Buzz
Hollywood is a ruthless world, as any insider can attest. With studios and financiers more focused on turning art into profit, actors' dreams—and careers—are often crushed underfoot. Even those who manage to reach the top aren't always fully aware of the roles they’ve signed on for. Friends, agents, writers, directors, producers, and the studios themselves all work hard to pull the wool over actors' eyes, leading stars into roles they didn't realize they'd agreed to—and sometimes, they'd rather escape from...
10. Tyler Perry—Gone Girl (2014)
A master at adapting novels for the screen, director David Fincher turned his attention to Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl in 2014, crafting a chilling psychological thriller that would become a classic. While most of the cast was thrilled to be a part of it, both because of the film's prestige and the career boost it provided, there was one actor who wasn’t so pleased once he realized what kind of project he had signed up for.
In a small but significant role, Tyler Perry portrays Tanner Bolt, a lawyer specializing in defending men accused of murdering their wives, who represents Ben Affleck’s Nick Dunne. Despite his experience as a filmmaker, Perry wasn’t aware of the type of films Fincher is known for. Had he known, he would have turned down the role.
Perry’s agent, aware of his reluctance, spun a tale to keep him in the dark about the true nature of the film—and its origins as an adaptation, something Perry wasn’t too thrilled about—just long enough to get him to sign on.
9. Linda Blair—Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977)
While The Exorcist (1973) is widely regarded as one of the finest horror films ever made, Linda Blair, the young star who portrayed the possessed Regan MacNeil, is undeniably at the heart of the movie’s success. However, after being thrust into the spotlight at such a young age, she wasn’t eager to jump into a sequel.
Still, Exorcist II: The Heretic moved forward a few years later, luring Blair back with an exciting, well-crafted script. Eager to work with Richard Burton and a slew of Academy Award-nominated talent, Blair was ready to dive back into a franchise that had already played a massive role in her life.
Unfortunately, the script she first received before production was nothing like what they ended up filming. Blair, along with her fellow cast members, had no choice but to adjust to the ever-evolving material as it got progressively worse. The script underwent five rewrites, and the final product turned into a disaster, shattering the hopes of the entire cast.
8. Chris Rock—Bee Movie (2007)
Jerry Seinfeld’s Bee Movie has become the subject of countless internet memes, far outlasting its original reputation as a light-hearted family film. The movie’s all-star voice cast, featuring Seinfeld himself, Renee Zellweger, Matthew Broderick, John Goodman, and Chris Rock, helped give the film a second life, though getting these actors to sign on wasn’t a simple task.
Seinfeld had to personally convince Chris Rock to join the project, and the comedian was initially hesitant, seeing the film as just another Shrek clone. However, Seinfeld had a powerful argument up his sleeve: Steven Spielberg’s involvement.
To persuade Rock, Seinfeld touted Spielberg’s supposed role in the film. Yet when Rock arrived to record his lines, Spielberg was nowhere to be seen. While the famed director did help Seinfeld secure a deal with Dreamworks and appeared in a few live-action trailers for the movie, his actual participation ended there.
7. Paula Abdul—Bruno (2009)
Though Paula Abdul had already built a successful career as a singer, dancer, and actress, by the 2000s she was more widely recognized as a judge on American Idol. This role made her a prime target for comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, who followed up his hit mockumentary Borat (2006) with another attempt in the genre.
In his role as the flamboyant gay Austrian fashion journalist Bruno, Cohen traveled to the U.S. in an attempt to become a Hollywood star. During his journey, he caused discomfort among various celebrities, including Paula Abdul. The catch? Paula had no idea she was part of the movie until it was all said and done.
Under the impression that she was receiving the International Artist of the Year award, Paula Abdul arrived for an interview with Bruno. To keep the ruse intact, Cohen’s team kept her entourage and stylists at bay, forcing her into a bizarre situation where she sat on live men who served sushi from their bodies. Abdul only realized the full extent of the prank—along with the German-language agreement her publicist had signed—when media outlets began asking her about her experience working with Cohen...
6. Bill Murray—Garfield: The Movie (2004)
The first major Garfield film came out two decades before the most recent adaptation, combining CGI to bring the comic strip’s plump feline to life. Bill Murray was cast to voice Garfield, perfectly matching the character’s sardonic attitude. But despite the inspired casting, the Garfield movie has remained a thorn in Bill Murray’s side ever since he signed on—though it was ultimately his own decision.
When Bill Murray first received the script for the film, he mistakenly believed writer Joel Cohen was the same person behind classics like Fargo (1996) and The Big Lebowski (1998). He signed on based purely on that name recognition, assuming the man responsible for some of the most brilliant comedies of the last decade would steer the project in the right direction.
No one stepped in to correct his misunderstanding, likely because it meant they could keep one of Hollywood’s most iconic comedians attached to a fairly average production. It wasn’t until Murray showed up to record his lines that he realized something was amiss—there was a notable lack of both humor and quality writing. He then watched the film to understand what went wrong and discovered who was actually behind the project, but by that point, it was far too late.
5. Bill Murray—Ghostbusters II (1989)
Garfield wasn’t the first time Bill Murray had been caught off guard before filming a movie. While some might argue that he should have been more cautious, his experience with Ghostbusters II didn’t leave him any wiser.
Following the success of the first Ghostbusters movie, which was essentially a series of improv sketches by SNL cast members that nobody expected to be a hit, Murray was hesitant about returning for a sequel. However, with the massive box office success and endless merchandising opportunities, no one involved was willing to let the idea slide. Someone (possibly director Ivan Reitman) managed to get the cast back together, reintroducing them to the fun they had on set and pitching a sequel idea that made Murray believe it might actually work.
Despite the fact that the film pitched to Murray—and even the one that was written—turned out to be completely different from what was actually filmed, Murray figured that since the deal was done and shooting was already underway, there was no point in backing out. He decided to grin and bear it, making the best of the situation.
4. Halle Berry—X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
X-Men: The Last Stand is generally not regarded as a fan favorite, and it did significant damage to the X-Men franchise. This decline lasted until Matthew Vaughn revived the series with the prequel/reboot, X-Men: First Class (2011). Yet, for all of the film’s clear issues, its most glaring flaws occurred behind the scenes.
Initially, 20th Century Fox had Matthew Vaughn lined up as the director for The Last Stand. However, after a pivotal meeting where he learned of the studio’s plan to deceive Halle Berry into returning, Vaughn walked away from the project.
Berry was enticed back into the franchise with a doctored script that promised her character, Storm, a more prominent role. In reality, her part was reduced to a mere supporting role within a sprawling ensemble. While Berry was unaware of this deception before signing her contract, Vaughn was not. During a visit to an executive’s office in Hollywood, he came across the falsified script. Upon learning what the studio was doing, he immediately distanced himself from the film. As a result, the studio turned to Brett Ratner, and the rest is history.
3. The Entire Cast—Movie 43 (2013)
A comedy anthology that many wish they could erase from memory, Movie 43 embraced every extreme excess of gross-out filmmaking from the previous decades, spreading them across a painful 94-minute runtime. With a star-studded ensemble including Hugh Jackman, Kate Winslet, Halle Berry, Richard Gere, Uma Thurman, and Emma Stone, this film stands as a rare example where nearly the entire cast was tricked into participating.
In Movie 43, Halle Berry ends up dunking her breasts in a bowl of guacamole, Hugh Jackman sports testicles on his chin, and Gerard Butler plays an expletive-spewing leprechaun. These are just a few of the absurd situations these A-list actors were thrown into, although they had no idea what they were getting themselves into.
The majority of the cast was lured in through casual pitches by producer-director Peter Farrelly and his partner Charlie Wessler at parties and weddings. Most of the stars had no clue what the movie would be about—and the filmmakers weren’t any better prepared, stitching the film together as they went along. When the filming began, Farrelly was aware that many of the actors wanted to back out, but while some managed to escape, he wouldn’t let most of them leave.
2. Ryan Reynolds—X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)
When Fox attempted to revive the X-Men franchise through their Origins series, they presented Ryan Reynolds with a stark choice: if he wanted to portray Deadpool, this film was his only opportunity.
Reynolds took matters into his own hands, ad-libbing and writing every line of his dialogue since the script offered nothing for his character. However, even this effort couldn't save him, as Fox decided to mutilate the character, sewing his mouth shut and making him unrecognizable. Despite originally claiming they would recast if Reynolds didn’t take the role, they proceeded with this drastic change anyway. When Reynolds finished his shooting, Scott Adkins was brought in to portray the altered version of Deadpool in the film's final scenes.
Although this film was supposed to mark the beginning of Reynolds's journey to a solo Deadpool movie, the studio chose to shelve the idea. If it hadn’t been for the leak of test footage five years later—leaked with Reynolds' help and confirmed by a lie detector—it might never have come to fruition.
1. Sylvester Stallone—Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot (1992)
In the 1990s, many action stars from the '80s attempted to break into comedy, trying to expand their appeal in the new decade. While the results were mixed, Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot, in which Sylvester Stallone plays a police sergeant whose mother (Estelle Getty) insists on tagging along for a murder investigation, stands out as a notorious flop.
So, why did Stallone volunteer for this role? It all stems from his rivalry with Arnold Schwarzenegger, who had been a major competitor to Sly in the action-packed '80s and continued to challenge him throughout the '90s.
Schwarzenegger was the first to receive the script and immediately saw it would be a flop. However, knowing that Stallone would jump at the role if he thought Arnold was interested, he devised a plan. Schwarzenegger contacted his agent and director Roger Spottiswoode, pretending to be keen on the role. They relayed this information to Stallone, and as expected, Sly eagerly took the bait. It wasn’t until years later, after the film had flopped and the two stars had become friends, that Stallone learned he had been tricked.
