Just because an actor is contracted to film a movie, that doesn't mean they're forced
to do every scene in the original script.
From nudes to feuds, here's a look at movie scenes that actors refused to film.
As super-spy Eggsy in the Kingsman series, Taron Egerton has skyrocketed from a relative
unknown to an in-demand leading man.
Despite his worldwide success, a steamy scene with Poppy Delevingne in the second installment
of the spy franchise, Kingsman: The Golden Circle, was a little too hot for him to handle.
In the scene, Egerton's Eggsy is under pressure to place a tracking device, uh, inside Delevingne's
Clara during an intimate moment.
However, Egerton was incredibly uncomfortable with the planned scene.
"I'm sorry, I can't.
I'm in a relationship."
"That's adorable."
Instead, Delevingne's real-life husband played Eggsy's hand in the shot.
Egerton himself seemed relieved, later saying, "He saved the world."
Back in 2008, Four Christmases sounded like the best idea since Christmas tree cakes and
rum-spiked eggnog.
Put America's sweetheart Reese Witherspoon and funnyman Vince Vaughn together as a couple
that's forced to spend Christmas with their disapproving, divorced relatives and holiday
chaos ensues.
However, the reviews were abysmal, with many critics panning the lack of chemistry between
the leads.
As it turns out, it was a Christmas miracle the film got finished at all, since Witherspoon
and Vaughn couldn't stand each other.
The two were complete opposites from the beginning: She arrived bright and early to the set; he
would wander in looking like he partied the night before.
She wanted to rehearse and block scenes; he wanted to ad-lib.
Their relationship grew so cold that Reese is reported to have refused a bedroom scene
with Vaughn which was ultimately scrapped from the finished film.
It sounds like there could've been a better way for the two co-stars to get along.
"Even Santa Claus don't love me!"
"Hey, that's not gonna bring back Santa, that's not gonna bring-"
"When he gets to hurting inside and can't use his emotion words, he takes to streaking."
If you've ever seen Borat, Bruno, or basically any of Sacha Baron Cohen's work, you know
the dude has zero issues with filming in his birthday suit.
So it's no surprise that he expects the same nonchalance about nudity from his co-stars.
However, one of his famous female scene partners flat-out refused to go nude, despite Cohen's
badgering.
Rebel Wilson is known for her bawdy, anything-goes brand of humor.
However, she refuses to go nude and it is written into her contract that her clothes
stay on.
In 2016's The Brothers Grimsby, Wilson played the girlfriend of Cohen's screw-up turned
spy character, and one scene called for full-frontal nudity, against her wishes.
Wilson won the battle, not that many people would know.
The Brothers Grimsby earned an atrocious $25 million total at the worldwide box office,
or less than what Borat made in one weekend.
Amber Heard has gone nude on film before, but when it came time to go topless for 2018's
London Fields, she flat-out refused, and consequently was sued by producers for $10 million.
Based on the novel of the same name, the film stars Heard as Nicola Six, a clairvoyant femme
fatale who predicts she'll be murdered by one of her three lovers.
Given both the script and the novel it was based on contained nude scenes, producers
argued that Heard was well aware she'd be asked to go nude.
Producers argued that her unwillingness to strip for the film severely disrupted the
production and that she tried to pull the film from the Toronto International Film Festival
lineup in 2015.
The production company, Nicola Six Limited, sued Heard for $10 million, or about 40 times
what London Fields eventually made at the domestic box office when it was finally released
in 2018.
Its $250,000 take makes it one of the biggest bombs in history.
The 1994 romantic comedy I Love Trouble is most remembered these days for inspiring one
of the most notorious co-star feuds ever.
Julia Roberts and Nick Nolte star as dueling Chicago reporters chasing the same scoop.
Murder, mayhem and romance ensue, and while the filmmakers were hoping for a Tracy-Hepburn
spark, what they got was a Nolte-Roberts dumpster fire.
"Peterson!"
"Self-defense classes.
A must for a woman in the 90s."
Supposedly, Roberts disliked Nolte's loutish machismo so much that she would insult him
on set.
Nolte grew so tired of this that he'd act up just to spite her.
It got so bad the two refused to film their scenes together and acted with stand-ins instead.
Roberts and Nolte played nice during promotion, but proving that time does not heal all wounds,
they continued to hold a grudge years later.
In 2003, Roberts called Nolte a "disgusting" human being.
Nolte responded:
"It's not nice to call someone 'disgusting.'
But she's not a nice person.
Everyone knows that."
Nick Nolte has been nominated for an Academy Award three times, while Julia Roberts won
one for 2000's Erin Brockovich.
Sounds like both of them deserved an Oscar for even briefly pretending to like each other.
Jim Caviezel became a household name, if not a Hollywood A-lister, for his role as Jesus
Christ in Mel Gibson's 2003 passion project The Passion of the Christ.
Before going Biblical, Caviezel was well on his way to being the next big blockbuster
heartthrob with parts in Frequency, The Count of Monte Cristo, and Angel Eyes.
It was in the latter two that the devout Catholic earned himself a reputation for refusing explicit
sex scenes.
Tinseltown is a tough place for chastity, and Caviezel raised eyebrows when he would
only do a love scene with Jennifer Lopez in Angel Eyes if she kept her clothes on.
He likewise refused to film a scene with his Monte Cristo co-star Dagmara Domińczyk unless
she put something between them.
Caviezel has argued that his commitment to staying clothed is out of respect for his
wife and his Catholic faith:
"If it is embarrassing for people on set, if they think you're a wimp, that you're an
embarrassment, talking this way, well, I'd rather be embarrassed before the whole country
than before God."
Will Smith was riding high in the early 1990s with a successful hip-hop career and an even
more successful TV show, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.
Before discovering his penchant for making broadly appealing blockbuster movies, Smith
sought to establish himself as serious actor right out of the gate with 1993's Six Degrees
of Separation.
Based on the play of the same name, the movie has a dense, character-driven plot and complicated
themes, and while Smith was willing to take a risk, the script called for something he
refused to do.
In the film, Smith's gay character is required to share a passionate kiss with his male co-star,
Anthony Michael Hall.
Smith was uncomfortable with this and sought advice from Denzel Washington, who supposedly
told him not to kiss a man on camera.
So that's precisely what Smith didn't do: The shot was filmed from behind, allowing
Smith to fake it.
In the horror spoof sequel Scary Movie 5, Lindsay Lohan was supposed to kiss Charlie
Sheen three times in their bedroom scene.
However, Lohan refused to lock lips with Sheen out of fear of germs, or worse, from his hard-partying
past.
Both stars had already signed releases saying that they didn't have cold sores, but even
with contractual assurances, Lohan still refused to smooch.
While filmmakers tried to use a body double, they ultimately just dropped most of the kissing
from the scene entirely.
"Ow!"
"Sorry, it's my sobriety monitor.
Charlie, I'm scared."
"Lindsay, sweetie, there's nothing to be afraid of."
Although the pair would eventually lock lips years later on an episode of Sheen's Anger
Management TV show.
If you think of Wayne's World, you probably think of Wayne, Garth and the gang head-banging
and lip-synching to Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody," right?
According to Myers, it almost wasn't Queen's masterpiece they sang to, but a Guns N' Roses
tune, courtesy of director Penelope Spheeris.
She believed that a modern-day rock hit would fit the bill better than Queen, and Myers
was like “NOT!”
Fortunately, he stuck to his guns and refused to film the scene unless it was "Bohemian
Rhapsody."
Despite being his first movie, Myers got his way, saving the now iconic scene and propelling
Bohemian Rhapsody back up to the Top 40 list for the first time in years.
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