The 14 Most Embarrassing Breakout Roles By A-List Celebs
If celebrities had their way, we would know them only for the major roles they are proud of and became stars in. Unfortunately, the record of history is not so charitable. Many of today’s hottest celebrities got their start in roles they wouldn’t be caught dead in these days. The following are 14 examples of embarrassing breakout roles of today’s stars.
Arnold Schwarzenegger (Hercules in New York)
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Arnold Schwarzenegger made career for himself as an unforgiving assassin and action hero in various blockbuster films, but it might make ‘The Governator’ blush when remembering some of his previous film roles. One examples is his breakout role in the 1970’s fantasy adventure Hercules in New York. Watching the toga-clad Schwarzenegger roam around NYC because Zeus banished him from Olympus is not only so bad its embarrassing, but it is a far cry from the Terminator.
Kevin Bacon (Animal House)
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Many Hollywood stars are known for being highly ambitious, and it’s been reported that Kevin Bacon “felt that nothing less than stardom would be enough” in his career. You can imagine his disappointment when his debut role as a sniveling fraternity pledge in Animal House did not exactly land him a lifelong meal ticket. According to Wikipedia, Bacon ” returned to waiting tables and auditioning for small roles in theater” after this role.
Jim Carrey (Copper Mountain)
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After years of trying to shed his happy-go-lucky Ace Ventura persona, and then reinventing himself as a serious actor (Eternal Sunshine For The Spotless Mind, anyone?), Carrey would most likely prefer to forget his breakout role as a skirt-chasing ski resort goer in the 1983 comedy Copper Mountain. Perhaps the most embarrassing thing about starring in this movie is that it’s not really a movie at all; as Wikipedia describes, it is …”half country singing and half infomercial for the now-closed Club Med village at Copper Mountain.”
Jennifer Aniston (Leprechaun)
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The quintessential girl next door, Jennifer Aniston, is known more for her role on Friends and for staring in movies like The Breakup. Her breakout performance in Leprechaun, however, deserves mention. In the seminal comedy horror, Aniston plays the daughter of a man whose family unknowingly moves into the abandoned house of a 600 year old leprechaun on an undying, violent crusade for his lost gold.
While the film has become a cult classic among fans of slasher movies, critics have not been so kind, and to date Leprechaun has an average 4/10 (or 30% rating) on Rotten Tomatoes.
Sean Penn (Fast Times at Ridgemont High)
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It’s no secret that Sean Penn is embarrassed about his breakout role in the 80’s comedy Fast Times at Ridgemont High. While Penn has starred in only three comedies since this film (preferring to remake himself as a serious actor/anti-war activist), his stigma as hair-metaled burnout from yesteryear has been tougher to shake than he imagined. To many, however, Penn will always be remembered as this dim-witted (awesome) stoner from Fast Times.
Daniel Craig (A Kid in King Arthur’s Court)
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Daniel Craig is to be commended for accomplishing what many thought would be impossible: winning over the James Bond fans who did not want to see Pierce Brosnan go. But that doesn’t mean Craig has always been a leading man. In recent interviews, Craig has admitted to being ashamed of his early films, calling them “crap” and recalling that “…there was a time when I’d go into Blockbuster Video, and if they had a film of mine on the shelf I used to throw it under the counter.”
Perhaps he was referring to his role as Master Kane in A Kid in King Arthur’s Court, which Sean Penn turned down and derided as “subpar, to say the least.”
David Hasselhoff (Revenge of the Cheerleaders)
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Long before David Hasselhoff was the object of every woman’s desire and every man’s envy on Baywatch, he broke into entertainment as Boner. This was his character’s name,(fitting), wherein he played the boyfriend of a bimbo cheerleader in the 1970’s gag/soft-core porn film Revenge of the Cheerleaders.
Jeff Goldblum (Deathwish)
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Jeff Goldblum is best known for Jurassic Park, Law & Order, and doing voice overs on iMac commercials. But, back in 1974, he made his on-screen debut in crime-drama, Deathwish as a sadistic rapist who forces the main character’s daughter to perform fellatio on him.
Adam Sandler (Going Overboard)
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If Adam Sandler isn’t embarrassed by this colossal flop of a film, he should be. Filmed entirely on a cruise ship traveling to the “Miss Universe Pageant”, going Overboard consistently ranks on the IMDB’s “Bottom 100″ list. This is perhaps due to having such a low budget – to which Sandler has remarked, it wasn’t “…a low-budget movie, but a no-budget movie!” It definitely shows, this movie is extremely difficult to watch.
Courtney Cox (Masters of the Universe)
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A mega-successful career spanning roles on Friends and the Scream trilogy (and now her own show on FX) still don’t excuse Courtney Cox’s participation in the 1987 Mattel He-Man film, Masters of the Universe. The fact that the entire movie is played by action figures and centers around their imaginary plot should suffice to explain Cox’s embarrassment with this one!
Nicholas Cage (Valley Girl)
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Nicholas Cage has gone to great lengths to create a persona he can carry with him from film to film: a calm, collected man who is nevertheless ready to leap into action when the situation calls for it. But that was hardly the role he started out playing in Valley Girl, the 1983 flick that casts Cage as a Hollywood punk who frequents nightclubs and spouts forgettable lines like “fuck off, for sure, like totally.” Special note, he also had an extremely minor role in Fast Times, in which he had no speaking part.
Tom Hanks (Mazes & Monsters)
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Unbeknown to many, Tom Hanks cut his film teeth as the 26 year-old star of Mazes & Monsters. This 1982 made-for-TV movie depicted a group of college students and their obsession with the hot role-playing game of the time: Mazes and Monsters. How do we know Hanks is embarrassed about it? We don’t. But its strange that the DVD cover shows a much more recent picture of him and features modern, scary-looking graphics that are nowhere to be found in the movie itself are some clues!
Sylvester Stallone (The Party at Kitty and Stud’s/The Italian Stallion)
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The man best known as Rocky and Rambo got his start in a far less – shall we say – family-friendly film: the 1970’s porn flick The Party at Kitty and Stud’s. While the film was later re-released as an edited, milder film called The Italian Stallion (after the success of Rocky), the original is a full-blown, no-holds-barred, X-rated pornography!
Benicio Del Toro (Big Top Pee-Wee)
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Benico del Toro’s last big role was 2005’s smash hit Sin City, but back in 1988, he was just breaking into film with his role in Big Top Pee-Wee. This sequel to Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, is a tad bit softer (and much worse) than the gun-weilding, corrupt cop character of Jack Rafferty that del Toro played a few years ago. It is somehow strangely reminiscent of Del Toro’s role in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, however.
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On March 19th 2009, sean wrote:
First.
On March 19th 2009, susan wrote:
“Fast Times at Ridgemont High” is a great movie, why would anyone be embarrassed?
On March 19th 2009, GFYM wrote:
Why is there a picture of Charles Bronson instead of Jeff Goldblum (Deathwish) ?
On March 19th 2009, God wrote:
thats why u better be an artist on ur own like a singer/songwritter, so ur work is up to u only & not to a bad scenary or director
On March 19th 2009, Dinosaur Trader wrote:
I think for Tom Hanks you should have mentioned Bosom Buddies instead…
-DT
On March 19th 2009, Grape wrote:
First–a breakout roll is a roll they are known for or got them a lot of attention.
Second-Tom Hanks first role was in “He Knows You’re Alone”
On March 19th 2009, David Baker wrote:
In my book Valley Girl should be about the only movie Nicholas Cage has made that he shouldn’t be embarassed by.
On March 19th 2009, Don wrote:
No comment on if Stallone was any good. Does anyone know? Or is he mostly muscle?
On March 19th 2009, Jeremy wrote:
Benicio Del Toro’s last big role is in Che, not Sin city. Sheesh.
On March 19th 2009, Richard Huffman wrote:
Wow, what poor choices. There’s the obvious ones that everyone would think of (stallone, hanks, schwarzenegger), mixed in with great performances in successful movies, thus completely negating the point of this list.
Sean Penn was brilliant in Fast Times, and I’ve never heard him express “embarrassment” over the movie. Pauline Kael in the New Yorker raved about his performance, fer chrissake.
And Nicholas Cage was terrific in Valley Girl and the thing got great reviews. If anything you should have it on a list of great first movies that was followed by a career of embarrassment (excepting, of course, adaptation, leaving los vegas, and matchstick men).
And Kevin Bacon in Animal House? It was small role, and it took him a few years to hit his stride, but what a great movie to get a start in… this movie is a true, recognized classic.
Suggestion: next time you want to do one of these lists to get Digg traffic to your site, and you’ve got like 8 legitimate items for your list, don’t pad it out with completely inappropriate choices.
On March 19th 2009, seriously wrote:
i don’t know how these are breakout roles (e.g. rocky would be considered stallone’s breakout film more than the porno). this is more of a list of crappy movies and minor bit roles hollywood celebs have been attached to. also, i don’t think it’s relevant to “assume” that these actors are embarrassed by any of these rolls (penn ended up doing commentary for the dvd extras).
On March 19th 2009, Bob wrote:
What, no Angelina Jolie for Gia? That’s a classic!
On March 19th 2009, kevin wrote:
(linkback) Funny or Lame? The 14 Most Embarrassing Breakout Roles By A-List Celebs [VOTE] – http://www.pikk.com/23107
On March 19th 2009, yellow wrote:
nick cage had a very very minor role in the first minute or two of grease the camera pans stops on him he looks up and then walks off lol i think hes wearing a hat too….lol
On March 19th 2009, rich wrote:
Valley GIrl sucked, but had great soundtrack. I heard the only requirement for the director was ‘at least 3 instances of exposed breasts’
John Cusack regrets his role in “Better off Dead”, hearing “2 DOLLARS!” every place he walks.
On March 19th 2009, scrugs wrote:
God, that was a really bad comparison. No one would or should ever let an actor call all the shots in a film. Especially if they are just starting out.
On March 19th 2009, X wrote:
Benicio Del Toro’s last big role was Sin City?
Aren’t you forgetting him playing Che Guevara in Che, for which he won Best Actor at Cannes?
On March 19th 2009, nathan hudson wrote:
ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME! FAST TIMES IS AN AWESOME MOVIE AND SEAN PENN’S ROLE AS SPICOLI IS TIMELESS!
“All I need are some tasty waves, a cool buzz, and I’m fine.”
On March 19th 2009, Col. Parker wrote:
Susan Sarandon in Rocky Horror!?
On March 19th 2009, Nice wrote:
When Charleton Heston died the headline read “Moses Dies”.
When Sean Penn dies the headline will read “Spicolli Dies”.
F@#$ that self-righteous hack.
On March 19th 2009, Mark wrote:
I’m not knocking The Rocky Horror Picture Show, I like it. But I know Susan Sarandon hates that she was in this movie and will not talk about it. I am not sure about if Tim Curry is embarassed about being a tranvestite in it since he was playing the part on stage before he got the role in the movie
Tim Curry – As Dr.Franknfurter in Rocky Horror Picture Show
Susan Sarandon – Janet in Rocky Horror
On March 19th 2009, Mark wrote:
Oh yeah, what about Hugo Weaving’s breakout role in Pricilla, Queen of the Desert?
On March 20th 2009, ohnonichole wrote:
um… adam sandler… even better. remember ‘remote control’ from mtv? adam was ’stud boy’ and it’s a far bigger breakout than that whatever you pulled up movie.
On March 23rd 2009, John wrote:
Mark, Hugo Weaving was nothing but brilliant in Priscilla, as was Guy Pearce.
N-thing the sentiment that FTARH was a classic and Sean Penn should feel nothing but honoured for a superb performance in a superb film.
But why has nobody mentioned that this list creator apparently thinks that David Hasselhoff, a walking punchline, is now or ever was “A list”?
On March 25th 2009, Harlie wrote:
Yano what missing from this? Tom Cruise in Legend. He will not even acknowledge that movie. That’s to bad though, it’s a pretty epic movie
On April 18th 2009, Mark wrote:
“Leprechaun has an average 4/10 (or 30% rating)”
WHO TAUGHT YOU MATH?!
On April 23rd 2009, Josh wrote:
Animal House and Fast Times at Ridgemont High are both classic films. There’s nothing embarassing about them.
On May 14th 2009, mcswiggle wrote:
John Barrowman was the lead “actor” in Shark Attack 3, and he has somehow gone on to become very famous in Britain. Just ponder that for a minute; he has Shark Attack 3 on his cv and has still “made it” as an actor…
On June 1st 2009, sylana wrote:
Hmmm… what about Michelle Pfeiffer in Grease 2? I’ve heard she refuses to talk about that film. And Legend was awesome for the time it was made in. Cruise’s refusal to acknowledge it probably has more to do with the fact that the plot centered around sorcery than the quality of the film.
On June 9th 2009, Heather wrote:
This may be the worst article on the internet, but some good reader comments renews my faith in the World Wide Web.
On June 17th 2009, anon wrote:
Jeff Goldblum has one of the best lines in the history of cinema in Deathwish. God damn rich kunt, I kill rich kunts.
On June 28th 2009, Bob Hardy wrote:
Clint Eastwood first appeared in a Creature From The Black Lagoon movie (Don’t remember which one) He was the lab assistant who couldn’t find the rat. ” Oh, here it is in my pocket!”
On November 27th 2009, Jane wrote:
The thing that you have to understand about all these movies and actors is that, yeah, they’re embarrassing movies to be a part of, but when you’re an actor, you’re desperate for *anything you can get.* And sometimes, you end up working on projects that are completely awful, but at least it’s something.