The Movie Michael Caine Regrets Filming
Michael Caine is a cinematic icon with a career dating back nearly 70 years and beginning in 1956 when he first graced the big screen in A Hill in Korea (via Britannica). Since that time, he's gone on to establish himself as an acting tour de force, winning two statues for Best Supporting Actor at the Academy Awards for Hannah and Her Sisters, as well as The Cider House Rules. Some of his other noteworthy credits include The Italian Job, Sleuth, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Dark Knight trilogy, and Inception.
Few actors would ever be able to even touch his legacy, and with an appearance in 2020's Tenet, it's clear his talent has only grown more refined with age. With that in mind, every actor's career is going to have a few misfires here and there. After all, not every project is going to end up a Bullseye... that's a 1990 film starring Caine if you want a fun, little bit of trivia. But while a disappointment is one thing, it's another matter entirely to regret one's time filming a particular movie, and there's one noteworthy instance of this in Caine's filmography.
Jaws 4 wasn't fun in the moment... but paid off for Michael Caine in the long run
Some franchises benefit immensely with multiple installments, and then there's Jaws. Despite the studio's best efforts to find another way to make an animatronic shark scary, none of the sequels captured the same level of fear and thrills as the original. Nowhere is that better exemplified than with Jaws: The Revenge — a noteworthy action movie with zero percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
The plot doesn't really matter, but somehow, the production managed to get Michael Caine to star in the sequel. The movie was a dud, even going so far as to win a Razzie for worst Visual Special Effects (via Independent). Caine hasn't tried to hide his lack of enthusiasm for the project, and when asked about it in an interview, he's quick to say, "I've never seen it." However, a poor critical reception is likely just one of the reasons why the actor doesn't look back fondly on the film. Caine actually had to film Jaws 4 the same time as the Oscars when he was nominated for Hannah and Her Sisters. He ended up winning that year, but he wasn't at the ceremony to accept the trophy in-person (via Business Insider).
Granted, the experience wasn't all bad. In an interview, Caine states, "I was paid $1 million for two weeks' work." He's certainly not the first actor to take a job solely for the paycheck, and he put that income to good use: "With that money, I bought [my mother] the house." At least there's a silver lining to the story, and Caine would actually get to accept an Oscar in real time when he won again a decade later for The Cider House Rules.