While it’s well documented that during the filming of 1980’s horror classic The Shining director Stanley Kubrick discouraged the cast and crew from sympathizing with actress Shelley Duvall, what is less well known is that Kubrick also prohibited actor Jack Nicholson from blinking while on set. Kubrick was heard to say “If you want to blink, Jack, you’ll have to do it outdoors. I won’t allow it. I won’t permit it, and it won’t be tolerated.” Nicholson has since referred to it as a brilliant tactic, though he did not mean in the realm of acting.
While filming the robbery scene in 2011 The Town, director Ben Affleck recruited the services of a set of rare identical quadruplets, all of whom were actual Catholic nuns. The actors that you see robbing the armoured car are not Ben Affleck, Jeremy Renner and co, but the sisters. Affleck made the unusual choice so that he could better observe how the action was developing on screen, and only intended to have the sisters stand in and plan out the shots. “What can I say?” quipped Affleck in his traditional Boston accent. “Those nuns were balls-out ass-kickas.” Sister Mary-Louise Alcott reported that the sisters were glad to take part, saying that it brought them a better understanding of crime and sin, something they will use in the future of their parish.
Actress Mary ElIzabeth Winstead, seen here in her role as “Science Girl” in 2011’s The Thing, recently came out with criticism of director Matthijs van Heijningen Jr, saying “I don’t think he knows what a scientist does… or even is.” The actress went on to say that van Heijningen Jr’s direction to her mainly consisted of phrases like “Science that microscope,” and “Be a scientist at it.” Winstead recalls that these directions even occurred during scenes when she was exclusively torching CGI aliens with a flamethrower. “I don’t know how a scientist uses a flamethrower differently than, say, a pilot,” she mused. “But apparently there’s a big difference, because Matthijs kept saying that it needed to be more science-y.”
The producers of 2011’s We Need To Talk About Kevin assumed from the outset that they would not be able to secure corporate sponsorship due to the film’s complex and violent subject matter. As a result, production designer Judy Becker put together generic brand labels (such as “L. Ramsey Brand Tomato Soup” - a play on director Lynne Ramsey’s name). After the film debuted, the producers were approached by Heinz for a tie-in product line; “Kevin Ketchupdourian.” The product was eventually scrapped, some say in light of the disturbing tagline, “Killer taste!”
Director Stuart Rosenberg included a prolonged shot of this child’s doll in 1979’s The Amityville Horror. When asked why the camera lingered on this shot for so long, Rosenberg replied that “racism is the scariest demon of all.”
It has been confirmed that three of the main characters in 1979’s The Amityville Horror were in fact modelled after characters from The Muppet Show. When asked to clarify who was based on who, director Stuart Rosenberg replied that it “should be pretty obvious.”
Actors Kevin Spacey and Henry Ward formed a bitter rivalry during their down time of shooting 1990’s Henry & June. Each scene that the pair shared became a competition, with topics ranging from “who can act the most wooden” to “who can make the most obscene gestures.” The scene above had the contest “who can cough the most in a single take.” Co-stars later confirmed that the contests were “not in good fun.”
The creation of the NC-17 rating (meaning that no person under the age of 18 is permitted in the theatre) which replaced the former rating - X - is largely attributed to 1990’s Henry & June, based on the erotic-leaning memoirs of Anais Nin. In the opening credits, Nin (played by Maria de Medeiros, perhaps best known for her work in Pulp FIction) finds a series of erotic postcards which includes a rather startling image of a cartoon cephalopod performing sexual congress with a human woman.
While MPAA censors deemed the remainder of the film “tantalizing,” “sexually laced,” and - according to one member - “not so offensive,” they were unable to overlook what they called “promotion of bestiality.” MPAA president Herman Falsifer said that they would have allowed the film to be rated “R” if the character had become “utterly mentally disrupted” by the image, but de Medeiros’ character did not, and the NC-17 rating remained.
Director Philip Kaufman thought the decision to be “hilarious” and personally attended as many screenings as he could, bursting in after the aforementioned scene was displayed and shouting “OOO YEAH! DID YOU SEE THAT SHIT?! I MADE YOU LOOK AT THAT! CAN YOU HANDLE IT? CAN YOU HANDLE WHAT PHILIP KAUFMAN JUST THREW AT YOU?!”
![Actress Hailey Atwell requested several takes of this scene from 2011’s Captain America, in which her character, Peggy Carter, is nearly run down by a car while attempting to fire upon the driver, only to be pushed out of the way by co-star Chris Evans. Long after director Joe Johnston declared the scene captured perfectly, Atwell remained obstinate, insisting that the musclebound Evans “tackle [her] again!”
Atwell was later charged with several counts of sexual harassment.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ltofbw3OiH1r3yp18o1_1280.png)
Actress Hailey Atwell requested several takes of this scene from 2011’s Captain America, in which her character, Peggy Carter, is nearly run down by a car while attempting to fire upon the driver, only to be pushed out of the way by co-star Chris Evans. Long after director Joe Johnston declared the scene captured perfectly, Atwell remained obstinate, insisting that the musclebound Evans “tackle [her] again!”
Atwell was later charged with several counts of sexual harassment.
During the filming of 2011’s Captain America, actor Chris Evans expressed concern about the placement of the eagle in the background of this scene, claiming that it bore a striking resemblance to the imperial eagle used by the Nazi regime. Director Joe Johnston admitted the error, stating that his knowledge of WW2 history was “shaky at best.”
![Actor Stanley Tucci wryly comments that he “didn’t want to take part” in 2011’s Captain America, having mistakenly thought that he was signing up for “one of the Spidermen [sic].”](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ltocs5US2m1r3yp18o1_1280.png)
Actor Stanley Tucci wryly comments that he “didn’t want to take part” in 2011’s Captain America, having mistakenly thought that he was signing up for “one of the Spidermen [sic].”
![Many assume that for 2011’s superhero film Captain America, director Joe Johnston utilized technology which digitally placed actor Chris Evans’ face onto that of a smaller actor (famously pioneered by David Fincher and Brad Pitt in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), however this is false. Johnston claims however that he did borrow a procedure from another famous film to complete the effect: John Woo’s Face/Off.
Johnston explains:
We surgically removed Chris Evans’ face and placed it onto the body of actor Jeremy Davies. Once those scenes were in the can [a filmic term, meaning “completed”] the surgery was reversed and both actors were put back to normal.
Jeremy Davies, perhaps best known for his mousy roles in tv’s LOST and 2002’s Maggie Gyllenhaal/James Spader rom-com Secretary joked that he wished that he didn’t have to change back. Evans grimly countered that he felt “very uncomfortable” around the more slender actor.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ltoccx4qrM1r3yp18o1_1280.png)
Many assume that for 2011’s superhero film Captain America, director Joe Johnston utilized technology which digitally placed actor Chris Evans’ face onto that of a smaller actor (famously pioneered by David Fincher and Brad Pitt in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), however this is false. Johnston claims however that he did borrow a procedure from another famous film to complete the effect: John Woo’s Face/Off.
Johnston explains:
We surgically removed Chris Evans’ face and placed it onto the body of actor Jeremy Davies. Once those scenes were in the can [a filmic term, meaning “completed”] the surgery was reversed and both actors were put back to normal.
Jeremy Davies, perhaps best known for his mousy roles in tv’s LOST and 2002’s Maggie Gyllenhaal/James Spader rom-com Secretary joked that he wished that he didn’t have to change back. Evans grimly countered that he felt “very uncomfortable” around the more slender actor.
The 1976 film Look What’s Happened to Rosemary’s Baby - the sequel to Roman Polanski’s 1968 film Rosemary’s Baby - surprised critics and audiences alike by not only being a thing, but by sweeping the 1976 AND the 1978 Oscars (it was re-released in theatres due to a brief creative drought suffered by Paramount studios).
Actress/singer Charlotte Gainsbourg is not related to famed French singer Serge Gainsbourg, as was previously believed. She was, in fact, spawned via pathogenesis - the process of bursting forth (fully formed) from the forehead of another. Though Gainsbourg is tight-lipped on the subject, there is speculation that the forehead in question belonged to Melancholia co-star Kirsten Dunst.
![Actress Kirsten Dunst (seen here with co-star Charlotte Gainsbourg in 2011’s Melancholia) has recently been commenting that she could not have played Gainsbourg’s role in 2009’s Antichrist (another film from director Lars von Trier) because “[her] boobs are too big.” Dunst - a usually modest performer who has eschewed the spotlight of late - was moved to such a confident statement after daily “motorboating” competitions on the set of Melancholia. The cast notes that the ranking was typically Dunst in first place, followed by co-stars Kiefer Sutherland and John Hurt (to the surprise of many), and finally a chagrinned Gainsbourg in fourth place.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ltlnxiKtHc1r3yp18o1_1280.png)
Actress Kirsten Dunst (seen here with co-star Charlotte Gainsbourg in 2011’s Melancholia) has recently been commenting that she could not have played Gainsbourg’s role in 2009’s Antichrist (another film from director Lars von Trier) because “[her] boobs are too big.” Dunst - a usually modest performer who has eschewed the spotlight of late - was moved to such a confident statement after daily “motorboating” competitions on the set of Melancholia. The cast notes that the ranking was typically Dunst in first place, followed by co-stars Kiefer Sutherland and John Hurt (to the surprise of many), and finally a chagrinned Gainsbourg in fourth place.
