‘Baywatch Was Really Sad For Me’: Alexandra Daddario Gets Candid About ‘Finicky Hollywood’ And Times She Thought Her Career Was Over

Alexandra Daddario has had quite a career over the years. She’s seen incredible success with shows like The White Lotus. However, the actress admits that she’s also seen some pretty significant low points in her career, so much so that she’s sometimes wondered if her career was over. She specifically remembers the Baywatch movie, which had a great deal of hype, but ended up flopping pretty hard.

Alexandra Daddario came to most people’s attention after she was cast as Annabeth in Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief in 2010. Since then she’s never seemed to have trouble finding work, but she admits to Man Of Many that there have been times she’s been worried about that. She knows she’s made her share pf “bad” movies, and she knows that can damage a career. Daddario said… 

There’s been times in my career that I think my career is over. You do a string of bad movies. Hollywood is finicky.

It’s hard to disagree with Alexandra Daddario here. Hollywood certainly can be finicky. We’ve seen numerous stars seemingly become the “It” celebrity of the moment, only to watch them fade into obscurity, replaced by the next hot commodity. 

Daddario admits there was one “bad” movie that hurt a bit more than others. She joined the Baywatch cast alongside Dwayne Johnson and Zac Efron. The size and scope of the movie were big, and it was based on an incredibly popular TV series. Unfortunately, the movie was not the hit that many were hoping for. Daddario continued… 

Listen, that’s how it goes. What are you going to do? I mean, more often than not, the things I do, everyone hates or no one sees. I’ve been in so many movies that have been so poorly reviewed, and it hurts. Baywatch was very sad for me because there was so much hinging on it. It was so big, and you have your face on every billboard, and then it just didn’t work, and that was painful. But life goes on. I’m lucky to have that experience. It helped in certain ways.

As the female lead of Baywatch Alexandra Daddario wasn’t just in Baywatch, she was a significant presence in the film's promotion. Daddario also trained hard for the movie, as did her co-star, Zac Efron, who has complained about what he put his body through. As such, she likely felt the movie was far more important to her career than some of the other things she had done. Had it been a hit, it likely would have been great for her career. 

It seems that Alexandra Daddario has taken the bad movies and rather than simply look at them as potential career stumbling blocks, she now sees them as learning experiences. She knows that careers in Hollywood, not just hers, are tough, and she now thinks it's good to have had these experiences, as it likely helps her in the long run.

Following Alexandra Daddario’s Emmy-nominated performance in The White Lotus, the actress is back on top. She seems comfortable there.

Dirk Libbey
Content Producer/Theme Park Beat

CinemaBlend’s resident theme park junkie and amateur Disney historian, Dirk began writing for CinemaBlend as a freelancer in 2015 before joining the site full-time in 2018. He has previously held positions as a Staff Writer and Games Editor, but has more recently transformed his true passion into his job as the head of the site's Theme Park section. He has previously done freelance work for various gaming and technology sites. Prior to starting his second career as a writer he worked for 12 years in sales for various companies within the consumer electronics industry. He has a degree in political science from the University of California, Davis.  Is an armchair Imagineer, Epcot Stan, Future Club 33 Member.