Top 10 Times Actors Shaded Their Own Shows

The dance scene in the first episode of the Netflix superhero series is iconic. Each character breaks it down to Tiffany’s “I Think We’re Alone Now,” in different rooms, showing off their individual personalities. But if you ask Sheehan, aka Klaus Hargreeves, the scene felt more performative and didn’t accomplish much in terms of story. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the Irish actor admitted to not fully getting the scene: “Certain things about the show that completely baffle me...the dancing is one of them that I'm like, people love it, people love it. Good on yous. But me, I'm like, why are we all dancing?”] It doesn’t help that he had to film this on the first day of shooting. Yeah, that might be just a little awkward.

Since her TV days, Michelle Williams has starred in critically acclaimed films such as “Brokeback Mountain”, “Blue Valentine”, and “Manchester by the Sea” . Even though she’s had a successful career, Williams worried that she’d be seen as Capeside’s resident bad girl Jen Lindley forever. In 2019, she told Vulture, “When I got out of television, it felt like a stain on you. It was hard work to erase it and to ask to be looked at in a different new way.” Fortunately, the Emmy-winning actress’ versatility kept her from being typecast. She also shared with fellow actress Patricia Clarkson that the “formulaic” teen drama was like working a “factory job.” At least it was a learning experience, right?

The Disney Channel show might’ve been wildly popular, but its stars reportedly suffered behind the scenes. Miley Cyrus herself said: [“I think now that I'm older, I realize that’s a lot to put on a kid.”] Back in 2011, the Cyrus family was going through “a lot”: controversy surrounded Miley’s new look and behavior, and her parents were seemingly headed for divorce. Billy Ray Cyrus opened up to GQ, saying: “I’ll tell you right now, the damn show destroyed my family. I hate to say it, but yes … I’d take it back in a second.” Since this interview, he’s reconciled with his wife and daughter. Meanwhile, his work on the show is the reason Lil Nas X asked him to collaborate on a little song called “Old Town Road” that revived his music career. You might’ve heard of it.

Since 2016, HBO’s dystopian drama has dominated our screens. The mysterious Man in Black, played by veteran actor Ed Harris, is a fan favorite, though the trajectory of his character isn’t what he had in mind. Going from a deadly gunslinger to a powerless “good guy” (the Man in White) is quite the change. On his experience filming season three of the series, Harris said: “I signed on to play the Man in Black. I didn’t sign on to play the Man in White. So, it wasn’t the most joyous season for me, I gotta say.” When asked if it’s difficult to get into the headspace of a dark character, he says: “It’s not so hard to embody, but it’s hard to feel like something I’m really enjoying doing.” Yikes. Tell us how you really feel, Ed.

As child stars grow up, they tend to distance themselves from past projects. In Jones’ case, he was still on the show, though. The actor didn’t hold back in his now infamous YouTube interview with his new church. Not only did he call the show filth in 2012, but he also actually told people not to watch it. [“You cannot be a true God-fearing person and be on a television show like that.”] He publicly apologized for his comments, but the damage was already done. He left the show in 2014. He’s since moved away from organized religion and even made an appearance on the show’s series finale in 2015.

Before we knew him as Joe Goldberg, he first appeared on our screens as Dan Humphrey aka “lonely boy”. There’s been a lot of comparison between the two characters, many seeing Joe as a continuation of Dan. The actor and his former co-star Chace Crawford reunited during quarantine to discuss their current shows and reminisce about the good ol’ teen drama days. Said Badgley: [“We’re both playing these sort of emblematic guys; these sort of iconic-level sort of characters, but now they’re both terrible. And I mean, the truth is, not that much has changed.”] Crawford stars in Amazon Prime’s “The Boys” as The Deep, a character who uses his status as a superhero to take advantage of women. [“We move on from ‘Gossip Girl’ to playing despicable murderous white male privilege guys. I mean, it’s just the natural progression,”] Crawford stated. (xref). Well, that’s one way to look at it.

We know Sarah Paulson as many characters in the AHS universe. But there was one season the actress just wasn’t into. In season six, titled “Roanoke,” Paulson plays two new parts -- new home-owner Shelby Miller and British actress Audrey Tindall, in addition to reprising her Lana Winters character from season 2. “I just don’t care about this season at all,” she told the Awards Chatter podcast. Paulson had just finished her award-winning role as Marcia Clark on “The People v OJ Simpson: American Crime Story”. “I was so underwhelmed by the whole experience…” Her comments may seem a bit harsh, but she is the Supreme after all. (reference to her being the Supreme in AHS: Coven)

It’s safe to say that the final season of “Game of Thrones” was a disappointment for many fans. And the cast apparently wasn’t happy either, especially the Mother of Dragons, who died a villian. On Daenerys’ fatal end, Clarke said she was “ annoyed that Jon Snow didn’t have to deal with something,” and that “he got away with murder — literally.” But it was ahead of the finale that the actress really said it all in just three words. “Best season ever?!” See, she knew her character deserved better. She was trying to warn us!

Throughout its over 15 year-run, “Grey’s Anatomy” has had its share of drama behind the scenes. We all remember when Katherine Heigl landed in hot water after she pulled her name from Emmy consideration. But when Ellen Pompeo sat down with “Variety’s Actors on Actors” in 2019, she shed even more light on the show’s problems and the “many times” she wanted to leave. She went on to call out the lack of stimulating material: “I haven’t been challenged creatively at all. Every once in a while, we do an amazing storyline. But for the last five years, I’ve had other milestones that we were trying to achieve behind the camera.” She made it her mission to make things better off-screen, and considering she fought for a $20 million a year salary, we’d say she’s met a milestone.

The cast of “Riverdale” is notorious for shading the show’s writers. For instance, Betty’s Lili Reinheart admitted: “They usually don’t even know…they make it up as they go along” .They also can’t seem to hide their disdain for the eye roll-inducing plotlines, with Veronica’s Camila Mendes declaring: “All my lines are WTF moments” But it was Vanessa Morgan, who plays Toni Topaz, who got real about both the media and the CW drama’s portrayal of Black people in an online statement: “Tired of us also being used as sidekick non-dimensional characters to our white leads. Or only used in the ads for diversity but not actually in the show. It starts with the media.” Morgan also followed up the statement by replying to a fan on Twitter, saying: “I’m the only Black series regular but also paid the least … girl, I could go on for days.”