"This Will Have My Father Turning In His Grave" — 29 Actors Who Admitted To Giving Terrible Performances

I can't say I agree with all of these, though.

1. Megan Fox as Mikaela Banes in the Transformers franchise

Paramount

"I’m terrible in it. It’s my first real movie and it’s not honest and not realistic. The movie wasn’t bad, I just wasn’t proud about what I did," the actor said in a Today interview. She added that we'd seen "about seven percent" of her acting range at the time of interview.

2. Carol Burnette as Mollie Molloy in The Front Page

Universal Pictures

She once boarded a plane which announced her presence and role in the movie; she sank into her seat when she realised.  "Now comes the movie and all the shades are down and I did kind of peek at it a little bit and I thought, 'Oh, this is just the pits.' So the movie's over, the shades come up — and not one person turns around to wave or smile at me. I thought, 'Oh God, it was as bad as I thought,'" she said.

So, when it was over, she addressed the cringey elephant in the aisle. "I would like to take this opportunity to apologise to each and every one of you for my performance in that movie," the actor and comedian said to laughter and applause.

3. Amanda Seyfried as Cosette in Les Misérables

Universal Pictures

“In my career I have had a lot of moments where I just felt complete regret,” the actor said. “I wish I could redo Les Misérables completely because [of] the live singing aspect, I still have nightmares about it." 

4. Will Smith in either Men in Black II or Men In Black III

Columbia Pictures

The actor told Jimmy Fallon "I had fumbled a few of my last sequels, you know? I wasn’t happy with the Men in Black sequel." He didn't specify which one, though.

You can watch the whole video here:

youtube.com

5. Eddie Redmayne as Balam Abrasax in Jupiter Ascending

Warner Bros. Pictures

Commenting on his whisper-like, husky accent in the film, the actor said "My character had had his larynx ripped out by this wolf man, and so I made the slightly bold choice — which I thought was right. I won a prize for it for the Worst Performance of the Year. So, yeah, it was a pretty bad performance on my account.”

For what it's worth, not everyone agrees with him.

6. Halle Berry as Catwoman in Catwoman

Warner Bros.

In 2004, the movie was awarded a Razzie, which is a price given to the worst films of the year. Not only did Halle Berry attend the event, she also brought her director on stage and shouted out (or called out, I guess) her co-stars. "To give a really bad performance like mine, you need to have really bad actors," she said.

7. Shia LeBeouf as Mutt in the Indiana Jones franchise

Walt Disney Studios

"I feel like I dropped the ball on the legacy that people loved and cherished," he told the LA Times. 

"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, the director]. 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."  

8. Katharine Heigl as Izzie Stevens on Grey's Anatomy

ABC

In 2008, the actor said shared that she decided not to enter herself in the Emmy race for Grey's Anatomy because “I did not feel I was given the material this season to warrant a nomination.”

"I was a little defensive about my season because I thought I hadn’t had a great one. And a lot of that had to do with me and my performances," she later explained.

9. Kate Winslet as Rose in Titanic

20th Century Studios

The English actor said that her faux-American accent in the 1997 movie was "awful." She told CNN that she was embarrassed by “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.'”

10. And Emma Watson wasn't proud of her American accent as Sam in Perks Of Being A Wallflower, either

Summitt Entertainment

"My accent? I was really nervous. I think it sounded terrible!" she told MTV News ahead of the movie's release. 

11. Speaking of the Harry Potter cast — Daniel Radcliffe wasn't happy with his performance as Harry in the movie franchise

Warner Bros.

"Doing [Harry] Potter was an incredible blessing because it gave me this opportunity to start a fantastic career," the actor began. "But then the moments I’m not as proud of, mistakes other actors get to make in rehearsal rooms or at drama school, are all on film for everyone to see," he added.

"And that’s why it’s hard to watch a film like Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince, because I’m just not very good in it. I hate it. My acting is very one-note and I can see I got complacent and what I was trying to do just didn’t come across," he shared.

12. Tim Roth as Sepp Blatter in United Passions

TF1 Group

He didn't take all the flack, but did apologise for not querying the directors and writers more. "I apologise I didn't question the director, I didn't question the script," Roth told German newspaper Die Welt. "This is a role that will have my father turning in his grave."

The film has a 2.1 IMDb rating.

13. Anya Taylor-Joy as Thomasin in The Witch

A24

Saying she was "devastated" by the quality of her performance, the actor said "I thought I'd never work again; I still get shivers thinking about it. It was just the worst feeling of, 'I have let down the people I love most in the world. I didn't do it right.'”

14. George Clooney as Batman in Batman & Robin

Warner Bros.

“The only way you can honestly talk about things is to include yourself and your shortcomings in those things,” he says of his comments about the movie. “Like, when I say Batman & Robin's a terrible film, I always go, ‘I was terrible in it.’" 

Later, when speaking to Howard Stern, he said watching the performance "physically hurts". "The truth of the matter is, I was bad in it. Akiva Goldsman — who’s won the Oscar for writing since then — he wrote the screenplay. And it’s a terrible screenplay, he’ll tell you. I’m terrible in it, I’ll tell you," he said.

15. Pierce Brosnan as James Bond in any of the James Bond films

United Artists

After mentioning the "insecurities" he had playing the iconic character, Pierce Brosnan said "I have no desire to watch myself as James Bond. ‘Cause it’s just never good enough... It’s a horrible feeling.”

16. Nicole Kidman as Lady Sarah Ashley in Australia

20th Century Fox

"I can't look at this movie and be proud of what I've done. I sat there, and I looked at Keith and went, 'Am I any good in this movie?' But I thought Brandon Walters and Hugh Jackman were wonderful. It's just impossible for me to connect to it emotionally at all," she said after admitting she "squirmed" through the film.

17. Adam Driver as Al Cody in Inside Llewyn Davis

CBS Films

He only had one scene in the movie (singing backup on a folk song). "I hated what I did," he told The New Yorker. 

18. Meryl Streep as Sarah Woodruff in The French Lieutenant's Woman

United Artists

Speaking to Graham Norton, the actor said that "I was young, and new at this. I  just didn't — I wasn't as pleased as I could have — I didn't feel like I was living it. I didn't feel I imbued the angel of inspiration," she said, loosely quoting the movie. 

You can watch the interview here:

youtube.com

19. Marilyn Monroe as Roslyn Taber inThe Misfits

United Artists

The actor said she hated the film, her character, and the film, being particularly annoyed at director Arthur Miller's tweaks to make her character's life resemble her own. In a letter auctioned in 2020, it was revealed the actor was reluctant to even promote the movie.

20. Sam Worthington as Perseus in Clash of the Titans

Warner Bros.

"I think the first one, we kind of let down some people. I think I can act f***ing better, to be honest," the actor said, even apologising for his performance. 

21. Christian Bale as Batman in The Dark Knight trilogy

C Flanigan / FilmMagic / Warner Bros.

“I didn’t quite manage what I hoped I would throughout the trilogy... My own sense of self is like, ‘I didn’t quite nail it,'" he said. "Heath [Ledger] turned up and just kind of completely ruined all my plans. Because I went, 'He’s so much more interesting than me and what I’m doing,'" he told Yahoo! Entertainment. 

22. Colin Farrell as James Crockett in Miami Vice

Universal

"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," he said, adding "It was never going to be Lethal Weapon, but I think we missed an opportunity to have a friendship that also had some elements of fun."

23. Jennifer Aniston as Tory Reding in The Leprechaun

Trimark Pictures

"I watched it like eight years ago with our mutual friend Justin Theroux for shits and giggles. We were dating," she said. "It was one of those things when I tried to get that remote out of his hand and there was just no having it. He was like, ‘No, no, no, no, this is happening.’ I just kept walking in and out, cringing.”

24. Josh Brolin as Cable in Deadpool

20th Century Fox

"I thought I could have been better," the actor said. "But then it clicked. I got to know (Reynolds) better. I trust him more. And we started this volley where it was like, 'This is actually fun.'"  

"I literally want to redeem myself to myself. I want to do a better version of what I do," he added.

25. Paul Newman as Basil in the Silver Chalice

Warner Bros.

The actor was so unhappy with his performance, he took out a full-page newspaper ad apologising for his acting debut.  "Paul Newman apologises every night this week — Channel 9," the ad read.

26. Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda in WandaVision

Disney

"I was like projecting, because I’m used to stage," Olsen said. "When I watched the first episode, I’m like, ‘Oh, goddamn it.’ I was so frustrated, because I can see my 10-year-old theater-kid self playing out to the audience instead of the camera."

27. Helena Bonham Carter as Madame Thénardier in Les Misérables

Universal Pictures

It's not that she thinks her acting was terrible, but she WAS concerned about her singing. "I watched it and thought... I was going to be so much better, I thought my voice was going to be so much bigger," she said.

28. Zach Efron as Troy Bolton in High School Musical

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

"I didn’t know how to dance during those High School Musical movies,” he said. “I was just a kid, like, from the street. An actor scraping by in a one-bedroom studio apartment." We could tell rent was due! He excelled! 

29. Ewan McGregor as Frank Churchill in Emma

Miramax / Chelsea Lauren / Getty Images for Mercedes-Benz

When asked by The Guardian what the worst thing he'd done was, he replied, "Work-wise? My character Frank Churchill on Emma. I made the decision to do that film because I thought I should be seen to be doing something different from Trainspotting. My decision-making was wrong. It's the only time I've done that."

"It's a good film, Emma, but I'm just...not very good in it," he added. 

Do you think they were right to admit to a poor performance? Let us know in the comments below!