Actors That Totally Forgot They Were In A Movie

We all get a little forgetful sometimes, even famous actors. Hey, we're all human. Everybody's lost their keys at least once in their life or used their phone flashlight to look for the very phone they're holding in their hand. But forgetting a high-profile job we've worked in the past is a horse of a very different color. 

As it turns out, some Hollywood A-listers occasionally forget they starred in certain movies. Stranger still, these slip-ups involve some of the most successful films ever made. These are movies that catapulted their careers to legit celebrity status, that made them the big bucks, and put them into world-famous franchises. Thankfully, it's a relatively small group of forgetful stars, but still, they might be worthy of a bit of public shaming and possibly a trip to their local neurologist. From YA actresses to MCU movie stars, these actors all forgot they were in a movie.

Anna Kendrick made headlines around the world when she took to Twitter, confessing she'd forgotten about her career breakthrough role in not one or two but three of the Twilight films. In the popular romance series, Kendrick plays Jessica Stanley, a mousy friend to Bella Thorne (Kristen Stewart) who's got her eyes on Bella potential new love interest, Mike Newton (Michael Welch). And evidently, it just slipped Kendrick's mind that she'd starred in one of the highest-grossing franchises of all time, until one day when it all came flooding back. 

"Holy s***," Kendrick tweeted in November 2018, "I just remembered I was in Twilight." Those nine words set the social media platform ablaze. The message has more than a million likes, over a hundred thousand shares, and almost nine thousand comments, some of which threw some heavy shade the actress' way. One Twitter user pointed out that the Pitch Perfect star's 2016 memoir, Scrappy Little Nobody, featured an entire chapter about her role in the films, casting doubt on whether this was an actual senior moment or if Kendrick was simply putting her extensive comedic chops to good use.

Being a world famous supermodel, Emmy-winning television host, fashion designer, businesswoman, and mom of four is a big job for Heidi Klum (or anyone, for that matter). It's so huge, in fact, that she forgot about her small appearance in the first Zoolander film. News.com.au reported that Klum was offered to reprise her role as herself in Zoolander 2, but she was unable to make the commitment since her schedule was packed filming three television shows already. When interviewers pointed out her role in the first film, it took a few minutes for her to remember that yes, in fact, she'd been a part of the star-studded cast. The host of Germany's Next Top Model and Project Runway first blamed it on the decade-and-a-half that have passed since the movie came out. But when that didn't hold enough water, she pinned the oversight on her children. "That's a brain fart," Klum said. "See what happens when you have four kids? They suck it all out of you."

Academy Award-winning actress and founder of controversial self-help website Goop, Gwyneth Paltrow, has been in so many Marvel movies that she didn't remember her poignant appearance toward the end of Spider-Man: Homecoming. Her movie memory lapse was revealed on The Chef Show, courtesy of co-host and Paltrow's Marvel co-star, Jon Favreau. As the two were cooking, Paltrow denied having been in Spider-Man: Homecoming at all, only remembering her work in Iron Man and The Avengers. It was only after Favreau reminded her of their scene with the bungled press conference and subsequent engagement ring back-up plan that Paltrow realized, "That was Spider-Man? Oh my god!" 

Sure the Marvel timeline can get confusing, especially after you've been in six films like Paltrow has. It probably doesn't help that the size of her character, Pepper Potts, has varied from lead to bit player depending on the movie. But still, forgetting you've had a role of any size in one of the most popular Spider-Man adaptations in film history is next level forgetfulness. Paltrow might need to add some memory enhancing supplements to her Goop offerings or try one of those mindfulness techniques she often promotes. 

Thor: The Dark World is not one of the better Marvel movies. The villains are boring, the plot is bland, and there's zero chemistry between the lead stars. So it makes sense that fans might forget that particular entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In fact, it's so bad that even one of the actors forgot he was in the movie at all.

Irish actor Chris O'Dowd revealed to MTV that he'd forgotten his small role in Thor: The Dark World. In the film, O'Dowd plays Richard, a guy who awkwardly dates Jane (Natalie Portman) as she's trying to get over Thor. As we said, Dark World isn't really worthy of remembering (outside of its connections to Avengers: Endgame), but still, it's surprising that an actor would completely forget working across from an Oscar-winner like Natalie Portman or appearing in such a huge series. It's especially surprising since O'Dowd doesn't have the level of celebrity or clout as his co-stars in the Marvel universe and beyond. And we're assuming the role probably earned him a nice little paycheck, so he should at least remember making that sweet Marvel money. 

These days, Paul Bettany is best known as the Vision, the humanoid Avenger who's shown up in films like Age of Ultron and Avengers: Infinity War. Of course, he was first the voice of Jarvis in Iron Man, but believe it or not, Bettany often gets thrown when people compliment his work in that first film. In an interview with Digital Spy, Bettany talked about his super power of forgetfulness, saying, "Someone said, 'I loved you in Iron Man'. I said, 'You've got me mixed up with someone else'. I forgot I did the voice because it was only 30 minutes in a recording studio laughing my arse off."

Ironically, in the same interview, Bettany says the Iron Man films were the best gigs of his life since all it involved was reading and recording his voice. "I say the lines and they pay me money," Bettany said. And honestly, that seems like a pretty good way to remember you were in a movie. Who forgets where their paychecks are coming from? Marvel actors, apparently.

Unlike his co-stars, Mark Ruffalo hasn't forgotten any of the projects that he's worked on. But the man behind the Incredible Hulk recently revealed he did forget that he and Brie Larson had been in a film together before Avengers: Endgame. Tampa Minute reported that Ruffalo was surprised to learn that Larson had a small role in his iconic rom-com 13 Going on 30 as one of the bully "Six Chicks" in a flashback scene. Larson was just 15 at the time, while Ruffalo was 37, so the huge age difference makes a lot of sense for the gaffe. Of course, over a decade later, the two would reunite in one of the highest-grossing movies of all time to defeat the evil armies of Thanos. It's safe to say that a whole lot changed for these actors in that 15-year gap. 

Back in 2015, the fifth installment of the Terminator franchise, Terminator Genisys, was about to hit theaters, and that's when Arnold Schwarzenegger really put his foot in his mouth. Looking back at the series, the Governator took aim at Terminator: Salvation and claimed to not have been in the fourth film, saying, "Thank God. It sucked." Granted, Salvation is pretty bad, but still, that takes some heavy metal alloy cojones to say while promoting the next film in the series. Regardless, Schwarzenegger's statement might ring true for lots of old-school Terminator fans. But unfortunately, it seems the actor is a bit forgetful. As it turns out, he actually was in Terminator Salvation. Okay, sure, it was a CGI appearance, but it was an officially approved likeness he would have been contracted to include in the film. In fact, Variety says that Schwarzenegger actually viewed the footage and gave it the okay before the film hit theaters. Whoops.