29 Facts Movie Stars Would Prefer We Didn’t Know
1.
Dave Franco probably regrets confessing that he discovered a giant pimple on his butt right before shooting his first-ever sex scene in the 2014 film Neighbors. “I was pretty nervous for the scene,” he told E!’s Chelsea Lately. “And then, of course, for me, I woke up that morning and I had a giant pimple on my ass…It sucks, right?” Franco then made the awkward decision to ask the makeup artist (who he’d just met) to cover it up. He later admitted, “That was not my finest hour.”
2.
Woody Harrelson’s father Charles was a hit man for hire responsible for at least a dozen murders including that of a federal judge. He even claimed, at different times in his life, that he was responsible for assassinating President John F. Kennedy. At his last trial, the prosecutor said, “Charles Harrelson damaged everyone he came in contact with.”
3.
Julianne Moore was fired from Can You Ever Forgive Me? by director Nicole Holofcener just six days before filming was scheduled to start. Moore told Andy Cohen, “Nicole fired me. So yeah, that’s the truth. I think she didn’t like what I was doing.” She added that it was the first time she’d been fired since she was let go from a yogurt shop at age 15.
4.
In 2021, Ben Affleck matched with a woman on the exclusive dating app Raya, but she quickly unmatched him, assuming his profile was fake. Instead of moving on, Affleck sent her a personal video, saying, “Nivine, why did you unmatch me? It’s me!” She leaked the clip online, and the internet had a field day with the awkward moment. Affleck likely (certainly?) regretted the whole thing, which was more than a little embarrassing.
5.
Anne Hathaway got naked on the set of Love & Other Drugs before she was told, “Uh, Anne, you don’t actually have to be naked right now…we’re just rehearsing the scene.” She told the Standard, “I thought we were filming, but it turned out we were just rehearsing, and I got unnecessarily naked in front of a lot of people. But hey, I just did my job.”
6.
Mark Wahlberg was a troubled teenager with a violent past. In 1986, Wahlberg hurled rocks and racial epithets at Black school children, and two years later, a 16-year-old Wahlberg was arrested for assaulting a Vietnamese man in a racially motivated attack. The incident left the victim permanently injured, and Wahlberg was convicted of felony assault (He spent 45 days in jail). He has since apologized publicly and claimed he’s changed.
7.
Benedict Cumberbatch fell for one of the dumbest pranks ever while filming Star Trek Into Darkness. “We were in a really futuristic laboratory with lasers that were trying to split a target smaller than a human hair to create a continual form of energy,” Benedict told the Daily Mirror. “And I was like, ‘Wow, this is the real deal, what can’t we touch? What’s safe?’ Enter co-star Simon Pegg, who convinced him he needed to wear “neutron cream” — a fake ointment that supposedly protected them from laser exposure. Not realizing it was a joke, Cumberbatch kept applying the cream, completely buying into it. Thankfully, he finally figured it out.
8.
Robert Pattinson really masturbated onscreen in the 2008 film Little Ashes when he felt his efforts to simulate the deed weren’t coming off realistic enough. In a 2013 interview with Germany’s Interview magazine, Pattinson explained why he didn’t just pretend. “Try it,” he said. “I can tell you right now, no chance. It just doesn’t work.”
9.
Reese Witherspoon was arrested early in the morning on April 19, 2013, after being pulled over by Atlanta police who spotted her car driving in the wrong lane. The driver was Witherspoon’s then-husband, film agent Jim Toth, who was intoxicated. An inebriated Witherspoon got out of the car against the officer’s orders and was put in handcuffs. “Do you know my name?” she said, according to the police report. “You’re about to find out who I am.” Witherspoon was briefly jailed; she pleaded no contest and paid a small fine and court costs.
10.
Matthew McConaughey was also arrested. At 2:30 a.m. on Oct. 25, 1999, officers responded to a noise complaint at McConaughey’s home and found him drunk and playing the bongos naked. McConaughey struggled with the police when they tried to put him in their car, and he was arrested and charged with resisting transportation. He later accepted a plea bargain, pleading guilty to a noise violation in exchange for dropping the resisting transportation charge. He paid a $50 fine.
11.
Chloë Sevigny performed real oral sex on costar Vincent Gallo in 2003’s Brown Bunny. That the Academy Award-nominated Sevigny agreed to do the scene was surprising, but she stood by it over a decade later. “I’d probably still do it today. I believe in Vincent (Gallo, the director/star) as an artist, and I stand by the film,” she told Variety, adding, “It was a subversive act. It was a risk.” The risk didn’t pay off. The film’s debut screening ended in massive boos.
12.
Christian Bale threw a massive tantrum while filming 2009’s Terminator Salvation after a crew member accidentally walked into Bale’s shot. The star’s expletive-filled tirade lasted several minutes, with Bale berating and humiliating the crew member. Unfortunately for him, someone recorded the entire thing — and once it leaked online, his reputation took a hit. He later apologized, saying, “I was out of order beyond belief. I make no excuses for it.”
13.
Ed Norton played Bruce Banner/Hulk in The Incredible Hulk but was dismissed from the role in the most awkward way possible — a statement released by Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige that read in part, “We have made the decision to not bring Ed Norton back to portray the title role of Bruce Banner in The Avengers. Our decision is definitely not one based on monetary factors, but instead rooted in the need for an actor who embodies the creativity and collaborative spirit of our other talented cast members.” Ouch.
14.
In 2001, Winona Ryder was caught shoplifting over $5,000 worth of designer clothes from Saks Fifth Avenue. Security cameras captured her stuffing luxury items into her bag, leading to her arrest and a highly publicized trial. She was convicted of grand theft and shoplifting, and sentenced to three years probation, fines and ordered to complete community service. The incident was baffling—why would someone so famous and wealthy risk her career over stolen merchandise? Ryder later admitted she was struggling with personal issues at the time. “Psychologically, I must have been at a place where I just wanted to stop.”
15.
In 1995, Hugh Grant was arrested in Hollywood for receiving oral sex in a public place from a sex worker named Divine Brown. The British star, who was dating fellow actor Elizabeth Hurley at the time, quickly released a statement: “Last night I did something completely insane. I have hurt people I love and embarrassed people I work with. For both things I am more sorry than I can ever possibly say.” Grant later pleaded no contest to the crime and, after paying a fine, was placed on two years’ probation and ordered to complete an AIDS education program.
16.
Matt Damon reprised his Ocean’s 11 character, Linus Caldwell, in Ocean’s 8, the woman-led reboot, but was left on the cutting room floor. The reason? His comments about Harvey Weinstein were described as “thoughtless and sexist” in a petition calling for his removal from the film. In an interview with ABC News, Damon condemned Weinstein and abusers, but added that not all misconduct claims “belong in the same category” and said that there was a “spectrum of behavior.” Damon later apologized. “I really wish I’d listened a lot more before I weighed in on this,” he said.
17.
Jenna Ortega had COVID-19 while filming her now iconic dance at Nevermore’s Rave’N Dance in Wednesday. Ortega told NME it was awful to film because of how she felt, adding, “I woke up and — it’s weird, I never get sick, and when I do, it’s not very bad — I had the body aches. I felt like I’d been hit by a car and that a little goblin had been let loose in my throat and was scratching the walls of my esophagus.” Nevertheless, Ortega forged on, performing the dance which she choreographed herself. “They were giving me medicine between takes because we were waiting on the positive result,” Jenna added. “I asked to redo it, but we didn’t have time. I think I probably could have done it a bit better.”
18.
Will Smith would probably prefer it if people didn’t know that he turned down Keanu Reeves’s role as Neo in the landmark film The Matrix. A pitch meeting with the Wachowskis (the filmmakers) had left Smith a little confused by the concept, and he wasn’t sure of the film’s commercial prospects, so he passed. Making things even worse is that the movie Smith chose to film instead — Wild Wild West — an infamous box office bomb.
19.
Both Anne Rice and co-star Brad Pitt “hated” Tom Cruise and didn’t want him to play the lead role of Lestat in the 1994 film adaptation of Rice’s Interview with the Vampire. In fact, Pitt only signed on to the project because he thought he’d be acting opposite Daniel Day-Lewis as Lestat. “Oh, they hated him,” director Neil Jordan commented later with a laugh. “Anne Rice found it perplexing. As did Brad Pitt, actually.” But Jordan stood by the casting of Cruise, saying, “I’ve always thought he’s a great actor.”
20.
As a young actor, Ben Stiller yelled, “Cut!” after screwing up a line on the set of Steven Spielberg’s Empire of the Sun. If you don’t know, there’s probably no bigger faux pas you can commit on a movie set than yelling “Cut!” if you’re not the director. Stiller told USA Today that after that, “I hear this huge silence. Steven Spielberg is in another building watching on the monitors, and he yells: `What happened?’ I’m like, ‘I just yelled cut because I screwed up,’ and he’s yelling, ‘No, no, you never cut!’ I literally turned white and shrunk because my hero and idol, Steven Spielberg, is yelling at me.” Stiller says he has since laughed about the moment with Spielberg (who, of course, remembers it).
21.
Speaking of Spielberg, he would probably prefer that fans don’t know he and screenwriter Melissa Mathison briefly developed what sounds like a very underwhelming sequel to E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. They wrote a nine-page film treatment entitled E.T. 2: Nocturnal Fears, where Elliot, Gertie, and Michael cross paths with evil carnivorous aliens who have come to Earth looking for E.T. The evil aliens hold the kids captive on their ship, where they interrogate them about E.T.’s whereabouts — and nearly kill Elliot with their razor-sharp teeth! Ultimately, E.T. returns to Earth to save the kids and banish the aliens. Hmmm. (You can read the treatment here.)
22.
Bill Murray was replaced by Bernie Mac in the Charlie’s Angels sequel Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle. Why? Director McG claimed that Murray headbutted him, describing it as “square in the head. An inch lower and my nose would have been obliterated.” Murray has vehemently denied this, saying, “That’s complete crap! I don’t know why he made that story up. He has a very active imagination.” Murray also allegedly told Liu that she couldn’t act, and she allegedly responded by throwing punches. Murray, when asked about this, said, “I will dismiss you completely if you are unprofessional and working with me. … When our relationship is professional and you’re not getting that done, forget it.”
23.
Johnny Depp and Mark Wahlberg both turned down the chance to join George Clooney in the cast of 2001’s Ocean’s Eleven. Speaking at the 2023 TCM Classic Film Festival, Clooney said, “Some very famous people told us to fuck right off. Mark Wahlberg, Johnny Depp. There were others. They regret it now.”
24.
Martin Short didn’t realize his penis was hanging out of his boxer shorts while in hair and makeup for the 1994 cult comedy Clifford. In the film, the then-44-year-old comedian played a 10-year-old boy (with no CGI or anything), so to make him appear more child-like, he would get his legs waxed by the hair and makeup department. One day, he was wearing boxer shorts while getting his legs shaved and didn’t realize that his penis was hanging out of the side…the whole time. Yikes.
25.
Alec Baldwin originated the role of Jack Ryan in The Hunt for Red October but was replaced by Harrison Ford in the next Jack Ryan film, Patriot Games. If you ask Baldwin why, he’ll say it’s because Ford screwed him. In his book Nevertheless, Baldwin claims he was negotiating with the studio for the sequel when Ford approached them about taking over the role. Baldwin goes on to allege that The Hunt for Red October director John McTiernan asked Ford if he felt bad for snatching the role from Baldwin, and Ford replied, “Fuck him.” Baldwin later described Ford as “a little man, short, scrawny, and wiry, whose soft voice sounds as if it’s coming from behind a door.”
26.
Brad Pitt got Courtney Love fired from the role of Marla Singer in the 1999 classic Fight Club because she wouldn’t give him permission to play her late husband and Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain in a movie. At least that’s what Love claims, saying she was so upset by the idea of Pitt playing her late husband that she “went nuclear.” Deadline threw water on this claim, though, saying that a source close to the film told them, “Love auditioned for a role in Fight Club, a role she was never offered at any point. You cannot be fired for a job you didn’t get. It’s common knowledge that roles are not decided by other actors but by the director.”
27.
LL Cool J and Jamie Foxx had such a massive fight on the set of Oliver Stone’s 1999 football drama Any Given Sunday that the police were called. LL and Foxx were filming a scene where their football player characters were arguing on the sidelines next to their coach, played by Al Pacino. The scripted argument turned real when Foxx slapped LL, and the legendary Pacino tried in vain to break up the fight. Cinematographer Sal Totino recounted that LL threw a “fucking massive punch that hits Jamie in the face. Jamie goes back and hits the push bar on the techno-crane. I thought he snapped his neck. Jamie pops up, full-blown fight going on. Punches are flying everywhere.” Things got so bad that Foxx called the police, though no charges were pressed.
28.
Bruce Willis turned down the lead role of Sam Wheat in the global smash and Academy Award Best Picture nominee Ghost opposite his then-wife, Demi Moore. The part went to Patrick Swayze, who ended up canoodling with Willis’s wife onscreen in a career-defining hit. “I wish I had not turned down the part that Patrick Swayze eventually played in Ghost,” Willis told Ain’t It Cool News. “I simply could not see how a romance between a ghost and a living person would work.”
29.
And lastly, writer/director James Cameron would definitely prefer folks didn’t know the original ending of his classic film Titanic — how can I put this nicely? — was so bad it would have ruined the whole movie if it weren’t changed. In the original ending, instead of having the older Rose toss the “Heart of the Ocean” diamond into the water in a private moment, Brock (Bill Paxton) and Lizzy (Suzy Amis) come running and there’s an action film-ish standoff over the necklace, where Rose yells, “Don’t come any closer!” and juts the diamond over the water, adding, “I’ll drop it!” When she finally does drop it into the ocean, other characters yell, “Jesus, no!” and “That really sucks, lady!”
