Actors Who Were Forced To Play Roles Against Their Will

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At certain points in their careers, actors no longer need to audition for their roles. When they are popular enough, directors and studios offer them roles, and they choose their job as they please. Many actors become aware that the film they’re about to star in is not so good but can’t escape appearing in it, as they have already signed a contract. If an actor signs on for a superhero role in a franchise like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, even if the film’s script is awful, they still have to do the project. Most of the time, the contracts they sign will lock them into certain movies, even if they do not want to play the role.

Let’s have a glance at the actors who were forced to play roles against their will.

Emily Blunt

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Emily Blunt is a British actress who is widely known for her lead role in the 2009 period drama film “The Young Victoria”. Marvel wanted Emily to play Black Widow in “Iron Man 2” but her contract with Fox needed her to star in another film. She had to withstand the failure that was “Gulliver’s Travels”, and she eventually lost the Marvel character to Scarlett Johansson. [Source: www.buzzfeed.com]

Keanu Reeves

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Keanu Reeves is a Canadian actor who is best known for playing a hustler in the 1991 independent drama film “My Own Private Idaho”. He starred in “The Watcher” but never actually signed the contract. Reeves alleged that the director, who was his friend Joe Charbanic forged his signature on the document. Reeves decided not to take Joe to court and went ahead with filming the movie, even though he didn’t actually want to.

Jennifer Garner

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Jennifer Garner is an American actress who has gained fame for her leading performance as CIA officer Sydney Bristow in the ABC spy-action thriller television series “Alias”. She had played the supporting role of Elektra in the 2003 movie “Daredevil” and the experience was not the best. That got worse when they made a solo film, “Elektra” in 2005. Tied up by a contract, garner had to play the character once again. She did not speak publicly about the role, but her ex-boyfriend Michael Vartan said she had found it awful.

Ryan Reynolds

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Ryan Reynolds is a Canadian-American actor and producer who is one of the highest-grossing film actors of all time. He became known for his role as Deadpool in the superhero films “Deadpool” and “Deadpool 2”. After he signed on for the solo films, the studio told him that he also had to play the role in “X-Men: Origins: Wolverine”, which was scheduled to be released first. Ryan had yet to pen the script for “Deadpool”, so the version of the character played in the “X-Men” movie just wasn’t right to him. When the studio threatened to get another actor to play the role, he unwillingly agreed.

Natalie Portman

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Natalie Portman is an Israeli-born American actress who has gained international recognition for starring as Padmé Amidala in “Star Wars: Episode I  The Phantom Menace”. She was not interested to appear in some films, including “Thor” and “Thor: The Dark World”. But she had no other option than playing the role, and was forced to appear in both films because of her contract. [Source: www.msn.com]

Jessica Alba

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Jessica Alba is an American actress and businesswoman who has gained fame for her lead role in the television series “Dark Angel”. She has played the role of Susan Storm / Invisible Woman in the first “Fantastic Four” movie. But when it came time to movie the “Rise of the Silver Surfer” sequel, she did not want to reprise her role. Unfortunately, due to a three-picture deal, Alba was forced to portray the role, which ended up almost making her want to quit acting.

Ben Affleck

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Ben Affleck is an American actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter who is widely known for portraying Batman in superhero films set in the DC Extended Universe. After winning the Oscar for Best Picture for “Argo”, which he directed, he seemed to be more selective with his film roles. In “Justice League”, Affleck didn’t seem to put much effort into his performance, and he described it as a difficult on-set experience. He also appeared disinterested while promoting the movie.

Channing Tatum

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Channing Tatum is an American actor who has starred in, produced and co-directed the 2022 comedy drama road film “Dog”. He had to act in the movie “G.I. Joe” just to satisfy a contract he had with Paramount Pictures. Tatum suspected that the movie was going to be a failure, from the beginning. He was forced to play the role of Duke in “G.I. Joe”, and he said that the studio threatened to sue him if he didn’t do the film.