The movie Will Poulter called the worst thing he ever made: “It’s shaming”
From the moment Will Poulter appeared on screens as the scene-stealing Lee in Son of Rambow, there was no doubt about the fact that he was going to have a successful career. He proved his comedic wit and shapeshifting abilities with various roles on School of Comedy, which really sealed the deal for Poulter – he was going to be a star.
The actor further captured the attention of comedy lovers when he appeared in We’re the Millers in 2013, which led to parts in everything from The Maze Runner series, The Revenant, Midsommar, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3. He picks his roles wisely, and while he might still be referred to by many as ‘the eyebrow kid’ despite the fact he is in his early 30s, Poulter is an undeniably versatile talent.
Yet, like any actor, Poulter has regrets, and one of these is a movie he did rather early on in his film career. While many stars are too modest to name a movie they regret, Poulter couldn’t hold back in highlighting how awful 2014’s Plastic was – almost immediately after it had been released.
He didn’t mess about, revealing to The Guardian that it wasn’t his finest decision to appear in the movie, which was negatively reviewed by critics. Directed by Julian Gilbey, the low-budget British crime comedy certainly wasn’t the most impressive notch on Poulter’s cinematic bedpost, with the actor playing a college student who gets involved in a credit card fraud scheme, only to get wrapped up in the shady gangster underworld.
“Talking about bad movies! I made Plastic with Seb [De Souza],” he said. “It’s really tough, man. Because it’s shaming. And the worst thing is thinking someone will think you did it for dishonourable reasons. I’m not shifting the blame. I recognise my responsibility to that film. But I’ve tried to shake it off since.”
Clearly, Poulter isn’t very proud of his role in the film, but at least he can say it was an important learning experience that has shaped the rest of his career, and reflecting on being in a film that he immediately regretted, he told the publication, “You know, I’ve been saying today that people need to be more meticulous when it comes to making creative decisions, I’ve learned that through my own experiences as an actor.”
He added, “I need to be more meticulous when it comes to assessing whether a project is a right one. I’ve got the one film that I regret out of my way. And I don’t intend to make another one.”
Unfortunately, Poulter didn’t fully take his own advice on board, reuniting with De Souza for another flop, Kids in Love, two years later. He probably should’ve thought twice about 2025’s Death of a Unicorn, too, a black comedy with a stacked cast, including Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega, but terrible execution.
I guess you can never be too sure how a movie will fare, and a concept often sounds better on paper. Nothing he has made since Plastic has been quite as bad, though.
