11.
Monty Python’s Life of Brian stirred so much controversy that production company EMC pulled the funding just days before filming was set to begin.
George Harrison heard about this and paid for the entire production of the film with his own money.
1759
12.
During the filming of The Princess Bride, Mandy Patankin’s (Inigo Montoya) father died from cancer. When he came back from the funeral, they had to shoot the scene where he kills the six fingered man. It gives him a special fire in his eyes when he says “I want my father back, you son of a b*tch”.
ghryzzleebear
13.
In avengers, Robert Downey Jr would hide food around the sets and eat them while filming. The crew would attempt to find his stashes but never(?) did. All those times he was eating on screen were unscripted.
killaweb
14.
In Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers when Aragon, Gimli, and Legolas are approaching the pile of smoldering and dismembered corpses looking for Pipin and Mary, Vigo Mortensen kicks a helmeted Orc head and screams, thinking the hobbits are dead and gone.
It’s a really good scream and 100% authentic. When Mortensen kicked the head/helmet he broke two of his toes. He used the pain and stayed in character. They kept the scene for the movie.
15.
One of my favorites is from Predator
“Jesse Ventura was delighted to find out from the wardrobe department that his arms were 1″ bigger than Arnold Schwarzenegger’s. He suggested to Schwarzenegger that they measure arms, with the winner getting a bottle of champagne. Ventura lost because Schwarzenegger had told the wardrobe department to tell Ventura that his arms were bigger.”
16.
In Requiem for a Dream, there is a scene where Ellen Burnstyn gives a monologue about how terrible it is to grow old and useless (a scene credited for her Best Actress nomination). Unlike the rest of the movie where every shot is very carefully planned and framed, the camera here goes all shakey and off center.
This was not planned or intended, and director Darren Aronofsky started to throw a fit as soon as the scene was cut, because Ellen Burnstyn had just delivered an amazing performance and the cinematographer had screwed it all up.
As it turns out, the filming was screwed up because the cinematographer was so moved by Burnstyn’s performance that he was crying uncontrollably – he couldn’t hold the camera still, and couldn’t see because his crying fogged up the eyepiece.
They used that cut in the final film.
Bran_Solo
17.
When Coppola and Lucas (close friends and filmmaking buddies) were planning Apocalypse Now (which George Lucas was originally supposed to direct) they gave a small role to their carpenter, Harrison Ford, in return for Ford’s work on a desk for Coppola’s office. Ford also got a role in Lucas’ American Graffiti a few years prior this same way.
During the casting for Star Wars, Lucas needed someone to read Han Solo’s lines while actor’s auditioned for Luke. He quickly asked Ford to do it, and afterwards, one of the producers there came up to Lucas and pointed out that he already had his Han Solo in Ford. (Thus beating out Kurt Russell for the role).
18.
I think it was in the Shining, the kid didn’t know they were making a horror movie.
19.
The actors of Saving Private Ryan were put through basic training before filming, EXCEPT Matt Damon so that the other actors would build some sort of unconscious resentment towards his character
20.
Fight Club was filmed in chronological order, and throughout the filming Edward Norton put himself on a near-starvation diet and avoided the sun, while Brad Pitt spent a lot of time at the gym and in tanning salons. The end result is we see Tyler Durden getting stronger and healthier while the narrator withers away.
