12 Movies That Traumatized Their Actors

So often, the filming of a movie reflects a fantasized, seductive, exciting and totally unique image, sometimes, things go wrong. This is what we wanted to highlight in this file, which looks back at these actors and actresses who have had a traumatic experience on a film set. Here are 12 films that traumatized these actors and actresses:

12) Die Hard

In 1988, John McTiernan revolutionized action cinema with the immense Crystal Trap . This first Die Hardhas made an impression, particularly thanks to its hero, who has become iconic, especially through the cult performance of Bruce Willis. In Die Hard, the late Alan Rickman plays Hans Gruber, the film's antagonist. At the end of the feature film, the latter falls to his death from the roof of Nakatomi Plaza. What is funny (and a little traumatic for the actor) is that during this fall, McTiernan did not warn him in advance. Initially, Charlie Picerni, stunt coordinator, was supposed to throw him into the void after 3 (obviously there were tatamis waiting for him at the reception). But finally, he pushed him into the void at 1. The reaction of Alan Rickman on screen is therefore his true amazement. Here, no acting, no artificiality, but the real reaction of the actor who gets scared. And it shows in his eyes. Small trauma, we start slowly.

11) Ça

Bill Skarsgård, who plays the evil clown Pennywise,had difficulty breaking out of his role. The actor revealed that the clown haunted him for many months after filming on both films Ça wrapped. He revealed that Grippe-Sou sometimes came to visit him in his dreams and nightmares…

10) Alien, the eighth passenger

Be careful, this is a real stroke of genius from Ridley Scott. At the beginning of the film, Kane, the character played by John Hurt, is infected by a Facehugger. Later in the film, a Xenomorphcomes out of his chest, in front of the rest of the crew, stunned and terrified. A cult sequence, violent, disturbing, which traumatized the spectators of the time, but also the rest of the cast. Indeed, Ridley Scott did not warn the cast that an Alien was going to come out of Kane's body. According to Empire, the film's cast was surprised by this violent outburst. Ridley Scott wanted realistic and hardcore reactions. Yaphet Kotto, who plays J.T. Parker admitted that he “didn't understand what was happening”.

9) Kramer versus kramer

Released in 1979, Kramer vs. Kramer is a huge film about couples, separation, and the impact of divorce on children. Led by Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep, it is a huge classic of the genre, which still resonates today. Kramer vs. Kramer, It's 9 Oscar nominations, 5 awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor for Dustin Hoffman and Best Supporting Actress for Meryl Streep. However, the latter has a bad memory of Robert Benton's film. Indeed, in a sequence of argument between the two actors, Dustin Hoffman allowed himself to slap Meryl Streepwithout warning her in advance. The actress did not appreciate her colleague's gesture and their relationship deteriorated. Streep and Hoffman often clashed on the set afterwards and other incidents occurred.

8) Massacre at the chainsaw

Released in 1974, Massacre à; the chainsawis a mainstay of slasher and horror cinema more broadly. Actor Allen Danziger, who plays Jerry in Tobe Hooper's film, was traumatized by Latherface. In an interview with Grasy Kid Stuff Magazine, he revealed that the first time he saw Latherface was during the shooting of a scene. He had not yet seen the character design, nor Gunnar Hansen, the actor behind the mask. Thus, in the middle of filming, Allen Danziger let out a scream of fright when he crossed paths with Latherface for the first time. He was so scared, that Tobe Hooper was forced to stop filming. Because of this experience, Allen Danziger was terrified of every new sequence, and every new appearance of Gunnar Hansen. Allen Danziger had a moment of fright during the filming of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. In the film Jerry is murdered by a huge blow to the skull with a hammer. Allen Danziger often jokes that years later he “still has headaches.”

7) Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

Released in 1988, Who Framed Roger Rabbit? is one of the first films to mix animation and live action. An experience that traumatized Bob Hoskins, the film's lead actor. Indeed, most of the time, Bob Hoskins spoke to himself on set. Since the toons were not materialized on the set, he had no one to interact with. Later, he would declare (via Express), that “Roger Rabbit drove me crazy”. He admitted that he then spent months talking to himself, suffering from hallucinations of cartoon characters from having to imagine them while filming the movie. Can't be bothered by Looney Tunes…

6) The same

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Marion Cotillard put a lot of effort into the role of Edith Piaf. Released in 2007, La Môme allowed Marion Cotillard to win the César and the Oscar for Best Actress. An iconic role, it is undoubtedly the most emblematic character of her career. An experience such that the actress had difficulty separating herself from the famous singer. In an interview with The Guardian, Cotilard revealed that she could not get rid of Edith Piaf:

I tried everything. I did exorcisms with salt and fire. I traveled to Bora Bora to escape her. I went to Peru, Machu Picchu, and did ancient shamanic ceremonies to cleanse myself after I finally understood why I couldn't let her go.

Oh yeah, all the same… According to Cotillard, Edith Piaf's spirit and memory clung to her because she was afraid of being abandoned again. After La Môme, Marion Cotillard refused any similar role, for fear of locking herself once again in the memory of a personality influential.

5) Bad boys

Released in 1995, Bad Boys is Michael Bay's first feature film. Unfortunately, the latter is not an example in terms of safety. It is often that, on his sets, the technical teams and actors complain about the lack of supervision and security. On the set of Ambulance for example, a technician lost her life. In Bad Boys, it was the French-speaking actor Tchéky Karyo who almost died during a stunt. During a chase between his character and that of Will Smith, a stunt was on the verge of degenerating as he explained to the microphone of AlloCiné in 2018:

It was a big stunt. The director pushed me a little bit. The stuntman asked me not to go too fast because he was afraid of falling on the oars coming down from the plane. He hadn't rehearsed and there was nothing to protect him. I tried to protect him. The director didn't care because he said: “It's his job, he has to figure it out.”

Eventually, Michael Bay changed his mind and agreed that the stuntman did not perform this stunt. However, he demanded that Tcheky Karyo drive very fast on the airport tarmac, which was wet that day. Tcheky Karyo had a car accident. “I took shards of the windshield in my face” he revealed.

4) A Clockwork Orange

Do you remember the scene in A Clockwork Orange in which Alex DeLarge's character is forced to keep his eyes open to purify himself of his violence and sadism? The character is tied to a chair, and a procedure forces him to keep his eyes open. In front of him, a screen scrolls through the worst possible violence. The goal is to traumatize him to the point that he is disgusted and freed from all violence. Well, Stanley Kubrick actually subjected actor Malcolm McDowell to this torture. He was forced to keep his eyes open for several hours. He was accompanied by a doctor who regularly moistened his eyes. This did not prevent him from having a damaged cornea and suffering temporary blindnessafter the filming of this sequence. Nice physical trauma…

3) Irreversible

You obviously know what scene we're going to talk about. In Irreversible, Gaspar Noéfeatures a rape sequence that is far too realistic. A violent, shocking scene that has often caused scandal. In any case, Monica Bellucci, who plays the poor woman who is raped for 9 long minutes, was traumatized by this sequence. The actress revealed that she had felt nausea during the filming of this scene, and that today, she is totally unable to watch the movie, and even less the sequence in question. And we clearly can't blame him… And we're clearly not going to show you the sequence in question here either.

2) The Shining

This gentleman Kubrick is definitely not very nice. On the set of The ShiningStanley Kubrick literally harassed actress Shelley Duvall. The latter often returned to her bad experience with the filmmaker. She revealed that the role of Wendy Torrence was emotionally and physically exhausting. Stanley Kubrick didn't give her a moment to breathe and kept her in a state of permanent dread, fear and paranoia. The filmmaker notably forced the young actress to shoot the staircase sequence with Jack Nicholson 35 times. An exhausting experience. Shelley Duvall also found herself very alone during this shoot, having no support from Jack Nicholson, who was also on the verge of madness.A particularly anxiety-provoking atmosphere that traumatized her from the profession of actress…

1) Abyss

Abyss was a real nightmare for Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio. Indeed, James Cameronput them in a situation of extreme danger for the sake of his film. Always in search of extreme realism, James Cameron made his actors take great risks. Already, the actors spent long days of 10 hours submerged in water, three times a week. The filming conditions were deplorable since James Cameron set up his set in a old decommissioned nuclear power plant. The production took 5 months to adapt this plant for filming. The reactor was filled with 28 million liters of water in 5 days. The chlorine in the water, too high, caused jaundice and hair losson some members of the technical crew. Due to going in and out of the water, most of the actors fell ill during filming. Many people developed ear infections and sinus infections. Faced with James Cameron's repeated demands, his technicians began to rename The Abyss with the title The Abuse.

But the worst part is that Ed Harris nearly died. In a particularly complicated sequence, the actor has to swim underwater, holding his breath. An oxygen tank was then at his disposal at the end of his journey, at the top of a ladder. Except that, after a first take, for more realism, James Cameron changed the location of the oxygen tank, without warning Ed Harris. The aim of the maneuver was to capture Ed Harris' panic underwater, lacking air. An extremely dangerous method that almost cost the actor his life. Once dry, Ed Harris had a heated argument with James Cameron. Subsequently, he refused to promote Abyss, and swore never to work with the filmmaker again.