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The life of a movie star isn't always as glamorous as it seems. Dive into 10 surprising stories of famous actors who, due to immense pressure, creative differences, or personal struggles, threatened to quit some of their most iconic film roles.
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00:00So the life of a movie star is often viewed as glamorous and enviable.
00:04Riches, exotic locations, fame and adoration, all that stuff is certainly nothing to sneeze at, right?
00:10But at the same time, there can also be a much darker side to this lifestyle.
00:15Some actors, from child stars to seasoned veterans, just can't handle the pressure and will begin to veer off the
00:20rails,
00:20their money and adulation just blowing up in their face.
00:23Even putting those extreme cases to one side, actors of all levels can feel nervousness and uncertainty or self-doubt
00:30and fear.
00:31Like everybody else, they can sometimes have confidence or esteem issues and occasionally can be unsure that what they're doing
00:37is the right thing for them.
00:38These feelings have led actors to seriously consider quitting some rather famous movies,
00:43from a wizarding world icon getting cold feet in the middle of the franchise to an entire superhero team confronting
00:49their director and threatening to bail.
00:51Of course, they ultimately didn't quit in the end, but for a moment, these stars were deadly serious about throwing
00:56in the towel.
00:57So let's take a look at them as I'm Jules, this is WhatCulture.com, and these are 10 actors who
01:01threaten to quit famous movies.
01:0410. Mark Ruffalo, 13 going on 30
01:07One of the reasons that actors get paid the big bucks is because they often have to do things that
01:12are extremely uncomfortable,
01:14like dangerous stunts, sex scenes, horse riding and almost getting your nipple waxed off, you know, that sort of thing.
01:18In Mark Ruffalo's case, that discomfort revolved around the dance scenes in his 2004 rom-com 13 going on 30,
01:26which almost made him quit the film entirely.
01:28According to co-star Jennifer Garner,
01:30Ruffalo felt like a bit of an idiot during the rehearsals for a dance scene that was set to Michael
01:34Jackson's thriller,
01:35mainly because the people he was dancing with were far more experienced than he was.
01:39This, understandably, wasn't a nice situation to be in, and Ruffalo contemplated dropping out as a result.
01:45On the plus side, it all turned out great in the end. That dance scene is one of the most
01:49memorable moments in the movie,
01:50and Ruffalo's career has been absolutely smashing it ever since.
01:549. Kellen Lutz, The Twilight Saga
01:57When we think about movie stars, we often think of the red carpet premieres, the huge paychecks, the glitz, the
02:03glamour,
02:03and all-around fabulous lifestyle. What we don't think about are the cold winter nights on set,
02:08where actors will often have to sit around doing nothing, waiting for the crew to prepare the next shot.
02:13It was this waiting around that almost made Kellen Lutz walk out of the Twilight Saga during the production of
02:19the two-part final chapter,
02:20with the actor recently revealing that he grew extremely frustrated with that part of the process,
02:25which, in turn, caused his passion for the job to diminish.
02:28He said,
02:52Now, it is easy for somebody who's making a lot of money to say,
02:54I don't care about money, but his comments are nonetheless a refreshingly candid take on some of the downsides of
03:00the Hollywood game.
03:01And in the end, he did appear in all five Twilight movies, so clearly he mustered enough willpower to see
03:06the franchise through.
03:07Either that, or he just phoned it in like the rest of them.
03:098. Evangeline Lilly, Ant-Man
03:12Ant-Man made its way to cinemas in 2015, as the final film in Phase 2 of the Marvel Cinematic
03:18Universe,
03:18but not before it endured a rather tumultuous production cycle that saw original director Edgar Wright replaced with Peyton Reed.
03:25Wright, of Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World fame,
03:29did a lot of pre-production work on the film before exiting in May 2014 due to creative differences,
03:35leaving Marvel Studios little time to right the ship for that aforementioned 2015 release.
03:40As you can imagine, there was a lot of pressure on everyone's shoulders, and there were lots of mixed emotions.
03:44With lead actress Evangeline Lilly even considering leaving the project with Wright initially believing his exit to be an injustice.
03:52Considering that it was Wright who cast her in the film, it's understandable why she felt that way.
03:56But after several lengthy creative discussions, she ultimately decided to stick around for Reed's own take on the material.
04:027. Paul Sovino, Goodfellas
04:05Few actors would turn down the opportunity to appear in a Martin Scorsese movie,
04:09and even less than that would sign up for one, do four weeks of pre-production, then quit three days
04:14before shooting was scheduled to begin.
04:16But that was the position that Paul Sovino found himself in while working on Scorsese's 1990 crime epic Goodfellas,
04:23with the actor finding it difficult to bring out his character's aggressive, brutish nature, which gave him cold feet.
04:28At a film festival in 2015, Sovino stated that portraying thug Paulie was,
04:32So far from me, I'm a poet, I'm an opera singer, I'm an author, none of it's gangster.
04:37So he called his manager and asked for him to be released from the movie.
04:40But when he found the character after noticing his own stern expression in the mirror, he decided to continue with
04:46the project.
04:47Now, Goodfellas is widely considered one of Scorsese's best movies and one of the greatest achievements in cinema.
04:52It was also nominated for six Oscars, including Best Picture, so yeah, he was probably quite relieved that he didn't
04:57jump ship.
04:586. Emma Watson – Harry Potter
05:00We often forget how difficult it must have been for the young stars of Harry Potter to spend ten of
05:05the most important years of their lives working under that glaring Hollywood spotlight.
05:09And it really isn't a surprise that the pressure was too much for them at some points.
05:13In fact, there was even a time where Emma Watson was seriously considering quitting the role of Hermione Granger, as
05:18revealed during the recent Potter reunion special.
05:21According to director David Yates, who was at the helm of the franchise from The Order of the Phoenix onwards,
05:25and has also made all three Fantastic Beasts films, it was the fifth movie where Watson wasn't sure whether she
05:31wanted to come back.
05:32Watson herself added that Order of the Phoenix was where things started to get spicy, I think I was scared,
05:38with co-star Rupert Grint also claiming that he had similar moments of doubt all the way through the series.
05:43Again, it isn't surprising that such young kids found this arduous ten-year process difficult,
05:47so full credit to them for finding the strength to see it through.
05:505. The Entire Cast – X-Men 2
05:53The 2000 X-Men movie and its 2003 sequel were instrumental in propelling the comic book movie genre to the
06:00heights that we see it today,
06:01but they were reportedly a pain in the arse to make.
06:05In a retrospective about the many bits of drama behind those original X-Men movies,
06:09the Hollywood Reporter detailed a troubling incident that occurred during the production of X-Men 2,
06:14wherein director Bryan Singer became incapacitated after taking a narcotic,
06:18which a couple of the crew members also took.
06:20Naturally, there were concerns that somebody could be injured if Singer continued to work while under the influence,
06:25and that's exactly what happened when star Hugh Jackman was left bleeding after a stunt went wrong.
06:31This prompted producer Ralph Winter to halt production,
06:34but bizarrely, the studio then appeared to side with Singer,
06:37essentially telling executive producer Tom DeSanto, who was on set during all of this commotion,
06:41to get out of Singer's way.
06:43Enter the majority of the movie's main cast members who confronted Singer while dressed in their full X-Men costumes,
06:49and threatened to quit the film if DeSanto was removed.
06:52Singer's reps deny that this happened,
06:54but showing up at your boss's trailer in black spandex is certainly a good way to make your voice heard.
06:594. Nicole Kidman – The Others
07:02Actors often have to jump between movies with wildly different tones.
07:05One week you could be doing some voiceover work for a family animation,
07:09and the next you could be filming a bloodthirsty death scene in an R-rated slasher flick.
07:13It was this tonal whiplash that gave Nicole Kidman second thoughts about appearing in her 2001 horror film The Others,
07:20with the actress finding it difficult to transition from the colourful and upbeat Moulin Rouge
07:24to the dark and disturbing psychological thriller,
07:27which takes place almost entirely inside a creepy old house.
07:30She said,
07:30When I got there and was just about to start rehearsals, I really didn't want to do it.
07:34My whole being, my whole psyche was rejecting it, and I was desperate to try and get out of it.
07:38I begged them to let me out.
07:40All I wanted to do was make love stories and musicals and be happy.
07:43Spoiler alert for a 20-year-old movie,
07:45but considering that The Others involves Kidman's character murdering her own children by suffocating them with a pillow,
07:50it's not hard to understand why she couldn't enter that headspace easily.
07:543. Chris Hemsworth – Ghostbusters 2016
07:57Chris Hemsworth received a ton of praise for his fun performance in the 2016 reboot of Ghostbusters,
08:04but the actor himself was terrified that he just wouldn't be any good.
08:07The role of hunky receptionist Kevin required a lot of on-screen improvisation,
08:11primarily because the script didn't flesh the character out at all.
08:14Naturally, this was a major concern for Hemsworth,
08:17who touched base with the director and was promised that Kevin would be written up before shooting officially began.
08:22But that didn't happen.
08:24Nervous at the prospect of having to build his character on the fly,
08:26Hemsworth then strongly considered pulling out of the project the night before production started,
08:31but was convinced at the last minute.
08:33Hemsworth later told Variety,
08:35I had no real plan and I just felt ridiculous, so I just used that.
08:38So his lack of preparation actually helped him in the end.
08:412. Dave Bautista – Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
08:45Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is the only movie on this list that actually hasn't come out yet,
08:49and that's because production has been plagued with setbacks.
08:52Initially set for 2020, the movie was delayed when writer-director James Gunn was fired in 2018,
08:58but then when he was rehired in 2019, he signed a deal to direct The Suicide Squad,
09:02which pushed back Vol. 3 even further.
09:05Fortunately, though, the movie finally started shooting in 2021,
09:08so everything kind of worked out in the end.
09:10But during that time when Gunn was fired and everything was up in the air,
09:13certain cast members, namely Dave Bautista, weren't too chuffed with Disney in the least,
09:17and even threatened to quit the film if Gunn's script wasn't used.
09:21He said,
09:22Where I'm at right now is that if Marvel don't use that script,
09:24then I'm going to ask them to release me from my contract, cut me out, or recast me.
09:28I'd be doing James a disservice if I didn't.
09:31Bautista was by far the most outspoken cast member in the wake of Gunn's firing,
09:35even accusing Disney of empowering a smear campaign by cyber-Nazis.
09:39Jeez, Dave, come on, tell us how you really feel.
09:411. Dwayne Johnson – Pain and Gain
09:44Dwayne The Rock Johnson doesn't seem like the type of guy to throw in the towel on anything he does,
09:49and yet, according to director Michael Bay,
09:51the star came surprisingly close to quitting his 2013 movie Pain and Gain.
09:56In fact, Bay claims that Johnson did actually quit the project roughly one week before shooting
10:01was scheduled to begin, forcing Bay to give him a pep talk to bring him back on board.
10:05He told Johnson,
10:06You are my secret weapon, and assured him that the movie would be worth his time.
10:10He said,
10:11He literally quit the week before, and he goes,
10:12I can't do this, and I'm like, Dwayne, you are my secret weapon on this movie.
10:16And I wrote him this long letter of all the actors I worked with who said that they were
10:20scared to do something and how it turned out. And he goes,
10:23Okay, okay, alright.
10:25Though joining a Michael Bay movie is something of a gamble in terms of the final product's quality,
10:29I mean, for every Armageddon there's also a Transformers 2,
10:32Johnson's gamble definitely paid off here.
10:34Not only is Pain and Gain one of the better Bay movies,
10:37it's also one of the best performances of Johnson's career.
10:39And there we go, my friends. Those were 10 actors who threatened to quit famous movies.
10:43I hope that you enjoyed that, and please let me know what you thought about it down in the
10:46comments section below. As always, I've been Jules. You can go follow me over on Twitter
10:49at RetroJ with a zero, or you can swing by Live and Let's Dice, where I do all of my
10:53streaming
10:54outside of work, and it'd be great to see you over there. But before I go, I just want to
10:58say
10:58one thing. Hope that you are treating yourself with love and respect, my friend, because you deserve all
11:03of the best things in life, like love, happiness, and success. And I don't want anything or anyone
11:07else to tell you otherwise, alright? You are a massive ledge, now go out there and absolutely
11:11smash it today. As always, I've been Jules, you have been awesome, never forget that, and I'll speak
11:16to you soon. Bye.
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