From Rotten to Remarkable: A Look at Great Actors' Shaky Film Starts

The Shaky Starts

Once established, great actors can be choosy with their projects, but many of the best actors in Hollywood made their first appearances in awful movies with very low Rotten Tomatoes scores. Casting incredible actors doesn't guarantee good reviews, just the chance of them delivering strong performances, no matter the quality of the surrounding material. Even some of today's most talented and revered actors, such as Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Anthony Hopkins, Meryl Streep, and Natalie Portman, occasionally star in bad movies.

Composite image of Leonardo DiCaprio in The Wolf of Wall Street and Critters 3

It's more common for great actors to have made some terrible movies in the past. At the start of their careers, actors don't have as many options to refuse roles and may have to get their start in bad movies. These movies don't necessarily receive negative reviews because of the actors' performances — this makes it easier for their careers to survive the bad stuff and not be relegated to acting in terrible movies forever. By constantly delivering strong performances no matter the quality of their movies, a lot of these actors who overcame shaky starts even went on to become Oscar winners.

Overcoming Shaky Starts

Leonardo DiCaprio has been in many phenomenal films, and he's known for giving everything in his roles. However, DiCaprio made his film debut in Critters 3, which has a shocking 0% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes. The low-budget sci-fi horror sequel, in which he played a teen battling killer aliens, was deemed worse than the first two movies in the franchise, and the only good thing to come out of it was DiCaprio's film career. DiCaprio went on to receive his first Academy Award nomination just two years later, at age 19, with 1993's What's Eating Gilbert Grape and eventually won an Oscar in 2016.

Leonardo DiCaprio in Critters 3

Sandra Bullock is one of the most beloved actresses of her generation, but her first roles weren't very successful. Her debut film, 1987's Hangmen, doesn't even have any reviews posted to Rotten Tomatoes, but it has an audience score of 5%. Five years later, Bullock starred in the rom-com Love Potion No. 9 as a scientist who uses literal chemistry to attract men, and that movie has a 25% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes despite its interesting premise. Fortunately for Bullock, she overcame her years of bad movies, broke out in the 1994 action blockbuster Speed, quickly became one of Hollywood's biggest stars, and eventually won an Oscar.

Sandra Bullock smiling in Love Potion No. 9

Today, Tom Hanks is one of the most respected actors in the world, constantly delivering amazing performances in all of his movies. However, his first film, He Knows You're Alone, wasn't well-received, resulting in a critic score of 30% on Rotten Tomatoes. It's a typical slasher film that doesn't bother building its characters, and not even Hanks' charm can save it. Despite his rough start, Tom Hanks rose to fame through the 1980s as a hit-or-miss comedic actor, received his first Academy Awards nomination in 1989, for Big, and won back-to-back Oscars in 1994 and 1995, for his dramatic lead performances in Philadelphia and Forrest Gump, respectively.

Tom Hanks talking in He Knows You're Alone

Triumphs After Tragedies

Cate Blanchett is known for bringing substance to every role she plays, but one of her first films, Paradise Road, wasn't a big hit with critics, earning a score of just 43% on Rotten Tomatoes. In the World War II drama, which also stars Glenn Close and Frances McDormand, Blanchett plays an Australian nurse captured by the Japanese and interned at a prison camp. Even though the film's reviews are 'rotten,' general viewers seem to like it, as it has an audience score of 78%. One year after Paradise Road, Blanchett starred as the titular queen in the biopic Elizabeth, for which she received her first Oscar nomination.

Frances McDormand and Cate Blanchett looking at something in Paradise Road

Joaquin Phoenix has proven his acting skills many times in different roles and genres, but his first films, as a child performer — most of them where he's credited as Leaf Phoenix — weren't so successful. For example, he played a young astronaut hopeful in the 1986 adventure film SpaceCamp, which has a 46% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes due to its predictable dialogue and boring characters. Phoenix's career wasn't hurt too much by his early failures, however, as he's been nominated for Academy Awards four times, winning once for his lead performance in 2019's Joker.

Split screen image of Joaquin Phoenix as Max in SpaceCamp and Arthur Fleck in full clown makeup in Joker.

Throughout her career, Hilary Swank has starred in many hits, but one of her first films wasn't successful. She appeared in the original movie version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which received terrible reviews, resulting in a critic score of 36% and an audience score of 43% on Rotten Tomatoes. The reviews called out the movie's poor directing and weak plot, but Swank's career survived because her valley girl teenager role was too small to be singled out. Seven years later, she broke out in the drama Boys Don't Cry, for which she won her first Oscar for Best Actress. She won her second Oscar five years after that.

Hilary Swank wearing a purple dress in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie