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. There are a number of

00:29rumours as to why the producers were overworking her, departing with a frosty on-set goodbye to a

00:34group of co-stars who also couldn't stand her. Maintaining the role would have been really great

00:38for her career, and so people were really confused when she chose to exit, her character being killed

00:43in a car crash. When asked about it, show creator Josh Schwartz puts the exit down to a clash of

00:48interests, creativity, and ratings, which is sort of a polite way of saying he wasn't interested in

00:53furthering her career creatively, he thought he could do better with the show, and that the ratings

00:57were showing that the audience really weren't enjoying it. Bad ratings can't all be blamed on

01:02Barton, but rumours suggest that the main cause of issues between her and Schwartz was her acting

01:06ability and general professional conduct. 7. Luke Grimes in True Blood

01:11It is worth starting this one by saying that it sort of hinges on an anonymous tip from a source close

01:16to the show and the actor, so nothing has ever been 100% confirmed. If true though, and people do

01:21tend to believe it is, it's pretty embarrassing for Luke. Between seasons 6 and 7, Grimes departed

01:27from the show and was replaced with another actor, stating that he wasn't happy with the creative

01:31direction of the character. Thanks to a source verified by BuzzFeed and HBO, we can decode this

01:36to reach the real meaning. Grimes didn't want to play a gay character. In this day and age, even though,

01:42yes, this was a few years ago now, you really have to be better than that. Had he had moral issues like

01:47that he didn't want to take the role from an openly gay actor, then he would have said so himself,

01:51so the implication is that his departure is that he found it insulting or degrading to have to play

01:56a character of a different sexual orientation. If this is the case, then it's absolutely for the

02:00best that he left, as he clearly wasn't professional or talented enough for the role.

02:046. Genevieve Bugeot

02:06Star Trek Voyager

02:08Cast initially as Captain Janeway, it didn't take Genevieve long at all to decide that this new

02:12role wasn't for her, leaving after only two days of filming. As with most dramatic quitting stories,

02:18there are multiple sides to it, and of course Genevieve's own motivations for leaving will

02:22have been far from two-dimensional. There's the side of the story that tells of her disappointment

02:26with the character and the crew, feeling she was not given the chance to shine that she was promised.

02:30She had to be a woman first and a captain second, which is the reverse of what she wanted,

02:34and when you pair that disappointing realisation with the long days and unfriendly co-workers,

02:39it's no shock that she wanted out. The other side to this is slightly less flattering for her

02:44though, in which producer Rick Bergman insists that she left because she just couldn't live

02:48up to what was expected of her. He accused her of being a diva on set, of being difficult to work

02:53with and not having the ability that others did to stomach the long days on set. Seemingly,

02:57she was a film actress first and she just didn't have the constitution to meet a TV schedule.

03:02Whichever one is the truth, at least they got it out of the way early so a replacement could come in

03:06and things could keep running smoothly. 5. Jake T. Austin in The Fosters

03:10Known for being a child actor on Wizards of Waverly Place alongside Selena Gomez and David Henry,

03:15many agree that this actor should have said goodbye to acting when he hit puberty.

03:19Nonetheless, Jake T. Austin has a soft spot in a lot of people's hearts because they feel as

03:23though they've watched him grow up on the telly. But that does not mean that we should ignore the

03:27fact that his acting hasn't aged very well with him. Whilst featuring on The Fosters as Jesus

03:31Adams Foster, the actor helped make it quite obvious why his acting career hadn't really

03:36taken off since featuring on the Disney Channel show. Austin soon threw in the towel and announced

03:40in 2013 that he'd be leaving the show. And in season 3, Jesus gets into a nasty car crash and

03:45everyone thinks he's dead just for him to return in the next season with a different actor.

03:49Noah Centineo steps in to save the day and hence the new Jesus is born.

03:534. Taylor Momsen, Gossip Girl

03:56According to a statement made by the Taylor Momsen team, Taylor left to pursue her music career.

04:01Whilst other members of the cast found their breakthrough roles on the show, Momsen came

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

04:08when she was 14 off the back of her role in The Grinch Stole Christmas. And unfortunately,

04:12this meant that viewers had to suffer through four seasons of her acting.

04:16Bad acting wasn't the only reason that this young actress left the show. Although her acting

04:19may have been lacking, her looks were enough to get her signed to a modelling agency and have

04:23her noticed by Madonna. Soon, her musical career was taking off so it was one or the other

04:27for this budding star, and the decision was pretty clear. After filming an episode with

04:31the guest star Tim Gunn, the actor went off on one and said some horrible things about the young

04:35actress and her talent, or lack thereof. Her beef with co-star Gunn was enough and the young

04:40musician said goodbye to her school blazer and tie.

04:433. David Caruso, NYPD Blue

04:46This actor has one of the messier exits on the list, and also stuck around the longest on his show.

04:51cast as the leading man in the hit cop series NYPD Blue, David Caruso had the perfect CV and

04:57reputation to bag him the role of John Kelly. It wasn't long after filming commenced that the

05:01casting director realised what a mistake had been made. The actor was apparently extremely

05:06volatile and emotionally unavailable to fellow cast and crew members, and treated everyone as if

05:10they were his stepping stones for success. This attitude obviously got him nowhere, and his bad

05:15acting and lack of empathy soon found him leaving the show to pursue his big acting career.

05:19It sounds as though everyone was probably quite relieved to see the back of this actor,

05:23and thanks to his terrible personality, it feels okay to say that his performances felt so forced

05:28and robotic that we're surprised he ever got the role in the first place.

05:312. Larry David on Seinfeld

05:34It's fair to say that Larry David wasn't one of the most central, well-known faces in Seinfeld.

05:39In fact, he only appeared a few times on screen. However, stick with me here, he literally quit the

05:44show in both his showrunner capacity and that of a casual actor because he felt he wasn't good enough

05:49to deliver what the show deserved. Actually having someone come out and say that they left because

05:53they didn't think they were up to par is very unusual. It's usually creative differences or

05:58scheduling problems, you know, these inconspicuous excuses covering the truth.

06:02So you've sort of got to respect David for being so straightforward about it, even a few years later.

06:06He respected the show and its cast so much that he wanted to do what was best for it,

06:10at the same time as acknowledging that he needed a break from the pressure and stress the show put on

06:15him. He wasn't a terrible actor or showrunner by any means, he in fact gave the show some of its

06:19best bits. However, he felt that he could no longer do enough to make his presence worth it

06:24and stepped down.

06:251. Charlie Sheen

06:27Two and a half men

06:28Is it a conspiracy theory to say that Charlie Sheen wanted to get fired? Or is it totally reasonable,

06:34given that at the time he was an absolute madman that none of us could even begin to wrap our heads

06:39around understanding? So yes, technically he was fired and didn't quit, but bear in mind that he

06:44was fired after going on an unforgivable tirade against the showrunner, Chuck Lorre, after a long

06:49build-up of unhinged interview appearances. Many have made the point that there's no way he wasn't

06:54actively trying to get himself fired, or at least see how far he could push things, and he has certainly

06:59not denied this idea ever since. At the time when he was let go, he was in a very bad way and performing

07:05horribly on the show. He was hostile and rude to co-workers and co-stars, he was actively damaging

07:10the show's reputation through interviews and public stunts. There's pushing your luck and then

07:15there's this. He has said since that at the time he thought he could just come back from everything

07:19without a problem. He thought he could push and push until he lost his show, his credibility and

07:24everything else, and then just get it all back when he was done being in whatever silly, goofy mood he

07:28was in. Needless to say, that wasn't the case. If you commit the TV career equivalent of suicide by cop,

07:34don't assume that cop's going to rehire you anytime soon. And with that, we've reached the end of this

07:39list of eight actors that were so bad they had to quit TV shows. It's harder than you think to find

07:44people who'll admit to this, so if you've got any more, I would actually love to know about them.

07:48Stick them in the comments down below. And remember to check out whatculture.com for more lists and

07:52articles like this every single day. As always, I've been Amy from WhatCulture, and I'll catch you next time.

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