Tori Spelling Says 2003 Film Ordeal Pushed Her to Seek Uncredited Exit

Q: Why did Tori Spelling beg her manager to get her fired and completely erased from a 2003 sci-fi comedy?

Tori Spelling said she begged her manager to get her fired from *Evil Alien Conquerors* and asked to be erased from the credits because the shoot became, in her view, a humiliating and emotionally draining experience. Spelling said she joined the 2003 sci-fi comedy hoping it would be a fun comedic break after *Beverly Hills, 90210* and help expand her image beyond being known as Aaron Spelling’s daughter. Instead, she said director Chris Matheson repeatedly criticized her performance from the moment she arrived on set, often asking for retakes and telling her to do “less.” According to Spelling, the criticism was constant whether she had one line or a longer scene, and she felt singled out because Matheson would call her out by name in front of the cast and crew. She said the repeated notes damaged her confidence to the point that she stopped putting much feeling into the role and went to work each day feeling like “a puddle.” She ultimately asked her manager to have her fired and recast because she felt the situation was too hard to endure. She also requested that her name be removed from the finished film, and today she remains uncredited for her role as Jan. Matheson disputed the idea of personal animus, saying, “I’m sorry she felt that way. I like Tori personally. I just think we have some different ideas about comedy.”

1 articles · Updated · Yahoo! Voices · Aug 15

Tori Spelling, 53, called 2003 comedy "Evil Alien Conquerors" the worst movie experience of her career, saying director Chris Matheson repeatedly criticized her performance on set.
On Stephen Baldwin's "One Bad Movie" podcast, she said Matheson kept asking her to tone down her comedy, often singling her out by name in front of the cast until she stopped putting emotion into scenes.
The experience left Spelling asking her manager to have her fired and recast, and she later requested to be uncredited in the finished film; her name does not appear on it now.
Matheson, now 67, told PEOPLE he was sorry she felt that way and said they simply had different ideas about comedy.