These Terrible On-Screen Romances Prove That Even the Best Acting Chops Can Never Mimic Real Chemistry

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Ely Bulnes • Writer and Editor
Aug 9, 2025 3:00 PM EDT

A good actor is expected to be a chameleon, for in order to convince the audience of their role, they must first convince themselves. When you are acting, you are no longer yourself, you are, for a moment, a completely different person with a distinct background, unique opinions, and even an entirely new set of mannerisms. Still, it can be pretty difficult to convince yourself that you are as in love as your character is supposed to be when you and your co-star have zero chemistry. Your body language is constantly screaming at you to move away, and the words in the script feel completely unnatural coming out of your mouth. And when you don't buy it, neither does the audience. 

When you have chemistry with someone, it doesn't necessarily mean that you are attracted to them or get along. Gone with the Wind stars famously detested each other, but their on-screen performance was perfectly firey despite any behind-the-scenes squabbles. Scroll down to find out which on-screen romances were the least believable of the bunch. 

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    Cheezburger Image 10539812096
    via HBO
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    Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones felt so rushed and forced, that it seemed like they were only giving them a romantic storyline because they're both physically
    via u/phantom_avenger
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    attractive leaders, are around the same age and with the world presumably coming to an end with the White Walker threat, they don't have a whole lot of options.
    via u/phantom_avenger
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    bippityzippity I mean they had biology
    via u/bippityzippity
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    revesby9 With Jon and Dany it doesn't help that his chemistry with Ygritte was off the charts because of Rose and Kit's IRL romance
    via u/revesby9

  • Maybe Daenerys and Jon Snow weren't so bad, but in the wake of the palpable love between him and Ygritte, it definitely felt both lacking and rushed. 

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    NETFLIX Your Place Mine
    via Netflix
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    anongirl55 Ashton and Reese were painful to watch.
    via u/anongirl55
  • 08
    pandagurl1985 Jesus Christ this photo. Can't believe they were trying to sell a romantic comedy here.
    via u/pandagurl1985
  • 09
    merlotbarbie It's giving "divorced couple forced to stand together for a picture at their child's graduation"
    via u/merlotbarbie
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    TheMereWolf Even this photo has like negative chemistry
    via u/TheMereWolf
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    Cheezburger Image 10539814144
    via Tyler Adams/Netflix
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    Jonah Hill and Lauren London in the movie "You People" have zero chemistry. They couldn't even make the cgi kiss believable.
    via u/s*symbolsuperstar
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    unchartedfour It was really poorly done, and it felt so fake. I didn't want to finish it.
    via u/unchartedfour
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    Cheezburger Image 10539830016
    via Warner Bros
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    petits_riens omg yes, I didn't loveeeee harry/ ginny in the books but onscreen it was downright painful. danrad had way better chemistry with the actress that played luna imo.
    via u/petits_riens
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    ok-moni came here to say this. glad to see it FIRST. so deeply unconvincing. the most romantic moment in the entire series is harry and hermione dancing in the tent
    via u/ok-moni
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    xpgx They interacted exactly how my older brother's friends interacted with me. Vaguely caring, vaguely interested, but mostly had better things to do with their time.
    via u/xpgx
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    Cheezburger Image 10539824384
    via Everett Collection
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    Cara Delevigne and Dane DeHaan in Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. They felt more like siblings than a romantic couple.
    via u/Upbeat_Tension_8077
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    Aethelflaed_ I've not seen it but they look like siblings in this picture!
    via u/Aethelflaed_
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    adagioforstings I've only seen bits of pieces of that movie, and I assumed that they were siblings. It's wild to learn that they're supposed to be a romantic couple.
    via u/adagioforstings
  • 22
    Upbeat Tension_8077 I remember someone saying that Cara and Dane trading roles with Jennifer Lawrence & Chris Pratt in Passengers would've worked, and I can see that being the case
    via u/Upbeat_Tension_8077
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    Cheezburger Image 10539834368
    via Disney
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    Socrates970 Emily blunt and the Rock in jungle cruise. You could tell they were desperately trying to do the flirty banter scenes like in the mummy, but all their interactions were sooo awkward.
    via u/Socrates970
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    Cheezburger Image 10539834624
    via ©20thCentFox / Courtesy Everett Collection
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    Odd Policy_3009 Anne Hathaway and Adrien Grenier in the Devil Wears Prada
    via u/Odd_Policy_3009
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    Temporary-King3339 Does Adrien Grenier have chemistry with anyone other than Adrien Grenier?
    via u/Temporary-King3339
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    Cheezburger Image 10539834880
    via Universal Pictures
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    Jamie and Dakota in 50 Shades of Grey
    via u/getlowpapoose
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    Upside: it moved the movie from "bad" to "hilariously bad."
    via u/getlowpapoose
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    hufflefox I don't know. They pretty obviously hated each other. That could have worked with better material. Like Swayze and Grey hated each other in Dirty Dancing but it works.
    via u/hufflefox
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    المدار
    via The CW
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    DJ_Mixalot Navid and Silver from the 90210 reboot
    via u/DJ_Mixalot
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    SnooGuavas4208 Those names It's giving fanfiction leads.
    via u/SnooGuavas4208
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    Cheezburger Image 10539835136
    via Jasin Boland / The Associated Press
  • 36
    JustMaintenance7 Chris Hemsworth and Natalie Portman in the Thor movies
    via u/JustMaintenance7
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    yelyah66 I love how the scene where Thor and Jane have the best chemistry is when his wife stood in for her for the kiss.
    via u/yelyah66
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    Cheezburger Image 10539822080
    via u/
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    Joey and Rachel had sibling energy throughout the show. Joey's crush on her in S8 was a cute storyline but the whole drama in S9-10 was horrible as they had no romantic chemistry especially compared to Ross and Rachel
    via u/littlehybrid
  • 40
    tawandatoyou I read once that it was supposed to be revealed that Joey and phoebe are FWB for a lot of the show. But the writers went with this instead. The FWB thing between Joey and phoebe makes much more sense to me.
    via u/tawandatoyou
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    rythmicjea Even the actors hated it! They were like "they're siblings at this point! It doesn't make any sense!" And they tried to shoehorn it in after Emma was born. They needed to spend that season building Ross and Rachel's relationship back up again.
    via u/rythmicjea
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    2007
    via Warner Bros. Television
  • 43
    DektolDreams Vanessa and Nate from gossip girl. Always made me cringe
    via u/DektolDreams
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    gunstockmeow Vanessa was such an unbearable character it was tough for her to have chemistry with anyone
    via u/gunstockmeow
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    Cheezburger Image 10539836160
    via Universal Pictures
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    Cute Repeat3879 I must have seen Jurassic Park 10 times before I realized that Sam Neill and Laura Dern are supposed to be a romantic couple. I thought they were just coworkers.
    via u/Cute_Repeat3879
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    DisasterFartiste_69 Wait. WHAT? I thought they were at most flirty coworkers and would maybe go out in the future but realize it didn't work bc WHAT?
    via u/DisasterFartiste_69
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    Cheezburger Image 10539836416
    via Niko Tavernise/Warner Bros. Pictures
  • 49
    readerdl22 Zendaya and Timothy Chalamet in the Dune movies.
    via u/readerdl22
  • 50
    Pipry To be fair. Those characters don't have a whole lot of chemistry in the books either.
    via u/Pipry

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Celebrities-Entertainment-News acting throwback Game of Thrones actor romance movies Hall of Fame relationships Movies and TV hollywood celeb love Chemistry
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