actress actually loves the movies but hated the body painting process she had to go through to play Mystique. Her makeup takes 8 hours to complete and she can't even pee once she was fully in costume.
Alan Markfield / 20th Century Fox / Courtesy Everett Collection
24. Jim Carrey in How the Grinch Stole Christmas
The comedian had a terrible experience making the Grinch movie because of the make-up and costume. He described the process as akin to being buried alive on a daily basis.
Universal / Courtesy Everett Collection
On the first day, his make-up took eight and a half hours to complete. Jim said he went to his trailer and put his leg through a wall.
He told the director Ron Howard he could no longer be in the movie. Their response was to hire someone who trains CIA operatives on how to endure torture so Jim could be better prepared for the costume and makeup process every day.
Franziska Krug / Getty Images
25. Most of the stars of Glee in Glee
Glee was a massive hit back then and it's kind of ironic how unhappy some of the actors were with the series. The stories are just coming out now about their experiences during the filming.
Jenna Ushkowitz and Kevin McHale revealed that some of the actors really hated being in the series and season five was particularly difficult to film. Amber Riley also said she only accepted the role because it was a job and has since shared some nasty stories about fellow cast member Lea Michele who apparently turned the set of Glee into hell on Earth.
Adam Rose / Fox / Courtesy Everett Collection
While most accomplished actors have the power and luxury to pick and choose which roles they take on, some of the aspiring ones do not have that kind of freedom. They have to start somewhere and unfortunately, those jobs and roles are not what they had in mind.
Like us, they have to go through several jobs before they find a role they could feel proud of. Those terrible experiences were just one of the steps they have to stand on to launch their careers.
