10 Actors Who Didn't Understand Their Own Movie

Back in 1977, Alec Guinness appeared in a little movie you may have heard of called Star Wars. In the film, he played Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Jedi Master who takes Luke Skywalker under his wing, and begins his training as a Jedi Knight. He was killed soon after and reappeared in the next two films as a Force Ghost.

Obi-Wan Kenobi is one of the greatest characters in all of science fiction, and Guinness played him perfectly. The only problem with his performance was, the man absolutely hated the dialogue. In fact, he didn't understand it, and it drove him nuts to have to say many of the words, which are now iconic.

His feelings on the subject were contained in a letter he wrote to a friend named Anne. In the letter, he said of his filming activities, "Can't say I'm enjoying the film — new rubbish dialogue reaches me every other day on wages of pink paper — and none of it makes my character clear or even bearable."

It's amazing to think, he gave such a memorable and beloved performance for a character he hated and didn't understand. Despite this, Guinness played notable characters in his career, including Prince Faisal in Lawrence of Arabia, General Yevgraf Zhivago in Doctor Zhivago, and Col. Nicholson in The Bridge on the River Kwai. Even with those critically acclaimed performances, he's best known for the role he hated the most.