12 Actors Who Slammed Their Own Movie Before Release

By the time Marlon Brando starred in The Freshman he’d been effectively retired for nearly a decade, and when he launched a tirade against it in a pre-release interview with the Toronto Globe And Mail – calling it a “bomb”, a “turkey” and a “stinker”- the press took notice.

So it was strange that he turned around a month later and praised the movie, calling it really funny and that he’d love to do a sequel. Something was clearly up, and as was typical for Brando in his later career it came down to one thing; money. Brando believed he was owed overtime money for the part, and when the producer refused to pay he threatened to ruin the movie in the press.

When the producer still wouldn’t bulge Brando went ahead with his threats. He was quickly paid the requested money and reversed his position, but by then the damage was done. Despite good reviews, the movie still underperformed, which the studio blames on Brando’s badmouthing.