20 A-list actors who regretted taking some of their most famous roles

By the end of it, Sean Connery wasn’t exactly thrilled to have been James Bond. The actor once said in an interview that he hated the character and wanted to kill him. 

Sarah Paulson played Linda Tripp in Impeachment: American Crime Story. For the role, she wore a fat suit, and afterward, she expressed regret about not thinking through the choice.

Sally Field has a complicated relationship with the role she played on The Amazing Spider-Man. She took the part because one of her friends, who was producing the film, was about to die, but Fields said it was hard to make her character three-dimensional. 

Jennifer Lawrence has had roles that she would play again in a heartbeat (someone get her a bow and arrow again stat), but she’s not fond of all of her acting choices. The Oscar winner regrets being in Passengers, stating that it wasn’t a good movie. 

John Boyega played Finn in Star Wars, but he later regretted taking the role. The actor called out Disney for not treating a Black character appropriately. 

Shia LaBeouf has worked with Steven Spielberg on multiple films, but he wishes he hadn’t. He only enjoyed the process of making one of their collaborative projects: The first Transformers film. 

George Clooney has been in too many projects not to regret at least one of them. The actor regrets playing Batman, and he alluded to it being a commercial decision rather than a creative one. 

Burt Reynolds turned down Boogie Nights seven times before taking on the role. As it turns out, he should’ve listened to his gut. He ultimately regretted being in the film. 

The next time you watch The Happening, know that Mark Wahlberg isn’t a fan. Despite starring in the project, he thinks it’s a bad movie and doesn’t like the plot twist. 

Zoe Saldaña played Nina Simone in the singer’s biopic. Though the actress loves Simone’s music, she regrets taking the role because she had to wear a prosthetic nose and darken her skin for the film. Saldaña wishes another actor had been cast. 

Ryan Reynolds expressed some regret over being in Green Lantern. He felt like the movie didn’t really work, but he recognized it as a big opportunity and took it. 

Don’t worry. Alison Brie doesn’t regret her work on Community. She regrets her work on another comedy, BoJack Horseman. Brie voiced a Vietnamese character, and she wishes the role had gone to a Vietnamese American instead. 

Harrison Ford had lots of issues with the movie Blade Runner. Though it’s a classic to many, Ford wasn’t happy with it. He didn’t connect with the material and would have ultimately preferred not to be in it. 

Mahershala Ali won his second Oscar for his work in Green Book, but he later called the family of the man that Ali portrayed in the film to apologize. The family was never consulted on the content of the film and was upset with the outcome. 

Sylvester Stallone was in the movie Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot. If you haven’t heard of it, Stallone would like to keep it that way. He thinks it’s the worst movie he’s ever been in, and he thinks it’s one of the worst movies ever made. 

Rooney Mara played Tiger Lily in the movie Pan. She later expressed her regret, saying she wished she hadn’t taken part in whitewashing. 

Paul Newman wasn’t a fan of his film The Silver Chalice. The actor reportedly thought it was the worst movie of the 1950s, and he actively discouraged people from watching it. 

Even actors do things they regret when they’re young. A young Michelle Pfeiffer starred in Grease 2, but she later regretted the role because she thought the film was terrible. 

Jim Carrey was part of the cast of Kicĸ-Äss 2. After the Sandy Hook tragedy, the actor took to social media to express his regret for being in a film with such a high level of violence. 

Molly Ringwald isn’t exactly fond of The Breakfast Club. She changed her mind about the film after viewing it through a different lens post-#MeToo. She doesn't mind that the film exists, but she does feel conflicted over having been part of it.