Who can forget the online furore last year when Chris Pratt teased that he’d “worked really closely with the directors” of The Super Mario Bros. Movie to craft the perfect Mario voice, saying that they’d tried out “a few things and landed on something that I’m really proud of”? Cue netizens the world over worrying that a dodgy stereotypical Italian accent was in the offing. In the end it turned out differently, of course, but fans still weren’t impressed.

Here are five stars who were pilloried online for their suboptimal voice acting.

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1. Nicolas Cage as Dr Tenma in Astro Boy (2009)

Nicolas Cage has played several gritty and moving film roles since he first made it big in Hollywood in 1987 with Moonstruck. From Captain Corelli’s Mandolin to Face/Off, his acting skills have never been in question. So why on earth did he do such a bad job voicing the character of Dr Tenma in 2009’s Astro Boy?

Playing a scientist who creates the little robot Astro Boy as a substitute for his recently deceased son, his performance is muted at best. As pop culture YouTube channel WatchMojo points out, “He’s so flat in some spots that you’ll be left wondering which of his family is supposed to be a robot.” Ouch.

2. Beyoncé as Nala in The Lion King (2019)

In the 2019 digitally animated remake of the 1994 original The Lion King, she was cast as Nala – and X (formerly Twitter) blew up with criticism. “Her voice acting in The Lion King is so poor,” wrote one commenter. “Pivotal moments, like Nala seeing Simba for the first time in years, were delivered in monotone.”

The film still made US$433 million globally at the box office though, so it couldn’t have been that bad …

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3. Taylor Swift as Audrey in The Lorax (2012)

However, when she voiced Audrey in The Lorax, which was released the same year, not everyone was impressed. “She’s passable but probably couldn’t hold the weight of a lead role without substantial focus/work etc,” one Reddit user wrote. “Maybe we’ll get that in the future, but I’m OK if we don’t!”

4. Matt Damon as Cale Tucker in Titan A.E. (2000)

Futuristic animated kids film Titan A.E was never much of a fan or critic favourite, scoring just 50 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes because it felt like a “cut-and-paste job of other sci-fi movies”, per critics’ reviews. But many blame The Bourne Identity star’s uninspired voice work as one of the main culprits.

A critic from WhatCulture.com even singled out Titan A.E as one of Damon’s worst performances, saying: “Animation requires actors who can heighten and exaggerate their usual personality a little, something that Damon categorically fails to do here.”

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5. Chris Pratt as Mario in The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)

“Its-a me, Mario!”

Just like Disney’s The Lion King, Nintendo’s Super Mario character is a beloved part of many people’s childhoods, meaning just about everyone seems to have an opinion on him. Chris Pratt found this out the hard way when the trailer for the 2023 animated film debuted in October 2022. Half of the internet fretted about him possibly putting on an accent that would be too stereotypically “Italian”, while others felt he sounded too American – and too much like his usual self – once they’d seen the film in its entirety.

Online criticism grew so loud that the film’s casting director Aaron Horvath was even forced to defend it to Variety, saying: “For us, it made total sense. [Chris is] really good at playing a blue-collar hero with a tonne of heart. For the way that Mario is characterised in our film, he’s perfect for it.”