A lot of us hate our jobs, so it makes sense that a few actors have been left unhappy with the roles they've been cast to play. But hey, you gotta work.

The star of You, Penn Badgley has spoken recently about how uncomfortable he feels receiving messages of adoration from fans. In the show, he plays a creepy stalker and murderer. Messages he's received online apparently go along the lines of "kidnap me, please".

A few Kiwis have also spoken about how the roles they've been cast in have made them uncomfortable.

SUPPLIED Temuera Morrison played character Jake the Muss in Alan Duff's critically acclaimed Once Were Warriors.

Of course, actors must play complex and often disturbing roles.

In the 1994 film Once Were Warriors, actors such as Temuera Morrison and Cliff Curtis were required to portray violent criminal thugs.

The film's popularity has haunted the cast, who are still asked about it 25 years later.

Morrison, who played Jake The Muss, said the character "is there with me for life now".

He took part in a video for Women's Refuge, in an attempt to help people living in violent households. In the video, he said he was disturbed that some young men glorify Jake.

STUFF Fresh from LA, Avatar star Cliff Curtis spoke to west Auckland students about the film industry and the future of Māori cinema.

Likewise, his screen mate Curtis has spoken about how he no longer wants to be defined by the role he played in 1994.

He had played Bully in the film about poverty, domestic and sexual abuse. Last year, he told Stuff he no longer wants to look back at the time.

"If someone goes back and keeps referring to a past event to build a picture of who they are, that's a very damaging possibility," he said.

Reid Walker, who plays Harry Warner on Shortland Street.

Sometimes, it's not the dark stories being told but the ridiculousness of a character which agitates actors.

Reid Walker, who played Harry Warner on Shortland St, said he found the character annoying.

But at least he could understand Warner's issues. "He can definitely be annoying," Walker said. "He's got his own issues going on... It's just the way he's been brought up."

Lucy Lawless as Xena.

And on the other end of a scale, actors such as Lucy Lawless have talked about how uncomfortable they felt to suddenly be held up as positive or progressive icons.

To be a role model, all of a sudden, can be confronting.

After the first season of Xena: Warrior Princess, Lawless shot to stardom. She was held up, by many, as a feminist icon and a sign of big changes in the entertainment industry.

"Xena was held up as a fat girl's Barbie at first and I was like 'You're just objectifying me'. I had never been described before in print and it horrified me to be reduced down to a few words," she said, in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.

"Now I see the value of it. At 25 and 26, I couldn't bear to be iconised, because it's so reductive."