Sometimes drugs and alcohol are referred to as “social lubricant”.
Meaning that in an awkward situation,it can give us the boost we need to get through it.
In the face of something scary, a little liquid courage can make all the difference.
Whatever you want to call it, everyone needs a vice.
Nobody puts themselves into more awkward situations than an actor.
And despite their often flawless appearance, deep down, they get just as nervous as we
do.
Here are Screen Rant’s 10 Incredible Actors Who Performed Under The Influence.
Jennifer Lawrence It’s easy to understand why actors are apprehensive
to appear in sex scenes.
Going to bed with someone for the first time is awkward, never mind in front of a room
full of cameras.
And Jennifer Lawrence discovered this first hand while filming the upcoming Passengers
with Chris Pratt.
The actress was guilt-ridden at the thought of fooling around with Pratt- who is a very
married man.
Even though everyone, including Pratt’s wife Anna Faris, understands that it’s all
fake, Lawrence couldn’t shake the nerves.
And admitted to getting really drunk so she could film the sequence.
Audiences have long-wondered about the ethics of Hollywood relationships, and as always,
Lawrence’s down to earth personality gave us a glimpse into how it’s done.
Plus, we can’t think of anyone we’d rather fake-kiss more than Chris Pratt.
Daniel Radcliffe One well-documented pitfall of being a child
actor is that every teenage decision they make happens in front of millions.
Nobody wants to be remembered for the stupid things they did while growing up, and it can
be impossible to learn tough life lessons in private.
As Harry Potter, Daniel Radcliffe began his career at an early age.
After experiencing success with the first few films, he started to do what every teenager
does: party.
But his relationship with alcohol got a out of hand, and he’d occasionally come in to
work still drunk from the night before.
The actor has acknowledged the experience, saying that his habits at the time were unhealthy.
And has been giving talks about it ever since.
Anna Kendrick/Olivia Wilde 99% of the alcohol you see people drinking
on screen is fake.
It’s replaced with water or juice.
As long as it looks the part, and the performer can actually drink it, then that’s all that
matters.
But writer and director Joe Swanberg took a different approach while filming his 2013
comedy Drinking Buddies.
All of the beers on screen were real.
Considering the movie’s title, and that it’s set in a brewery, you can be sure the
cast drank more than a few cold ones over the course of filming.
Olivia Wilde and Anna Kendrick were particularly vocal about their positive experience on set,
and admit to being more than a little tipsy during a few scenes.
Margot Robbie When Margot Robbie sent in her audition for
The Wolf Of Wall Street, her managers told her not to get her hopes up.
Sure, the character had some nude scenes, but the actress was a relative unknown.
Plus, Scorsese doesn’t take casting lightly.
So when the actress actually landed the role, she was taken aback.
Worried about a sex scene with mega star Leonardo DiCaprio, Robbie turned to the liquid courage.
She downed three shots of tequila in rapid succession, and headed into the shoot with
more confidence.
Plus, why should Leo’s character get to have all the fun?
The actress’ candidness about the situation was refreshing, and reminds us all that even
the most beautiful people get nervous.
Brad Pitt/Edward Norton Filming a movie involves long hours, hard
work, and lots of manpower.
Every production needs the opportunity to blow off steam.
But one night while everyone was relaxing, Fight Club director David Fincher kept working.
Fans of the movie will recognize the scene where Edward Norton and Brad Pitt are drunkenly
hitting a couple of golf balls around.
But they might not know that this part of the movie was never in the screenplay.
It was filmed by the director as the two actors were having a drink (or six) to end the day.
They were drunk for real, and repeating the lines Fincher was reciting to them off screen.
Everyone loves how it turned out, except for the catering company who's truck was pelted
by golf balls.
Shia LaBeouf From Disney channel star to weird viral video
sensation, Shia LaBeouf has had his ups and downs.
But some think the self-described “method actor” went too far while working on 2012’s
Lawless.
The movie tells the story of three men who run a distillery during prohibition, and get
into some trouble with the law.
Because of his method acting, LaBeouf insisted on drinking moonshine in between takes for
a more realistic effect.
The actor insists he never got too rowdy on set, but one of his co-stars says otherwise.
When asked about him during interviews, actress Mia Wasikowska handled the whole thing pretty
politely.
Even though it’s obvious from her answers that they didn’t exactly see eye-to-eye.
And the moonshine might have had something to do with that.
Martin Sheen Apocalypse Now is an incredibly well-known
movie.
And the tumultuous conditions surrounding it’s production are also notorious.
Crazy weather, mental breakdowns, and delay after delay made it one of the most troubled
in history.
Usually when things go wrong on set, it’s worse for the crew than the actors.
But in this case, everyone was in the same boat.
After months of living in those conditions, actor Martin Sheen earned himself a drink.
A scene taking place in a hotel room shows him breaking down and punching a mirror.
And according to director Francis Ford Coppola, it was all real.
Sheen was intoxicated the whole scene and really did punch a real mirror.
Which he payed for later with a messed up thumb.
Kevin Spacey American Beauty is a movie about figuring
out who you want to be, and then being that person.
It follows the stories of one family, and explores how our connections to each other
can erode or evolve over time.
Kevin Spacey plays Lester, a man at a crossroads.
His performance is powerful, but it didn’t start out that way.
Director Sam Mendes said in an interview that the key ingredient in getting Spacey to embody
Lester was to get him high.
The director says that such a methodical and calculated approach toward the character just
didn’t work.
And since Spacey is a details man, the only way to bridge the gap was with a joint.
The jazz cigarette he and Wes Bentley share is a real one, and the movie is better for
it.
Jack Nicholson Easy Rider is an ode to the great American
road trip, and focuses on two men who take their motorcycles, and the audience, on an
adventure.
Since its release in 1969, there’s been a myth circulating about one of the films
stars, Jack Nicholson.
The legend goes that during filming, he smoked 155 joints.
And while the actor denies the number was that high, he admits that he and everyone
else were all very baked during some portions.
For example, while filming the campfire scene.
Nicholson says he started that day trying to act stoned, but ended it very stoned and
trying to look sober.
And trying to keep it together while under the influence is hard, even for Oscar-winners.
Carrie Fisher The seventies were a time where you could
throw a party and legitimately have no idea who would show up.
The stars partied hard.
And when Carrie Fisher was shooting Star Wars, so did she.
The actress has talked about working a full day, then partying all night.
And one night, The Rolling Stones showed up.
As she tells it, Fisher called co-star Harrison Ford to come join the fun, and he was happy
oblige.
The two actors spent the night drinking and stumbled into work the next morning.
They didn’t get any sleep the night before so they were not exactly in good condition.
But they made it through the shoot, and lived to tell the tale.
What do you think?
Did we miss any other incredible actors who performed under the influence?
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behind the scenes videos like this one.