The lives of actors seem pretty glamorous on the outside but the reality is far different. Making a movie or TV show is one of the most difficult and messy jobs in the world. There are several teams who are assigned with 100-different duties which must be completed within a specified period of time. Coordinating the design department, scriptwriters, costume designers, special effects team, etc., can easily make someone want to pull their hair out. This tense environment is escalated with creative differences, ego clashes among the actors, and disagreements between directors and producers over budget. One can make a movie out of the bizarre stories that run behind the scenes during the productions. We have listed 10 such shocking moments that occurred on the movie sets.
1. Star Trek
The crew used to burn down the sets after every season of Star Trek. This happened from II to IV since they never thought they’d return for a sequel. Who knows? It may have been their way of therapy to bid goodbye to the hectic set. Haven’t you ever blown your books in the air post-exams? No? Okay!
2. Blade Runner
The British director of ‘Blade Runner’, Ridley Scott faced a country-war on his set. According to reports, Scott once shared his experiences with both American and British crew. While the English always said “Yes Guv’nor”, the Americans didn’t listen to him. This led to a T-shirt battle where the American crew wore shirts that read “Yes Guv’nor my a$$” and the English wore “Xenophobia Sucks”. Thankfully, this turned out to be a hilarious moment and eased things up.
3. Predator
The studio had hired a special bodyguard for Sonny Landham. However, this bodyguard’s job wasn’t to protect him but to protect the others from him on the set. This idea was initiated by the insurance team of ‘Predator’ due to Sonny’s aggressive reputation
4. Kong: Skull Island
Times have changed. The more employees are looking for meaning in their work, the tougher it is getting to keep them. A crew member of ‘Kong: Skull Island’ left the movie because he/she couldn’t make sense of a scene. This is the moment where Kong’s eyes were glowing in the fog for no reason.
5. Star Trek: The Next Generation
Patrick Stewart gave a good scare to young Wil Wheaton on the sets of Star Trek. In order to freak out Wheaton for fun, Patrick casually asked him to “set a course for Rigel IV” then later go to him and give a blow.
6. Galaxy Quest
Sigourney Weaver has always been a brunette but her character in ‘Galaxy Quest’ was blonde. She liked her new look so much that she often left the set with the wig and the chest pads still on for a change.
7. Knives Out
Actor Christopher Plummer was bombarded with a fan who had a major crush on him. Apparently, this fan didn’t leave Huston alone even for a second during the breaks. Where was the security, you ask? Well, their hands were tied since this fan was none other than the director, Rian Johnson.
8. You Can’t Do That On Television
The Nickelodeon TV show should have been named “You Can’t Do That On The Sets”. According to reports, the director kept several guns at his office and used one of them to threaten the crew members after they were caught giving drugs to the kids on the show.
9. Independence Day
Helicopters with flashlights were used in ‘Independence Day’ to communicate with the aliens. Interestingly, the locals around assumed these very lights to be the UFO and called cops to the set.
10. The Island
Scarlett Johansson’s character was supposed to strip until she was in her innerwear. But when she refused to come out of her trailer, the director assumed that she was not comfortable with this part and went to talk to her. To his surprise, the talented actress understood her character more than he did and reportedly insisted on going n*de. The director couldn’t keep her wishes as the film was PG-13.
