Entertainment
Kristen Wiig Says No to 'Bridesmaids 2.' Here Are 9 Actors Who Should've Refused to Do Sequels
Well, in her recent interview with Harper's Bazaar, she did. Although both Paul Feig and Melissa McCarthy were game, it was Wiig who made the final decision, and she said no. "It wasn't a hard decision," she says. "We knew during the first one, this was it. We would have made a lot of money if there was a second one, but that's not my goal in my creative life."Her decision was probably for the best. Sequels rarely live up creatively to the original, and there's a lot of actors out there who would've been better off saying no to the easy money a sequel usually brings.
Kristen Wiig, 'Bridesmaids'
Well, in her recent interview with Harper's Bazaar, she did. Although both Paul Feig and Melissa McCarthy were game, it was Wiig who made the final decision, and she said no. "It wasn't a hard decision," she says. "We knew during the first one, this was it. We would have made a lot of money if there was a second one, but that's not my goal in my creative life."Her decision was probably for the best. Sequels rarely live up creatively to the original, and there's a lot of actors out there who would've been better off saying no to the easy money a sequel usually brings.
John Travolta, 'Staying Alive'
The picture says it all, really. John Travolta wears this outfit in the sequel to Saturday Night Fever, in which Tony Manero is a struggling, misogynistic Broadway dancer (because that's a thing). If it wasn't for Pulp Fiction, the movie might have killed his career.Image: Photofest
Liam Neeson, 'Taken 2'
Because the world needed another movie that would make your mom freak out and think you were going to get kidnapped and sex trafficked, Liam Neeson decided to make Taken 2. This one has more of Neeson shooting stuff and saving ladies, but his performance was panned as "phoning it in."
Jeff Goldblum, 'The Lost World: Jurassic Park'
Look, dinosaurs are awesome. More dinosaurs is never a bad thing, But when you're trying to beef up a thin plot with dinosaurs using '90s technology, well, it's not exactly going to become a classic. C'mon, Jeff! You wear glasses! You can do better than this!
Sharon Stone, 'Basic Instinct 2'
In 2006, Sharon Stone was coming off a series of flops like Catwoman and needed to make a comeback. Basic Instinct 2 was not it. Released 10 years after the original, the sleazy thriller bombed at the box office.
Sandra Bullock, 'Speed 2: Cruise Control'
Sandra Bullock wasn't as smart as her Speed co-star Keanu Reeves and starred in what is essentially Speed on a cruise ship. The film won a Razzie and the cruise ship crashed into an island.
Zach Galifianakis, 'The Hangover 2'
Really, enough has been said about how unnecessary The Hangover's not one, but two sequels are. But the real tragedy here is Zach Galifianakis' career. He was a talented comedian at the height of his fame — couldn't he find anything better to work on?
Tobey Maguire, 'Spiderman 3'
I will never be able to see Tobey Maguire the same way again after his "cool" scene in the jazz club as Emo Peter Parker.
Michael Douglas, 'Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps'
If more than 20 years have passed since the original movie, you think it would be easy to say no to the sequel. Not for Michael Douglas. Douglas reprised his role as Gordon Gekko in a movie that focused more on a romantic subplot between Shia LaBeouf and Carey Mulligan's characters.
Johnny Depp, 'Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides'
It's understandable that it would be hard for Johnny Depp to leave such an iconic role. But by the fourth Pirates movie, everyone else had jumped ship, including the director. Although Depp is a talented actor, no film should be carried solely on the merits of a quirky supporting character.
