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Harrison Ford hated Han Solo? Kate regrets the way she played Rose? George wishes he hadn't said yes to Batman and Robin? Whether it's the character or how they played it, these stars reveal which of their roles make them cringe.
Harrison Ford in Star Wars
Star Wars gave Harrison a breakout role that made him one of the biggest stars in the world, but the actor was not a fan of Han Solo.
“As a character, he was not so interesting to me. I thought he should have died in [Return of the Jedi], just to give it some bottom. George [Lucas] didn’t think there was any future in dead Han toys,” he said in a 2010 interview.
The same year he told MTV of the character, “I’m done with him.”
Despite his misgivings, Harrison played Han Solo in two more Star Wars films, The Force Awakens and The Rise of Skywalker.
Gwyneth Paltrow as Rosemary in Shallow Hal
Playing a fat woman wasn’t a fond experience for the Goop magnate. While the film itself makes a cursory attempt to preach body acceptance, it’s mostly an excuse for fat jokes at the expense of any woman who doesn’t have the figure of an 11-year-old girl, as Gwyneth learnt.
“The first day I tried the fat suit on, I was in the Tribeca Grand [Hotel] and I walked through the lobby. It was so sad. It was so disturbing. No one would make eye contact with me because I was obese. For some reason the clothes they make for women that are overweight are horrible. I felt humiliated because people were really dismissive.”
She was heavily criticised for playing the role.
Mark Wahlberg as Eddie in Boogie Nights
Mark thought his role in the Oscar-nominated Boogie Nights was so terrible he looked to a higher power for forgiveness.
“I just always hope that God is a movie fan and also forgiving because I’ve made some poor choices in my past,” he said of playing superstar porn actor Dirk Diggler in the acclaimed movie.
He later explained that he did not regret taking the role. But now, being a bit older, a little wiser and a parent too, “the idea of having to explain that movie and the reason behind it to my kids is another issue”.
Penn Badgley as Joe in You
Fans love the show, and its star Penn, but the actor despises the bad guy he plays.
“Joe is a pretty reprehensible guy. You start to discover his true motives pretty early on – eight minutes into the show. And he’s a guy who’s capable of stalking, he’s a guy who’s capable of murder, he’s a guy who’s capable of a lot of manipulation and abuse.”
Robert Pattinson as Edward Cullen in Twilight
It’s the role that made him famous, but Robert has not been shy about his dislike of the character.
He’s said the Twilight books should not have been published, and that if “Edward was not a fictional character, and you just met him in reality – you know, he’s one of those guys who would be an axe murderer”.
He called his performance “a mixture of looking slightly constipated and stoned”.
Kate Winslet as Rose in Titanic
She fought hard for the role of Rose in what was, for a long while, the highest-grossing movie of all time, but Kate cringes when she sees the movie.
“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," she said.“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’.”
Blake Lively as Serena in Gossip Girl
Being Serena was “personally compromising”, Blake says.
“It's a weird thing when people feel like they know you really well, and they don't.”
The actress says that even though people loved the show, she wishes that her character had been a better role model.
"I would not be proud to be the person who gave someone the cocaine that made them overdose and then shot someone and slept with someone else's boyfriend."
Megan Fox as Mikaela in Transformers
Giant robot movies made her a star, but Megan hated that her character was objectified and sexualised in the films – which led to her falling out with director Michael Bay.
She was booted from the series after describing him as “Hitler” and saying he was a “nightmare” to work with. The pair later made peace and Megan starred in the Ninja Turtles movies, which Michael produced.
Katherine Heigl as Alison in Knocked Up
The comedy was a hit with audiences and critics, but Katherine said the movie was “hard to love”. She described the film as “sexist”, and said she hated the way it presented women.
“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.”
Channing Tatum as Duke in GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra
The Magic Mike star did not enjoy his first big studio movie. He landed the role as part of a three-movie deal with studio Paramount Pictures, but he’s not a fan of his big break.
“I'll be honest. I f***ing hate that movie. I was pushed into doing it. The script wasn’t any good.”
He loved the animated version of GI Joe as a child and didn’t want to do a bad version of it, he says. “And I just didn’t know if I wanted to be GI Joe."
His character was promptly killed off in the first few minutes of the sequel, GI Joe: Retaliation.
Zac Efron as Troy in High School Musical
Tweens loved him, but Zac wanted to “kick that guy’s ass”.
"He’s done some kind of cool things with some cool people – he did that one thing that was funny –but, I mean, he’s still just that f***ing kid from High School Musical."
Zac added that the fame that came with HSM “was not a real thing”.
“You can’t enjoy or celebrate it, it’s not a real thing. The face on the lunchbox and s**t – you can’t share that with your friends.”
George Clooney as Batman in Batman & Robin
He was a TV heartthrob in ER, but his first major movie role nearly killed off the Batman franchise. George hated his portrayal of the Caped Crusader, he later admitted.
“Let me just say that I’d actually thought I’d destroyed the franchise until somebody else brought it back years later and changed it. I thought at the time that this was going to be a very good career move. It wasn’t.”
Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
Daniel loves the movies as much as the rest of us – but not the sixth one.
"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. My best film is the fifth one [The Order of the Phoenix] because I can see a progression of character."
Miley Cyrus as Hannah Montana in Hannah Montana
Playing a child star when she was a child star took its toll on her, says Miley, who struggled with body-image and identity issues as a result.
"I was made to look like someone that I wasn’t, which probably caused some body dysmorphia because I had been made pretty every day for so long. And then when I wasn’t on that show, it was like, ‘Who the f**k am I?’”
Macaulay Culkin as Kevin in Home Alone
He has fond memories of his Home Alone days – and that’s why he can’t enjoy the movie!
"When I watch it, I'm remembering that day on set, like, how I was hiding my Pepsi behind the couch. I can't watch it the same way other people can," he said.
Sources: marieclaire.com, bustle.com, nytimes.com, complex.com, nytimes.com, independent.co.uk, hollywoodreporter.com, vanityfair.com, ndtv.com, Indiewire.com, guardian.com
