- 16 hours ago
Not everyone can be the next Schwarzenegger! Join us as we count down our picks for the most cringe-worthy celebrity attempts at action movie stardom! From catastrophic box office bombs to painfully miscast superheroes, Hollywood has no shortage of stars who simply weren't built for the action game. Which celebrity's attempt had you shaking your head the most? Let us know in the comments!
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00I can see the future, kind of.
00:04Welcome to WatchMojo, and today, we're counting down our picks for the 20 worst examples of someone in the public
00:11eye trying to become an action star.
00:16Never could make the free throws.
00:19Number 20, Alicia Silverstone, Batman and Robin.
00:24Using feminine wiles to get what you want, trading on your looks.
00:28Read a book, sister. That passive-aggressive number went out long ago.
00:32Chicks like you give women a bad name.
00:34This legendary superhero bust stalled many careers when it was released back in 1997,
00:41with Batman and Robin effectively halting any hopes co-star Alicia Silverstone might have had about a career in action
00:47movies.
00:48The film's ultra-campy tone and overtly jokey execution effectively killed the Batman franchise for years as well,
00:55with Silverstone's performance as Batgirl adding little, if anything, to the proceedings.
01:01It'd be unfair to lay the blame for Batman and Robin's failure solely on Silverstone.
01:07There's plenty of blame to go around after all,
01:09but this doesn't change the fact that the actress just didn't seem cut out for the action movie game.
01:14Ahem. Excuse me. I believe I'm the one who kicked Ivy's botanical butt.
01:19Yeah, that was me. I did it all by myself.
01:22Number 19, Pamela Anderson, Barbwire.
01:25Alive, Krebs represents your investment in his bail bond.
01:30Dead? He's toxic waste.
01:33Barbwire knew exactly what it was when it was released back in 1996.
01:38Male teenage fantasy fodder featuring Pamela Anderson.
01:41Lots of guns and some very big explosions.
01:44The film was based on a Dark Horse comic book series,
01:47with Anderson playing the role of the titular heroine.
01:50The film didn't please audiences or critics, however,
01:53with many pointing to Anderson's one-note performance and dry delivery
01:57as sticking points in this box office bomb.
02:00Still, Barbwire is fun enough when you're in the right mood,
02:03but Anderson would fail to achieve any sort of action movie success in the wake of its release.
02:09What did you call me?
02:16Don't call me, babe.
02:20Number 18, Brian Bosworth, Stone Cold.
02:25You gotta save for yourself this time.
02:28You gotta clean up on aisle four.
02:33Those searching for some action movie lunacy need look no further than 1991's Stone Cold,
02:39an enjoyably ridiculous collection of tough guy cliches starring the one and only Brian Bosworth.
02:45Bosworth had previously made his name in the NFL,
02:48but Stone Cold was supposedly to be his breakout role in the action movie mainstream.
02:53Fans and critics didn't flock to the boss, however,
02:55and Stone Cold flopped at the box office.
02:58B-movie fans did later latch onto the film on home video,
03:02but Bosworth's star never truly ignited,
03:05although the former Seattle Seahawks still acts on the indie scene to this day.
03:09Imagine the future change.
03:12Because you're not in it.
03:22Number 17, Taylor Kitsch, John Carter.
03:31That don't look like a fair fight.
03:33That's the thing you never fight fair.
03:34Let's rewind to 2012,
03:37a year that was supposed to mint Taylor Kitsch as Hollywood's newest golden boy.
03:42Coming off the massive success of Friday Night Lights,
03:44Kitsch was handed the keys to an astronomical action blockbuster
03:48that cost the GDP of a small country.
03:51Unfortunately, John Carter was a verified box office disaster,
03:55becoming one of the most infamous flops in movie history.
03:58While the sci-fi epic has since earned a few cult defenders over the years,
04:02the general public met it with a big fat no,
04:05and it flatlined Kitsch's trajectory as a bankable action star.
04:09He's still going strong in indie films and television,
04:11but he's no action hero.
04:13Oh, Annette.
04:16Take up a cause.
04:18Fall in love.
04:20Write a book.
04:23Just tell me I'm a new one.
04:26Number 16, Dane DeHaan.
04:29Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.
04:31Close it.
04:41Bring on the beach.
04:43Luc Besson's ambitious space opera was a visual masterpiece,
04:47but it suffered from one fatal glaring flaw.
04:50It's leading man.
04:52Dane DeHaan is a talented actor,
04:54usually shining in cerebral and moody indie roles or playing troubled villains.
04:58However, casting him as Major Valerian,
05:02a swaggering roguish space cop,
05:04was a massive miscalculation.
05:06DeHaan severely lacked the imposing physical presence
05:09and natural charisma required to carry a massive sci-fi action flick.
05:13Consequently, his stiff performance felt wildly out of place
05:17in such a vibrant, high-octane universe.
05:19He grounded a movie that desperately needed to soar.
05:22You want to drive?
05:23Whoa, put your hand back on the joystick.
05:26Lurleen, put your hands back on the joystick.
05:30Lurleen, will you please put your hand back on the joystick?
05:33Kit Harrington, Pompeii.
05:36At some point.
05:41No, we don't.
05:44What we have to do is kill each other at some point.
05:51He was known far and wide for his role in Game of Thrones,
05:54which made Kit Harrington's leap to the silver screen
05:57seem like an absolute no-brainer.
05:59Right in the midst of throne fever,
06:01Harrington took a massive swing with the historical action flick Pompeii,
06:05which was heavily promoted on his rising star power.
06:08But critics and audiences quickly pointed out
06:10that his brooding, quiet television charisma
06:13didn't translate into carrying a loud blockbuster.
06:15In fact, he was, dare we say, quite bad.
06:20The film failed to make waves at the box office,
06:23proving once and for all that wielding a valerian steel sword on TV
06:27doesn't automatically make you a genuine action movie heavyweight.
06:3614. Taylor Lautner
06:39Abduction and Tracers
06:49Oh, Taylor Lautner, we know you're trying hard to escape from your twilight past.
06:54But the actor's performances in the 2011 film Abduction and 2015's Tracers are just that,
07:01attempts.
07:02Abduction was Lautner's first proper crack at action movie stardom as an adult,
07:06and received scathing reviews concerning the actor's wooden performance and lack of charisma.
07:12Tracers, unfortunately, didn't fare much better,
07:14with Lautner implausibly starring as a bike messenger who
07:17ends up running with a parkour gang in New York City.
07:21The time may come when Jacob,
07:23ah, excuse me, Taylor,
07:24finally becomes an actual action movie heavyweight.
07:27But it'll definitely take better movies than these to get the job done.
07:32I don't know what I'm doing.
07:34That's the great thing about parkour, my friend.
07:37There are no rules.
07:3813. Jai Courtney
07:40A Good Day to Die Hard
07:50For a few confusing and head-scratching years in the early 2010s,
07:55studio execs were convinced that Jai Courtney was the heir apparent to the action movie throne.
08:00He was aggressively inserted into major franchises like The Terminator,
08:05but perhaps his worst term is playing John McClane's tough guy son in A Good Day to Die Hard.
08:10Instead of revitalizing the aging IP with fresh blood,
08:14audiences found Courtney's wooden screen presence severely lacking.
08:18He didn't have the grit or the charm to anchor the film,
08:21and putting him beside a legend like Bruce Willis just proves there are levels to this.
08:26The movie was critically reviled,
08:28serving as a widespread rejection of Courtney as a dependable leading man.
08:32So we're not going to grow any third arms or anything, are we?
08:35Nah.
08:37You might lose your hair.
08:39Ha.
08:39Ha. Laugh it up, kid.
08:41This is you five years from now.
08:44It's rainwater.
08:45I'm fine.
08:46Besides,
08:48it's hard to kill McClane.
08:50Number 12.
08:52Ice Cube
08:52Triple X, State of the Union
08:54Wars come and go,
08:56but my soldiers stay eternal.
08:59I like that.
09:00Who said it?
09:02Jefferson?
09:02Patton?
09:03Tupac.
09:04Not even Ice Cube could save the Triple X franchise in 2005.
09:08When the rapper turned actor decided to fill the shoes, vacated by Vin Diesel.
09:13To be fair, Triple X State of the Union did bring back a small return against its $60 million budget,
09:18but critics were split on Cube's performance as an action hero,
09:22while fans mourn the loss of Diesel from the franchise.
09:25They would get their wish over a decade later, however,
09:28with Triple X's return of Xander Cage reigniting the film series,
09:32bringing both Cube and Diesel back for another round.
09:36Rock, paper, scissor, grenade launcher.
09:41Number 11.
09:41Tyler Perry, Alex Cross.
09:54You can respect writer, actor, and director Tyler Perry for attempting to try something
09:59new by taking part in the 2012 film Alex Cross.
10:02It couldn't have been easy for Perry to step into a role that was not only based on a beloved
10:06book series by James Patterson, but had also been previously portrayed on screen by Morgan Freeman.
10:11Fans of Perry's Madea franchise, however, stayed away from Alex Cross,
10:16and the film ended up as both a critical and commercial failure, despite Perry's best intentions.
10:22At least it's over, right?
10:29No.
10:33It ain't over, Tommy.
10:35Number 10.
10:36Mila Kunis.
10:38Max Payne.
10:39You need to talk about my sister.
10:41You need to talk about my sister.
10:43You need to talk about my sister.
10:43Mila Kunis is a fantastic actress with incredible range, but her abrupt venture into the gritty
10:49action genre was spectacularly misjudged.
10:52Back in 2008, Kunis was completely miscast as the hardened, gun-toting assassin Mona Sachs
10:59in the movie adaptation of Max Payne.
11:01Despite taking the role seriously and giving it her all, Kunis' petite physical stature
11:06and naturally angelic features made it exceedingly difficult for audiences to buy her as a bloodthirsty
11:12action heroine.
11:13Sometimes, a great actor simply doesn't fit the run-and-gun mold, and that's fine.
11:18You don't want to make it out alive.
11:24You think that if he puts you out of your misery, you'll be with him again?
11:28Yeah, I hope that's how it works.
11:35It's a rough game.
11:36That's why we get paid, you know?
11:38You make a hundred times what I do.
11:43What's up, Danny?
11:44Remaking a cult classic usually isn't the best idea, especially when the film was as
11:49niche as the 1975 sci-fi oddity Rollerball.
11:54That movie starred Hollywood heavyweight James Caan.
11:56However, while viewers of the 2002 version were forced to settle for American Pie actor
12:01Chris Klein, the Rollerball remake was panned by fans and critics alike, mainly because it
12:06lacked the kitsch, 70s cool, and sociopolitical themes of the original.
12:10Klein's performance in the film was considered bland and not up to snuff when compared to the
12:15charisma Caan brought to the role over 25 years earlier.
12:19Looks like they brought the whole Russian hat on you, Red.
12:22We're great.
12:23We're being chased by our own bodyguards.
12:34Kevin Hart is arguably one of the hardest-working men in Hollywood, and lately he's been trying
12:39to pivot away from pure comedy and into legitimate action star territory.
12:44Frankly, we don't know why.
12:45Despite headlining big-budget Netflix action flicks like Lift, the glaring problem remains.
12:51Audiences just can't take him seriously as a formidable tough guy.
12:55He's a small man, and his earnest attempts to play the suave mastermind of a heist invariably
13:00devolved into his trademark high-pitched comedic shtick.
13:03The explosive action often feels entirely secondary to the jokes, leaving his action star status
13:10stuck firmly in the realm of parody.
13:197.
13:21Armie Hammer – The Lone Ranger
13:30Disney banked on Armie Hammer becoming the next generation's big action hero when they
13:34cast him in The Lone Ranger opposite Johnny Depp.
13:37Instead, the chaotic film became one of the most infamous box office bombs of the 2010s.
13:43It completely failed to ignite the lucrative blockbuster franchise the studio so desperately
13:48wanted, and Disney lost a ton of money in the process.
13:51So Hammer's highly-publicized shot at being a traditional, square-jawed leading man fizzled
13:57out right at the starting line… and that was long before his off-screen controversies
14:01officially ended his mainstream Hollywood career for good.
14:12Number 6.
14:14Jared Leto – Morbius
14:34It's Morbin time… or, well, maybe not. Jared Leto undeniably has a distinct knack for
14:41transformative character work, but his ambitious attempt to solo a superhero franchise was a
14:47historically embarrassing misfire.
14:48Morbius quickly became an inescapable internet laughingstock thanks to its chaotic plot, dated
14:54CGI effects, and Leto's aggressively self-serious lead performance.
14:58The movie bombed so badly that it actually managed to flop twice after Sony execs mistakenly
15:05thought that ironic Twitter memes translated into actual interest.
15:09It did not, so Leto's transition into a bankable action lead was killed, reincarnated, and
15:15killed all over again.
15:27Number 5.
15:29Seth Rogen – The Green Hornet
15:45This masked crime fighter possesses a proud pedigree dating all the way back to his debut
15:50and radio in the 1930s.
15:52The Green Hornet was set for a big-budget reboot back in 2011, with the very unlikely Seth Rogen
15:58in the lead.
15:59Critics immediately picked up on Rogen's performance in the film, calling the actor out for being
16:04miscast.
16:05The film did big money with fans at first, but sharply dropped off after a boffo opening
16:10weekend.
16:10As negative word of mouth soon spread about the Green Hornet, and its less-than-convincing
16:15hero.
16:16In 2013, Rogen himself referred to working on the film as a nightmare.
16:20You shot yourself in the face by mistake.
16:24How long was I out?
16:25What time is it?
16:27Two o'clock.
16:28Oh, that's not so bad, I guess.
16:31On Thursday.
16:33It's Thursday?
16:34Are you kidding?
16:34It's not Monday right now?
16:36Number 4.
16:37Dakota Johnson – Madame Webb
16:39Thank you for protecting us.
16:40No, no, no.
16:41That's not what's happening here.
16:43I'm not protecting you.
16:45I am…
16:47Your parents can handle this.
16:49My parents are on a business trip.
16:50Dakota Johnson has thoroughly made a name for herself, but entering the superhero fray
16:54proved to be a tangled web that was better left alone.
16:58Madame Webb debuted as an absolute critical and commercial disaster.
17:03Johnson's deadpan delivery and visible discomfort in the action sequences drew widespread internet
17:08ridicule, and the film was heavily mean.
17:11Even Johnson herself later admitted that she wasn't even remotely surprised by the film's
17:16reception given its rocky behind-the-scenes drama.
17:19There was even widespread speculation that Johnson felt tricked into thinking she was joining
17:24the main MCU rather than a Sony spin-off.
17:27No wonder her heart wasn't in it.
17:46The late 90s were a rough time for the superhero movie genre, and had a long way away from the
17:53early 21st century's big-budget action spectaculars.
17:56Enter basketball star Shaquille O'Neal and his disastrous turn as the DC comic book hero
18:01known as Steel.
18:03There's a thick layer of cheese here, a fact that isn't helped much by O'Neal's less-than-commanding
18:08performance in the lead role of John Henry Irons.
18:11This is a shame, because it would have been great to see DC Steel up there on the big screen,
18:16especially if the filmmakers had explored his place in the Superman universe.
18:19One thing's for sure, any sort of Steel reboot should stay very far, far away from the Shackman.
18:27Look guys, I appreciate what you've both done for me, but it might get a little dangerous.
18:33I laugh at danger.
18:34I boogie around danger like a soul-trained dancer.
18:372.
18:39Tom Holland
18:40Uncharted
18:46As the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, Tom Holland is undeniably phenomenal.
18:51But outside the welcoming safety of the MCU, his eager attempts to mold himself into a rugged
18:56adult action star have been a very tough sell.
18:59His casting as the gruff treasure hunter Nathan Drake in the Uncharted adaptation was widely
19:04criticized by fans of the video games, mostly because he was too short and boyish.
19:09While Uncharted made decent money, Holland himself admitted that he struggled with the role,
19:15focusing way too much on looking good, rather than fully embodying the character.
19:19Without the Spidey suit, audiences just aren't buying him as a hardened action hero.
19:25I knew you'd figure it out.
19:26Figure what out?
19:28The puzzle in Sam's postcards.
19:30So what is it?
19:31Does it matter?
19:32I already found the gold.
19:33I don't see any gold.
19:34Oh, it's here.
19:35It's a false top.
19:37It's called Pirate Tree.
19:41Here's your gold you've been looking for.
19:43If you love games, be sure to check out WatchMojo's new game Terrible Influence,
19:48just launched for purchase at TerribleInfluence.com.
19:51Terrible Influence is a satirical board game about the dark side of fame from the writer
19:55of the most popular girls in school and us.
19:58Watch Mojo.
19:58Boom.
19:59I can make an apology video.
20:01Oh, you so would.
20:02Click on the link in the description to check out the game and be the first to play Terrible Influence.
20:08Number 1. Jay Leno.
20:11Collision Course.
20:21The question you're probably asking yourself is…
20:24Wait, what?
20:25Jay Leno was in an action movie?
20:27Well, incredibly, the answer to that is yes.
20:31And his co-star was the Karate Kid's own Pat Morita.
20:34The film in question was Collision Course, and it featured an East meets West duo of cops
20:39trying to track down a stolen Japanese turbocharger in Detroit.
20:43Director Louis Teigen Crew had attempted to finish the film in 1989, but budgetary issues
20:48caused Collision Course to sit on the shelf until 1992, when it was quietly released on VHS.
20:55Now, technically, we're gonna need a warrant to get in this gun.
20:59No, no need warrant.
21:01I have probable cause.
21:03Probable cause?
21:04Yeah.
21:05You hear a baby crying?
21:06No, I do hear a baby crying.
21:08You smell smoke?
21:09No, I smell something.
21:11Which effort made you roll your eyes the hardest?
21:14Let us know in the comments below.
Comments