10 Actors Audiences Say Make Every Movie Worse

The internet loves to hate, and sometimes actors end up going from innocent bystanders to certified punching bags. While the hate itself is obviously unjustified, the reasons behind it are sometimes understandable. Poor delivery or a lack of range can really mess up a movie. Other times, it’s all about fatigue, where viewers get tired of seeing the same faces turn up in every movie trailer they see.

Some of the actors on this list are probably regulars in lists like these. Others may surprise you. These are 10 actors who people think ruin every movie they’re in.

Ask for a list of actors who ruin films, and Steven Seagal’s name will surely come up almost immediately. Seagal has built a successful career without ever changing his flat delivery or improving the outdated fighting choreographies, and audiences caught on decades ago.

His recent movies go straight to streaming, and usually to platforms most people haven’t even heard of. Spoiler: the fight scenes keep getting lazier. For example, back in his 2003 movie, Out for a Kill, there's a fight scene where Seagal is sitting while fighting, barely lifting his arm throughout the whole thing while a stuntman takes the hits.

Off-screen, Seagal has also had his fair share of antics. He has a known record of stretching the truth, claiming that he once worked as a CIA advisor during his years in Japan. The story has been denied by his own first wife and picked apart in a widely read 1993 Spy Magazine profile. None of it has stopped Seagal from continuing to tell that same story in interviews.

All of these factors have made Steven Seagal one of the most blatant offenders on this list.

Dwayne Johnson was Hollywood's highest-grossing actor for a whole decade, but has failed to keep that momentum in recent years. Much of it traces back to Black Adam, his superhero debut in the DC franchise. According to industry insiders, Johnson spent more than a decade trying to get it made. Following the movie's release, he pushed to build the rest of the DC universe around it, including a Superman crossover that never happened. Apparently, Johnson pushed a bit too hard, which didn't sit too well with fans.

As for his acting, Dwayne Johnson is often criticized for playing the same wisecracking action hero in nearly everything he’s been in. His wardrobe rarely helps break the pattern either.

That reputation, however, can’t be applied to every role. In 2025's The Smashing Machine, Johnson played real-life MMA fighter Mark Kerr, and critics called it the best performance of his career, with some floating him as a serious Oscar contender. But that turn was the exception, not the rule. For most of his recent run, the wisecracking-hero autopilot is still what audiences get.

When talking about actors known for ruining the movies they're in, Rob Schneider's name comes up nearly as often as Seagal's, and it's usually tied to Deuce Bigalow or one of its sequels.

Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo has managed to get a 9 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes, and film critic Roger Ebert gave it a zero-star review where he told Schneider that his movie "sucks." The film later won Schneider a Razzie for Worst Actor, and Ebert filed it among the most hated films he had ever reviewed.

People have criticized his comedy for being repetitive, relying on the same bits no matter what the movie is about. Even his more serious supporting roles tend to get swallowed by that reputation. Schneider himself later admitted the review made him rethink the kind of films he wanted to make.

Jared Leto splits opinion more than most names on this list. His work in movies like Fight Club and Requiem for a Dream was well received at the time. His portrayal of the Joker in Suicide Squad, not so much. After Heath Ledger’s iconic performance, Leto had some pretty big shoes to fill. Fans were not happy with how Leto chose to portray the character. Entertainment outlets and critics have repeatedly ranked him as the worst Joker to date.

Recent movies like Morbius and Tron: Ares haven't helped the actor's reputation either, with Morbius in particular becoming a running punchline online.

Kevin Hart's comedic character barely changes from role to role. Whether he's starring in a buddy comedy or an action movie, audiences know what to expect from Hart.

That consistency has helped make Hart one of Hollywood's most bankable stars, but some believe it may have also hindered him as an actor. It’s not just movies. Even his animated work sounds familiar. Hart voices Snowball, a fast-talking, hyperactive rabbit, in both The Secret Life of Pets films, and the character often feels like his live-action persona transplanted into an animated body.

While some fans would argue that the predictability is part of the appeal, it’s also easy to see how the act can become stale over time.

Gal Gadot's acting draws some real criticism from critics and audiences alike. Two of her scenes, a confrontation with Pedro Pascal in Wonder Woman 1984 and an earlier one with Henry Cavill in Justice League, are among the most mocked performances in the superhero genre. Her performance as the Evil Queen in 2025's Snow White drew weak reviews too.

Due to a public persona many find stiff and over-earnest, Gadot has become somewhat of a punching bag online over the past few years. Her press appearances get picked apart online more than her actual performances do, and that scrutiny has started bleeding into how her movies are received.

Zendaya has drawn some backlash lately, most of it tied to overexposure rather than any single performance. Critics also point to how similar her recent roles feel, with the same intensity running from Dune straight into Challengers.

Whether that's a real pattern is up for debate. Her fanbase remains large, and her acting is generally considered stronger than most other names on this list. It may come down to simple fatigue from seeing her cast in what feels like every major role in cinema these days.

Kristen Stewart's reputation was built during the Twilight years, when critics mocked her flat delivery movie after movie. That criticism turned into a meme long before her later work, including Spencer and Personal Shopper, earned her serious acclaim.

The old joke about her acting sticks around anyway, mostly disconnected from what she's actually doing now. Nevertheless, her earlier style got picked apart so relentlessly, in serious debate and memes alike, that it's still all people picture when her name comes up.

Cara Delevingne's film career hit a rough patch early on. Her turn as the Enchantress, the main villain of Suicide Squad, was widely panned by critics and fans alike. Recent projects like Life in a Year haven't done much to turn that narrative around. A lot of the criticism centers on her line delivery, which comes across as stiff and emotionally flat.

Her success in modeling hasn't carried over to film the way studios hoped. Despite appearing in several high-profile productions, she has yet to find a role that turns her reputation as an actress around, and critics have stayed pretty unsparing about it.

James Corden gets a lot of flak. The former Late Late Show host has gotten a bad reputation mostly due to stories in which he’s said to have been rude to waiters and colleagues. That kind of image has a lot of impact on how audiences perceive his work on-screen.

Much like Hart, Corden has been frequently criticized for relying on the same broad, exaggerated comedic style for every single role he plays. Some argue his acting feels like an extension of his television persona rather than a fully realized character. His roles in Cats and The Prom drew the sharpest complaints.