27 Onscreen Couples With No Chemistry

Buzz Feed

a day ago

We asked members of the BuzzFeed Community to tell us about onscreen couples they think really lacked chemistry. We also perused this Reddit thread started by Timely_Software4158, where people shared their opinions on the same topic. Here are the couples that folks simply weren't buying:
"Honestly? Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney in Anyone But You. I watched it, expecting to see this crackling spark, the modern rom-com being saved, and all the other things people claimed about this film, and I just got nothing. I don't get it."
"I recently went on a date with my fiancé to see The Materialists. Pedro Pascal and Chris Evans had more chemistry with each other than Dakota Johnson had with either of them. To be fair, she doesn't have any chemistry with anyone in any movie she is in."
"Carrie and Aidan."
"I love this show, but Jake and Amy in Brooklyn Nine-Nine. The writing was sweet, and they were always warm and comfortable with each other, but there didn't seem to be a single ounce of passion between them shown in the entire time that show ran."
"Leonard and Penny in The Big Bang Theory. It was honestly painful to watch them."
"Chandler and Monica. While I think their coupledom made sense for the plot of the show, they had absolutely none of the tension or passion that makes for good onscreen chemistry. Chandler and Kathy had chemistry. Monica and Richard had chemistry. Monica and Chandler might as well have been siblings for how little spark they had."
"Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley in the films. Those two had all the fire and passion of a tax audit."
"Amber Heard and Jason Momoa in Aquaman. The movie came out before the Johnny Depp vs. Amber Heard trial, so it had nothing to do with any opinions on her as a person or actress, but she and Jason Momoa just had zero chemistry. I think they both looked great for their parts, but their screen time together felt reallllly forced."
"Julia Roberts and Richard Gere have NO chemistry in Pretty Woman. I feel like this is probably a controversial take, but whatever."
"Christian Bale and Katie Holmes in Batman Begins. If you could somehow excise the entire sub-plot of Christian Bale's Bruce Wayne being in love with Katie Holmes' character, Batman Begins is a damned near perfect movie. Even with their wooden romance, it's still my favourite Batman film of all time. Sadly, the two leads have about as much chemistry as two dry bricks in a sandstorm. If these two had any less feeling for each other, they'd never have met."
"I know this will be unpopular, but Jim and Pam from The Office. Not only no chemistry, but toxic all over."
"Nicole Kidman and Harris Dickinson in Babygirl. It was just so not sexy. The scenes where they were kissing looked so unnatural, it made me cringe."
Emma Watson and Dan Stevens in the live-action Beauty and the Beast. I don't really like the live-action remakes, and this one had bad acting and no chemistry whatsoever."
"Renée Zellweger and Tom Cruise in Jerry Maguire. Of course, in my opinion...Tom Cruise with anyone (poor women)."
"This is my view and not a statement of objectivity. Still, this is going to upset a lot of people. Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner in The Bodyguard. It just didn't click with me. My girlfriend at the time was crying, and I was a little shocked at how much I didn't buy it."
"Daenerys and Jon. They lacked warmth. They were like awkward old classmates running into each other at the mall and then going on dates with each other just because they were both single at that time. And then they found they had nothing in common and didn't like each other, and both were waiting until they found someone better."
"Fifty Shades of Grey, Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson. Not only was the movie adaptation horrible, but they also lacked serious chemistry, which made it all worse. We were so excited, and it was blah."
"Britta and Troy in Community."
"Rachel and Joey. Why you gotta do that to my man!?"
"Going back a ways, Jack Nicholson and Jessica Lange in the 1981 version of The Postman Always Rings Twice. Nobody remembers it much today; they never worked together again, and if you take the time to see it, you'll understand why."
"Red, White & Royal Blue. Was it bad acting or bad chemistry? Not sure. Either way, I didn't buy it. I didn't even finish the movie; it was so unconvincing."
"Nina Dobrev and Jimmy O. Yang in Love Hard. Boy, what a miscast couple. The entire movie bombs because of this."
"The Ugly Truth starring Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler. Ugh! First of all, Gerry has no business doing rom-coms, and second, Heigl had more chemistry with the sex toy than either man! Bonus, when I got dragged to this garbage movie, there was a lady at the theater doused in perfume that triggered a migraine and ruined the rest of my day."
"I'll add Ben Stiller and Jennifer Aniston from Along Came Polly to the list. As much as I like the actors, they have no romantic chemistry at all. At best, they seem like friends. I think Ben had more chemistry with the ex-wife character in the one minute they were on screen together than the whole movie with Jennifer."
"Ben Affleck and Sandra Bullock in Forces of Nature! Love them individually. Together, they were like nails on a chalkboard!"
"Kathleen Turner and Nicolas Cage in Peggy Sue Got Married."
And: "Hands down, it's Jodie Foster and Richard Gere in the anemic Sommersby. They never make you believe for a second that they really care about each other."
Oof, some of these were hard for me to read. What onscreen couple do you think had a disappointing lack of chemistry? How come? Tell us in the comments or share anonymously using this form.
Note: Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.