Stars Who Regret Their Roles in Movies & TV

Viola Davis, The Help

Viola looked back on the role and reconsidered the film’s perspective.

“Have I ever done roles that I’ve regretted? I have, and The Help is on that list. I want to know what it feels like to work for white people and to bring up children in 1963, I want to hear how you really feel about it. I never heard that in the course of the movie,” she told The New York Times in 2018.

“There’s no one who’s not entertained by The Help, but there’s a part of me that feels like I betrayed myself, and my people, because I was in a movie that wasn’t ready to [tell the whole truth],” she added.

Katherine Heigl, Knocked Up

Katherine looked back on the film and took issue with its presentation of women.

“It was a little sexist. It paints the women as shrews, as humorless and uptight, and it paints the men as lovable, goofy, fun-loving guys. It exaggerated the characters, and I had a hard time with it, on some days. I’m playing such a bitch; why is she being such a killjoy? Why is this how you’re portraying women? Ninety-eight percent of the time it was an amazing experience, but it was hard for me to love the movie,” she told Vanity Fair in 2008.