50 Untold Behind-the-Scenes Movie Tales – Part 12

The "empty London" scenes in "28 Days Later" were achieved by filming at dawn and politely asking people to avoid walking through shots due to budget constraints. Shutting down parts of the city was not feasible with the $8 million budget.

2. The screenwriter's plan in "Die Hard with a Vengeance" to break into the Federal Reserve and escape with gold was so convincing that the FBI questioned him. Allegedly, the FBI modified their security measures in response.

3. During the production of Superman (1978), Gene Hackman was initially reluctant to part with his mustache. It took Richard Donner's promise to shave his own mustache for Hackman to agree. After Hackman had his mustache shaved, he went to Donner to fulfill the deal. Donner's response? He comically tore off his fake mustache in good humor.

4. The production team of "Elf" (2003) sought permission from Macy's to film in their store, but Macy's declined due to objections to the idea of a fake Santa in the store. Instead, department store scenes were shot in the cafeteria of a mental hospital in Vancouver.

5. Robert De Niro paid a dentist $5,000 to grind down his teeth for a more menacing look in Cape Fear. He later spent $20,000 to have his teeth restored after production was complete.

According to actor Liam Hemsworth, Jennifer Lawrence deliberately consumed garlic or tuna fish before their kissing scenes in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay. This added an interesting element to their performances.

7. Real doctors from USC Medical Center were enlisted to play doctors attempting to save E.T. Spielberg believed that having actual medical professionals discuss technical matters would appear more authentic than actors.

8. The crew did not script the famous scene in "Apocalypse Now," where Martin Sheen's character has a drunken breakdown in a hotel room. Sheen, in a state of inebriation, insisted the crew film him, displaying aggressive behavior and punching mirrors. Director Francis Ford Coppola continued filming.

9. Anne Ramsey, renowned for her role in Throw Mama From The Train (1987), spoke with a slurred voice due to throat cancer surgeries. Despite enduring pain during production, she earned an Oscar nomination but sadly passed away from throat cancer six months after the ceremony.

10. Actor James Marsters accepted the role of Zamasu in the Dragon Ball Super anime without pay, seeking redemption with fans after his involvement in the critically disastrous Dragonball Evolution (2009) as Piccolo.

John Candy received a modest payment of $414 for his cameo in Home Alone, a lower fee than the pizza delivery guy. He did it as a favor to the director and showcased his improvisational skills by crafting all his dialogue on the spot.

12. The conclusion of "The Bourne Supremacy" underwent reshoots merely two weeks before its release. Director Paul Greengrass and Matt Damon conceived a new idea costing $200,000, even requiring Damon to be pulled from the set of Ocean's 12. The movie saw a significant improvement, testing 10 points higher with the new ending and ultimately grossing $176 million.

13. Facing budget constraints during the production of Mr. & Mrs. Smith, director Doug Liman delved into his personal savings. He constructed a set in his mother's Upstate New York garage, only to blow it up with a hand grenade.

14. The iconic cut-off sweatshirt look in the 1983 film Flashdance was an accidental creation. Jennifer Beals, the actress, unintentionally shrank her favorite sweatshirt in the dryer. To make it fit, she cut out the neck hole and wore it to a wardrobe fitting. The director's loved it.

15. For the 1982 film Fitzcarraldo, director Werner Herzog had the cast drag a 320-ton steamship over a steep hill to depict real-life events. Under the threat of death, Carlos Fitzcarrald compelled indigenous workers to transport a 30-ton ship over a mountain to reach another river in 1894.

Marjorie Eaton initially portrayed Palpatine as a stand-in in the original Star Wars trilogy, Episode V, wearing heavy makeup. During post-production, the filmmakers superimposed chimpanzee eyes into her darkened eye sockets, and musical stage actor Clive Revill provided the character's voice.

17. The production of The Sound of Music encountered resistance from Salzburg city leaders, who objected to scenes featuring swastika banners. Director Robert Wise resolved the issue by threatening to incorporate old newsreel footage featuring the banners instead.

18. Daniel Day-Lewis prepared for his role as "Bill the Butcher" in Gangs of New York (2002) by engaging in method acting and frequently instigating fights with strangers on the streets of Rome, where the movie was filmed. Day-Lewis later admitted that this approach was "not so good for my physical or mental health."

19. Burt Ward, while shooting Batman, performed many of his own stunts because his stuntman bore no resemblance to him. Ward ended up in the hospital for four consecutive days during the pilot shoot.

20. When director James Gunn cast David Dastmalchian as supervillain Polka-Dot Man for "The Suicide Squad," he was unaware that the actor had vitiligo. The skin condition gave Dastmalchian polka dots on his skin, and as a child, he endured mockery from others who referred to him as "polka dots" and "Dalmatian."

Linda Blair suffered a fractured spine while filming The Exorcist (1973), resulting in later scoliosis. While rigged to a mechanical bed that shook violently, Linda Blair broke her back, and the filmmakers captured and used her genuine screams of pain in the final film.

22. During the filming of the James Bond film Goldfinger (1964), Harold Sakata, who portrayed Oddjob, sustained a severe burn on his hand during the electrocution scene. Despite the injury, Sakata persevered until the director called for a cut.

23. The director of The French Connection bribed an official at the New York Transit Authority with $40,000. The official then overlooked regulations and allowed the famous chase sequence to be filmed.

24. The desert scenes in the movie Ishtar were shot in the actual Sahara Desert instead of the Southwestern U.S. Columbia's parent company, Coca-Cola, influenced this decision due to their funds in Morocco that couldn't be repatriated.

25. Filming the scene of James Bond jumping from an airplane without a parachute in Moonraker (1979) required 88 skydiving jumps, capturing just 3 seconds of action in each jump.