True Behind The Scene Stories From Famous Movie & TV Sets

Project: Shrek (2001)
Est. Production Budget: $60 million*
Est. Box Office Gross: $487.9 million*

It’s difficult to imagine anyone other than Michael Myers playing Shrek now, but the part was originally written for SNL alum Chris Farley. When Farley tragically died in 1997, they had to find another actor that could take it on. Myers stepped in, had the script rewritten to suit him, and then recorded 90% of the dialogue. 

Michael Myer's Demand Cost Production $5 Million @marimendess1/Pinterest

However, when he saw the finished article, he didn’t like his Canadian accent and thought it would work better if it was Scottish. As all the animation had been done, it had to be reworked to accommodate the different facial movements at a cost of around $5 million dollars. Thankfully for Myers, the move paid off. 

Project: Kill Bill (2003)
Est. Production Budget: $30 million*
Est. Box Office Gross: $180 million*

Kill Bill was one of the most harrowing thrillers of the noughties. Starring Uma Thurman, the revenge movie (which later became a successful multi-volume series), had quite a few interesting things happen behind the scenes, which isn’t shocking for a Quentin Tarantino movie. The director certainly is eclectic.

Shooting Kill Bill Was Put on Pause ©Miramax Films/WIkipedia

Not only that, but he is also, reportedly, extremely particular. Tarantino put Kill Bill on pause when Uma Thurman got pregnant during filming, as he wanted her in the role and no one else. Another director might have re-casted the role, but Tarantino was hell-bent on having Uma Thurman as The Bride.

Project: Romeo + Juliet (1996)
Est. Production Budget: $14.5 million*
Est. Box Office Gross: $147.6 million*

Leonardo DiCaprio’s behavior has certainly been questioned before, but most actors who work with him actually like him a lot. That’s not the case, however, for veteran actress Claire Danes. The start of their feud began, ironically, on the set of Romeo + Juliet. Danes was just seventeen years old at the time, and the up-and-coming actress was chosen for the part because she looked DiCaprio (then 21) in the eye during auditions.

©AJ Pics/Alamy

Danes reportedly found DiCaprio, though four years her senior, very immature, while DiCaprio, for his part, thought Danes was uptight. According to sources on the set, the pair rarely spoke to one another when they weren’t filming scenes together. 

Project: Batman Returns (1992)
Est. Production Budget: $50-$80 million*
Est. Box Office Gross: $266.8 million*

Tim Burton went all out when filming Batman Returns, bringing the dark and macabre creatures of Gotham to life with his own distinctive flare. Among them was Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman. Pfeiffer’s costume was undeniably seductive, but it wasn’t easy to put on every day. 

Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman Costume Had An Unusual Fitting @sitecinebreak/Pinterest

Wardrobe assistants would vacuum seal Pfeiffer into the PVC outfit before shooting to make sure it was suitably skin-tight. It can’t have been a comfortable job, but Michelle still managed to turn in a remarkable performance, landing a nomination for Most Desirable Female at the 1993 MTV Movie Awards. 

Project: Yellowstone (2018)
Est. Production Budget: $80 million in total*
Est. Box Office Gross: N/A

Yellowstone is a hit drama that no one expected to go as supernova as it did. The show, which stars Kevin Costner, centers around the Dutton family. The Duttons own the largest ranch in all of Montana, and they have a lot of drama, from in-fighting with one another to vendettas against other ranchers.

At First, Yellowstone Was Only Going to Be a 10-episode Limited Series @onedio/Pinterest

Originally, Yellowstone was only going to be a ten-episode limited series, concluding permanently after its tenth installment. But, the show was critically and commercially successful, and, most importantly, Kevin Costner wanted to keep making more seasons. Yellowstone, which has an 85% on Rotten Tomatoes, has five seasons and forty-six episodes so far.

Project: The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005)
Est. Production Budget: $19 million*
Est. Box Office Gross: $145.2 million*

Dexter star Jennifer Carpenter might not have an issue with the sinister, bloody surgeries that go down on her hit serial-killer television show, but she was really freaked out by The Exorcism of Emily Rose. She told Dread Central she felt haunted during filming, noting some eerie things that happened to her off the set.

Jennifer Carpenter Was Haunted Behind The Scenes Of The Exorcism Of Emily Rose @SupernaturalEarth/Youtube

For example, her radio came on two or three times during the night while she was trying to sleep, blasting Pearl Jam’s “Alive” really loudly. Her Exorcism co-star, Laura Linney, had something similar happen, as her TV reportedly kept turning itself on at night while filming the horror project.  

Project: Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
Est. Production Budget: $3.2 million*
Est. Box Office Gross: $33.4 million*

Rosemary’s Baby began as a novel, and Roman Polanski turned it into an iconic movie that shook up twentieth-century horror. Apparently, the movie wasn’t just a hit—it was cursed. A lot of strange things happened on the set of Rosemary’s Baby, including Mia Farrow being served divorce papers and a producer being struck with kidney stones.

Many Strange Events Happened While Filming Rosemary's Baby @Movieclips/Youtube

John Lennon was assassinated outside the building where Rosemary’s Baby was filmed, and, a year later, Roman Polanski’s wife, Sharon Tate, was slain by the Manson cult. Ira Levin, the writer, saw his life go downhill after filming, while another producer, Robert Evans suffered a stroke and was convicted of a drug charge after the movie was shot. Rosemary’s Baby was full, it seems, of bad luck during and after filming, so much so that people claimed the bad luck was a “Satanic curse.”  

Project: Don’t Worry Darling (2022)
Est. Production Budget: $35 million*
Est. Box Office Gross: $86.7 million*

Dakota Johnson has starred in a lot of big-name movies, including the Fifty Shades franchise and Persuasion, a recent romantic movie. In 2022, she was supposed to have another major role in the horror thriller Don’t Worry Darling, directed by Olivia Wilde.

Dakota Johnson Almost Had a Prominent Role in Don't Worry Darling ©Andrea Raffin/Shutterstock.com

Johnson was supposed to play Margaret, but she had to drop out of filming because of scheduling issues. So, Olivia Wilde had KiKi Layne take her place. After Johnson left, Don’t Worry Darling saw another one of its lead actors, Shia LaBeouf, depart production, also because of scheduling problems. Perhaps the two were the lucky ones—Don’t Worry Darling was supposedly hellish and drama-filled to film, according to some anonymous cast and crew members.

Project: Black Panther (2018)
Est. Production Budget: $200 million*
Est. Box Office Gross: $1.344 billion*

Black Panther, a 2018 Marvel movie starring the late Chadwick Boseman, was a huge hit for the M.C.U. Directed by Ryan Coogler, the budget on Black Panther was a whopping $200 million, but that bet paid off, as the Oscar-winning movie raked in $1.344 billion at the box office.

Michael B. Jordan Was Committed** @Marvel Movies NOW/Youtube

Michael B. Jordan played the main antagonist, Killmonger, and he chose to wear Killmonger’s famous scars (one scar per kill, according to the movie) throughout the entire shoot. Jordan said he was inspired to make this decision, tough and inconvenient though it was, after learning that Denzel Washington wore his scars the entire time while shooting Glory. 

Project: Coming to America (1998)
Est. Production Budget: $36 million*
Est. Box Office Gross: $350 million*

In the hit 1988 comedy Coming to America, Eddie Murphy played Prince Akeem, a pampered African prince visiting Queens, New York in search of a wife. The romantic comedy scored big at the box office, making $350 million against a budget of $36 million. The movie was directed by John Landis, who apparently clashed badly, with Murphy during filming.

Coming to America Film's Director Clashed With Murphy @dailymail/Pinterest

Landis called Murphy a pig, claiming he felt he was a “superstar” and everyone “had to kiss his a**.” Though Landis acknowledged Murphy’s stellar performance, he said that the two just didn’t get along. The feeling was mutual, as Murphy reportedly grabbed Landis by the throat during a particularly heated argument.

Project: The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996)
Est. Production Budget: $40 million*
Est. Box Office Gross: $49.6 million*

Any adaptation of H.G. Wells’ work is always going to be slightly avante guarde, but The Island of Dr. Moreau took the biscuit. Marlon Brando played the titular doctor, but his behavior struck many as odd. At the time, he was 72 years old, leading some of the cast and crew to wonder if he was losing his marbles. 

Marlon Brando's Eccentric Behavior Puzzled Cast And Crew @sentinelgate13/Pinterest

At the start of filming, Brando puzzled the director by placing an ice bucket on his head and refusing to take it off. Because of his standing and legendary status, no one made him take it off and the bucket made it into the final cut.

Project: The Brady Bunch (1995)
Est. Production Budget: $12 million*
Est. Box Office Gross: $46.57 million*

Barry Williams played Greg Brady on The Brady Bunch, while Florence Henderson played his television mom, Carol. Williams was very open about having a crush on Henderson, and he even took her out on a date when Williams was fifteen and Henderson thirty-six. At the end of the night, Williams said the two shared an “innocent kiss.”

Greg Went on a Date With His On-screen Mom @Blake Foster 2/Youtube

Henderson, for her part, put to rest any rumors that she had an affair with her teen costar, though she acknowledges they went on a date. Henderson said she knew Williams had a “serious crush” on her, which she “helped him get past” eventually.

Project: Pulp Fiction (1994)
Est. Production Budget: $8.5 million*
Est. Box Office Gross: $107.93 million*

Acclaimed director and foot enthusiast Quentin Tarantino has made a lot of hit movies, and Pulp Fiction is perhaps one of his biggest cult classics. One scene in the movie that fans will easily remember was when Mia Wallace (Uma Thurman) overdoses.

©Pictorial Press Ltd/Alamy

Tarantino shot that memorable scene in reverse to avoid using a chest plate on Thurman. He had Travolta begin the scene with the needle held to Thurman’s chest before yanking it up and away. In editing, Tarantino reversed what he’d filmed, making the scene look as though Travolta plunged the needle into Thurman’s chest.  

Project: A League of Their Own (1992)
Est. Production Budget: $40 million*
Est. Box Office Gross: $132.4 million*

A League of Their Own, a 1992 movie, was a female-directed movie about a professional, all-women baseball team in the Midwest during WWII. The movie is a heartwarming comedy, and it is also a classic baseball movie.

The Auditions for a League of Their Own Were Actual Baseball Tryouts @Tuan Vu/Youtube

It’s heavy on the sporting angle, as you can imagine, and Penny Marshall wasn’t playing around when she said she wanted athletes in the star roles. To cast A League of Their Own, Marshall held actual baseball tryouts for two-thousand actresses. Even major stars were there because, if you weren’t able to play ball, you obviously couldn’t be in a baseball movie.