9 Actors Whose Roles In Box-Office Bombs Were So Hated, It Basically Ended Their Careers

Red carpet

Red carpet

Here are 9 stars whose onscreen efficiencies were so reviled, it generally ended their professions:

Red carpet

1.

In the ’90s, Elizabeth Berkley increased to popularity as Jessie Spano in the squeaky-clean teenager comedy Conserved by the BellFans were quite surprised when, 2 years after the series ended, she starred in the sensual drama ShowgirlsRemaining in her early 20s, she was thrilled to handle a brand-new obstacle. She informed People “Saved by the Bell was a beautiful first rite of passage for me. But as an artist, I was excited to dive a little deeper and explore.” Showgirls was the very first– and just!– NC-17 movie to get a mainstream large theatrical release. The film definitely tanked, taking Elizabeth’s image down with it.

Red carpet

She stated, “I wasn’t looking for shock value. That wasn’t my intention. When I first read about the role, it was a visceral moment. I thought, ‘that’s mine.’ … Of course, it was disappointing that it didn’t do well, but there was so much cruelty around it. I was bullied. And I didn’t understand why I was being blamed. The job as an actor is to fulfill the vision of the director. And I did everything I was supposed to do. … No one associated with the film spoke up on my behalf to protect me. I was left out in the cold, and I was a pariah in the industry I had worked so hard for.”

Red carpet

2.

Alicia Silverstone was riding the high of “it girl” status after the success of UnawareWhen she was cast as Batgirl in Batman & Robin, everything came toppling down. She won the Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actress. It wasn’t simply her efficiency that had critics up in arms– it was likewise her look. In the tabloids, she was provided the vicious label “Fatgirl.” In some cases, when paparazzi chased her, they screamed the label at her. She informed the Guardian “They would make fun of my body when I was younger. It was hurtful, but I knew they were wrong. I wasn’t confused. I knew that it was not right to make fun of someone’s body shape; that doesn’t seem like the right thing to be doing to a human.”

Red carpet

Alicia had another significant ’90s function, Eve Rustikov in Blast from the Pasthowever for a while, she went back from the spotlight. She informed the Hollywood Reporter “I wasn’t happy, and what I did was really extract myself a bit from my acting career and went more into my activism. I went to Africa to help the elephants. I went to Peru to try to help the rainforest. I found my passion for writing books on healing and health.”

Red carpet

In 2007, her onstage function in Boston Marriage reignited her enthusiasm for carrying out. She stated, “It was there, when I was on stage, doing a David Mamet play, being directed by David Mamet, it reminded me how much I really, really love acting, And I was sad I’d let go of so much of it. There were so many amazing opportunities that I said no to, because I didn’t feel able. But after that play, I thought, geez, I’d really love to do that again. So when I came back to the movies, it was sort of continuing the journey I started in the theater. I started to be able to do really interesting things in film too.”

Red carpet

3.

Sofia Coppola in fact had cameos in the very first 2 Godfather films(actually as a baby/toddler)and other kid acting functions, however her very first adult function– Mary Corleone in The Godfather Part III — is the most remembered. Initially, Winona Ryder was expected to play the part, however when she was not available for practice sessions, director Francis Ford Coppola generated his 18-year-old child as a stand-in. Winona ultimately made it to Italy for shooting, however she got ill and needed to leave. Francis informed the New York Times “Paramount had a list of many fine actresses who were older than I felt the character should be. I wanted a teenager. I wanted the baby fat on her face.”

Red carpet

At the time, Sofia, whose college was on break, was going to the set. Seeing how much pressure her daddy was under, she concurred to take the function to assist him. She informed the NYT, “I wasn’t taking things super seriously. I was at the age of trying anything. I just jumped into it without thinking much about it.” While the film made 7 Academy Award elections, consisting of Best Picture, Sofia was extensively mocked. Critics panned her efficiency as “hopelessly amateurish” and stated that her “gosling gracelessness comes close to wrecking the movie.” She stated, “It was embarrassing to be thrown out to the public in that kind of way. But it wasn’t my dream to be an actress, so I wasn’t crushed. I had other interests. It didn’t destroy me.”

Red carpet

Sofia had a couple of other little acting functions– significantly Saché in Star Wars: Episode I– The Phantom Menace and Enzo’s girlfriend in CQwhich her bro Roman directed– however Godfather III efficiently ended her performing profession. Naturally, Sofia went on to end up being a well known filmmaker in her own right, understood for motion pictures like Marie Antoinette and The Virgin SuicidesIn 2025, speaking at MOMA’s Film Benefit Presented by Chanelshe joked, “When I started, I was in my 20s, and it was the ’90s in LA, where I was known as the daughter of — this was before nepo babies were charming, and most of them ended up in rehab — and I was the amateur actress who single-handedly ruined The Godfather. Most people didn’t think I had something to say that mattered, but I found a few that did.”

Red carpet

4.

After increasing to popularity on Saturday Night Live in the ’90s, Mike Myers made renowned funnies like Wayne’s World and Austin PowersThen, in 2008, he co-wrote and starred in The Love Gurucasting himself as an orphaned American who was raised by masters in India. The rom-com was a failure on all fronts. It was likewise slammed for its representation of Hinduism and India, with Hindu spiritual leader Swami Pooja Saraswati informing the Guardian “I watched the trailer for the movie Love Guru and was shocked that any respectable movie producer would so blatantly ridicule a great world religion, a culture, spiritual path, and sincere way of life, portraying it as farce.”

Red carpet

At the Razzies, The Love Guru “won” Worst Picture and Worst Screenplay, and Mike was called Worst Actor. The motion picture didn’t even make any cash– it just earned $ 40 million, whereas the spending plan had actually been$62 million! It’s likewise commonly considered as unfunny and cringey. Coming simply 5 years after his other infamous bomb, The Cat and the Hat The Love Guru ended his standing as a name-above-the-title funny star. Ever since, he has just had bit parts in motion pictures, mainly dramas (though he still has Shrek.

Red carpet

5.

Halle Berry had actually currently won an Emmy, an Oscar, and a Golden Globe when she was used the titular function in CatwomanShe put a great deal of work into the task and had a fantastic shoot, however studio-mandated rewrites, reshoots that ran till a month before release, and other meddling made the production difficult. There was likewise the problem of the story. She informed Entertainment Weekly “I always thought the idea of Catwoman saving women from a face cream felt a bit soft. All the other superheroes save the world; they don’t just save women from cracked faces. I always knew that was a soft superhero plight, but at that time in my career, I didn’t have the agency I have today or belief that I could challenge that, so I went along with it.”

Red carpet

The motion picture was met reaction as quickly as a picture of Halle’s Catwoman outfit dripped. When it lastly struck theaters, it made a disappointing$16.7 million on opening weekend( compared to its apparently$100 million spending plan). Halle was granted the Razzie for Worst Actress, however she iconically accepted the award with her Oscar in hand. The criticism was still unpleasant. She stated, “I felt like it was Halle Berry’s failure, but I didn’t make it alone. All these years, I’ve absolutely carried it. … I didn’t love [the backlash]. Being a Black woman, I’m used to carrying negativity on my back, fighting, being a fish swimming upstream by myself. I’m used to defying stereotypes and making a way out of no way. I didn’t want to be casual about it, but I went and collected that Razzie, laughed at myself, and kept it moving.”

Red carpet

6.

Charlie Wright was simply a teen when he as cast as Rodrick Heffley in 2017’s Journal of a Wimpy Kid: The Long HaulHe had all of a sudden huge shoes to fill, taking over from Devon Bostick, who played Roderick in the OG Journal of a Wimpy KidYou may not believe individuals would care that much about a reasonably small character from a 2010 kids’ motion picture, however Devon’s Rodrick is still so popular that individuals online have actually been delivering him with Regina George from Mean Girls in the huge 2026. Even though the whole cast had actually been changed, fans zeroed in on Charlie with the viral #NotMyRodrick hashtag. He was targeted with upsetting messages along with death risks, which he continued to get for several years.

Red carpet

In a 2024 YouTube video called “Life as #NotMyRodrick,” Charlie stated, “Let’s just say that when the world found out I was playing Rodrick, they weren’t very happy. … Do I have any hatred or anger towards people who participated in the #NotMyRodrick thing? No, I don’t. I did go through a depressive episode for almost three years afterwards, and it kind of ruined my acting career, but I’m still alive. I’m still here.” The most challenging part of the hate project was “that [he] felt like [he] hadn’t really done anything to deserve it.”

Red carpet

7.

C. Thomas Howell had his breakout function as Ponyboy Curtis in The OutsidersOver the next couple of years, he appeared poised to be among Hollywood’s next leading males, however then came Soul Man in 1986. In the funny, the then-19-year-old star played an abundant white kid who, after his dad declined to spend for his college, used blackface to get a scholarship that was just for Black trainees. The movie got extensive reaction. In a declarationWillis Edwards, the president of the NAACP’s LA chapter, stated, “We certainly believe it is possible to use humor to reveal the ridiculousness of racism. However, the unhumorous and quite seriously-made plot point of Soul Man is that NO Black student could be found in all of Los Angeles who was academically qualified for a scholarship geared to Blacks.”

Red carpet

The guarantee of C. Thomas’s movie profession fizzled out, though he discovered moderate success on the little screen. He went on to appear in television programs like Amazon and SouthlandIn 2013, he protected Soul Maninforming AV Club “I still don’t understand, and I guess this is just my own ignorance, the fact that certain people really hate the whole blackface idea, because this isn’t a movie about blackface. This isn’t a movie that should be considered irresponsible on any level. This is a movie that is quite the opposite for me.”

Red carpet

8.

Chris Elliott had an up-and-coming– if not uncommon– funny television profession up until 1994’s Cabin BoyIt’s generally a widely accepted reality that the motion picture was among the worst things to come out of the ’90s (perhaps even among the worst motion pictures of perpetuity), however the production was almost cursed from the start. After his surrealist comedy Get a Life got canned, Tim Burton came knocking. The director asked Chris and his Get a Life co-creator, Adam Resnick, to pen a Pee-wee Herman-esque script for him. Then Tim dropped out as director and recommended Adam take over. Adam had actually never ever directed previously, and he would never ever direct once again.

Red carpet

The really first screening was a catastrophe. Adam informed the Ringer “It was just so awful. One of the worst nights of my life. I can’t imagine a screening going any worse than Cabin Boy. It was in Pasadena, and it was a pretty big theater, and easily more than half the theater emptied out by the time it was over. Not only did people walk out, you could hear them muttering angrily under their breath about it; things like, ‘So fucking cheesy.'” Over opening weekend, the movie made generally absolutely nothing, and ultimately, it just made back a 3rd of its $10 million spending plan.

Red carpet

A couple of years later on, Chris and Adam pitched a brand-new program to Fox, and the network purchased it in the space. The offer hardly lasted. Chris stated, “By the time we got to the parking lot, Adam’s agent had gotten a call. There was one person who wasn’t in the meeting. They went and told this person that it was Adam and me pitching the show. And she said, ‘No.’ There’s absolutely no way they would do a show with us.” Her problem was, sadly, Cabin Boy

Red carpet

9.

In 1985, Lea Thompson notoriously played Lorraine Baines McFly, the teenage variation of Marty’s mama, in Back to the FutureThe film was a substantial successhowever her next function was a confusing option– Beverly Switzler in Howard the Ducka weird pre-MCU Marvel film starring an anthropomorphic duck. Her character is the duck’s love interest! It was an outright ticket office bomb that is mostly related to as one of the worst motion pictures ever made.

Red carpet

For Lea, the failure was “devastating.” On the podcast Star Catchup: Life After That Thing I Didshe stated, “[I]n the course of a year, I was in the biggest hit and the biggest bomb, so that probably destroyed my film career. … Even though I did some good films after that, it was really difficult.”