10 Actors That Were So Bad They Had To Quit TV Shows

Australian Cinephile

It takes a good actor to act like they're not acting.

Transcript

00:00Although they might not always want to admit it, there are more actors out there than you think

00:04who have left shows because of talent problems. Their own talent being the problem in that they

00:09don't have enough of it. A little harsh, yes, but here we are. We're allowed to dunk on these people

00:14because truthfully, even if they're absolutely terrible at what they do, they're richer than

00:17most of us will ever be. So it's only fair. So I'm Amy from WhatCulture and here are eight actors

00:22that were so bad they had to quit TV shows. 8. Misha Barton, The O.C.

00:27There are a number of rumours as to why this member of The O.C. left. The star herself,

00:32of course, puts it down to the usual creative differences gimmick, but there are plenty of

00:36rumours that say otherwise. She said in a public statement that it would be best for her health

00:40if she left the show because producers were overworking her, departing with a frosty on-set

00:45goodbye to a group of co-stars who also couldn't stand her. Maintaining the role would have been

00:49really great for her career, and so people were really confused when she chose to exit,

00:53her character being killed in a car crash. When asked about it, show creator Josh Schwartz

00:58puts the exit down to a clash of interests, creativity and ratings, which is sort of a

01:03polite way of saying he wasn't interested in furthering her career, creatively he thought

01:07he could do better with the show, and that the ratings were showing that the audience really

01:11weren't enjoying it. Bad ratings can't all be blamed on Barton, but rumours suggest that

01:15the main cause of issues between her and Schwartz was her acting ability and general professional

01:20conduct. 7. Luke Grimes in True Blood

01:23It is worth starting this one by saying that it sort of hinges on an anonymous tip from

01:28a source close to the show and the actor, so nothing has ever been 100% confirmed. If

01:32true though, and people do tend to believe it is, it's pretty embarrassing for Luke. Between

01:37seasons 6 and 7, Grimes departed from the show and was replaced with another actor, stating

01:41that he wasn't happy with the creative direction of the character. Thanks to a source verified by

01:46Buzzfeed and HBO, we can decode this to reach the real meaning. Grimes didn't want to play

01:51a gay character.

01:52In this day and age, even though, yes, this was a few years ago now, you really have to

01:56be better than that. Had he had moral issues like that he didn't want to take the role

02:00from an openly gay actor, then he would have said so himself, so the implication is that

02:05his departure is that he found it insulting or degrading to have to play a character of

02:08a different sexual orientation. If this is the case, then it's absolutely for the best

02:12that he left, as he clearly wasn't professional or talented enough for the role.

02:166. Genevieve Bugeot

02:19Cast initially as Captain Janeway, it didn't take Genevieve long at all to decide that this

02:24new role wasn't for her, leaving after only two days of filming. As with most dramatic

02:29quitting stories, there are multiple sides to it, and of course Genevieve's own motivations

02:33for leaving will have been far from two-dimensional. There's the side of the story that tells of her

02:37disappointment with the character and the crew, feeling she was not given the chance to shine

02:41that she was promised. She had to be a woman first and a captain second, which is the reverse

02:45of what she wanted, and when you pair that disappointing realisation with the long days

02:49and unfriendly co-workers, it's no shock that she wanted out.

02:53The other side to this is slightly less flattering for her though, in which producer Rick Bergman

02:58insists that she left because she just couldn't live up to what was expected of her. He accused

03:02her of being a diva on set, of being difficult to work with and not having the ability that

03:06others did to stomach the long days on set. Seemingly, she was a film actress first and

03:10she just didn't have the constitution to meet a TV schedule. Whichever one is the truth,

03:15at least they got it out of the way early so a replacement could come in and things could

03:18keep running smoothly.

03:195. Jake T. Austin in The Fosters

03:22Known for being a child actor on Wizards of Waverly Place alongside Selena Gomez and David

03:27Henry, many agree that this actor should have said goodbye to acting when he hit puberty.

03:31Nonetheless, Jake T. Austin has a soft spot in a lot of people's hearts because they feel as though

03:35they've watched him grow up on the telly. But that does not mean that we should ignore

03:38the fact that his acting hasn't aged very well with him. Whilst featuring on The Fosters

03:43as Jesus Adam's foster, the actor helped make it quite obvious why his acting career hadn't

03:47really taken off since featuring on the Disney Channel show. Austin soon threw in the towel

03:51and announced in 2013 that he'd be leaving the show and in Season 3, Jesus gets into a nasty car

03:56crash and everyone thinks he's dead just for him to return in the next season with a different actor.

04:01Noah Centineo stepped in to save the day and hence the new Jesus is born.

04:054. Taylor Momsen, Gossip Girl

04:08According to a statement made by the Taylor Momsen team, Taylor left to pursue her music career.

04:13Whilst other members of the cast found their breakthrough roles on the show, Momsen came

04:16to the realisation that maybe acting wasn't for her. She landed the role of Jenny Humphrey when she

04:20was 14 off the back of her role in The Grinch Stole Christmas. And unfortunately, this meant that

04:25viewers had to suffer through four seasons of her acting. Bad acting wasn't the only reason that this young

04:30actress left the show. Although her acting may have been lacking, her looks were enough to get

04:33her signed to a modelling agency and have her noticed by Madonna. Soon, her musical career

04:37was taking off so it was one or the other for this budding star and the decision was pretty clear.

04:41After filming an episode with the guest star Tim Gunn, the actor went off on one and said some

04:46horrible things about the young actress and her talent or lack thereof. Her beef with co-star Gunn was

04:51enough and the young musician said goodbye to her school blazer and tie.

04:553. David Caruso, NYPD Blue

04:58This actor has one of the messier exits on the list, and also stuck around the longest on his show.

05:03Cast as the leading man in the hit cop series NYPD Blue, David Caruso had the perfect CV and

05:08reputation to bag him the role of John Kelly. It wasn't long after filming commenced that the

05:13casting director realised what a mistake had been made. The actor was apparently extremely volatile and

05:18emotionally unavailable to fellow cast and crew members, and treated everyone as if they were his

05:23stepping stones for success. This attitude obviously got him nowhere, and his bad acting

05:27and lack of empathy soon found him leaving the show to pursue his big acting career.

05:31It sounds as though everyone was probably quite relieved to see the back of this actor,

05:35and thanks to his terrible personality it feels okay to say that his performances felt so forced

05:40and robotic that we're surprised he ever got the role in the first place.

05:432. Larry David on Seinfeld

05:46It's fair to say that Larry David wasn't one of the most central, well-known faces in Seinfeld. In fact,

05:51he only appeared a few times on screen. However, stick with me here, he literally quit the show

05:56in both his show-runner capacity and that of a casual actor because he felt he wasn't good enough

06:01to deliver what the show deserved. Actually having someone come out and say that they left because

06:05they didn't think they were up to par is very unusual. It's usually creative differences or

06:10scheduling problems, you know, these inconspicuous excuses covering the truth. So you've sort of got to

06:15respect David for being so straightforward about it, even a few years later. He respected the show and

06:19its cast so much that he wanted to do what was best for it, at the same time as acknowledging that

06:24he needed a break from the pressure and stress the show put on him. He wasn't a terrible actor

06:28or showrunner by any means, he in fact gave the show some of its best bits. However, he felt that

06:33he could no longer do enough to make his presence worth it and stepped down.

06:361. Charlie Sheen. Two and a half men. Is it a conspiracy theory to say that Charlie Sheen wanted

06:43to get fired? Or is it totally reasonable given that at the time he was an absolute madman that

06:49none of us could even begin to wrap our heads around understanding? So yes, technically he was fired and

06:54didn't quit, but bear in mind that he was fired after going on an unforgivable tirade against the show

06:59runner, Chuck Lorre, after a long build-up of unhinged interview appearances. Many have made

07:04the point that there's no way he wasn't actively trying to get himself fired, or at least see how

07:09far he could push things, and he has certainly not denied this idea ever since. At the time when he was

07:15let go, he was in a very bad way and performing horribly on the show. He was hostile and rude to

07:19co-workers and co-stars, he was actively damaging the show's reputation through interviews and public

07:25stunts. There's pushing your luck and then there's this. He has said since that at the time he thought

07:30he could just come back from everything without a problem. He thought he could push and push until

07:34he lost his show, his credibility and everything else, and then just get it all back when he was

07:38done being in whatever silly, goofy mood he was in. Needless to say, that wasn't the case. If you commit

07:43the TV career equivalent of suicide by cop, don't assume that cop's gonna rehire you anytime soon.

07:49And with that we've reached the end of this list of eight actors that were so bad they had to quit

07:53TV shows. It's harder than you think to find people who'll admit to this, so if you've got any more

07:58I would actually love to know about them. Stick them in the comments down below. And remember to

08:02check out whatculture.com for more lists and articles like this every single day. As always

08:06I've been Amy from WhatCulture and I'll catch you next time.

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