Even hardworking people have a saturation point. Be it a regular office job or film shooting, no one wants to make money at the cost of a mental peace or bone. Yes! Actors have to do more than just reading outlines and mugging them up. They are often asked to do dangerous stunts or get ridiculed and tormented by impatient and angry directors. You will be surprised to know that playing these iconic roles was so excruciating that they were on edge of quitting. Find out the 10 wild reasons that forced the actors to almost quit their roles.
Al Pacino in The Godfather
It was Francis Ford Coppola’s insistence that made Paramount cast Al Pacino, almost a fresher, in “The Godfather”. The studios treated him like a nobody and often attacked him with condescending remarks. But things went over the bridge for Al Pacino, he was almost about to quit and said “Look man, I don’t want to be where I’m not wanted”. But Coppola intervened on time and convinced Pacino to stay.
Carl Weathers in Rocky IV
Shooting for “Rocky IV” wasn’t a memorable trip for the cast and crew as it involved a lot of blood and broken ribs. Actor Carl Weathers was determined to walk out after being tossed like a rag doll by Dolph Lundgren multiple times. He had stopped showing up on the sets, thus compelling Sylvester Stallone to convince him for four consecutive days.
Daniel Franzese in Bully
Daniel Franzese is known for playing Damian in the popular teen film “Mean Girls”. The actor claimed that he was cruelly bullied and ill-treated while filming “Bully”. He accused actress Bijou Phillips of sexual and physical assault, body shaming, and homophobia on the movie sets. Daniel had written, “I was greeted at the door with homophobia, body shaming, and abuse”.
Ian McKellen in The Hobbit
How did sitting in one room in front of your laptop throughout 2020 treat you? Turned you cuckoo, sick, and nauseous? Then you can easily empathize with Ian McKellen when he had to reprise his role as Gandalf. The actor was confined to one room and had to shoot by himself in front of the green screen most of the time. It made him so sick that he almost threw up and decided to walk away by stating that “I don’t want to make this film…. I act with other people, I don’t act on my own”.
Jim Carrey in The Grinch
Think of the most animated and funniest actor in the industry and Jim Carrey’s face is bound to pop up. But even “The Mask” actor gave up on filming the Christmas movie “The Grinch”. After spending 8-hours repeatedly for a few days on the makeup chair, Carrey realized that he couldn’t continue it for the rest of the filming. But the directors insisted hard and hired a professional who specialized in training CIA agents to endure torture and pain. He trained Carrey to tolerate 8-hours of prosthetics makeup every day.
Tippi Hedren in The Birds
Alfred Hitchcock is still remembered for his iconic movies like “Psycho” and “The Birds”. But the director’s name has also frequently shown up in the list of cruelest directors. He was quite infamous for treating the actresses in his movie poorly. During the shoot of “The Birds”, Tippi Hedren was lied to about shooting with mechanical birds. She was thrown at the mercy of wild and violent birds for days that left her wounded and mentally disturbed. They were forced to give her a break after the doctor recommended so.
Daisy Ridley in The Force Awakens
Daisy Ridley got her big break in “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”. But achieving it took a big toll on the actress. She was ready to give up her big dream and walk out of the set because of JJ Abrams. It was the actress’s first day on the set and she was still grasping things when JJ Abrams reportedly criticized her work constantly.
Jeremy Renner in The Avengers
Not just Marvel fans, even Jeremy Renner had issues with Hawkeye. He didn’t mind being a mere human being with exceptional skills but no superpowers. But what bothered him was playing Loki’s mind-controlled puppet for most of the part rather than fighting along with the Avengers. Renner had even suggested getting his character killed in the first movie, “The Avengers”.
Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio in The Abyss
Mary Elizabeth had to quietly endure a painful CPR scene where she was slapped, hit, and got her chest pressed hard in “The Abyss”. But to her dismay, it was later discovered that the camera was not working the whole time. So, she had to go through the slapping, hitting, and chest-compressing all over again.
Gene Hackman in The French Connection
According to reports, director William Friedkin left no room for doubt that he disliked Gene Hackman. Some believe that he put Hackman through challenging situations on purpose just to torment him. Once Hackman has almost backed out when William made him do an uncomfortable fight scene in almost 27 takes.
