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

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

00:08in that they don't have enough of it. A little harsh, yes, but here we are. We're allowed to

00:13dunk on these people, because truthfully, even if they're absolutely terrible at what they do,

00:17they're richer than most of us will ever be, so it's only fair. So I'm Amy from WhatCulture,

00:21and here are 8 actors that were so bad they had to quit TV shows.

00:258. Misha Barton, The O.C. There are a number of rumours as to why this member of The O.C. left.

00:31The star herself, of course, puts it down to the usual creative differences gimmick,

00:35but there are plenty of rumours that say otherwise. She said in a public statement that it would be

00:39best for her health if she left the show because producers were overworking her, departing with a

00:44frosty on-set goodbye to a group of co-stars who also couldn't stand her. Maintaining the role would

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

00:54character being killed in a car crash. When asked about it, show creator Josh Schwartz puts the

00:59exit down to a clash of interests, creativity and ratings, which is sort of a polite way of saying

01:04he wasn't interested in furthering her career, creatively he thought he could do better with

01:08the show, and that the ratings were showing that the audience really weren't enjoying it.

01:12Bad ratings can't all be blamed on Barton, but rumours suggest that the main cause of issues

01:16between her and Schwartz was her acting ability and general professional conduct.

01:217. Luke Grimes in True Blood

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

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

01:33and people do tend to believe it is, it's pretty embarrassing for Luke.

01:36Between seasons 6 and 7, Grimes departed from the show and was replaced with another actor,

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

01:45verified by BuzzFeed and HBO, we can decode this to reach the real meaning. Grimes didn't want to

01:51play a gay character. In this day and age, even though, yes this was a few years ago now,

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

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

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

02:09orientation. If this is the case, then it's absolutely for the best that he left, as he

02:13clearly wasn't professional or talented enough for the role.

02:176. Genevieve Beaujol

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

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

02:30there are multiple sides to it, and of course Genevieve's own motivations for leaving will have been

02:34far from two-dimensional. There's the side of the story that tells of her disappointment with the

02:38character and the crew, feeling she was not given the chance to shine that she was promised.

02:42She had to be a woman first and a captain second, which is the reverse of what she wanted, and when

02:47you pair that disappointing realisation with the long days and unfriendly co-workers, it's no shock

02:52that she wanted out. The other side to this is slightly less flattering for her though, in which

02:57producer Rick Bergman insists that she left because she just couldn't live up to what was expected of

03:01her. He accused her of being a diva on set, of being difficult to work with and not having the ability

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

03:11just didn't have the constitution to meet a TV schedule. Whichever one is the truth, at least

03:15they got it out of the way early so a replacement could come in and things could keep running smoothly.

03:205. Jake T. Austin in The Fosters

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

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

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

03:35him grow up on the telly. But that does not mean that we should ignore the fact that his acting

03:40hasn't aged very well with him. Whilst featuring on The Fosters as Jesus Adam's foster, the actor

03:45helped make it quite obvious why his acting career hadn't really taken off since featuring on the

03:49Disney Channel show. Austin soon threw in the towel and announced in 2013 that he'd be leaving the

03:54show, and in Season 3, Jesus gets into a nasty car crash and everyone thinks he's dead just for him to

03:59return in the next season with a different actor. Noah Centineo steps in to save the day and hence

04:04the new Jesus is born. 4. 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 to

04:16the realisation that maybe acting wasn't for her. She landed the role of Jenny Humphrey when she was 14

04:21off the back of her role in The Grinch Stole Christmas. And unfortunately, this meant that viewers

04:25had 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 her

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

04:38so it was one or the other for this budding star, and the decision was pretty clear. After filming an

04:42episode with the guest star Tim Gunn, the actor went off on one and said some horrible things about

04:47the young actress and her talent, or lack thereof. Her beef with co-star Gunn was enough,

04:52and the young musician said goodbye to her schoolblazer 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

05:09reputation 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

05:23his stepping 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.

05:32It 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.

05:51In fact, he only appeared a few times on screen. However, stick with me here,

05:55he literally quit the show in both his showrunner capacity and that of a casual actor because he

06:00felt he wasn't good enough to deliver what the show deserved. Actually having someone come out and

06:04say that they left because they didn't think they were up to par is very unusual. It's usually

06:09creative differences or scheduling problems, you know, these inconspicuous excuses covering the truth.

06:14So you've sort of got to respect David for being so straightforward about it, even a few years later.

06:18He respected the show and its cast so much that he wanted to do what was best for it,

06:22at the same time as acknowledging that he needed a break from the pressure and stress the show put

06:27on him. He wasn't a terrible actor or showrunner by any means, he in fact gave the show some of its

06:31best bits. However, he felt that he 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

06:44to 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 showrunner,

07:00Chuck Lorre, after a long build-up of unhinged interview appearances. Many have made the point

07:05that there's no way he wasn't actively trying to get himself fired, or at least see how far he could

07:10push things, and he has certainly not denied this idea ever since. At the time when he was let go,

07:15he was in a very bad way and performing horribly on the show. He was hostile and rude to co-workers

07:20and co-stars, he was actively damaging the show's reputation through interviews and public stunts.

07:26There's pushing your luck and then there's this. He has said since that at the time

07:29he thought he could just come back from everything without a problem. He thought he could push and

07:33push until he lost his show, his credibility and everything else, and then just get it all back

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

07:43If you commit the TV career equivalent of suicide by cop, don't assume that cop's going to rehire you

07:48anytime soon. And with that we've reached the end of this list of eight actors that were so bad they had

07:53to quit TV 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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