Sometimes, despite everyone's efforts, a film doesn't go the way an actor would like. Every now and then, there's something in the movie that they feel the need to apologize for. Maybe it's their performance, or maybe it's something else. Sometimes, it is also due to a serious social problem.
In the cutthroat world of Hollywood, there's no doubt that it takes courage to apologize for a movie. There is a possibility that this could anger the film producers, and they are the ones who put up the money. But fans appreciate the frankness and maybe they will go see the next film the actor releases.
10 Anne Hathaway felt terrible about witches
In the 2020 version of Roald Dahl's The witchesAnne Hathaway played the Grand Witch and was the main protagonist of the film. All witches had three elongated fingers to mark them as different – and no one realized that even real people can sometimes have that difference in limbs, and they didn't appreciate being portrayed as evil fantasy witches.
Disability activists criticized the film, and Hathaway took to Instagram to apologize. In a now-deleted post, she wrote: “As someone who truly believes in inclusivity and really, truly hates cruelty, I owe you all an apology for the pain caused. I'm sorry. I didn't connect the limb difference with the [Grand High Witch] when the character's appearance was proposed to me; If I had, I assure you this would never have happened.”
9 Zoe Saldana defended Nina, then apologized
When Zoe Saldana was cast as Nina Simone in a biopic, people were shocked. She looked nothing like her. Then Saldana darkened her skin and wore a prosthetic nose to play Simone, and that's when people went from shocked to appalled. Simone's estate criticized the film, but Saldana insisted she was respectful.
Eventually, however, he changed his mind. During a 2020 interview on Instagram, he said: “I'm so sorry. I know better today and I'll never do it again. He's one of our giants and someone else should step up. Someone else should say that [Simone’s] story.” But for some, the apologies were too little, too late.
8 Paul Newman apologized for his debut in The Silver Chalice
Paul Newman's first ever film was The Silver Chaliceand he hated it with a passion. He wrote in his book Paul Newman: a life“I was horrified and traumatized when I saw the movie. I was sure that my acting career began and ended with the same movie. It was terrible. That's kind of a distinction to say I was in the worst movie ever made in the entire 1950s.” Harsh words indeed.
In 1963, a Los Angeles television channel began broadcasting the film, and Paul Newman did an entire ad campaign apologizing for the film. The advert read: “Paul Newman apologizes every night this week – Channel 9”. Unfortunately, this had the opposite effect, as people tuned in out of curiosity.
7 Rooney Mara felt really bad for Pan
Rooney Mara played Tiger Lily, a traditionally indigenous character, in the 2015 Peter Pan prequel Pan. She and the film were immediately hit by the whitewashing accusations, and Mara came to agree with them. He soon came to wish he hadn't taken the role at all.
At the New York premiere of Panhe said People magazine on the red carpet, “I totally agree with why people were upset and feel really bad about it.” But unfortunately the damage was already done. Pan completely bombed at the box office and is only remembered today for the whitewashing incident.
6 George Clooney couldn't get over Batman and Robin
Batman and Robin has gone down in history as one of the worst superhero movies of all time. And George Clooney, who played Batman himself, accepted the criticism. While the film's failure wasn't really his fault – he did the best he could with what he was given – it fell on him to apologize.
“I always apologize for Batman and Robin,” he said during a 2015 appearance on Britain's The Graham Norton Show. “Let me just say that I actually thought I had destroyed the franchise until someone else brought it back years later and changed it.” That was Christopher Nolan, whose Dark Knight The trilogy was critically acclaimed.
5 Elliot Page was upset about working with Woody Allen on To Rome With Love
Woody Allen has had sexual abuse allegations against him for years now, and these have greatly affected his career. People still work with him, but sometimes they apologize for making that decision. This was the case of actor Elliot Page, who appeared in the 2012 film To Rome With Love.
In 2017, Page made a now-deleted Facebook post apologizing for working with Allen. “I made a Woody Allen movie and it is the biggest regret of my career,” he wrote. “I'm ashamed that I did it. I still had to find my voice and I wasn't who I am now and I felt pressured, because 'of course you have to say yes to this Woody Allen movie.' Ultimately, though, it's my choice which films I decide to make and I made the wrong choice. I made a terrible mistake.”
4 Carol Burnett apologized to an entire plane for The Front Page
Carol Burnett acted The first page in 1974 and, unfortunately, received negative reviews for his performance. Some of them were downright cruel. TV guide said, “Burnet easily gives the most horrific performance of her career” and “You never have more fun with the film than when her character throws herself out of a window.”
Burnett clearly took all the criticism to heart. He wrote in his 2010 autobiography, This time togetherThat when he was on a plane to introduce himself The first page as an in-flight film, she apologized to the passengers. He stood up and said, “This is Carol Burnett, and I want to take this opportunity to apologize to each of you for my performance in the movie you just saw.” They applauded.
3 Emma Stone has apologized for playing a whitewashed character in Aloha
In the movie AlohaEmma Stone was cast as a half-Asian woman despite not being Asian herself. It was a baffling casting choice by director Cameron Crowe, and it took her a long time to accept it. In 2015, he told news.com.au:
I became the butt of many jokes. I learned on a macro level the crazy history of whitewashing in Hollywood and how widespread the problem truly is.
Stone's apology was unusual, though… he shouted it in a crowded amphitheater. During the 2019 Golden Globes, Sandra Oh made a joke on stage Crazy rich Asians being “the first studio film with an Asian-American lead since”. Ghost in the shell AND Aloha.” Stone shouted, “I'm sorry!” from his seat.
2 Shia LaBeouf regrets Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
When Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull came out, it received decidedly mixed reviews. One particularly controversial character was Mutt, Indy's son, played by Shia LaBeouf. AND LaBeouf was not at all satisfied with his performance or the film as a whole.
“I feel like I've let go of the legacy that people loved and appreciated,” he said at the Cannes Film Festival in 2010, as reported by the Los Angeles Times. “…The actor's job is to make it come alive and make it work, and I couldn't do that. So it's my fault. Simple.” He wasn't in the fifth Indiana Jones movie, Quadrant of Destiny.
1 Dick Van Dyke hated his accent in Mary Poppins
Mary Poppins it's an iconic film that generations of children have loved, but everyone also remembers Dick Van Dyke's terrible cockney accent in the film. And Dick Van Dyke remembers it too, and even apologized for it.
In 2017, Van Dyke received a BAFTA Award from the British Academy Britannia for his long and illustrious television career and, in response, said:
I appreciate this opportunity to apologize to the members of BAFTA for inflicting on them the most atrocious cockney accent in the history of cinema.
Despite it all, many people find his terrible attempt at cockney charmingAND Mary Poppins it wouldn't be the same movie without it.