1. Penn Badgley: Joe Goldberg in You

Joe had you, me, and almost the whole world run away from social media… and into his arms. And for Penn Badgley, that’s exactly where the problem lay.

While the world may have fallen in love with Penn’s Joe, Badgley ensured to point out, time after time, why Joe was NOT the right guy for anyone – even Penn, himself.  

We can’t lead ourselves to believe that if Joe would simply find the right person that he would be happy—because he’s a fucking murderer. It’s crazy. That’s akin to victim blaming, being like, ‘Oh, they just weren’t right for him.’ He’s always saying, ‘If only I could show you who I really am.’ Up until that point (S2), he’s never been able to do that…. Then he gets it, and he’s a total dick about it. That was when I was like, ‘Joe, I’ve never liked you less! I’ve never liked you less.’ 

-Penn to Vanity Fair

2. Jason Segel: Marshall Eriksen in HIMYM

While the audience may have enjoyed the show’s consistency (right till the ending), the actors, specifically Jason Segel sure had a different take on playing the same character for almost a decade. 

When you become an actor, part of it, the secret part of it, is that you don’t want to work a regular nine-to-five job. And the secret part of a TV show is that it’s a nine-to-five job. And eight years is longer than any relationship I’ve ever been in, it’s longer than any school I went to. I think after eight years, I’ll feel like I honorably did my commitment. It’s funny—it’s the greatest problem in the world to have. Jeez—I’m the luckiest guy in the world. But when your idol is Peter Sellers, playing one character for eight years isn’t what you’re trying to do. I don’t really feel like I have that much more to offer with this character. 

-Segel to GQ

3. Robert Pattinson: Edward Cullen in The Twilight series 

It’s no secret that Pattinson is not a fan of the character that launched his ‘sparkling’ acting career!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jr6SCArHwco

Cedric Diggory remains, but a blip, on his filmography. And while Pattinson has proved his acting chops across various movies in different genres, Cullen remains his most memorable role for the public and his most disliked role, personally. 

It is weird being part of that – kind of – representing something you don’t particularly like… If Edward was a non-fictional character and you met him in reality, he’s one of those guys that would be an axe murderer.

-Pattinson, via Standard

4. Blake Lively: Serena Van Der Woodsen in Gossip Girl

Even today, as the show gets set for a remake, it’s hard to imaging anyone but Blake Lively play the iconic Serena Van Der Woodsen – a character loved by many but one that Lively initially turned down.

Later, when she eventually signed on to play the character, she felt ‘compromised’ as a person. 

I would not be proud to be the person who gave someone the cocaine that made them overdose and then shot someone and slept with someone else’s boyfriend. People loved it, but it (the character of Serena) always felt a little personally compromising — you want to be putting a better message out there. The lines become blurred. 

-Blake Lively to Allure

5. Mandy Patinkin: Jason Gideon in Criminal Minds

Mandy Patinkin’s abrupt departure from the show left many fans guessing the reasons. But it was much later that Patinkin revealed how playing Jason Gideon on Criminal Minds, was ‘destructive’ to his soul. 

The biggest public mistake I ever made was that I chose to do Criminal Minds in the first place. I thought it was something very different. I never thought they were going to kill and rape all these women every night, every day, week after week, year after year. It was very destructive to my soul and my personality. After that, I didn’t think I would get to work in television again.

6. Megan Fox: Mikaela Banes in the Transformers series

For Megan, it wasn’t so much as hate about playing Mikaela, as much as a heightened self-awareness of how Transformers, and movies in general, shortchange the female lead in action movies. 

I don’t want to blow smoke up people’s ass. People are well aware that this is not a movie about acting. And once you realize that, it becomes almost fun because you can be in the moment and go, ‘All right, I know that when he calls Action! I’m either going to be running or screaming, or both.”

In fact, at the time, Megan’s (in)famous confession(s) about the character and the director, Michael bay, even got her fired from the third film… but the two have since buried the hatchet and are friends again! 

7. Stephen Dillane: Stannis Baratheon in Game Of Thrones

While Stannis Baratheon veered from a righteous contender for the throne to a misguided fanatic we hated, no one can deny that Stephen Dillane was excellent in his portrayal… except for Dillane himself, who’s not a fan of either the series or his performance in it. 

I’ve flicked [the show] on [since leaving] to see if I could figure out what was going on, but I couldn’t… I didn’t know what I was doing until we’d finished filming and it was too late. The damage had been done. I thought no one would believe in me and I was rather disheartened by the end. I felt I’d built the castle on non-existent foundations.

Though he believes GoT was an amazing phenomenon, for Dillane, playing Baratheon was, very simply, all about the money. 

8. Angus T. Jones: Jake Harper in Two and a Half Men

Easily the best half of the famous sitcom, Angus Jones, who played Jake Harper on the show, is actually not a fan of the character or the series that launched his acting career.

In fact, though he earned as much as $300,000 per episode in the later seasons, he went on-air to call the show ‘filth’, even asking fans to not see the series. Though he late apologized for his outburst, it’s clear that he wasn’t a fan of the series. 

9. Jamie Dornan: Christian Grey from the Fifty Shades of Grey Series 

Christian Grey was a character that fans and critics of the book, alike, wanted to see come alive on the silver screen. This is why, when it was announced Jaime Dornan will play Grey, there was naturally, a lot of discussion on whether he was the right choice. And one of those doubters was Dornan himself.

I almost don’t want to put this out there into the ether, but I fear I’ll get murdered, like John Lennon, by one of those mad fans at the premiere. Because a lot of people are very angry that I’m playing this character. And I’m a father now, and a husband. I don’t want to die yet. 

Dornan also struggled with portraying Grey’s sexual preferences, and at the end of the two films, even remarked that he’d never want to do something like this again. 

Some of the Red Room stuff was uncomfortable. There were times when Dakota was not wearing much, and I had to do stuff to her that I’d never choose to do to a woman.

-Jaime to CNN

10. Daniel Craig: James Bond (since 2006)

Though not entirely a newcomer, it was his role as Bond, that made Craig a bonafide superstar. But, in 2015, after playing “007” in four films, Craig boldly stated that he was ‘done’ with the role, and money would be the only reason why he’d do it again. 

I’d rather … slash my wrists. No, not at the moment. Not at all. That’s fine. I’m over it at the moment. We’re done. All I want to do is move on… If I did another Bond movie, it would only be for the money.”

ICYMI, he will be seen next in the 2021 Bond film, No Time To Die. 

11. Katherine Heigl: Izzie Stevens in Grey’s Anatomy

Much like her on-screen character Stevens, Heigl courted many controversies during her time on Grey’s Anatomy. In fact, she even pulled herself from Emmy Nominations (after S4) because she believed she wasn’t given Emmy-worth material during the season. 

In an effort to maintain the integrity of the academy organization, I withdrew my name from contention. In addition, I did not want to potentially take away an opportunity from an actress who was given such materials.”

However, that led to a series of misunderstandings between the show’s creators and her, so much so that she was labeled as being ‘difficult’. She later stated she was simply expressing her opinions, and it was unfair how harsh the reaction was. 

I may have said a couple of things you didn’t like, but then that escalated to ‘she’s ungrateful,’ then that escalated to ‘she’s difficult,’ and that escalated to ‘she’s unprofessional’. What is your definition of difficult? Somebody with an opinion that you don’t like? Now, I’m 42, and that s–t pisses me off.”

12. Halle Berry: Catwoman in Catwoman

Yes. Catwoman is certainly not the only character Halle Berry is known by. But when she played the superhero in 2004, she was the only woman of color playing a superhero. And that was precisely what prompted her to take on a movie that didn’t feel ‘quite right’.

The story didn’t feel quite right.  I remember having that argument: ‘Why can’t Catwoman save the world like Batman and Superman do? Why is she just saving women from a face cream that cracks their face off? But I was just the actor for hire. I wasn’t the director. I had very little say over that.”

Considering just how big of a catastrophe Catwoman ended up being, we’d say her gut instinct was bang on!

The price of fame, indeed.