These Stars Trashed Their Own Movies

Actors know their next gig could be their last in the fickle Hollywood arena.

Tastes change. Box office glory fades. A new, younger star suddenly snags the roles tailor-made for them.

It’s why most actors don’t trash their own films, no matter how bad they might be. Even Rebel Wilson defended 2019’s infamous stink bomb “Cats.”

The following stars break that unwritten rule. They have happily mocked their past efforts, inadvertently shaming their co-stars, directors and screenwriters in the process. Some did so for artistic reasons. Others may have felt pressure to criticize their less-than-woke projects.

Tom Hanks

We’ve recently learned “Forrest Gump” isn’t proud of one of his two Oscar wins. Hanks has said that nowadays, only a gay man could have played his role in 1993’s “Philadelphia,” even though he’ll keep that golden statuette.

Hanks has also attacked one of his most famous franchises, “The Da Vinci Code” series, including the two sequels “Angels & Demons” and “Inferno.” Hanks starred as Robert Langdon in the successful saga, based on the best-selling books by Dan Brown. The saga, according to Hanks’ interview with The New York Times, is “as cynical as a crossword puzzle.”

Yeah, those Robert Langdon sequels are hooey. “The Da Vinci Code” was hooey.

Those are delightful scavenger hunts that are about as accurate to history as the James Bond movies are to espionage. … All we were doing is promising a diversion.

George Clooney

The “Ocean’s Eleven” star is no stranger to clunkers, from his 2017 directorial dud “Suburbicon” to “Grizzly II,” shot before NBC’s “ER” made him a star.

Clooney saves most of his self-directed ire for “Batman & Robin,” the 1997 film that crushed the Dark Knight franchise for 12 years. The film is a disaster, a tonal mishmash that attempts to summon the ‘60s TV show but fails miserably.

Clooney has mocked the film for years, zeroing in on his contributions to the franchise. In an interview with GQ, Clooney expanded his apology to the film itself..

When I say “Batman and Robin” is a terrible film, I always go, “I was terrible in it.” Because I was, number one. But also because then it allows you the ability to say, “Having said I sucked in it, I can also say that none of these other elements worked either.” You know? Lines like “Freeze, Freeze!”

Clooney previously told “The Graham Norton Show” he played a role in crushing a beloved superhero saga.

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. Ummmmm, it wasn’t.

“Batman & Robin” earned $107 million domestically, which was a far cry from “Batman Forever’s” $184 million haul two years earlier. 

Shia LaBeouf

The troubled star’s career is in limbo following allegations he sexually mistreated ex-girlfriend FKA Twigs, charges the actor denies.

Before those headlines, LaBeouf made some powerful enemies by trashing his work in “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” … and the film itself. The actor slammed his own contributions to the film, a commercial smash — but one fans soured on after its 2008 release.

Talking to the Los Angeles Times, LaBeouf felt their pain.

I feel like I dropped the ball on the legacy that people loved and cherished. … 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, who directed]. 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.

He also claimed star Harrison Ford had similar misgivings about the finished product.

He wasn’t happy with it either. Look, the movie could have been updated. There was a reason it wasn’t universally accepted.

“Skull” director Steven Spielberg wasn’t pleased that LaBeouf didn’t take one for the team.

Viola Davis

The Oscar winner is one of Hollywood’s most revered stars, but an early role continues to haunt her. 

The 2011 drama “The Help” drew critical acclaim and commercial success – its $169 million U.S. box office total is rare for a dramatic film. The story follows a young writer (Emma Stone) who interviews the black women charged with tending to wealthy white families in their southern community.

Davis played one of “the help,” but the actress now looks back with disdain on the film and her contributions to it. It’s worth noting Octavia Spencer, who is black, earned a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for her part in the film.

Davis complained to Vanity Fair that the story was “created in the filter and the cesspool of systemic racism” and cared more about its “white audience.”

Robert Pattinson

“The Batman” may have made Pattinson a bankable superhero star, but the “Twilight” films put him on the map.

The unknown actor got the coveted role

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