It’s often hard to tell where the performance ends and the real actor begins when viewing great movies, and the power of the material can occasionally mean that an actor breaks down for real. It may be that the performer was so emotionally invested in their role that they truly broke down and cried on camera, or these genuine reactions can also result from events that the actors were unaware of and unprepared for. These instances can lead to truly spellbinding performances, and it’s fascinating to hear the behind-the-scenes details that viewers may not have been previously privy to.
Some of cinema’s greatest moments were improvised scenes that were not part of the original script, as actors brought their personal experiences into the scene. While other times, directors and co-stars crossed professional boundaries to get certain reactions from another actor, the fact that the performers didn’t call cut and allowed their experiences to be used in the film was a testament to their professionalism and commitment to their work. There have been some movie scenes where the lines between fact and fiction started to blur, and actors gave themselves entirely to the scene.
10
Desperado (1995)
Salma Hayek was uncomfortable filming her love scene
Salma Hayek’s breakout role came with the release of Desperado, the second part of Robert Rodriguez’s Western-action series titled the Mexico Trilogy. With Antonio Banderas as El Mariachi, a man seeking vengeance against a sinister drug lord, Hayek played the beautiful bookstore owner Carolina, who tended to El Marchi’s wounds. However, Hayek later revealed that the filming of Desperado was a traumatic experience for her (via Hollywood Reporter) and that she had difficulties with her love scene.
Hayek stressed that Rodriguez and Banderas “were amazing” and that they “never put pressure” on her.
Hayek said when she first landed the role, there was no mention of a love scene between her character and Banderas, and it was only brought to her attention after production began. While Hayek agreed to film the scene on a closed set, she began to cry and told Rodriguez, “I’m afraid.” While Hayek stressed that Rodriguez and Banderas “were amazing” and that they “never put pressure” on her, as an inexperienced actress, she had difficulty filming such an intimate scene and couldn’t stop thinking about her family having to watch the finished movie.
9
The Shining (1980)
Shelley Duvall’s terrified reactions were the result of genuine exhaustion
The Shining has rightfully earned its reputation among the greatest horror movies ever made, but for actress Shelley Duvall, her experiences were far more terrifying than can be reasonably expected on set. While the most commonly retold story claimed that director Stanley Kubrick traumatized Duvall during the filming of The Shining, the truth about her experiences was a lot more nuanced than that, although she did have a difficult time. Kubrick and Duvall clashed during the filming of The Shining, and she spoke in interviews in the years before her death (via Far Out) that the role of Wendy Torrence was emotionally and physically exhausting.
Duvall said that she had to force her body into a constant state of panic to meet Kubrick’s expectations for her character and that the director’s refusal to use anything “until at least the 35th take” was debilitating. Wendy’s terrified reaction to her deranged husband Jack’s pursuit of her was genuine, as Kubrick’s filming style pushed Duvall to her absolute limits. While Kubrick’s need for perfectionism has been widely praised, the difficulties that Duvall faced onset brought up ethical questions around how far a filmmaker should be able to push actors out of their comfort zone.
8
Kramer Vs. Kramer (1979)
Meryl Streep’s reactions to Dustin Hoffman’s unplanned aggression were real
The legal drama Kramer vs. Kramer was an intense look at a couple’s divorce and the difficult impact this has on their young son. With Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Street as the collapsing couple Ted and Joanna Kramer, the two actors powerful performances gained the film the Best Picture win at the Oscars and highlighted urgent social issues such as gender roles, fathers’ rights, work-life balance, and single parents. However, one controversial aspect of Kramer vs. Kramer came with Streep’s revelation years later that one of her scenes was real and her reaction was genuine.
Hoffman slapped Streep without warning in a moment that crossed the line from acting to abuse.
This came in the scene when Ted and Joanna were arguing, and Hoffman slapped Streep without warning in a moment that crossed the line from acting to abuse (via Collider.) Streep and Hoffman often clashed on set, and further incidents like Hoffman breaking the wine glass in the famous “I want my son” scene were also unplanned. While Streep’s ability to deliver such an exceptional performance under such difficult circumstances was commendable, Hoffman’s behavior pushed well past the point of acceptability.
7
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 (2011)
Oliver Phelps genuinely shed tears when filming Fred Weasley’s death scene
The final Harry Potter movie was a truly an emotional whirlwind as Harry sought to find and destroy Lord Voldemort’s Horcruxes and stop him once and for all. While this surely a highly intense filming experience for the lead stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson, it was a different performer who broke down for real while filming. This was due to the heartbreaking nature of Fred Weasley’s death in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, as real-life twins James and Oliver Phelps had to imagine the difficulties of one of them dying for real.
Oliver, who played Fred’s grieving twin, George, told Cosmopolitan UK that to get into the proper emotional state for the scene, he thought “about loved ones, I’ve lost over the years” and that when the make-up artist sprayed him with eucalyptus, he was “crying for real at that point.” While Oliver was forced to confront the very nature of death itself and work up the required emotions for the scene, for his brother James, it was a different story. “It was the easiest day of work for me, I just lay there,” James joked in the same interview.
6
Alien (1979)
The cast did not know about the chestburster scene in advance
Even 45 years after audiences first witnessed it, the chestburster scene from Alien is still the stuff of nightmare fuel. As the legacy of Ridley Scott’s trailblazing sci-fi horror continues with the recent release of Alien: Romulus, it’s still the iconic scene where an extraterrestrial burst out of the chest of John Hurt’s Kane still has the power to shock and horrify viewers. Part of the power of this scene was not just the unexpected horror of this otherworldly creature, but the believaiblity of the cast’s reactions, which made sense because they were truly shocked for real as they did not know it was happening.
According to Empire, the cast of Alien were just as surprised by Kane’s fate as audiences were, as Scott did not tell them because he wanted a “hardcore reaction.” Alien actor Yaphet Kotto admitted he wondered, “What the hell was going on?” when he noticed the rest of the crew wearing plastic sheets for the filming of the scene. While the clues were there, the Alien actors were none the wiser, and their shocked reactions to this iconic scene were genuine.
5
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
Allen Danziger’s terrified reaction to seeing Leatherface for the first time was genuine
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre was one of the most influential horror movies of all time and, to this day, remains a benchmark by which all other slashers are compared. As a terrifying independent horror by Tobe Hooper, this first entry in the long-running franchise introduced the terrifying, chainsaw-wielding, skin-wearing serial killer known as Leatherface. While audiences were quaking in their boots when he first appeared on screen, this was nothing compared to Allen Danziger’s genuine reaction as he had to experience Leatherface up close and personal.
Danziger, who played Jerry in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, revealed in an interview with Grasy Kid Stuff Magazine that the first time he saw Leatherface was actually a moment he caught on film and that he let out a “bloodcurdling scream.” This moment was so frightening that filming had to be cut because Danziger started screaming before Leatherface had even entered the shot. Jerry was then killed with a sledgehammer, and Danziger joked that even though it’s been five decades since the movie was released, he’s “still getting headaches.”
4
Die Hard (1988)
Alan Rickman’s shocked reaction as Hans Gruber fell to his death was real
Although Die Hard was the movie that turned Bruce Willis into a Hollywood star, it also delivered one of cinema’s best villains in the role of Hans Gruber. Alan Rickman played this East German criminal mastermind to perfection, and his popularity was so great that he was voted No. 4 on Empire’s list of the Greatest Movie Villains of All Time, only beaten by Darth Vader, The Joker, and Loki. However, the only thing that can outdo Rickman’s characters’ living actions is Hans Gruber’s death scene, which has aged incredibly well due to the genuine shock displayed by the actor.
The sight of Gruber falling to his death became one of Die Hard’s most iconic moments as he was dangling from the top of the tower and dramatically fell to his death in slow motion. While Rickman was nervous about the stunt, he agreed to do the fall himself, and Die Hard stunt coordinator Charlie Picerni told him he would be dropped on the count of three. However, to catch Rickman off guard, he was dropped at “one,” and the terrified look on Gruber’s face was, in fact, Rickman’s perplexed shock at the last-minute change.
3
I, Tonya (2017)
Margot Robbie improvised Tonya Harding’s powerful mirror scene
This biopic about the controversial American figure skater Tonya Harding and her connection to the 1994 assault on her rival was an astounding showcase of Margot Robbie’s incredible talent. Robbie’s portrayal in I, Tonya earned her an Academy Award nomination as she embodied the tragic complexities of the real-life sports star. While this film was packed with intense and humorous scenes, there was one scene in particular that secured Robbie’s Oscar nomination.
This was the moment just before Tonya was about to go on the ice and secure her Olympic dream as she applied makeup while looking in the mirror and attempted to fake a smile. As genuine tears poured down Tonya’s face, this scene was packed with heartbreaking emotion that Robbie wasn’t in the script and wasn’t planned. Robbie told Variety that the powerful scene was improvised and the crying was a result of an overwhelming day on set.
2
Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
Bob Hoskins suffered from hallucinations of cartoons after filming ended
While there’s plenty of Who Framed Roger Rabbit trivia, one piece of information that showcased how intense the shoot was relates to its lead actor, Bob Hoskins. As Eddie Valiant, a private investigator with a grudge against cartoons, Hoskins played his role in this part live-action, part animated classic to perfection. However, Hoskins also broke down for real and went a little looney throughout the shoot. Although viewers got to see him interacting with cartoons on the big screen, he spent months filming scenes where he pretended they were there.
Hoskins later said, “Roger Rabbit drove me mad” (via Express) and admitted that he spent months suffering hallucinations of cartoon characters as he had to train himself to truly believe the animated characters were there while the cameras rolled. Once filming had wrapped, Hoskins found it hard to turn this off after eight months of playing pretend. The problem became so bad that Hoskins said his daughter told him to “slow down” and that he was “going barmy.”
1
The Revenant (2015)
Leonardo DiCaprio braved incredible hash conditions for his role as Hugh Glass
Until he finally took home the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in The Revenant, Leonardo DiCaprio was Hollywood’s most notable Oscar-less star. This changed as a result of his performance as Hugh Glass in Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s thrilling story of survival in the blistering cold of an 1820s Rocky Mountain fur trading expedition. After being mauled by a bear, Glass struggled to survive as he relentlessly trudged back to society. While DiCaprio earned Hollywood’s most coveted award for his portrayal, he did so only after putting himself through a production shoot that nearly broke him.
Despite being a vegan and an animal rights activist, DiCaprio slept in animal carcasses and ate raw vision for his role as Glass (via Vanity Fair.) Iñárritu himself described the shooting of The Revenant as “a living hell” as the entire cast and crew were forced to endure freezing temperatures, and they traversed the globe searching for the appropriate snowing conditions needed to film. DiCaprio’s willingness to embrace a method acting style worked out, and although it pushed him to his absolute limit, he gained widespread acclaim and accolades for his role.
Sources: Hollywood Reporter, Far Out, Collider, Cosmopolitan UK, Empire, Grasy Kid Stuff Magazine, Empire, Variety, Vanity Fair
