Daniel Radcliffe has singled out his performance in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince as a personal low point. He told The Daily Mail he finds his acting "very one-note" in the film, blaming his own complacency. Even as the movie was praised for its darker tone, Radcliffe feels that his work simply didn't connect with the audience the way he intended. | © Warner Bros. Pictures
For Jake Gyllenhaal, Prince of Persia represents a clear misstep. He has since called his casting, in a role criticized for whitewashing, a "slip-up" that wasn't right for him. The experience taught him to be far more thoughtful about why he chooses a part, acknowledging that not every project will be a perfect fit. | © Walt Disney Pictures
George Clooney has become the loudest critic of his own stint as the Dark Knight. He openly calls Batman & Robin a movie where everyone, himself very much included, simply "whiffed on that one." Clooney bluntly admits, "I was bad in it," believing even a talented cast and crew couldn't salvage a fundamentally flawed project. | © Warner Bros. Pictures
Sally Field joined The Amazing Spider-Man 2 purely out of loyalty, not creative interest. She did the film as a final favor to her close friend and producer, Laura Ziskin, despite feeling it wasn't her kind of movie. Field bluntly noted that with such thin material, there simply wasn't enough depth to craft a real performance, no matter how hard she tried. | © Sony Pictures Releasing
Jeremy Irons didn't try to sugarcoat his feelings about Batman v. Superman. When asked about the film's terrible reviews, he flat-out agreed they were deserved. He admitted the movie was a confusing mess, calling it overstuffed and muddled, and figured its massive box office was the only thing that saved it from total ruin. | © Warner Bros. Pictures
Michael Fassbender acknowledges that Assassin's Creed didn't quite hit the mark. He feels they missed a real opportunity by letting the film take itself too seriously. Looking back, he'd focus on making it a faster, more entertaining ride, admitting the pacing was bogged down by multiple false starts. | © 20th Century Studios
The Help earned Viola Davis her first Oscar nomination, but it's a performance she deeply regrets. She feels the film ultimately catered to a white audience, failing to let the maids' own authentic voices and full humanity be heard. Davis has said that despite the movie's success, she felt she betrayed both herself and the people she was representing, because the story wasn't ready to tell the whole truth. | © Reliance Entertainment
Emma Stone has publicly expressed regret for her role in Aloha, a prime example of Hollywood whitewashing. After playing a character written as part-Hawaiian and part-Chinese, she became the "butt of many jokes" for the miscasting. The experience opened her eyes to the industry's long history with this problem, and she's since apologized while acknowledging the important conversation it ignited. | © 20th Century Studios
Nicole Kidman finds herself completely disconnected from her performance in Australia. Despite praising her co-stars, she admitted she can't watch the film and feel any pride in her own work. She even turned to her husband in the theater to ask if she was any good in it, unable to form an emotional link to what she had done. | © 20th Century Studios
Emilia Clarke looks back on her Broadway debut in Breakfast at Tiffany's as a total disaster. Stepping into the iconic role of Holly Golightly just two years into Game of Thrones, she felt completely out of her depth. Clarke now calls it a "catastrophic failure", admitting she was far too young and inexperienced for the challenge. | © Paramount Pictures
Tom Hanks recognizes his Oscar-winning role in Philadelphia couldn't happen the same way today. While proud of the film's message, he's blunt about the optics, saying a straight actor like him wouldn't be cast as a gay man now, and rightly so. He believes audiences today rightly demand authenticity, and that the very thing which made the role safe for 1993 audiences is now seen as a limitation. | © TriStar Pictures
Anne Hathaway has publicly apologized for her character's design in The Witches, which drew criticism for the depiction of limb differences. She stated that she failed to make the harmful connection when the look was presented to her, and she deeply regrets the pain it caused. Hathaway specifically addressed children with limb differences, promising that now she knows better, she is committed to doing better. | © Warner Bros. Pictures
Sandra Bullock still cringes when she thinks about making Speed 2: Cruise Control. She's been vocal about the movie being a mistake, joking that the core premise of the movie, with a slow boat, just makes no sense for an action film. Bullock wishes she could take it back, especially since, unlike other flops, she says no fans have ever tried to tell her they liked it. | © 20th Century Studios
Chris Hemsworth has been upfront about his dissatisfaction with Thor: The Dark World. Looking back, he's said he felt he let the character down, never really figuring out how to move Thor forward in a meaningful way. He admits he was disappointed in his own work, feeling he missed the chance to show the audience something more surprising or different from the God of Thunder. | © Walt Disney Pictures
Eddie Redmayne has come to see his Oscar-nominated role in The Danish Girl as a mistake. While his intentions were good, he now believes a trans actress should have played the groundbreaking role of Lily Elbe. He acknowledges that the frustration stems from too many people being shut out of the conversation and that real change is needed to level the playing field. | © Universal Pictures
Even the biggest stars look back on some roles with regret. It turns out some of our favorite actors have been the harshest critics of their own performances. From blockbuster misfires to parts they felt were fundamentally wrong, here are fifteen stars who didn't hold back when judging their own work.
