Orlando Bloom became a convenient target when Troy didn’t match the heroic, myth-heavy version many viewers expected. Paris was written as cowardly and self-interested, and audiences often confused their dislike of the character with Bloom’s performance. When Bloom later admitted he never connected with the role, it only reinforced the idea that he was part of what people wanted to blame. | © Warner Bros. Pictures
Shia LaBeouf took much of the heat when Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull didn’t meet sky-high expectations. Fans struggled to accept his character, Mutt Williams, as a tonal fit, and the hint that he might inherit Indy’s legacy only intensified the backlash. Even LaBeouf later admitted the reaction stung, which cemented the idea that he was to blame for problems rooted far beyond his role. | © Paramount Pictures
Alden Ehrenreich stepped into one of the most untouchable roles in pop culture with Solo: A Star Wars Story, and that alone set the film up for resistance. Even with a strong supporting cast, audiences struggled to accept a Han Solo who wasn’t Harrison Ford, and the box office reflected that hesitation. After the underperformance, the studio quietly framed the issue as recasting the character at all, leaving Ehrenreich as the face of a gamble fans weren’t ready to take. | © Walt Disney Pictures
Jared Leto became a focal point of frustration when Suicide Squad failed to live up to its hype. His Joker was heavily promoted, but barely appeared in the final cut, leaving audiences confused after months of buildup and wild stories about his method acting. Add a divisive design and a messy film around him, and Leto ended up blamed for expectations the movie itself never delivered. | © Warner Bros. Pictures
Sophie Turner caught heat after Game of Thrones ended with a finale that left a lot of fans angry and disappointed. When she publicly defended the writers and crew, arguing that much of the backlash came from unmet expectations, some viewers took it personally and shifted their frustration onto her. Because Sansa’s arc was so central to the later seasons, Turner became a convenient stand-in for a much bigger argument about how the show chose to end. | © HBO
Chris Hemsworth stepped away from Thor and into serious-tech thriller territory with Blackhat, and it didn’t land. Critics zeroed in on his performance, arguing he felt miscast and strangely stiff as a supposed elite hacker, especially compared to the charisma audiences expected from him. Even Hemsworth later admitted the role didn’t suit him, reinforcing the idea that his casting was a major reason the film never connected. | © Universal Pictures
Ezra Miller became the unavoidable problem hanging over The Flash when it finally hit theaters. Ongoing legal issues and allegations dominated the conversation, leaving the studio unable to promote the movie normally and keeping Miller largely out of public view. Even with decent reviews, the controversy swallowed the release, and many saw the film’s box office failure as the final cost of betting on a lead audiences no longer wanted to support. | © Warner Bros. Pictures
Taylor Lautner became an easy target once Twilight exploded into a cultural flashpoint rather than just a movie. His sudden rise as Team Jacob, paired with criticism of his acting range and a post-Twilight career that never fully took off, turned him into a shorthand for what sceptics mocked about the franchise. Add in overheated fandom wars and later casting debates, and Lautner ended up blamed less for the film itself than for everything people loved to argue about around it. | © Summit Entertainment
Brie Larson became a target long before Captain Marvel even hit theaters, after comments about diversity in Hollywood were twisted into something far more hostile online. Internet backlash quickly snowballed, shifting attention from the movie itself to her interviews, tone, and public persona. Even though the film was a box office hit, and reviews were solid, Larson ended up blamed as a symbol of a culture-war fight the movie never really started. | © Walt Disney Studios
Sydney Sweeney found herself blamed for the collapse of Christy, even though reviews were relatively kind to her performance. The movie arrived while Sweeney was already dealing with backlash tied to unrelated controversies, which critics and commentators argued had already poisoned audience interest before its release. When the film barely registered at the box office, the narrative shifted toward her public image, turning Christy into a casualty of timing and backlash rather than acting alone. | © CBS
George Clooney’s turn in Batman & Robin quickly became shorthand for how badly a Batman movie could go wrong. Critics and audiences zeroed in on his flat, overly polished take, arguing that he never found the gravity or edge the character needed. Clooney later agreed with the verdict himself, repeatedly apologizing for the role and admitting he thought he’d done real damage to the franchise. | © Warner Bros. Pictures
Hayden Christensen became the face of fan frustration after Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones leaned heavily on awkward romance and stiff dialogue. Audiences fixated on his performance, even though the lines and story beats gave him little room to breathe. The writing aged poorly, Christensen didn’t, but the blame followed him for years anyway. | © 20th Century Fox
Rachel Zegler became a lightning rod for controversy the moment Snow White went into production. Casting backlash over her heritage, followed by her public comments about modernizing the 1937 original, kept the movie in the culture-war spotlight long before release. When the film flopped, parts of the blame landed on Zegler herself, with critics and insiders arguing that the noise around her overshadowed the movie, fair or not. | © Walt Disney Pictures
Scarlett Johansson took the heat for Ghost in the Shell long before audiences even saw a frame of it. Her casting sparked a backlash over whitewashing, with critics arguing that a Japanese character from a manga adaptation was being reshaped to fit a Hollywood star. When the film underperformed, the studio itself pointed to that controversy, suggesting the casting debate turned viewers away and quietly left Johansson holding the blame. | © Paramount Pictures
Tom Cruise’s star power has always come from steering a movie around himself, and that approach backfired hard in The Mummy. Critics felt he treated the film like a standard Cruise action vehicle, which clashed with the darker tone the reboot was meant to establish. Instead of launching a new universe, the movie felt confused about what it was, and many reviews pointed to Cruise as the reason it never found its footing. | © Universal Pictures
Sometimes a movie fails, and the story gets simplified. Instead of scripts, studio choices, or bad timing, the blame lands on the face on the poster. These actors didn’t always sink their films, but they became the names people pointed to.
