Some actors have the talent to light up any screen, but a few have also left audiences squirming in their seats. Whether it was a bizarre character choice, an over-the-top performance, or just plain bad casting, these stars have had moments that made viewers want to look away.
From Razzie winners to box office disasters, this list covers the Hollywood names whose on-screen antics have become legendary for all the wrong reasons.
1. Eddie Murphy
Remember when Eddie Murphy played nearly every character in one movie? His multi-role performance in Norbit had critics shaking their heads.
He won three Razzie awards for it, taking home Worst Actor, Worst Supporting Actor, and Worst Supporting Actress all at once.
That is a rare kind of sweep nobody wants. Murphy has real comedic talent, but Norbit showed that even the funniest stars can push things way too far and lose the audience entirely.
2. Adam Sandler
Adam Sandler has built an entire career out of playing man-children, and for a while, audiences loved it. But critics were completely baffled by his work in Big Daddy, calling it one of his weakest performances ever captured on film.
His production company keeps churning out movies where he plays slightly different versions of the same annoying character. Loyal fans still show up, but many viewers feel like they have seen this act one too many times already.
3. John Travolta
Battlefield Earth is the kind of movie that gets talked about for decades, but never for good reasons. John Travolta’s performance in the film was so universally mocked that it became legendary in the worst possible way.
He won the Razzie for Worst Actor, and the film itself was later named Worst Picture of the Decade. Travolta has had plenty of great roles, which makes this one stand out even more as a jaw-dropping career misstep.
4. Jaden Smith
Starring in a movie alongside your famous father sounds like a dream, but After Earth turned into a nightmare for Jaden Smith. Critics described his performance as wooden and monotone, with almost no emotional depth to connect with.
The stilted delivery made it hard for audiences to root for his character, no matter how big the action sequences got. Will Smith himself later called the film the most painful failure of his entire career, which says a lot.
5. Rob Schneider
Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo holds a special place in cinema history, and not a flattering one. Rob Schneider’s lead role in the film earned him a Razzie for Worst Actor and a legendary zero-star review from critic Roger Ebert.
Ebert famously called the film aggressively bad, which is a phrase that really sticks. Schneider has his fans, but this particular movie is frequently held up as a textbook example of a comedy that completely misses every single mark.
6. Will Smith
Wild Wild West and After Earth are two very different movies, but they share one thing in common: a Razzie-winning Will Smith performance. He has openly admitted that After Earth was the most painful failure of his professional life.
What makes these performances sting is that Smith is genuinely capable of brilliant work. Seeing a talented actor coast or miscalculate a role is somehow more uncomfortable to watch than a bad actor simply doing their best with limited skills.
7. Eddie Redmayne
On one historic night, Eddie Redmayne won an Oscar for Best Actor for The Theory of Everything. The very next day, he picked up a Golden Raspberry for Worst Supporting Actor for Jupiter Ascending.
That has to be one of the most dramatic swings in Hollywood history. His performance in Jupiter Ascending was so over-the-top that even fans of his Oscar work were left genuinely speechless.
It proved that even award-winning actors can spectacularly misread a role.
8. Ben Affleck
Ben Affleck has had a bumpy road with certain performances, and his role in Shakespeare in Love stands out for a particularly awkward reason. Critics noticed his British accent was shaky at best, which distracted from every scene he appeared in.
He also walked away with a Razzie in 2004 for Daredevil, adding another rough chapter to his acting story. To his credit, Affleck has bounced back multiple times, proving that a bad performance does not have to define a whole career.
9. Jared Leto
Few actors divide audiences quite like Jared Leto when it comes to character choices. His portrayal of the Joker in Suicide Squad was widely described as bizarre and deeply unsettling in ways that felt more confusing than cool.
His role in Morbius did not help matters, landing with critics like a damp firecracker. Leto clearly commits fully to every part he takes on, but full commitment without the right direction can sometimes create performances that feel more puzzling than powerful.
10. Cara Delevingne
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets was a visual spectacle, but Cara Delevingne’s performance left many reviewers cold. Critics described her acting as flat and wooden, with very little chemistry between her and her co-star.
Some reviews suggested her casting was driven more by social media popularity than actual acting ability. Delevingne has real charisma in real life, which makes the disconnect on screen all the more surprising and a little frustrating to watch.
11. Katherine Heigl
One for the Money had all the ingredients of a fun action comedy, but Katherine Heigl’s performance left critics deeply unimpressed. Words like lazy, soft, and entirely devoid of edge showed up in review after review after the film released.
The role required a sharp, streetwise energy that simply never came through on screen. This performance played a big part in shifting how audiences and studios viewed Heigl, making it harder for her to land the kinds of roles she once regularly attracted.
12. Jamie Kennedy
Son of the Mask is frequently included on lists of the worst movies ever made, and Jamie Kennedy’s performance is a big reason why. Critics described his acting as terrifyingly aggressive and wildly overacted from the very first scene.
Kennedy took the brunt of the blame for a film that felt exhausting rather than entertaining. It is the kind of performance where every single choice feels like the wrong one, piled on top of another wrong choice, until the whole thing collapses.
13. Nicolas Cage
Nobody does unpredictable quite like Nicolas Cage. His career is a genuine rollercoaster, swinging between genuinely brilliant work and performances so unhinged they have become internet legends.
The Wicker Man remake is his most notorious example, featuring scenes so dramatically overplayed that clips from it went viral for years. Cage seems fully aware of his reputation at this point and leans into it.
That self-awareness is oddly charming, even when the movie itself is genuinely painful to sit through.
14. Julia Roberts
Julia Roberts is one of Hollywood’s most beloved stars, which made her villain turn in Mirror Mirror such a strange thing to witness. Critics pointed out that her attempt at playing a wicked queen came across as try-hard rather than truly threatening.
The performance felt more like someone doing a parody of a villain than actually becoming one. Roberts has delivered genuinely memorable work throughout her career, so seeing her struggle with a role like this felt oddly out of place and a bit uncomfortable.
15. Kristen Stewart
Kristen Stewart’s portrayal of Bella Swan in the Twilight series became one of the most talked-about performances of its generation, mostly for awkward reasons. The character’s boy-crazy, emotionally flat delivery made audiences cringe through multiple films in a row.
Stewart has since proven herself as a genuinely skilled actress in projects like Spencer and Personal Shopper. But Twilight remains the role many people remember first, a reminder that even talented actors can get stuck in a part that does not play to any of their strengths.