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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00:00Although they might not always want to admit it, there are more actors out there than you
00:04think who have left shows because of talent problems.
00:07Their own talent being the problem in that they don't have enough of it.
00:10A little harsh, yes, but here we are, we're allowed to dunk on these people.
00:14Because truthfully, even if they're absolutely terrible at what they do, they're richer than
00:17most of us will ever be, so it's only fair.
00:19So I'm Amy from WhatCulture, and here are 8 actors that were so bad they had to quit
00:24TV shows.
00:258.
00:26Misha Barton, the OC
00:28There are a number of rumours as to why this member of the OC left.
00:31The star herself, of course, puts it down to the usual creative differences gimmick,
00:35but there are plenty of rumours that say otherwise.
00:38She said in a public statement that it would be best for her health if she left the show
00:41because producers were overworking her, departing with a frosty on-set goodbye to a group of
00:46co-stars who also couldn't stand her.
00:48Maintaining the role would have been really great for her career, and so people were really
00:52confused when she chose to exit, her character being killed in a car crash.
00:56When asked about it, show creator Josh Schwartz puts the exit down to a clash of interests,
01:01creativity, and ratings, which is sort of a polite way of saying he wasn't interested
01:05in furthering her career, creatively, he thought he could do better with the show, and that
01:09the ratings were showing that the audience really weren't enjoying it.
01:12Bad ratings can't all be blamed on Barton, but rumours suggest that the main cause of
01:16issues between her and Schwartz was her acting ability and general professional conduct.
01:217.
01:22Luke Grimes in True Blood
01:23It is worth starting this one by saying that it sort of hinges on an anonymous tip from
01:28a source close to the show and the actor, so nothing has ever been 100% confirmed.
01:32If true, though, and people do tend to believe it is, it's pretty embarrassing for Luke.
01:37Between seasons 6 and 7, Grimes departed from the show and was replaced with another actor,
01:41stating that he wasn't happy with the creative direction of the character.
01:45Thanks to a source verified by BuzzFeed and HBO, we can decode this to reach the real
01:49meaning, Grimes didn't want to play a gay character.
01:53In this day and age, even though, yes, this was a few years ago now, you really have to
01:56be better than that.
01:58Had he had moral issues, like that he didn't want to take the role from an openly gay actor,
02:02then he would have said so himself, so the implication is that his departure is that
02:05he found it insulting or degrading to have to play a character of a different sexual
02:09orientation.
02:10If this is the case, then it's absolutely for the best that he left, as he clearly wasn't
02:14professional or talented enough for the role.
02:176.
02:18Genevieve Bujold, Star Trek Voyager
02:20Cast initially as Captain Janeway, it didn't take Genevieve long at all to decide that
02:24this new role wasn't for her, leaving after only two days of filming.
02:28As with most dramatic quitting stories, there are multiple sides to it, and of course Genevieve's
02:32own motivations for leaving will have been far from two-dimensional.
02:36There's the side of the story that tells of her disappointment with the character and
02:39the crew, feeling she was not given the chance to shine that she was promised.
02:42She had to be a woman first and a captain second, which is the reverse of what she wanted.
02:46And when you pair that disappointing realisation with the long days and unfriendly co-workers,
02:51it's no shock that she wanted out.
02:53The other side to this is slightly less flattering for her, though, in which producer Rick Bergman
02:58insists that she left because she just couldn't live up to what was expected of her.
03:02He accused her of being a diva on set, of being difficult to work with, and not having
03:05the ability that others did to stomach the long days on set.
03:09Seemingly, she was a film actress first, and she just didn't have the constitution to
03:12meet a TV schedule.
03:14Whichever one is the truth, at least they got it out of the way early so a replacement
03:17could come in and things could keep running smoothly.
03:205.
03:21Jake T. Austin in The Fosters
03:23Known for being a child actor on Wizards of Waverly Place, alongside Selena Gomez and
03:26David Henry, many agree that this actor should have said goodbye to acting when he hit puberty.
03:31Nonetheless, Jake T. Austin has a soft spot in a lot of people's hearts because they
03:34feel as though they've watched him grow up on the telly.
03:37But that does not mean that we should ignore the fact that his acting hasn't aged very
03:41well with him.
03:42Since featuring on The Fosters as Jesus Adams Foster, the actor helped make it quite obvious
03:46why his acting career hadn't really taken off since featuring on the Disney Channel
03:50show.
03:51Austin soon threw in the towel and announced in 2013 that he'd be leaving the show.
03:54And in Season 3, Jesus gets into a nasty car crash and everyone thinks he's dead, just
03:58for him to return in the next season with a different actor.
04:01Noah Centineo steps in to save the day, and hence the new Jesus is born.
04:054.
04:06Taylor Momsen, Gossip Girl
04:08According to a statement made by the Taylor Momsen team, Taylor left to pursue her music
04:12career.
04:13Whilst other members of the cast found their breakthrough roles on the show, Momsen came
04:16to the realisation that maybe acting wasn't for her.
04:19She landed the role of Jenny Humphrey when she was 14 off the back of her role in The
04:22Grinch Stole Christmas.
04:24And unfortunately, this meant that viewers had to suffer through four seasons of her
04:27acting.
04:28Bad acting wasn't the only reason that this young actress left the show.
04:31Although her acting may have been lacking, her looks were enough to get her signed to
04:34a modelling agency and have her noticed by Madonna.
04:36Soon, her musical career was taking off, so it was one or the other for this budding star,
04:40and the decision was pretty clear.
04:42After filming an episode with the guest star Tim Gunn, the actor went off on one and said
04:46some horrible things about the young actress, and her talent, or lack thereof.
04:50Her beef with co-star Gunn was enough, and the young musician said goodbye to her school
04:54blazer and tie.
04:553.
04:56David Caruso, NYPD Blue
04:58This actor has one of the messier exits on the list, and also stuck around the longest
05:02on his show.
05:03As the leading man in the hit cop series NYPD Blue, David Caruso had the perfect CV and
05:09reputation to bag him the role of John Kelly.
05:11It wasn't long after filming commenced that the casting director realised what a mistake
05:15had been made.
05:16The actor was apparently extremely volatile and emotionally unavailable to fellow cast
05:20and crew members, and treated everyone as if they were his stepping stones for success.
05:25This attitude obviously got him nowhere, and his bad acting and lack of empathy soon found
05:29him leaving the show to pursue his big acting career.
05:32It sounds as though everyone was probably quite relieved to see the back of this actor,
05:35and thanks to his terrible personality, it feels okay to say that his performances felt
05:39so forced and robotic that we're surprised he ever got the role in the first place.
05:432.
05:44Larry David, Seinfeld
05:46It's fair to say that Larry David wasn't one of the most central, well-known faces
05:50in Seinfeld.
05:51In fact, he only appeared a few times on screen.
05:53However, stick with me here, he literally quit the show in both his showrunner capacity
05:58and that of a casual actor because he felt he wasn't good enough to deliver what the
06:02show deserved.
06:03Actually, having someone come out and say that they left because they didn't think
06:06they were up to par is very unusual.
06:08It's usually creative differences or scheduling problems, you know, these inconspicuous excuses
06:13covering the truth.
06:14So, you've sort of got to respect David for being so straightforward about it, even
06:17a few years later.
06:18He respected the show and its cast so much that he wanted to do what was best for it,
06:22at the same time as acknowledging that he needed a break from the pressure and stress
06:26the show put on him.
06:27He wasn't a terrible actor or showrunner by any means, he in fact gave the show some
06:31of its best bits.
06:32However, he felt that he could no longer do enough to make his presence worth it and stepped
06:36down.
06:371.
06:38Charlie Sheen – Two and a Half Men Is it a conspiracy theory to say that Charlie
06:43Sheen wanted to get fired?
06:45Or is it totally reasonable, given that at the time he was an absolute madman that none
06:49of us could even begin to wrap our heads around understanding?
06:52So yes, technically he was fired and didn't quit.
06:55But bear in mind that he was fired after going on an unforgivable tirade against the showrunner,
07:00Chuck Lorre, after a long build-up of unhinged interview appearances.
07:04Many have made the point that there's no way he wasn't actively trying to get himself
07:08fired, or at least see how far he could push things, and he has certainly not denied this
07:12idea ever since.
07:14At the time when he was let go, he was in a very bad way, and performing horribly on
07:18the show.
07:19He was hostile and rude to co-workers and co-stars, he was actively damaging the show's
07:23reputation through interviews and public stunts.
07:25There's pushing your luck, and then there's this.
07:28He has said since that at the time he thought he could just come back from everything without
07:32a problem.
07:33He thought he could push and push until he lost his show, his credibility, and everything
07:36else, and then just get it all back when he was done being in whatever silly, goofy mood
07:40he was in.
07:41Needless to say, that wasn't the case.
07:43If you commit the TV career equivalent of suicide by cop, don't assume that cop's
07:47gonna rehire you any time soon.
07:50And with that, we've reached the end of this list of 8 actors that were so bad they
07:53had to quit TV shows.
07:55It's harder than you think to find people who'll admit to this, so if you've got
07:58any more, I would actually love to know about them.
08:00Stick em in the comments down below.
08:02And remember to check out WhatCulture.com for more lists and articles like this every
08:05single day.
08:06As always, I've been Amy from WhatCulture, and I'll catch you next time.