Making of a Blockbuster: 28 Intriguing Behind the Scene Facts of Hollywood Movies – Part 8

In Spirited Away, Miyazaki based the river spirit on his own experience of cleaning a polluted river.

While filming the 1925 movie 'Ben-Hur', the director split Italian extras based on fascist or antifascist factions to make the fighting more realistic. Real swords were removed from the scene to prevent things from getting too out of hand.

In The Italian Job (2003) the studio had to build custom electric Mini Coopers for the scenes in the LA subway because combustion engines would have been too dangerous in the enclosed spaces.

The original script of Braveheart had the Irish fighting the Scottish, which was historically accurate. The script had to be changed because the Irish and Scottish extras refused to fight each other.

The famous horror film "A Nightmare on Elm Street" is actually based on a true story. The director claimed of a young boy who saw a mysterious creature trying to kill him in his dreams. Days after trying to stay awake, the boy screamed, then died in his sleep.

In Reservoir Dogs, the person Mr. Pink pulls out of her car is the same person that gets shot by Marcellus Wallace after the car wreck in Pulp Fiction.

When Mrs. Doubtfire was serving tea, the icing on his/her face is melting off. This was not intentional. The heat from the set lights melted the icing on his face and Robin Williams improvised the bulk of that scene.

While filming Leon: The Professional, Natalie Portman helped Jean Reno quit smoking.