There’s little denying that making any TV show is hard work. Typically the world of the small screen operates at a faster pace with lower budgets than the realm of cinema, ensuring that actors can spend months tirelessly shooting a series.
As such it’s no surprise that, for many actors, the experience is hardly stellar, and just because a show is both critically acclaimed and hugely successful with audiences, that doesn’t mean the performers had a great time making it.
While most actors will keep quiet about their negative experiences in the industry for a multitude of reasons – especially while a series is still on the air – this lot have all gone on the record to voice their displeasure with some of their biggest projects to date.
These actors all hated making these shows, whether because they disagreed with the creative direction for their character, grew frustrated with their dwindling screen time, struggled to cope with the series’ messaging, or just straight-up hated sitting in the makeup chair for hours per day.
The end result speaks for itself in most cases, but the journey there was less than ideal for these performers…
Even though Lost was the hit show that made Evangeline Lilly an overnight star, the actress has gone on record to note her dissatisfaction with working on the series in its later seasons in particular.
In a 2018 interview on The Lost Boys podcast, Lilly detailed her time working on Lost, and her increasing disappointment with the writing of her character, Kate, who Lilly described as “more and more predictable and obnoxious” as the show went on.
In Lilly’s words, that Kate “went from being autonomous to chasing men around the island” “irritated the s**t” out of her. Lilly even said she would throw scripts across the room in rage after reading them.
But far worse than mere creative misgivings, Lilly also reported that she was “cornered” into performing a partial nude scene during season three which left her “mortified”, and after another undressing scene was written into season four, she refused to perform any further unclothed scenes for the show’s remainder.
This prompted Lost creators and producers J.J. Abrams, Damon Lindelof, Jack Bender, and Carlton Cuse to issue an apology to Lilly, and while she likely wouldn’t have the career she has today without Lost, it was clearly a deeply bittersweet experience for her overall.