10 Movies Actors Thought Would Suck (But Were Awesome)

Cary Grant was the male lead in Leo McCarey's 1937 screwball comedy The Awful Truth, yet from the very first day of shooting, he was extremely uneasy about McCarey's directing style, enough that he even tried to exit the project early in production.

The Awful Truth started shooting without a finished script, and with McCarey opting for an improvisational directorial style, numerous cast members became frustrated, with Grant even becoming physically ill from stress.

After a week, Grant sent Columbia head Harry Cohn an eight-page memo explaining his grievances and asking to be cut loose, even offering to pay $5,000 and do at least one movie for free as compensation.

Cohn ignored the request, and when McCarey learned what Grant was up to, he was so enraged he stopped speaking to the actor for a time. After seeing McCarey at work, however, Grant began to warm to his unorthodox directorial methods, and the shoot was largely completed without major issue.

Even so, Grant was likely surprised when The Awful Truth was not only a box office hit but received six Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director, while catapulting Grant himself into the A-list overnight.

Better still, this is the movie that cemented Grant's popular screen persona, while also helping him develop improv skills that would carry through the rest of his career.