10 Actors That Were So Bad They Had To Quit TV Shows
It takes a good actor to act like they're not acting.
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00:00 Although they might not always want to admit it, there are more actors out there than you
00:03 think who have left shows because of talent problems.
00:06 Their own talent being the problem in that they don't have enough of it.
00:10 A little harsh, yes, but here we are.
00:12 We're allowed to dunk on these people.
00:14 Because truthfully, even if they're absolutely terrible at what they do, they're richer than
00:17 most of us will ever be.
00:18 So it's only fair.
00:19 So I'm Amy from WhatCulture, and here are 8 actors that were so bad they had to quit
00:24 TV shows.
00:25 8.
00:26 Misha Barton, the OC
00:28 There are a number of rumours as to why this member of the OC left.
00:31 The star herself, of course, puts it down to the usual "creative differences" gimmick,
00:35 but there are plenty of rumours that say otherwise.
00:38 She said in a public statement that it would be best for her health if she left the show
00:41 because producers were overworking her, departing with a frosty on-set goodbye to a group of
00:46 co-stars who also couldn't stand her.
00:48 Maintaining the role would have been really great for her career, and so people were really
00:51 confused when she chose to exit, her character being killed in a car crash.
00:56 When asked about it, show creator Josh Schwartz puts the exit down to a clash of interests,
01:01 creativity, and ratings, which is sort of a polite way of saying he wasn't interested
01:05 in furthering her career.
01:06 Creatively, he thought he could do better with the show, and that the ratings were showing
01:10 that the audience really weren't enjoying it.
01:12 Bad ratings can't all be blamed on Barton, but rumours suggest that the main cause of
01:16 issues between her and Schwartz was her acting ability and general professional conduct.
01:21 7.
01:22 Luke Grimes in True Blood
01:23 It is worth starting this one by saying that it sort of hinges on an anonymous tip from
01:27 a source close to the show and the actor, so nothing has ever been 100% confirmed.
01:32 If true, though, and people do tend to believe it is, it's pretty embarrassing for Luke.
01:36 Between seasons 6 and 7, Grimes departed from the show and was replaced with another actor,
01:41 stating that he wasn't happy with the creative direction of the character.
01:45 Thanks to a source verified by BuzzFeed and HBO, we can decode this to reach the real
01:49 meaning.
01:50 Grimes didn't want to play a gay character.
01:52 In this day and age, even though, yes, this was a few years ago now, you really have to
01:56 be better than that.
01:57 Had he had moral issues, like that he didn't want to take the role from an openly gay actor,
02:01 then he would have said so himself, so the implication is that his departure is that
02:05 he found it insulting or degrading to have to play a character of a different sexual
02:09 orientation.
02:10 If this is the case, then it's absolutely for the best that he left, as he clearly wasn't
02:14 professional or talented enough for the role.
02:16 6.
02:17 Genevieve Bujold, Star Trek Voyager
02:20 Cast initially as Captain Janeway, it didn't take Genevieve long at all to decide that
02:24 this new role wasn't for her, leaving after only two days of filming.
02:28 As with most dramatic quitting stories, there are multiple sides to it, and of course Genevieve's
02:32 own motivations for leaving will have been far from two-dimensional.
02:35 There's the side of the story that tells of her disappointment with the character and
02:38 the crew, feeling she was not given the chance to shine that she was promised.
02:42 She had to be a woman first and a captain second, which is the reverse of what she wanted.
02:46 And when you pair that disappointing realisation with the long days and unfriendly co-workers,
02:51 it's no shock that she wanted out.
02:53 The other side to this is slightly less flattering for her, though, in which producer Rick Bergman
02:58 insists that she left because she just couldn't live up to what was expected of her.
03:01 He accused her of being a diva on set, of being difficult to work with, and not having
03:05 the ability that others did to stomach the long days on set.
03:08 Seemingly, she was a film actress first, and she just didn't have the constitution to
03:12 meet a TV schedule.
03:13 Whichever one is the truth, at least they got it out of the way early so a replacement
03:17 could come in and things could keep running smoothly.
03:19 5.
03:20 Jake T. Austin in The Fosters
03:22 Known for being a child actor on Wizards of Waverly Place, alongside Selena Gomez and
03:26 David Henry, many agree that this actor should have said goodbye to acting when he hit puberty.
03:30 Nonetheless, Jake T. Austin has a soft spot in a lot of people's hearts, because they
03:34 feel as though they've watched him grow up on the telly.
03:37 But that does not mean that we should ignore the fact that his acting hasn't aged very
03:40 well with him.
03:41 Since featuring on The Fosters as Jesus Adams Foster, the actor helped make it quite obvious
03:46 why his acting career hadn't really taken off since featuring on the Disney Channel
03:49 show.
03:50 Austin soon threw in the towel and announced in 2013 that he'd be leaving the show, and
03:54 in Season 3, Jesus gets into a nasty car crash and everyone thinks he's dead, just for
03:58 him to return in the next season with a different actor.
04:01 Noah Centineo steps in to save the day, and hence the new Jesus is born.
04:05 4.
04:06 Taylor Momsen - Gossip Girl
04:08 According to a statement made by the Taylor Momsen team, Taylor left to pursue her music
04:12 career.
04:13 Whilst other members of the cast found their breakthrough roles on the show, Momsen came
04:16 to the realisation that maybe acting wasn't for her.
04:18 She landed the role of Jenny Humphrey when she was 14 off the back of her role in The
04:22 Grinch Stole Christmas, and unfortunately, this meant that viewers had to suffer through
04:26 four seasons of her acting.
04:28 Bad acting wasn't the only reason that this young actress left the show.
04:31 Although her acting may have been lacking, her looks were enough to get her signed to
04:33 a modelling agency and have her noticed by Madonna.
04:36 Soon her musical career was taking off, so it was one or the other for this budding star,
04:40 and the decision was pretty clear.
04:42 After filming an episode with the guest star Tim Gunn, the actor went off on one and said
04:46 some horrible things about the young actress, and her talent, or lack thereof.
04:50 Her beef with co-star Gunn was enough, and the young musician said goodbye to her school
04:54 blazer and tie.
04:55 3.
04:56 David Caruso - NYPD Blue
04:58 This actor has one of the messier exits on the list, and also stuck around the longest
05:02 on his show.
05:03 As the leading man in the hit cop series NYPD Blue, David Caruso had the perfect CV and
05:08 reputation to bag him the role of John Kelly.
05:11 It wasn't long after filming commenced that the casting director realised what a mistake
05:15 had been made.
05:16 The actor was apparently extremely volatile and emotionally unavailable to fellow cast
05:20 and crew members, and treated everyone as if they were his stepping stones for success.
05:24 This attitude obviously got him nowhere, and his bad acting and lack of empathy soon found
05:28 him leaving the show to pursue his big acting career.
05:31 It sounds as though everyone was probably quite relieved to see the back of this actor,
05:35 and thanks to his terrible personality, it feels okay to say that his performances felt
05:39 so forced and robotic that we're surprised he ever got the role in the first place.
05:43 2.
05:44 Larry David - Seinfeld
05:45 It's fair to say that Larry David wasn't one of the most central, well-known faces
05:50 in Seinfeld.
05:51 In fact, he only appeared a few times on screen.
05:53 However, stick with me here.
05:54 He literally quit the show, in both his showrunner capacity and that of a casual actor, because
05:59 he felt he wasn't good enough to deliver what the show deserved.
06:03 Actually having someone come out and say that they left because they didn't think they
06:06 were up to par is very unusual.
06:08 It's usually creative differences or scheduling problems, you know, these inconspicuous excuses
06:12 covering the truth.
06:13 So, you've sort of got to respect David for being so straightforward about it, even
06:17 a few years later.
06:18 He respected the show and its cast so much that he wanted to do what was best for it,
06:22 at the same time as acknowledging that he needed a break from the pressure and stress
06:26 the show put on him.
06:27 He wasn't a terrible actor or showrunner by any means.
06:30 He in fact gave the show some of its best bits.
06:32 However, he felt that he could no longer do enough to make his presence worth it, and
06:36 stepped down.
06:37 1.
06:38 Charlie Sheen - Two and a Half Men Is it a conspiracy theory to say that Charlie
06:43 Sheen wanted to get fired?
06:44 Or is it totally reasonable, given that at the time he was an absolute madman that none
06:49 of us could even begin to wrap our heads around understanding?
06:52 So yes, technically he was fired and didn't quit.
06:55 But bear in mind that he was fired after going on an unforgivable tirade against the showrunner,
07:00 Chuck Lorre, after a long build-up of unhinged interview appearances.
07:04 Many have made the point that there's no way he wasn't actively trying to get himself
07:07 fired, or at least see how far he could push things.
07:10 And he has certainly not denied this idea ever since.
07:14 At the time when he was let go, he was in a very bad way, and performing horribly on
07:17 the show.
07:18 He was hostile and rude to co-workers and co-stars.
07:21 He was actively damaging the show's reputation through interviews and public stunts.
07:25 There's pushing your luck, and then there's this.
07:28 He has said since that at the time he thought he could just come back from everything without
07:31 a problem.
07:32 He thought he could push and push until he lost his show, his credibility and everything
07:36 else, and then just get it all back when he was done being in whatever silly, goofy mood
07:40 he was in.
07:41 Needless to say, that wasn't the case.
07:43 If you commit the TV career equivalent of suicide by cop, don't assume that cop's
07:47 gonna rehire you any time soon.
07:49 And with that, we've reached the end of this list of 8 actors that were so bad, they
07:53 had to quit TV shows.
07:54 It's harder than you think to find people who'll admit to this, so if you've got
07:57 any more, I would actually love to know about them.
08:00 Stick 'em in the comments down below.
08:01 And remember to check out WhatCulture.com for more lists and articles like this every
08:05 single day.
08:06 As always, I've been Amy from WhatCulture, and I'll catch you next time.