This article was originally published on our site: storieswithpictures.com
Everyone loves watching movies, but we rarely think just how much effort the actors, actresses, directors, and crew members put into creating the masterpieces of cinematography we get to enjoy on the big screen. So what is actually happening behind the scenes of our favourite movies and TV shows? Here we've gathered all the weirdest and wildest things that have ever happened on sets of movies and series like The Matrix, Titanic, Stranger Things, The Wizard of Oz, and many more. Enjoy!
Thor: Ragnarok - The Improvised Line
Looking at all those cool action-packed Marvel movies with smart lines and hilarious dialogues, one does not expect to find out that most of them were improvised by the actors themselves.
But that's true! Directors often leave more freedom of expression to let the actors' sense of humour shine through - and most of the time it totally pays off. But sometimes smart one-liners don't come from the actors, but from the visitors on set.
Thor's famous hilarious line "He's a friend from work!" from Thor: Ragnarok actually came from a kid who was visiting the set that day. Chris Hemsworth recalled that the kid just ad-libbed the phrase and everyone loved it, so it stayed in the script!
How the Grinch Stole Christmas: A Movie That Made the Makeup Artist Check Into Therapy
Jim Carrey seems like a very reasonable guy right now, but that hasn't always been the case. Things have turned into an actual nightmare for everyone who worked on the Grinch movie back in 20oos - the actor was on the verge of mental breakdown most of the time, but he wasn't the only one...
The first time they put Jim Carrey into Grinch makeup it took around 8 hours and ended with Jim Carrey breaking a whole in the wall of his trailer. They cut down the time considerably after that, but it still required 3 hours of work, and the actor was letting off steam on his makeup artist.
In the end, the poor guy had to take a break from filming due to unbearable conditions. Although he did finish the Grinch movie with Jim Carrey, he needed to go to therapy afterwards. Yikes!
Titanic: Things Got a Bit Surreal After a Certain Clam Chowder
We all remember the Titanic movie for it's dramatic plot and stellar performances by Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, but most of the cast and crew of the movie remember due to one dangerous accident that happened behind the scenes.
One time when the crew and the cast had a lunch break, which usually happened during the night, someone spiked the clam chowder that was served that day with a drug that causes hallucinations, anxiety, blurred vision, amnesia, and a variety of other effects.
All this led to people dancing in conga lines, James Cameron getting lost on set, and later someone stabbing him with a pen... All in all it was relatively harmless, but the director was outraged because elderly people and children could have gotten hurt. And the worse thing - they never found out who did it!
Now You See Me: Living on the Edge
Filming a movie is never an easy experience, contrary to what some people may think looking at the luxurious lifestyles of celebrity actors and actresses. They work hard for that money and some of them even risk their lives!
This is exactly what happened on the set of Now You See Me. There was a scene when Isla Fisher got into a tank full of water to film a dangerous sequence. She was chained and fully submerged underwater. Her cuffs had quick-release magnet locks, but then something went wrong...
One of the chains got stuck and she ended up stranded underwater for real and started drowning! The filming crew thought that she was just acting, but then things got real and they managed to save her at the last minute. Phew!
Avengers: Endgame - It’s Time to Improvise
All MCU fans remember the scene of Tony Stark’s death – it’s one of the most tragic and tear-inducing scenes we’ve seen in a while. Well, the acting in that scene was so good that even the most cold-hearted people got teary-eyed, not to mention the ones that really loved Iron Man.
While that scene seemed like the most natural acting in the world, not many people know that it was so organic due to the fact that the actors had all the freedom to improvise as much as they wanted. They were given a brief outline of the scene, but the lines, expressions, and most of the actions were up to them.
That’s how the directors ended with this tragic, yet marvelous scene! Other directors should take notes, it’s quite a fresh approach, especially when it comes to such pivotal character death scenes.
The Matrix: A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words
The Matrix is one of those '90s cult movies that have instantly become iconic. To produce a movie of such scale and depth, the Wachowskis used all their imagination and hi-tech they could gather. But before The Matrix could become a movie, the Wachowskis had to convince the Warner Bros. it was worth the money.
The directors had only one other movie under their belt, so they had to be convincing. That's why the created a whole comic book of concept movie art depicting every scene in the future-to-be blockbuster!
Needless to say, the Warner Bros. were more than convinced it was worth the money and provided the directors with a $60 million budget. The Wachowskis hired Steve Skroce and Geoff Darrow to do the original sketches, and they did their job the best way possible!
The Wizard of Oz: Being a Witch is Tough
The Wizard of Oz is famous for being one of the most iconic movies of the century, but not many people realize just how tough it was on the set of the movie. Back in the day people cared less about the actors and more about the job that needed to be done.
This meant the props could poison you and some of them could even become a near-death experience! That's exactly what happened to Margaret Hamilton, who played the Wicked Witch of the West. During one scene when she was supposed to disappear in a plume of red smoke, the actress got badly hurt and was rushed to the hospital.
She got second and third-degree burns and had to spend a few weeks at the hospital recovering from the accident. Of course, she later refused to take part in any scenes that included fire, but her stunt double was hurt as well doing dangerous scenes instead.
Batman Begins: When Batmobile was Put to the Test
If you look at Batmobile out of the context, it might seem a bit surreal. We're used to seeing sci-fi vehicles in movies, but things can get a little bit hectic when it comes to real life.
When the crew of Batman Begins was moving the Batmobile throught the streets of Chicago something utterly unexpected happened. A drunken driver came out of nowhere and hit the gas pedal to the maximum. He just went for the Batmobile like it was the biggest enemy on Earth!
When he was later asked why he hit the car out of the blue, he confessed that he took it for an alien ship roaming the streets of Chicago. He actually thought it was an alien invasion! The Batmobile was sturdy enough to withstand the hit, but the whole crew was really taken aback by the accident.
Stranger Things: the Filming Was Delayed for 40 Minutes Due to... Glitter
As much fun as it was filming Stranger Things with the '80s vibe and a mysterious thriller plot that revolved around missing kids and creepy monsters, the production was often hindered by various things. In the end of the day, the childhood actors were still kids, so they did what kids do best - create chaos wherever they go.
Millie Bobby Brown is a great actress, but back when they were filming the first season of Stranger Things she was just 11 years old. She gave everyone a hard time with the kissing scene they added to the plot and was whining about it for two month! Of course, she did great, but it wasn't easy for her.
And one time she turned up on set covered in glitter from head to toe, innocently stating she had no idea where it came from. The TV show's creator Ross Duffer remember the whole thing with a laugh, but it took them 40 minutes to remove all the glitter!
Star Wars: A New Hope - The Dreadful Sandcrawlers
When it comes to the Star Wars Universe, everything is possible. But there's one quirky detail most fans don't know about that happened during the filming of Star Wars: A New Hope. It turns out, Sandcrawlers are mighty dangerous machines, at least in the eyes of people who have no idea what they are.
In the movie, Sandcrawlers are huge mobile fortresses that could house lots of people, including huge cargo holds and various facilities. While they might seem harmless in the movie, the Tunisian government thought otherwise.
In order to avoid any misunderstandings with Libya, the Tunisian government asked George Lucas to put Sandcrawlers as far away from the Libyan border as possible. It turns out, Libya mistook them for army vehicles and was threatening with military action!
Joker: Joaquin Phoenix Lost More Than 50 Pounds for the Role
Looking at Joaquin Phoenix in his normal weight you would never guess that it's the same actor who lost 52 pounds just for one movie role. Well, it was a make it or break it moment for the actor as this was one of the biggest challenges he has ever faced.
Both the actor and the director had a vision of troubled and malnourished Arthur Fleck, and to make that vision come true Joaquin Phoenix had to endure and excruciating diet that made him go from 180 lb. to 125 lb.
The actor admitted that there came a point that he didn't know whether he'd be able to do this, but his willpower ended up being strong enough. Of course, he consulted the doctor to perform the speedy weight-loss and after the movie was finished he got back to his normal weight.
It Chapter Two: Things Were Getting Too Bloody
When it comes to movie adaptations of Stephen King horror novels, nothing is too much. Well, at least that's what Jessica Chastain, the actress who played Bev, thought when she asked the director to create the bloodiest scene in movie history.
The scene was pegged 'Carrie on Steroids' and incorporated the use of 5,000 gallons of fake blood - that's the most fake blood any director has ever used in any movie!
The bloody scene in the bathroom stall took a whole day film, making the actress endure the cold liquid for hours of numerous takes. But she wasn't the only one who suffered that day - the movie's cinematographer Checco Varesse took the camera and went into the bloodbath with her to get some interesting angles. Of course, it was all worth it, but by the end of the day no one could even look at fake blood or even hear the word.
The Matrix: Does Everything Seem a Little Too Green?
This not-so-subtle detail is one of the things The Matrix movie is so famous for. You've probably noticed that everything in The Matrix has a greenish hue, especially when the action is taking place inside the Matrix and not in the 'real world'.
Well, there's a reason for that - the Wachowski's used the green colour palette to create that artificial feeling that should separate the real world from the Matrix. And their attention to detail was truly over the top!
It turns out it wasn't just special effects and post-production - the costume designer coloured every white piece of clothing worn by the actors in a green hue, so even the white shirts you see in the movie aren't actually white.
Stranger Things: The Cast was Literally Living in the '80s
It's not a secret the Duffer brothers are huge fans of the '80s, using all kinds of memorabilia and cool little detail to create the feeling of the long gone era.
Not only did they use old-school kitchen telephones with long cords and old Burger King logo, but they also paid a crazy amount of attention to the things the actors wore in the TV series.
Viewers don't know it, but everything on set is about the '80s, even the underwear everyone's wearing on the set of the show was '80s style! Millie Bobby Brown confessed in an interview with Teen Vogue: "We genuinely live in the '80s world when we are on set. Everything, to the underwear that we're given. We get tighty-whiteys."
Alien: The Scare of a Lifetime
When it comes to filming horror movies it's very important to have genuine emotions on set. And what better to convey the terror of a body-bursting alien scene than by actually scaring the bejeezus out of the actors?
Ridley Scott didn't want the actors to know what's coming in the infamous scene that has frightened millions of people all over the world, so he held back all the details - everyone saw the mechanical version of the alien bursting out of John Hurt's chest for the first time on set!
Naturally, they were scared out of their minds. While Sigourney Weaver managed to stay in the role, actress Veronica Cartwright passed out from the gruesome sight. It looked so terrifying that they actually got scared for the actor who played the host.
The Passion of the Christ: And the Lightning Strikes
Mel Gibson's controversial movie about the last days of Jesus Christ has as many fans as it has haters. It does show some surreal things that don't seem Biblical at all (like the Devil carrying around a strange little person), but what most viewers don't know is that the production of the movie itself was infested with weird happenings.
While filming the Sermon on the Mount, Jim Caviezel, the actor who played Jesus Christ, was struck by a lightning. According to the actor, he felt it coming and knew he was going to be hit at least four seconds before it happened. But then the assistant director came - and he got hit by the lightning, too!
This time everyone saw the bolt hit Jon Mikalini and they were left speechless after it happened the second time in just 5 minutes after Caviezel. But that wasn't the end of torture for Caviezel - during the whipping scene he got accidentally whipped for real - twice!
The Crow: A Death That Actually Happened on Set
Not many people have heard of Brandon Lee, the son of the martial arts legend Bruce Lee - that's because he passed away long before he got famous as an actor due to a tragic accident that happened on set.
Brandon Lee still left his mark in the world of cinematography playing the leading role in a gothic movie The Crow that became a cult classic in the early '90s. In it, Brandon Lee portrayed a musician resurrected from the dead to avenge both his and his fiancée's murders.
But alas, his breakout role was also his last one - during the filming the actor got shot with an actual bullet that somehow got inside a prop gun. The prop crew decided to make their own fake cartridges, but they failed, and one bullet got fired like a real one. What's even spookier, his father had a similar scene in one of his movies, when his character was killed by gangsters who put real bullets into a prop gun.
The Amityville Horror: Things Got A Little Too Real
When it comes to filming horror movies, all kinds of things happen. The vibe on the movie set becomes so creepy that even the most cheerful people feel the heavy atmosphere. Starring Ryan Reynolds and Melissa George, the movie tells a story of a married couple who moves into a new house with their kids.
Then, of course, all sorts of demonic things start happening. But imagine the surprise of the whole cast, when they had to stop filming the movie because an actual dead body washed up on shore not far from the movie set.
Naturally, everyone was taken aback, but that was not the end of creepiness. All actors and actresses who took part in the movie kept on waking up at 3.15 a.m. - that is the exact time the murders happened in the real life events depicted in the movie. Once the movie was finished everyone sighed with relief!
Interstellar: Christopher Nolan Becoming a Corn Farmer
There are so many weird and wonderful things we've seen in Interstellar, but what most people don't realize is just how much attention Christopher Nolan, the movie's director, pays to detail to make everything believable and life-like.
While most directors rely on CGI most of the time, Christopher Nolan like to go old-school in his movies. That's why when he needed a whole field of corn for his movie, he didn't just use special effects to create - he actually planted the whole thing!
For the plot, he needed a place with a mountain view and vast fields of corn, but, apparently, there aren't many places like that. That's why he and his crew tried growing the crops in Western Canada, where the filming took place, spending more that $100 on corn only. Despite all the grim prospects, the corn survived! And Christopher Nolan even made some profit selling it later.
To the Ends of the Earth: When Benedict Cumberbatch was Kidnapped... for Real!
When it comes to making movies there are all kinds of dangers present on set - from awkward moves that can get you injured, to stunts that go bad and even pressure that can stress out even the most experienced actor.
But something entirely different happened to Benedict Cumberbatch and his co-stars during the filming of miniseries To the Ends of the Earth. They were driving back from a scuba diving session, but then the car's tire blew off and they had to make a stop in the middle of the night, in South Africa, on a road stretch notorious for armed robberies.
The actor was held at gunpoint and got stuffed into the trunk of a car. All of them were tied up pretty badly - as Cumberbatch confessed he couldn't even feel his hands at some point. They were robbed of their belonging, wallets, and cards, but fortunately for the stars they got out of that ordeal alive and unhurt. After that incident in 2004, Benedict Cumberbatch decided to live a truly extraordinary life - and so he did!
