Every resumé has at least one—a job or brief career segue down a seemingly new and promising path that turns out to be a professional move we can’t help but cringe about whenever we think of it.

Unlike actors and actresses, whose every career move (or mistake, as the case may be) can potentially be seen by millions of people, when non-famous folk make an embarrassing career misstep it’s easy to file that brief blip in the never-to-be-discussed basket and move on. That time you donned an oversized chicken suit while working at a fast food restaurant? No one need ever know it happened, if you so choose.

But, for high profile celebrities, particularly those who appear on both the big and small screen, it’s a tougher task to bury said career missteps given their every move is constantly being documented in every corner of the internet—IMDB, Rotten Tomatoes, Wikipedia—along with the questionable film or TV show itself.

Take Blake Lively (above) for instance, the Gossip Girl alum played a minor character called Jenny in the 2006 horror film Simon Says and we’re sure Lively—who starred alongside her half-sisters Robyn and Lori Lively—has pushed any trace of the poorly received film into the deep dark depths of her memory.

On the flip side, celebrities making regrettable career moves just like the rest of us does make Tinseltown’s leading lights seem that much more human and relatable.

Here, we chart each of the times your favourite celebrities have taken an unfortunately embarrassing or peculiar role at some point in their careers. From Angelina Jolie in Cyborg 2 and Jennifer Lawrence in The Beaver to Beyoncé in Goldmember, no star too big or too small seems to be immune from such a blunder. Whether it be in the beginning of their careers or purely due to unfortunate and unforeseen circumstances, these roles are the ones we’re sure they’d like to forget.

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Will Smith

Will Smith made a brief appearance as Lucifer in the highly criticised film A Winter's Tale. Even though it was complete with a CGI mouth fit with fangs, Smith’s two-minute scene couldn’t save the 2014 film, which scored a 13 per cent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. 

Angelina Jolie

The 1993 science fiction film Cyborg 2 has become known as one of Angelina Jolie’s most unfortunate roles. “After I saw it, I went home and got sick,” Jolie, who played Casella Reese, told The New York Times.

Leonardo DiCaprio

A young Leonardo DiCaprio made his film debut in the 1991 movie Critters 3, which scored a zero per cent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Ranked his worst film to date by Rolling Stone, it’s the movie not his talent that’s to blame, with the site adding that “he seems to be the only cast member who can actually act.”

Jennifer Lawrence

Jennifer Lawrence starred alongside Mel Gibson and a beaver puppet in the 2011 film The Beaver. Directed by Jodie Foster, the film was deemed oddly unique and received poor reviews from many media outlets including Entertainment Weekly, Time magazine and The New York Times, along with a series of mixed ratings.

Sofía Vergara

Sofía Vergara starred in the 2012 reboot of The Three Stooges as Lydia, and even though the film received a poor rating from critics and 51 per cent from Rotten Tomatoes, it did debut second behind The Hunger Games, earning US$17.1 million in its opening weekend in America alone.

Beyoncé

Beyoncé’s 2002 film debut as Foxxy Cleopatra in the comedy Austin Powers in Goldmember is one that many may forget, yet no matter how much she’d like, can’t be erased.  A far cry from the star we now know and love, assuming the role of Austin’s sidekick in the third instalment of the series, Beyoncé starred alongside a number of other celebrities who also made regretful cameos including Britney Spears and Gwyneth Paltrow.

Cole and Dylan Sprouse

Long before they rose to fame for their roles in Disney’s The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, Cole and Dylan Sprouse played Justin in the I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus, a 2001 film adaption of a song of the same name. The movie seemed to miss the mark, as it was aimed at children yet debunked the belief in Santa Claus—receiving poor reviews as a result.

Jennifer Aniston

A young Jennifer Aniston made her film debut as Tory Redding in the 1993 Irish horror Leprechaun before rising to fame as Rachel in the 90s sitcom, Friends. While Aniston may want to put the memory to rest as the film was heavily criticised and has been regarded as her worst role thus far, five sequels and a remake then followed the original.

Brad Pitt

The New York Times reported in 1997 that Brad Pitt threatened to quit action flick, The Devil's Own, at one point during filming and also reportedly called the movie “the most irresponsible bit of filmmaking—if you can even call it that—that I've ever seen.” And while it's not clear if he regrets making it, he did tell Rolling Stone that it was the “hardest film [he's] ever been on,” and with a mere 33 per cent “Tomatometer” score on Rotten Tomatoes, the role of IRA gunrunner Rory Devaney in the flick is undoubtedly not a career highlight for the Oscar-winning actor. 

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Eva Longoria

In 2004—following The Young and the Restless yet prior to Desperate Housewives—Eva Longoria took on the role of Detective Martinez in Señorita Justice, a low-budget direct-to-video film which was quick to receive poor reviews. Thankfully, the actress then took on the role of Gabrielle Solis on the Desperate Housewives and as they say, the rest is history. 

Channing Tatum

Channing Tatum starred in the poorly reviewed 2009 film G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra, a role he has voiced his regret playing. Talking on Howard Stern’s SiriusXM radio show in 2015, the actor confessed his dislike for the movie his contract with Paramount forced him to be part of.   

Mila Kunis

Long after playing Jackie Burkhart in That ‘70s Show, Mila Kunis assumed the role of Michelle in the 2007 film Moving McAllister, a movie which received negative reviews and had a short two-week run in theatres.

Jamie Foxx

Jamie Foxx starred in a 1997 comedy called Booty Call, a film with a plot that centres around his character's quest to find condoms—enough said.

Scarlett Johansson

Scarlett Johansson’s role as Molly Pruitt in the 1997 comedy Home Alone 3 was thankfully a minor one, as the third instalment in the series received an approval rating of 30 per cent from Rotten Tomatoes—falling short of the success the first two movies had previously seen.

Michelle Pfeiffer

Michelle Pfeiffer, who was relatively unknown at the time, played Pink Lady Stephanie Zinone in the 1982 film Grease 2, which received poor reviews and was nominated for Worst Picture at the Stinkers Bad Movie Awards. Luckily, Pfeiffer rose to fame the following year for her role in Scarface and put the unfortunate film behind her.

Paul Rudd

Before he was Ant-Man in the Marvel superhero universe, Paul Rudd played FBI agent Ian Curtis in a Hong Kong sci-fi film called Gen-Y Cops—also known as Gen-X Cops 2: Metal Mayhem—which received a 35 per cent approval rating from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes. 

Jason Bateman

Jason Bateman reportedly regrets reprising his role as Nick Hendricks in the 2014 sequel to Horrible Bosses, Horrible Bosses 2. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Bateman said in an interview on the Marc Maron WTF podcast in 2015 that the film was “garbage”. “The second one was garbage, as far as box office goes. Who knows whether it was on the merits or when they released it, but it did not do any money,” Bateman reportedly said of Horrible Bosses 2.

Mark Hamill

Mark Hamill was openly unhappy with the version of Luke in the latest Star Wars Trilogy, telling The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson, "I hate what you’ve done with my character." Hamill even said that the only way he could cope with the role was thinking about his character as an entirely different person. “Maybe he’s Jake Skywalker. He’s not my Luke Skywalker."

Jessica Alba

Alba's experience portraying Sue in Fantastic Four was so horrible that she almost quit acting. “The director was like, ‘It looks too real. It looks too painful. Can you be prettier when you cry?" Alba told Today. “‘Don’t do that thing with your face. Just make it flat. We can CGI the tears in.’” 

Gwyneth Paltrow

The Guardian, Paltrow said that when she was asked to put on a fat suit for film Shallow Hal, she felt how offensive her character would be. Labelling as her least favourite film role, she described the whole experience as a "disaster."

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