9 real stories that happened during the filming of cult films

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

When we watch a captivating film on the screen, we rarely think that there are dozens of interesting episodes behind the scenes in every story we shoot. Anecdotes from life and ridiculous incidents remain in the piggy bank of the actors' memories. Someone writes about this in their memoirs, someone is frank in an interview … This review contains 10 funny stories that happened during the filming of cult films.

1. "The Dark Knight"

Preparing for the role of Joker, Heath Ledger spent 6 weeks locked up in a hotel room. He needed this time to better understand the psychology of his character, as well as to think over every trait, movement and the famous sadistic laugh that became the hallmark of the character.

2. "I am a legend"

During the filming of the film, Will Smith became very friendly with his partner, the shepherd Abby. When the joint work was over, the actor even tried to persuade the coach to give him Abby, but it turned out to be impossible.

3. "Stephen Hawking Universe"

When Stephen Hawking watched a film about himself, he admitted that in some episodes he even forgot that he was an actor. It seemed to him that he saw himself and admired how accurately the image was recreated on the screen. It is interesting that in the film you can see a genuine Order of the Commanders of Honor, Stephen handed over the award for filming. Also, as an additional requisite, he sent abstracts signed by his own hand.

4. "Man of Steel"

Henry Cavell refused to take steroids to get in the right physical shape for filming Man of Steel, and he was also opposed to "finishing" his muscles in those scenes when he was in the frame without a suit. The actor argued that it would be unfair to go to such tricks, playing Superman. Therefore, he devoted all his time and energy to natural work on his body.

5. "The Martian"

Matt Damon admitted that the episode in which the protagonist got emotional after hearing the voice of Commander Lewis was natural. By the time it was filmed, the other actors had already completed their work and left the set. Matt in a spacesuit sounded a recording of the voices of other actors, he reflected on the fate of his character and was horrified that he (according to the script) spends two years on a deserted planet. Emotions overwhelmed Matt, and he sheds tears. The director was struck by the inner struggle and filmed this episode, later he entered the picture.

6. "Armageddon"

The film "Armageddon" is watched to the holes not only by ordinary viewers, but also by NASA students. And all because, while undergoing training, they pass one of the tests for this film - they count the number of factual mistakes that the rescuers made. So far, 168 wrong actions have been noticed.

7. "Golden Age"

Not all scenes in films are completely staged. For example, in the "Golden Age" there is an episode of the arrival of Queen Elizabeth to the Cathedral of St. Paul, which according to the plot should be under reconstruction. Surprising coincidence: during the filming, the building did undergo renovations. To make everything look natural, the director of the painting Shekhar Kapur ordered to dress all workers in suits and give them tools stylized for the desired era. In the shot, the workers are really working the stone, and these are not actors, but contractors.

8. "The Godfather"

The opening episode of The Godfather, in which Marlon Brando appears with a cat in his arms, was born by accident. The director found the animal in one of the filming pavilions. As soon as the cat was in Brando's arms, it immediately calmed down and began to purr loudly. This purr even drowned out the actor's speech, and the episode had to be re-filmed.

9. "Titanic"

The timing of the film "Titanic" is symbolic. The duration of the film is 2 hours and 40 minutes (not counting the "modern" episodes, the outset and the denouement), this is exactly how long the viewers watch how the events unfold on the ship. In reality, this is exactly the time it took for the giant ship to go under water. In addition, the collision with the iceberg happened in 37 seconds, the same amount of time is allotted for this scene in the film.

More about how "Titanic", the highest-grossing film of the 20th century, was made, read our article.