When star power isn’t enough: The biggest failures in film

Let’s talk about the best of the worst performances Hollywood actors have given us. While many have delivered Oscar-worthy performances, this list is a compilation of the exact opposite.

I know a lot of people will agree and disagree with me on this one, but I first want to touch on Twilight.

I get that it was decent for its time, but come on, do we really think the entire cast’s performances were that good? Personally, I never watched it and never will, but from all the clips that come up on my TikTok feed, the only thing I can do is laugh.

Robert Pattinson’s Edward is not that bad, but Kristen Stewart as Bella? I understand that actors have their really famous and trendy moments and that producers want to discover new talent, but are you really telling me that their budget was not enough to get someone else to play Bella? I am sorry to say this but every single time I see a Twilight clip on my for-you page, I just cringe out.

Speaking of Twilight and Pattinson, I promise you I’m one of the girls who has that man as one of their “hear me outs,” but can we talk about his role as Louis, the Dauphin of France, in The King? I really did not like it at all!

Why did the casting team not get someone who was actually French to play that role? I know Timothée Chalamet, who played the lead character, is French, but why not choose someone who is really French and happens to have a strong accent for the role of Louis? Pattinson’s “French accent” was horrible. An alternative actor could have been Jules Sitruk. 

Let’s also talk about Bad Bunny and Channing Tatum in Bullet Train. I mean, they were not that bad, but what is Magic Mike doing in an action movie like Bullet Train and why? He had like five lines — his role was really not necessary. I also wonder why casting gave the part to Tatum and not a new actor, considering it was a small role for a character who was going to die anyway.

I am Latina and I love Bad Bunny, OK? He is not that bad of an actor. Bullet Train was his second major performance, following F9: The Fast Saga. You can also watch him in Caught Stealing, Cassandro, Happy Gilmore 2, and Narcos: México.

But the performance he gave as Wolf in Bullet Train is not one of my favourites. To be honest, I think he was too rigid. However, as a Mexican girl, I have to admit that his Mexican accent was great, considering that he is Puerto Rican and their accent is quite different.

Lastly, I want to have a nuanced discussion about Rachel Zegler, a relatively new actress.

We started seeing her in big roles like María in West Side Story, which boosted her fame and got her a Golden Globe. After that, we saw her as Lucy in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.

While I did not watch West Side Story — so I will not comment on Zegler in that film — her role as Lucy is an important one, if not the lead role, and, in my opinion, I did not like her performance. It seemed fake to me.

As for Disney’s Snow White, her portrayal felt absurd. If we want to compare Snow White to Beauty and the Beast starring Emma Watson, the former was a total failure. Beauty and the Beast grossed more than $1.26 billion USD worldwide, while Snow White grossed $206 million USD — and why? For the cast’s poor performance? (And I’m not going to give my opinion on Gal Gadot’s performance because I’m not writing about her.)

Every movie has pros and cons — and an important factor to enjoying films are their cast, especially the lead roles. Sometimes the cast can be amazing, and sometimes it can be horrible.

Don’t get me wrong — this story is not me hating on actors, because a lot of them are very talented, but that does not exclude them from the fact that they can still disappoint us with their poor performances.