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Ewan McGregor's French accent needed a LOT of work in Beauty and the Beast!
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00:00From clearly talented A-list stars not realising their version of the French accent wasn't up to
00:05scratch, to debuting heroes not exactly getting off to the best of starts in the supersphere,
00:10it's plain to see that this bunch of actors weren't 100% prepared for what was heading their way.
00:15Gareth here from WhatCulture.com and here are 10 actors that totally underprepared for a movie
00:19role. 10. Sabrina Carpenter
00:22Quinn Ackerman, Work It During the events of Netflix's dance
00:25comedy flick, Work It, Sabrina Carpenter's Quinn Ackerman ultimately goes from awkward mover to
00:30dance machine. But in order to convincingly portray the fact that her character wasn't initially quite
00:35at the same level of those busting a move around her, the star who isn't exactly known for being
00:39a bad dancer in real life had a clever idea. As Carpenter would explain in a BuzzFeed interview
00:44with some of her castmates, the actor specifically opted to not fully learn the routine she was asked
00:49to perform in certain scenes. In particular, the moment that saw Ackerman auditioning for a place
00:54on the Thunderbirds team actually boasted a Carpenter who had no idea what was going on.
00:58In fact, Carpenter was actually Gambon Albus Dumbledore, the Harry Potter series.
01:03For a time, it felt as though there wasn't actually a soul walking the earth who hadn't
01:06at least picked up one of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter novels for a quick skim to see what all
01:10the fuss was about. Surprisingly though, one of the most notable presences in the eventual
01:15big screen adaptations of the Wizarding World actually never so much as turned a page of the
01:19source material during his time in the cloak. Not really feeling the need to add this particular
01:23element to his preparations for the all-important role of Albus Dumbledore, Michael Gambon went
01:28on record on a number of occasions to confess that he had little desire to comb through Rowling's
01:33pages. On top of stating that it's safer to just simply follow the script he is handed,
01:37the actor who stepped in for the late Richard Harris in the part would also note that if he
01:41had opted to read them, he'd likely get upset about the scenes that were missing in the screenplay.
01:46Had Gambon actually given the books a read however, there's a chance he would have potentially
01:50been able to dodge the odd backlash sent his way by those who felt his version of the character
01:54wasn't faithful to the one on the page. With a number of upset Potterheads feeling the Brits
01:59take on the powerful wizard, was far harsher than the one they'd spent time with in the novels.
02:03Boo hoo.
02:04Number 8, Kit Harington, Milo Pompei
02:06Another star who didn't exactly throw themselves into books and various other forms of research when
02:11heading into a project, instead opting to take the script as gospel like Gambon before him.
02:16Kit Harington wasn't exactly an expert on all things Pompei, going into the flick of the same
02:20name. Largely due to the rather busy Game of Thrones star just not having enough time beforehand,
02:25Harington actually only got around to taking in the remains of the city itself that was destroyed
02:29after an eruption from Mount Vesuvius after he'd wrapped on the film. And while the star would
02:34admit to being ashamed at the lack of historical research he did when preparing for the role of
02:38Milo, a Celtic slave turned gladiator in the city during the year of the fateful event,
02:42he was pleasantly surprised to realise just how historically accurate the team behind the film
02:46actually were when creating the world his character existed in on screen.
02:50Or the accurate set building in the world. Harington noted that around 30 different
02:54sets were crafted in Toronto for the shoot, still couldn't stop this particular historical
02:58epic going down in history as the wrong sort of disaster flick however.
03:02Number 7, James McAvoy, Charles Xavier, X-Men First Class
03:06When the star found out that he was being entrusted with bringing to life the earlier years of the
03:10leader of the X-Men himself, it's not hard to see why James McAvoy quickly assumed he needed to
03:15perform one rather specific action in the lead-up. So before he first set foot onto the set of X-Men
03:20First Class all those years ago, the Scottish sensation decided about a month in advance of
03:25filming that he was going to bite the bald bullet and shave off his precious hair. Only when he
03:29revealed his shiny preparation to the team behind the X-Men prequel, he soon discovered that being
03:33bald was most definitely not part of the plan for Charles Xavier at this point in the story.
03:38Far from it in fact, they actually wanted McAvoy to have long hair in that 2014 outing.
03:43So the star was ultimately forced to sit in a makeup chair for a grand total of 15 hours
03:47in order to equip him with hair extensions for his Professor X debut.
03:51Number 6, Viggo Mortensen, Aragorn, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
03:54As Peter Jackson's ambitious journey to bring the epic trilogy of The Lord of the Rings to the big
03:59screen got underway all those years ago, the director initially rewarded Stuart Townsend with
04:04the meaty role of Aragorn. However, it soon became clear that Townsend was just too darn
04:08young for the role of the future King of Gondor, so a replacement in the form of Viggo Mortensen
04:13was swapped in rather late in the casting day. After being convinced by his Lord of the Rings
04:17loving son that it was a role worth taking though, the actor who would eventually become synonymous
04:21with the badass ranger turned leader of men arrived on set and immediately felt underprepared
04:26as he put it. And with the rest of the cast already beginning shooting and some of them being out in
04:30New Zealand for weeks or months at the point of his arrival, it's not hard to see why the gifted
04:35thespian felt as though he was playing some serious catch-up in those early days on set.
04:39If that wasn't enough to deal with, Mortensen also confessed to feeling understandably awkward
04:43about the concept of replacing another actor for the first time too. Despite these early concerns
04:48however, Viggo soon found its human-sized feat and went on to produce one of the most gripping
04:52performances the critically acclaimed series had to offer.
04:55Number 5, Hugh Jackman, Wolverine, X-Men
04:58Due to the fact that original Wolverine actor Doug Ray Scott was forced to drop out of the
05:02first X-Men movie due to scheduling conflicts late on, Hugh Jackman was eventually thrown
05:07into the mutant party three weeks into the film's shoot. And as the eventual megastar would
05:11ultimately explain years later, he was asked by the studio if he could get into shirtless
05:15Logan shape for the 2000 flick in just three weeks, eventually noting how he might have
05:20over-promised. Not exactly nailing the physique they were looking for, director Bryan Singer
05:24swiftly decided to push his topless moments back four months to the end of the shoot.
05:28Now expecting any actor to get into the sort of freakish shape Jackman ultimately would in
05:33later mutant entries in such a small space of time was always going to be unrealistic.
05:37But assuming they are completely aware of the existence of the animal their on-screen
05:41character is named after? That's not too much to ask, right?
05:44Well, as it goes, Jackman was actually under the impression that Wolverines weren't a real
05:48thing during his early days in the role. And his call to heavily research wolves instead soon
05:53backfired after being informed by Singer that not only was he not playing that type of furry
05:57creature, but that those make-believe Wolverines were anything but.
06:01All those hours spent howling at the moon and for what?
06:04Number 4. Marlon Brando, Dr. Moreau
06:06The island of Dr. Moreau
06:08The Marlon Brando spotted popping up in the likes of The Island of Dr. Moreau and free money
06:12towards the end of his career was a far cry from the legendary performer who'd captivated
06:16generations with his mesmerising work in everything from a streetcar named Isaiah to The Godfather.
06:21By the time he rocked up on set for that aforementioned Moreau project, the iconic
06:24thespian seemed very much bored with the world of filmmaking, according to the film's screenwriter
06:29Ron Hutchinson. And the mind behind the script of The Island of Dr. Moreau would even go as
06:33far as to say that the overweight, unprepared, mocking, dismissive star seemed as though he
06:38was here to sabotage this movie.
06:40Now it is worth noting how the star's daughter had tragically committed suicide in the lead
06:43up to shooting on the 1996 sci-fi flick, something that must have no doubt impacted his preparations
06:48and overall state of mind whilst working on the ultimately doomed picture.
06:52But between reportedly having to have the lines he didn't want to learn read out to
06:55him through an earpiece, and often even refusing to leave his trailer altogether, it's clear
07:00that Brando simply wasn't prepared to play ball when it came time to unleash what would
07:03ultimately go on to be branded as perhaps his worst film by critic Roger Ebert.
07:073. Ewan McGregor Lumiere
07:09Beauty and the Beast
07:10Scottish acting powerhouse Ewan McGregor has proven time and time again that he's more than
07:15capable of mastering another accent.
07:16Despite utterly nailing everything from a smooth RP to an American twang though, one particular
07:21accent McGregor wasn't quite as confident with ultimately left him with a bit of egg
07:25on his face during the recording of a little Disney remake by the name of Beauty and the
07:29Beast.
07:30As the star himself would explain on The Graham Norton Show a few years back, the fact McGregor
07:34had been married to a French woman for 20 years left him feeling foolishly confident
07:38about his ability to unleash a French-sounding voice as Lumiere.
07:42Unfortunately for him though, the folks capturing the Scott voice didn't want the
07:46allure sounds he was delivering throughout, leaving him sounding entirely Mexican as he
07:50then again attempted to speak the Candelabra lines.
07:53In fact, his delivery was so disastrous, the star would confess to having to go back and
07:57redo some of his lines in order to cover up his initial lack of proper prep.
08:012. Tom Hardy Bronson
08:03Bronson
08:04Very few would question Tom Hardy's ability to entirely transform into another human being
08:09at this current moment in time.
08:10However, back before he was the household acting icon he is today, it's safe to say
08:15that one person in particular wasn't entirely convinced that the person tasked with bringing
08:19him to life in a movie had what it took to play him convincingly.
08:22In fact, when none other than real-life bare-knuckle boxer and criminal Charles Bronson first
08:26laid eyes on Hardy, he complained and couldn't see how the actor, who probably weighed about
08:3011 stone drenched with stones in his pockets, would be able to play the meaty figure in 2008,
08:35Bronson.
08:36After not being able to look at Hardy without feeling that he'd been hard done by, Bronson
08:40ultimately changed his tune the minute he saw the rising star put his mind to packing
08:44on the pounds, however.
08:45And after telling Charlie that he'd fix it, the stacked Hardy that turned up in front
08:49of him during a meeting two weeks later, ended up leaving Bronson thoroughly impressed.
08:53As the infamous figure himself put it,
08:55You won't want to meet him in a dark alley at 3am.
08:581. Taika Waititi Adolf Hitler Jojo Rabbit
09:01When it comes to playing any real-life historical figure, no matter how despicable and
09:05infamous, there's usually a level of research most actors will commit to in order to understand
09:10the person they're playing.
09:11Taika Waititi had other ideas, though, and instead of scanning through many a book or
09:15documentary to piece together vital information in the lead-up to playing a version of Adolf
09:19Hitler in his 2019 flick Jojo Rabbit, he did the complete opposite, claiming that he didn't
09:24even do so much as a lick of research for his part of Jojo's imaginary pal Hitler.
09:28The fact this was also a version of the vile figure dreamed up by a 10-year-old ultimately
09:33resulted in a portrayal of himself that just so happened to boast a bad haircut, a s***
09:37little moustache, and a mediocre German accent.
09:40The mind behind the movie was also very much aware how folks likely wouldn't enjoy the imaginary
09:44friend version of the character as much had he played him like the actual Hitler, because
09:48as Taika effectively summed up, he was such an F-ing C-word, and everyone knows that as
09:53well.
09:53So why waste your time researching such a prick, eh?
09:55And that's our list, know of any other actors that totally underprepared for a movie role?
09:59Let us know all about them in the comments section right down below, and do not forget
10:02to like, share, and click on that subscribe button while you're at it.
10:05Also, if you like this kind of thing, then head on over to WhatCulture.com and find some
10:08more fantastic articles just like the one this video you're watching right this second is
10:12based on.
10:13I've been Gareth from WhatCulture.com, thank you as always for watching this lovely video
10:16today.
10:17Hopefully I'll see your faces very very soon, but in the meantime, be good to yourself and have
10:20the best of days.
10:21Bye-bye!
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