Yahoo Autos The worst movies that 83 Oscar winners have been in, according to critics
Not every movie can become a classic — just ask these 80 Oscar winners.
Although they've turned in some iconic performances, they've also starred in some flops.
Jessica Chastain and Robert Downey Jr. are among actors whose movies earned 0% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Cillian Murphy — "Aloft" (2014)
Ten years after appearing in "Aloft," his worst movie according to Rotten Tomatoes, Cillian Murphy took home the 2024 Academy Award for best actor for portraying J. Robert Oppenheimer in "Oppenheimer."
In "Aloft," Murphy plays a man with nowhere near the historical significance of Oppie. Instead, he plays a falconer who wants to confront his cult-running mother for abandoning him as a child.
Robert Downey Jr. — "Johnny Be Good" (1988)
Downey's career has truly been filled with ups and downs, both personal and professional. While his personal struggles have been well-documented in the press, you might not know about this professional low, in which he plays Leo, the best friend of a star high school quarterback.
Nearly four decades later, Downey earned a best supporting actor Oscar for his portrayal of Lewis Strauss, a foil to J. Robert Oppenheimer, in "Oppenheimer."
Da'Vine Joy Randolph — "A Little White Lie" (2023)
The same year she scored an Academy Award for her heartwarming portrayal as Mary, a cook at a prestigious New England boarding school in "The Holdovers," she appeared in the film "A Little White Lie," co-starring Michael Shannon and Kate Hudson as a handyman masquerading as an author and an English professor, respectively.
Emma Stone — "Movie 43" (2013)
Stone won an Oscar for her role as Mia in "La La Land" in 2017, and seven years later, she picked up her second statue for playing Bella Baxter in "Poor Things."
In "Movie 43," Stone plays Veronica, who accidentally has her conversation with her ex-boyfriend (Kieran Culkin, also her real-life ex-boyfriend) broadcast to an entire grocery store.
Jamie Lee Curtis — "Christmas With the Kranks" (2004)
In "Christmas with the Kranks," Curtis plays half of a married couple alongside Tim Allen, who are new empty-nesters. When their plans for a Christmas cruise get changed by the surprise visit of their daughter, hijinks ensue.
Curtis has been in Hollywood for over 40 years but finally got recognized by the Academy in 2023 for her supporting role in "Everything Everywhere All at Once."
Brendan Fraser — "The Poison Rose" (2019)
Four years after appearing in this critically panned film co-starring Morgan Freeman and John Travolta, Fraser won an Oscar for his performance as a reclusive English professor in "The Whale."
Michelle Yeoh — "Babylon AD" (2008)
Yeoh stars in "Babylon AD," a sci-fi dystopian thriller as a nun of a new religion that is darker than she realizes.
In 2023, Yeoh, much like her costar Jamie Lee Curtis, was recognized for her decades of work in Hollywood by winning an Oscar for her role in "Everything Everywhere All at Once."
Will Smith — "After Earth" (2013)
Smith has had some high highs and low lows, cinematically speaking. His worst-reviewed film is a personal one for him — it's 2013's "After Earth," in which he co-starred with his son Jaden Smith. They played father-and-son duo, Cypher and Kitai Rage, who must work together to survive on a post-apocalyptic Earth.
Almost 10 years later, he won an Oscar for portraying Richard Williams, the father of tennis GOATs Serena and Venus, in "King Richard."
Jessica Chastain — "Stolen" (2007)
Chastain finally won an Oscar 10 years after her first nomination for "The Help" in 2012. She took home the best actress prize for "The Eyes of Tammy Faye," in which she totally transformed to play evangelical Christian celebrity Tammy Faye Bakker.
Back in 2009, though, Chastain appeared in a career-low, the film "Stolen" alongside Jon Hamm and Josh Lucas. The film tells the story of two fathers connected by the kidnappings of their sons 50 years apart.
Sam Rockwell — "Gentlemen Broncos" (2009)
Rockwell's been nominated for two Oscars, winning one for his performance in "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" in 2018. The next year he was nominated again for "Vice."
Almost a decade prior, he appeared in "Gentlemen Broncos," a film about a would-be author named Benjamin Purvis, who is trying to write a book called "Yeast Lords." Rockwell plays the main character of the book, Bronco (later Brutus).
Marisa Tomei — "The Watcher" (2000)
In total, Tomei has been nominated at the Academy Awards three times, winning one in 1993 for "My Cousin Vinny." Her other two nominations were for 2001's "In the Bedroom" and 2008's "The Wrestler."
Right around the time of her second nomination, Tomei appeared in the worst-reviewed film of her career, "The Watcher," in which she plays the therapist of antisocial FBI agent Joel Campbell, played by James Spader.
Daniel Kaluuya — "Chatroom" (2010)
Kaluuya scored his first Oscar win in 2021 for his performance as Fred Hampton in "Judas and the Black Messiah." He was also nominated for "Get Out."
But back in 2010, fresh off his run on "Skins," Kaluuya appeared in the internet thriller "Chatroom," which followed a group of teens who meet online and encourage each other's bad behavior.
Rachel Weisz — "Dream House" (2011)
Weisz won her first (and only, so far) Oscar for 2006's "The Constant Gardener." She was nominated again for 2018's "The Favourite."
Even if her worst film is the 2011 psychological thriller "Dream House," it couldn't have been that bad to shoot — on set, she reconnected with Daniel Craig, which led to their eventual marriage and the birth of their daughter in 2018.
Taika Waititi — "Green Lantern" (2011)
Waititi might be best known as a writer and director — in fact, his Oscar win was for the screenplay of his film "Jojo Rabbit" in 2020 — but he has acted in a fair few films ... including the maligned comic book film "Green Lantern," in which he plays an engineer and co-worker of Hal Jordan, played by Ryan Reynolds.
Hilary Swank — "New Year's Eve" (2011)
Swank has won two Academy Awards: one for her role in "Boys Don't Cry" in 2000 and one for her role in "Million Dollar Baby" in 2005.
Six years after her second win, Swank appeared in "New Year's Eve," Garry Marshall's second anthology film based on a holiday after 2010's "Valentine's Day." Swank plays Claire, the vice president of the Times Square Alliance, who has to deal with many mishaps regarding the ball drop. Her father, played by Robert De Niro, is also in the hospital while she's dealing with these crises.
Adrien Brody — "Air Strike" (2018)
Brody, one of the more famous "victims" of the Oscars curse, has struggled to appear in many good films after his win in 2003 for "The Pianist."
Case in point: "Air Strike," a 2018 Chinese war film that focuses on the Japanese bombing of Chongqing during World War II. Brody plays a military doctor named Steve in a "special appearance.
Olivia Colman — "Pudsey the Dog: The Movie" (2014)
Colman won her first Oscar in 2019 for "The Favourite," was nominated again for her role in "The Father," and received her third nom for "The Lost Daughter" in 2022.
But five years prior, she voiced a horse in "Pudsey the Dog: The Movie," a film based on Pudsey, the canine half of the "Britain's Got Talent" winners, Ashleigh and Pudsey.
Russell Crowe — "Poker Face" (2022)
Crowe was nominated for an Oscar three years in a row, from 2000 to 2002, winning one for his performance in "Gladiator" as Maximus in 2001.
However, in 2022, he appeared in the critically panned "Poker Face," a film Crowe also wrote and directed. In it, he plays a tech billionaire who invites his closest friends over to make them confess their secrets.
Helen Mirren — "Berlin, I Love You" (2019)
Mirren has one Academy Award win from four nominations, for her role as Queen Elizabeth II in "The Queen."
Her worst-reviewed film is 2018's "Berlin, I Love You," part of Emmanuel Benbihy's "Cities of Love" series. The film is made up of different segments, each with a different director, about different people in Berlin. Mirren plays a character named Margaret.
JK Simmons — "Marmaduke" (2022)
Simmons' first and only Oscar to date is for his performance in 2014's "Whiplash."
Eight years later, he had a voice role in the 2022 animated remake of "Marmaduke" as an Afghan hound named Zeus.
Frances McDormand — "Æon Flux" (2005)
McDormand has four Oscars on her résumé, for "Fargo," "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri," and two for "Nomadland" (as an actor and producer) with eight nominations total.
The same year she earned her fourth nomination for "North Country," she also appeared in "Æon Flux," a dystopian sci-fi thriller about an underground society trying to overthrow their dictatorial leaders. McDormand plays the Handler, the leader of the society, but she may not be what she seems.
Mark Rylance — "Days and Nights" (2013)
Rylance won an Oscar on his first try, for 2015's "Bridge of Spies." Just two years prior, though, he appeared in "Days and Nights," a film based on Anton Chekhov's play "The Seagull." Rylance plays Stephen, an ornithologist and husband to Alex (Katie Holmes), the daughter of the film's main character, movie star Elizabeth (Allison Janney).
Allison Janney — "A Thousand Words" (2012)
Janney won her first Academy Award in 2018 for "I, Tonya." On the flip side, she's appeared in not one, but two 0% films on Rotten Tomatoes. First, she appeared in 2012 comedy "A Thousand Words," which focuses on Eddie Murphy's character Aaron losing his ability to speak freely — every word brought him closer to death. Janney plays a character named Samantha.
And, for a bonus, the next year she appeared in 0% film "Days and Nights."
Christoph Waltz — "Tulip Fever" (2017)
Waltz is two-for-two in Oscars, with wins for "Inglourious Basterds" and "Django Unchained." In 2017, Waltz starred in 2017's historical drama "Tulip Fever," based on the 1999 novel of the same name. He played Cornelis Sandvoort, a merchant who commissions a painting of his wife Sophia — only for the painter to fall in love with Sophia himself.
Renée Zellweger — "The Bachelor" (1999)
Zellweger has earned two Oscars during her career. First, for her role as Ruby in the Civil War epic "Cold Mountain" in 2004, and then again in 2020 for her portrayal of Judy Garland in "Judy."
On the flip side, she also appeared in the 1999 rom-com flop, "The Bachelor" as the ostensible female lead, Anne.
Joaquin Phoenix — "Russkies" (1987)
Phoenix earned his first Oscar win in 2020 for his performance in "Joker" as the titular comic book villain. He had been nominated three times prior. In "Russkies," (in which he is credited as Leaf Phoenix), he plays a 12-year-old Army brat named Danny.
Laura Dern — "Grizzly II: Revenge" (1983/2020)
Dern's 2020 Oscar win for her turn as the ruthless divorce lawyer Nora in "Marriage Story" came after two previous nominations. That same year, a long-delayed film called "Grizzly II: Revenge" was finally released after being completed in 1983.
Brad Pitt — "Cool World" (1992)
After decades in Hollywood, Pitt finally won an Oscar in 2020 for his performance in "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood," in which he played bodyguard Cliff Booth. While 2019 was a peak, the nadir of his career has to be his appearance in "Cool World" as Frank, a detective transported into a comic book world.
Lupita Nyong'o — "The 355" (2022)
Nyong'o earned an Academy Award for her very first film, 2013's "12 Years a Slave," in which she played Patsey, a slave who endured particularly horrifying mistreatment and violence from her master, played by Michael Fassbender.
Since then, Nyong'o has proven to have good taste — she's only appeared in two films ruled "rotten" by Rotten Tomatoes ... with the worst film being 2022's spy thriller "The 355."
Eddie Redmayne — "Hick" (2011)
Redmayne won his first Oscar for 2015's "The Theory of Everything," in which he played Stephen Hawking, from before his ALS diagnosis and time as a student through when he was honored by the Queen in 1989.
However, the worst film in his career thus far is 2011's "Hick," an exceedingly dark film in which he plays a creepy man named Eddie who "falls in love" with a 13-year-old girl while on a road trip.
Natalie Portman — "Planetarium" (2016)
Portman has been nominated for three Oscars, winning one for her performance in "Black Swan" as Nina, a ballerina who is slowly losing her grip on reality.
In 2016, the same year she was nominated for her third Oscar for playing Jackie Kennedy in "Jackie," she also starred in the French film "Planetarium" as Laura, a séance host-turned-actress.
Colin Firth — "The Accidental Husband" (2008)
Firth received an Oscar for his role as King George in 2010's "The King's Speech," which focused on the King's efforts to conquer his stutter in order to give a speech to the British public.
But only three years prior, Firth appeared in the most critically disliked film of his career, "The Accidental Husband," in which he plays the prim and proper Richard, opposite the film's titular accidental husband, Jeffrey Dean Morgan.
Charlize Theron — "The Last Face" (2016)
Theron won an Oscar for her breakthrough role in "Monster," a 2003 film about the real-life serial killer and sex worker Aileen Wuornos (played by Theron), who murdered seven men.
Over a decade later, she starred in "The Last Face." She played Wren Petersen, a doctor working for a Doctors Without Borders-type of organization in West Africa.
Anne Hathaway — "The Last Thing He Wanted" (2020)
Hathaway, who won best supporting actress for her role as Fantine in "Les Misérables," plays a journalist who becomes an arms dealer named Elena McMahon in "The Last Thing He Wanted," which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2020.
Leonardo DiCaprio — "Critters 3" (1991)
DiCaprio finally won his Oscar for his role as Hugh Glass in "The Revenant." In "Critters 3," he plays the main character's little brother, Josh. It's actually his film debut!
For a bonus, DiCaprio also produced a film that has a 0% on Rotten Tomatoes, the 2018 horror film "Delirium," starring Topher Grace.
Meryl Streep — "Lions for Lambs" (2007)
Streep's three Oscars came from her roles as Joanna Kramer in "Kramer vs. Kramer," Sophie in "Sophie's Choice," and former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in "The Iron Lady." In "Lions for Lambs," Streep plays a TV journalist who is asked to spout positive propaganda about the war in Afghanistan.
Jared Leto — "Basil" (1998)
Leto played a trans woman named Rayon in "Dallas Buyers Club," which earned him an Oscar for best supporting actor. Seventeen years prior, he starred in "Basil," based on the 1852 novel of the same name, as the titular character.
Viola Davis —"The Architect" (2006)
Davis won her first Oscar after three nominations for her role as Rosa Lee Maxson in "Fences." She was nominated yet again in 2021 for her role in "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom."
In "The Architect," she plays an activist, Tonya, who decides to go against the high-powered architect who designed the public housing she lives in.
Mahershala Ali — "Supremacy" (2015)
Ali has won two Oscars. First, for his role as father figure and drug dealer Juan in "Moonlight," and then for his role as real-life musician, Dr. Don Shirley, in "Green Book."
In "Supremacy," Ali has a blink-and-you'll-miss-it role as a cop named Deputy Rivers.
Jennifer Lawrence — "House at the End of the Street" (2012)
Lawrence won for her role as a young bipolar widow named Tiffany in "Silver Linings Playbook." In "House at the End of the Street," Lawrence plays the "final girl" Elissa, who is terrorized by her next-door neighbor.
Marlon Brando — "Christopher Columbus: The Discovery" (1992)
Brando, one of the greatest actors of all time, won two Oscars in his career. First, for his role as Terry Malloy in "On the Waterfront," and then for his iconic role as Vito Corleone in "The Godfather."
They can't all be winners though, as evidenced by "Christopher Columbus," in which Brando played the Spanish friar and first grand inquisitor, Tomás de Torquemada.
