10 Great Actors Who Played The Worst Versions Of Characters

Hands up those among us who even remember that Chris Pine played Jack Ryan that one time.

Tom Clancy's legendary CIA agent has been played by a bevy of name actors, with Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford, and Ben Affleck preceding Pine in films of varying quality, while Pine was succeeded by John Krasinski in the eponymously titled Amazon series.

Pine played Ryan in 2014's somnambulant Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit - an inexplicably forgettable Kenneth Branagh-directed romp which, despite grossing over $130 million worldwide, pretty much evaporated from the culture's collective memory within weeks of release.

Pine's a terrifically talented and versatile actor who has proven himself capable in both dramatic and comedic fare, yet his rendition of Jack Ryan was shockingly lacking in personality, feeling less like Ryan than an ersatz, charisma-bereft Jason Bourne.

While there's no shortage of Jack Ryan fans who weren't particularly fond of Affleck's portrayal, at least he feels like an honest-to-God character, whereas Pine's take is basically a cardboard cutout Action Man.

Clearly the script is primarily to blame here, leaving Pine unable to find an interesting or even basically entertaining angle from which to approach the character.