10 Actors That Were So Bad They Had To Quit TV Shows

WhatCulture

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.

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