SCENES THAT ALMOST CAUSED THE ACTORS TO QUIT THEIR JOBS
It can seem like Hollywood is all glitz and glamour, but a lot of real, hard work behind
the scenes goes into making movies. And that work can test a person's limits not just as
an actor but as a human being.
MICHELLE RODRIGUEZ IN THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS
During production on the first Fast and Furious movie, Michelle Rodriguez actually considered
walking away over concerns with the way her character, Letty Ortiz, was written. Rodriguez
took issue with the way the script had Letty betray her true love Dom, and fall for undercover
cop Brian. The actress said the betrayal made no sense for a woman who'd prefer an alpha
male to a pretty boy. Refusing to betray her vision of the character, Rodriguez put her
foot down, telling producers she'd quit the movie if she had to. Fortunately for fans,
the storyline was tweaked to Rodriguez's liking, and the rest is blockbuster history.
LAUREN COHAN IN THE WALKING DEAD
The Walking Dead nearly suffered a devastating loss in season three. Lauren Cohan, who plays
Maggie, contemplated quitting over a particularly stressful scene. The script had her character
perform an emergency c-section and she was worried it would be too intense. But after
further consideration, that's exactly why she decided to stay. Recognizing that The
Walking Dead is a show about people pushed to grueling extremes, she drew on her discomfort
to deliver an affectingly honest performance.
JIM CARREY IN HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS
Jim Carrey nabbed the role of the Grinch after making it through an audition process that
included earning the approval of Dr. Seuss' widow. But that obstacle was minor compared
with what he faced on the set. He had a hard time in the makeup chair, where he spent hours
each day during the lengthy shoot. Worse, he had to wear uncomfortable contact lenses
that proved so painful that the studio brought in a military torture adviser to help Carrey
cope. Those techniques got him through filming without quitting, but just barely. In fact,
some shots of the Grinch's eyes had to be digitally fixed in post-production because
Carrey couldn't bear to wear the contacts.
IAN MCKELLEN IN THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY
It's impossible to imagine Gandalf being played by anyone other than Sir Ian McKellen, who
put his stamp on the character in all six Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films. But at
one point during The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, director Peter Jackson might have
needed a different actor for the part. The problem? McKellen was acting almost exclusively
to a green screen, owing to the fact that his character towered over the hobbits, and
their interactions had to be stitched together digitally in post-production. The frustration
of acting alone eventually got to McKellen, who broke down on the set at one point. Luckily,
Jackson did a little emergency outreach to convince him to stick around.
JESSICA ALBA IN FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER
You think you hated Fox's first couple of Fantastic Four movies? Try being Jessica Alba,
whose experiences playing Sue "Invisible Woman" Storm nearly made her walk away from acting
altogether. Alba's frustrations stemmed from working with director Tim Story. She later
claimed he had absurd demands, like telling her to keep her facial expression flat during
a crying scene so she'd stay "pretty." After 2007's Rise of the Silver Surfer, she realized
she didn't care about the movie business anymore. But things have still worked out pretty well
for her: she went on to co-found the Honest Company, currently valued around $2 billion.
BRAD PITT IN INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE
Interview with the Vampire united Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt in an adaptation of the bestselling
Anne Rice novel of the same name. But being part of 1994's most eagerly anticipated beefcake
summit wasn't all it was cracked up to be for Pitt. Years after the movie came and went,
Pitt admitted he was so miserable during filming that he actually approached producer David
Geffen about buying out his contract—only to reconsider after Geffen informed him it'd
cost $40 million.
RUSSELL CROWE IN ROBIN HOOD
Usually, an actor who's cast to play a major role in a movie can be on counted on to identify
with the basic idea of the story. For the exception to that rule, we turn to Russell
Crowe, who agreed to star in Nottingham. However, he thought the concept—a role-reversal on
the Robin Hood story, with the Sheriff of Nottingham turning out to be the real good
guy—was fundamentally flawed. Demanding a complete overhaul of the script, Crowe ended
up costing the studio millions in extra development, and the result was the retitled Robin Hood,
one of 2010's most critically lambasted major releases.
EMMA WATSON IN HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX
For a lot of actors, scoring a regular role in a successful franchise can mean the difference
between financial security and decades of struggle. While Emma Watson definitely enjoyed
the career opportunities from her part in the Harry Potter films, she gave some serious
thought to quitting. Watson reached her crossroads during contract renegotiations for the fifth
chapter, 2006's Order of the Phoenix, after years of enduring strict studio oversight
over schedule and appearance. Although she eventually re-signed, she admitted feeling
a major sense of relief after the series ended.
AL PACINO IN THE GODFATHER
Al Pacino earned a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his work as Michael Corleone
in The Godfather and a Best Actor nomination for the sequel, so it's laughable to think
studio execs initially wanted him removed from the role. Yet according to Pacino, that's
exactly what happened. He felt their resistance so acutely, in fact, that he later claimed
he would have walked off the set if director Francis Ford Coppola hadn't been so supportive
during those early days on the Godfather shoot.
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