The worst movies 20 Golden Globe winners have been in, according to critics
The Golden Globes are officially kicking off this very unusual awards season on February 28. Among the stars nominated are Hugh Grant, Glenn Close, and Kate Hudson.
To celebrate the Golden Globes, we're taking a trip down memory lane — though, these 20 stars might prefer we didn't. We've found the worst films they've starred in, according to critics' scores on Rotten Tomatoes. All scores were accurate as of February 2021.
Keep scrolling to see what some of the worst films Golden Globe winners have starred in, from "Cocktail" to "Christmas with the Kranks."
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Glenn Close — "Maxie" (1985)
Close has been nominated for 15 Golden Globes in total, winning three for her performances in "The Lion in Winter," "Damages," and "The Wife." She also has one pending, for best supporting actress in a motion picture for her role in "Hillbilly Elegy."
However, her worst film, according to critics, was 1985's "Maxie," in which she plays the titular character, the spirit of a would-be '20s film star who possesses a normal woman, Jan, so she can fulfill her destiny as a film star.
Michael Douglas — "Beyond a Reasonable Doubt" (2009)
Douglas has been nominated for 14 Golden Globes, and has won five — he won for producing "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," one for producing "Romancing the Stone," and others for his performances in "Wall Street," "Behind the Candelabra," and "The Kominsky Method." He also received the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2004.
But critics say his worst film is the 2009 remake of the 1956 classic "Beyond a Reasonable Doubt," in which Douglas plays a potentially corrupt defense attorney.
Octavia Spencer — "The Divergent Series: Allegiant" (2016)
Spencer has been nominated for three Golden Globes, winning one in 2012 for her breakthrough performance in "The Help."
After that, she was cast in the "Divergent" series, one of the many dystopian film series that were touted as the next "Hunger Games," as Johanna, a member of the "Amity" faction. She appeared in both "Insurgent" and "Allegiant" — which has a critics score of just 11%.
Robert Downey Jr. — "Friends & Lovers" (1999)
Downey has received four Golden Globes noms in his career and has won two awards — one for his performance on TV series "Ally McBeal" in 2001, and a second for his performance as the iconic detective in "Sherlock Holmes" in 2010. He also won a special award as part of the ensemble cast of "Short Cuts."
One of the worst movies of his career, on the flip side, is "Friends & Lovers," in which he appeared as German ski instructor Hans.
Winona Ryder — "Lost Souls" (2000)
Ryder has won one Golden Globe from three nominations, for her performance in "The Age of Innocence."
Seven years later, Ryder starred in the horror film "Lost Souls" as Maya, a member of a group of people who believe that Satan intends to inhabit a human being.
Ryan Gosling — "Stay" (2005)
It took Gosling five tries to finally take home a Golden Globe, which he did for 2017's "La La Land."
Three years before he'd earn his first Golden Globe nomination for "Lars and the Real Girl" in 2008, he starred in 2005's "Stay" as Henry Letham, a car crash survivor who is slowly losing his grip on reality.
Awkwafina — "Breaking News in Yuba County" (2021)
Awkwafina won her first Golden Globe for her breakthrough performance in "The Farewell" in 2020. It was also her first nomination.
Just a year later, she's already gotten her worst film out of the way — 2021's "Breaking News in Yuba County," in which she plays Mina, an enforcer for money launderers.
Colin Farrell — "Artemis Fowl" (2020)
Farrell has been nominated for two Golden Globes, winning one in 2009 for "In Bruges."
One of his most recent films, "Artemis Fowl," has also proven to be his worst, according to critics. In it, he plays Artemis Fowl Sr., the missing father of the titular character.
Sigourney Weaver — "Happily N'Ever After" (2007)
Weaver has two Golden Globe wins under her belt from seven nominations — she won for her portrayal of Dian Fossey in "Gorillas in the Mist" and for playing the villainous boss Katharine in "Working Girl."
A career low for Weaver is 2006's animated family comedy "Happily N'Ever After," in which she voices Frieda, the evil stepmother of Sarah Michelle Gellar's Cinderella.
Tom Cruise — "Cocktail" (1988)
Cruise has three wins from seven Golden Globe nominations: He's won for "Born on the Fourth of July," "Jerry Maguire," and "Magnolia."
Just two years before he'd win his first Globe, though, he appeared in the critically panned box-office smash "Cocktail" as Brian Flanagan, an Army vet who turns to bartending to make ends meet.
Angela Bassett — "Survivor" (2015)
Bassett has only been nominated for one Golden Globe, which she took home, for the 1994 Tina Turner biopic "What's Love Got to Do with It."
In 2015, Bassett starred in the worst-reviewed film in her career to date, "Survivor," a spy thriller in which she played the US ambassador to the United Kingdom, Maureen Crane.
Sam Rockwell — "Gentlemen Broncos" (2009)
Rockwell's been nominated for three Golden Globes, winning one for his performance in "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri."
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).
Kate Hudson — "A Little Bit of Heaven" (2011)
Hudson is up for her second Golden Globe this year for the controversial film "Music." She won her first in 2001 for her role as Penny Lane in "Almost Famous."
She also starred in the 2011 film "A Little Bit of Heaven" as Marley, a woman who learns she has terminal cancer and struggles to come to terms with it — while also being granted three wishes.
Hugh Jackman — "Movie 43" (2013)
Jackman has one Golden Globe from three nominations — he took home best actor in a musical or comedy for his performance as Jean Valjean in "Les Misérables."
That same year, he appeared in "Movie 43," a film comprised of multiple short segments. In his, he plays a character who goes on a date with Kate Winslet's character, and has a rather unfortunate appendage growing from his chin.
Saoirse Ronan — "The Host" (2013)
Ronan won her first and only Golden Globe (thus far) in 2018 for "Lady Bird," though she has three other nods to her name.
In 2013, she appeared in the film adaptation of "Twilight" author Stephenie Meyer's other series, "The Host," as main character Melanie, who gets taken over by a parasite named Wanderer.
Jim Carrey — "True Crimes" (2016)
Carrey has been nominated for eight Golden Globes, winning twice in back-to-back years — in 1999 for "The Truman Show" and 2000 for "Man on the Moon."
Three years before he'd receive his seventh acting nom for "Kidding," Carrey appeared in "True Crimes" (also known as "Dark Crimes"), a film based on the real story of Polish convicted murderer Krystian Bala. Carrey plays Tadek, a detective investigating a murder.
Felicity Huffman — "Christmas with the Kranks" (2004)
Huffman has been nominated for seven Golden Globes, mainly for her television work — but her only win to date is for her performance in the film "Transamerica."
The year prior, she had a small role in "Christmas with the Kranks" as one of the main character's friends, Mary.
Taron Egerton — "Billionaire Boys Club" (2018)
Egerton's first and only win thus far was also his first nomination — he won for his performance as Elton John in 2019's "Rocketman."
This was a rebound from a career low. He'd appeared as the antagonistic tennis pro Dean in "Billionaire Boys Club" the year prior.
Jennifer Hudson — "Winnie Mandela" (2011)
Hudson also won a Globe on her first try in 2006 for her role as Effie White in "Dreamgirls," which was also her acting debut — an auspicious start.
In 2011, she starred in "Winnie Mandela," the story of the controversial ex-wife of Nelson Mandela who went from anti-apartheid activist to convicted kidnapper back to political activist.
Hugh Grant — "Did You Hear About the Morgans?" (2009)
Grant has one win from five nominations, for his performance in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" — and he has a sixth pending nom for "The Undoing."
In 2009, Grant co-starred with Sarah Jessica Parker in "Did You Hear About the Morgans?" as an estranged NYC couple who are forced to enter the witness protection program and move to Wyoming after witnessing a murder.