10 Ways You're Thinking About The Movie Industry All Wrong

5. Actors Picking Bad Movies

What You Think: Bad movies exist. That's a fact of life that we just have to accept. But we can still question how they come into being. Directors becoming blinded by their own self-importance/creative vision and studios having their irises covered by dollar signs we can excuse, but when actors who are clearly capable of bringing intelligence and depth to a role pick a bad project you have to be shocked. He may not be a Daniel Day Lewis, but Shia LaBeouf not only went from on above-average Disney Channel sitcom to star in Transformers, but he stuck with the franchise through three excruciating installments, even after admitting the second was awful. The Truth: Given the way his career has spiralled out of control since, Shia LaBeouf may not be the best example, but we've used him now so he'll have to do. Have you ever seen a movie without music or a big action set piece with the green screen instead of the special effects? It's awful. Even with just one element of the film-making process removed things don't just look bad, they look silly. Now imagine that, but with everything but the script removed. Even if it's a cracking screenplay, it can be impossible to know whether a film's good or not until after you've starred in it. As for sticking around, LaBeouf was contractually locked into three movies; he couldn't leave. This doesn't cover all actors, of course; Nicholas Cage will, of course, take anything.