Canceled: Actors Who Hollywood Should Stop Casting (But Probably Won’t)
Just replace them all with Christopher Plummer.
City of stars: are you shining just for garbage people? As the #MeToo Movement continues calling out abuse in the industry, there are many actors who (by virtue of their fame, connections and box office draw) remain highly in demand. Maybe they snuck by unnoticed in the midst of larger scandals. Maybe they’ve paid some superficial penance before weaseling back into the limelight. Maybe they’re simply too big to fail. Either way, here’s a list of the People We’re Done With:
Johnny Depp
This. Fucking. Guy. Johnny Depp would have already made the list for allegations of abuse against his ex-wife Amber Heard, but his latest profile in Rolling Stone magazine exposes him as an arrogant, self indulgent Peter Pan who managed to fritter away nearly half a billion dollars. Also, he ruined Willy Wonka for an entire generation.
Casey Affleck
(image: Christopher Polk/Getty Images)
Despite being accused of sexual harassment and abuse, Casey Affleck was able to not only continue his work as an actor, but was also awarded the best actor Oscar for his performance in Manchester by the Sea. The less talented Affleck brother offered zero acknowledgment or apology for his behavior. Great work, everyone.
Scarlett Johansson
(image: Rich Polk/Getty Images for Disney)
The erstwhile Black Widow has several strikes against her: her defense of frequent collaborator Woody Allen, her decision to wear a Marchesa gown to the Met Ball, her whitewashed performance in Ghost in the Shell and her just-announced role as a trans man. But what really gets us is her self-important response to the backlash, telling people to take it up with “Jeffrey Tambor, Jared Leto and Felicity Huffman’s reps.” REALLY, ScarJo? Really? Ugh, she and Colin Jost deserve each other.
Jared Leto
(image: Christopher Polk/Getty Images)
Method acting is all well and good, but there’s a line between consummate professionalism and self-indulgent fuckery. Jared Leto has never met this line. During the filming of Suicide Squad, to prepare for his role as the Joker, Leto would send “care packages” to his co-stars that consisted of sex toys, used condoms (eww) and live rats. Most of Leto’s scenes were cut, meaning that all that harassment was in the service of fewer than 15 minutes of screentime in a garbage movie. You are no Heath Ledger, sir. Add to that his appropriation of a trans woman’s role in Dallas Buyers Club, and we’re pretty much done with this guy. Jared Leto is like Jordan Catalano in that we all had crushes on him in high school and then grew up and looked back on him like, “ugh why did I spend my teen years obsessed over a moody jerk who can’t read?” Also, Thirty Seconds to Mars sucks, don’t @ me.
Mel Gibson
(image: John Phillips/Getty Images)
I’m so annoyed that I even have to include Mel Gibson on this list. After he got arrested for driving drunk, Gibson’s vitriolic tirade against women, Jews, black people, and pretty much anyone not Mel Gibson went viral. Following that was the release of his leaked abusive calls and death threats to ex-girlfriends, which should have been enough to end his career. But alas, Hollywood welcomed Mel back when he co-starred in Daddy’s Home 2. Great work, everyone.
Susan Sarandon
(image: Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images for Showtime)
This one hurts because I’m a huge fan of Susan Sarandon. I mean, Thelma and Louise is one of the best films ever made, and I love Bull Durham and even have a soft spot for The Banger Sisters (I can’t explain it). Susan Sarandon the actor is tops. Susan Sarandon the person, however, is filled to the brim with some privileged white lady nonsense. Her stanning for Jill Stein and continued Hillary bashing was wildly tone deaf and promoted the false equivalency between the two candidates. Sorry Suse, you can get arrested a thousand times at every protest and I still won’t be able to forgive you.
Alec Baldwin
(image: Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for SBIFF)
30 Rock is one of the best sitcoms ever made, and Alec Baldwin was brilliant as Jack Donaghy. Unfortunately, since the series ended Baldwin has been spending his free time comparing Dylan Farrow to Mayella in To Kill a Mockingbird and mocking the #MeToo movement with Jerry Seinfeld. And we also haven’t forgotten about those abusive voicemails he left on his daughter’s phone.
James Franco
(image: by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for IFP)
James Franco is one of those guys who managed come out of his #MeToo allegations unscathed. Maybe it’s because he’s relatively young and handsome, or maybe because he is still very much a bankable star. Either way, he has also been accused of sexual harassment and misconduct. And in 2014, Franco admitted to trying to hook up with an underage girl he met on Instagram. Gross.
Which canceled actors would you include on your list? Share your responses in the comments section.
(image: John Phillips/Getty Images)
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