American actor, Thomas C. Howell, starred successfully in films like “The Outsiders”, “The Hitcher”, and “Red Dawn”, making him popular among teen moviegoers at the time. Buttressed by early success, the artist in him had wanted to do something more challenging. He wanted to make a didactic movie, and worked hard on the film “Soul Man”, in 1986.
Whatever the message was that Howell tried to convey, the public either didn’t like it or did not get it. Its viewers cried absurdity, and Howell ended up stuck in a purgatory of straight-to-DVD action flops for more than a decade.
Scarlett Johansson as Motoko Kusanagi
One of the major challenges of works of fiction is how to make them appear as authentic as possible. Someone must have forgotten that Scarlett Johansson isn’t Japanese, and more importantly, shouldn’t be cast for roles that ought to be given to Japanese nationals (obviously).
But she happened to be cast as Motoko Kusanagi in the Hollywood adaptation of "Ghost in the Shell". Media Action Network for Asian Americans was extremely upset when she denied knowing she’d be playing a Japanese role, but how could she not have known? Anime fans all over the world were less than impressed.
Christopher Reeve Superman IV
Christopher Reeve has for years been the ideal actor for the role of Superman. In fact, his iconic good looks and personality became so associated with the role, that in the eyes of his fans, he became the superhero himself. After the third movie, Reeve was ready to take on new challenges but stayed on when management agreed to give him more creative freedom in the making of "Superman IV: The Quest For Peace".
This decision saw him sacrifice opportunities to star in "Body Heat", "American Gigolo", "Fatal Attraction", and "Lethal Weapon", among many others. Meanwhile, "Superman IV" didn’t live up to expectations and slumped at the box office.
Mike Myers’ Love Guru
True to their creative profession, artists like to experiment with new roles. They like to test new territory and see how far their skills go. This impressive trait might just propel an artist toward new heights of popularity, a testament to their abilities. Unfortunately, for some, it might as well spell doom.
Despite making it big with films like "Wayne’s World", and "Austin Powers", Mike Myers got stuck in a quicksand of his own creation with the woeful 2008 flop, "Love Guru". His cringy, self-help business promoting character, Pitka, was unpleasant enough; but the fact that he had also written and co-produced it, killed his career. Since then, he’s made a cameo appearance in "Inglourious Basterds", and settled for voicing Shrek in animated shorts.
Shaquille O’Neal in Kazaam
Shaquille O’Neal doesn’t need a resume from acting school to start a career in Hollywood. His name is marketable in itself, worth millions for being an NBA star with an army of die-hard fans. He got his start in the movie "Blue Chips", though it didn’t fare so well at the box office. Still, that wasn’t enough to stop the Shaq Attack.
He followed it with another movie, titled "Kazaam", playing the role of a genie, that was roundly criticized, and rated a mere 6% on Rotten Tomatoes. The movie had a lousy, predictable storyline, but Shaq had no qualms, boasting about making $7 million from it.