Yeah Alec Guinness similarly ridiculed his role in Star Wars as some banality beneath a thespian of his stature, and his desire for a diminished role in the subsequent films was part of the reason Obi-wan Kenobi was changed to die at Darth Vader's hand in the first film. Supposedly he was originally scripted to live through the following films.
If they're such uncompromising artists, then why take these roles that are supposedly beneath them? Oh, high ideals aren't keeping the lights on and the pantry stocked? It does annoy me when people who are paid handsomely to, in essence, pretend and play make-believe as full grown adults, and then have the temerity to scoff at a director, a producer, or worst of all the fans who might have genuinely liked that insipid, beneath-your-contempt role.
