Join The Community
Charlize Theron
The Movie: Reindeer Games
The Distance: Poor reviews and box office takings gave Charlize Theron no choice when it came to admitting the thriller was far from good.
She told Esquire in 2007: “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.”
The Fall-Out: Nada. Niente. Niet. Sorry to disappoint.
Katherine Heigl
The Movie: Knocked Up
The Distance: It wasn't the first time Heigl had slated her own work, and it probably won't be the last. In 2007 the actress told Vanity Fair: "It paints the women as shrews, as humorless and uptight, and it paints the men as lovable, goofy, fun-loving guys. It exaggerated the characters, and I had a hard time with it, on some days.
"I’m playing such a bitch; 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."
The Fall-Out: Director Judd Apatow and co-star Seth Rogen were quick to respond in an interview on Howard Stern's Sirius XM radio show.
“We never had a ‘fight’. Seth always says, it doesn’t make any sense [because] she improvised half her shit," said Apatow, adding that she “could not have been cooler.”
Matthew Goode
The Movie: Leap Year
The Distance: In a move that some fans saw as unprofessional, Goode told The Daily Telegraph that the film was “turgid”, adding: “I just know that there are a lot of people who will say it is the worst film of 2010.”
He went on to say: “That was the main reason I took it – so that I could come home at the weekends. It wasn’t because of the script, trust me… Was it a bad job? Yes, it was. But, you know, I had a nice time and I got paid.”
The Fall-Out: Despite his habitual honesty, Goode's charm seems to protect him from any backlash. Publicly, anyway.
Matthew Goode (Again)
The Movie: Brideshead Revisited
The Distance: In that same interview with The Telegraph, the actor grumbled about Brideshead Revisited, saying: "I got fucked over. By the script and by what happened with everything else, because there was just nowhere for me to go as the character.
"Still, you know, it’s a film. It’s fine. I can sleep at night now. But I do think that Julian should have given Sebastian to me. It was perfectly amicable, but I think maybe they’d banked on me becoming a bit bigger as a result of the film – and it didn’t really work out that way."
The Fall-Out: If director Julian Jarrold had any response to Goode's criticism, he didn't say it publicly.
Mickey Rourke
The Movie: Passion Play
The Distance: Rourke slated both co-star Megan Fox and the movie itself when he told NY Magazine: "Terrible. Another terrible movie. But, you know, in your career and all the movies you make, you’re going to make dozens of terrible ones… It's not very good."
The Fall-Out: If there had been, does anybody honestly think Mickey Rourke cares about slapped wrists?
Jamie Lee Curtis
The Movie: Virus
The Distance: It seems Curtis agreed with the critics when it came to this film.
She told WENN: "That's a piece of s**t movie. It's an unbelievably bad movie; just bad from the bottom.
"There's a scene where I'm running away from this alien and I actually hide under the stairs. I come down some stairs and then duck up underneath them and I'm quivering and this big thing comes down the stairs and I'm freaking hiding under the stairs! This is something that can open walls of steel and I'm hiding under stairs!
"It was maybe the only time I've known something was just bad and there was nothing I could do about it."
The Fall-Out: Something tells us hindsight was a beautiful thing for everyone involved in this movie.
Arnold Schwarzenegger
The Movie: Red Sonja
The Distance: Riding high on a Terminator wave didn't stop Arnie from signing up for this not-as-good-as- Conan turd.
He later revealed he had devised an interesting and torturous punishment for his kids: “It’s the worst film I have ever made. Now, when my kids get out of line, they’re sent to their room and forced to watch Red Sonja 10 times. I never have too much trouble with them.”
The Fall-Out: Oh, it was made so long ago that nobody cares.
Brad Pitt
The Movie: The Devil's Own
The Distance: Considering his career was just burgeoning at the time, Brad Pitt was brave in criticising his pairing with Harrison Ford in The Devil’s Own .
In an interview with Newsweek that was published before the film's release Pitt said the film was a "disaster" and went on to call it "the most irresponsible bit of filmmaking - if you can even call it that - that I've ever seen. I couldn't believe it."
The Fall-Out: Well, hasn't seemed to do Brad's career any harm, has it?
Jennifer Garner
The Movie: Elektra
The Distance: Obliged to reprise her role as Elektra as part of her Daredevil contract, Garner reportedly told her boyfriend at the time, Michael Vartan, that she thought that the movie was awful.
Unfortunately, he told everyone, and the story did the rounds in the same month that the film was released in 2005. Because she's the classy sort, Garner never confirmed her feelings, but we wouldn't blame her if she had.
The Fall-Out: Everyone agreed, so all was well in the world. Her relationship with Vartan didn't last though - though that was probably unrelated.
Burt Reynolds
The Movie: Boogie Nights
The Distance: In another instance of leaked discontent, Burt Reynolds was reportedly very unhappy with the movie after seeing a rough cut of Paul Thomas Anderson’s film.
He subsequently sacked his agent and turned down a role in Anderson’s next film, Magnolia .
The Fall-Out: The story didn't stop Reynolds from picking up a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his performance in the film.
