10 Actors Who Threatened To Quit Famous Movies

WhatCulture

Even Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson can't handle the pressure sometimes...

Transcript

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 rails,

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 and fear.

00:31Like everybody else, they can sometimes have confidence or esteem issues and occasionally can be unsure that what they're doing is the right thing for them.

00:38And these 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 their 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 in 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 threaten 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 are 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 Jackson'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 memorable 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 glamour,

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

02:18production of the two-part final chapter, with the actor recently revealing that he grew extremely

02:23frustrated with that part of the process, which, in turn, caused his passion for the job to diminish.

02:28He said,

02:29Now, 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

02:59on some of the downsides of the Hollywood game. And in the end, he did appear in all five Twilight

03:03movies, so clearly he mustered enough willpower to see the franchise through. Either that,

03:08or 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 Universe,

03:19but not before it endured a rather tumultuous production cycle that saw original director

03:23Edgar Wright replaced with Peyton Reed. Wright, of Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and Scott Pilgrim

03:28vs. the World fame, did a lot of pre-production work on the film before exiting in May 2014,

03:33due to creative differences, leaving Marvel Studios little time to right the ship for that

03:38aforementioned 2015 release. As you can imagine, there was a lot of pressure on everyone's

03:42shoulders, and there were lots of mixed emotions, with lead actress Evangeline Lilly even

03:47considering 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

04:01own take on the material. 7. Paul Sovino, Goodfellas

04:05Few actors would turn down the opportunity to appear in a Martin Scorsese movie, and even less than that

04:11would sign up for one, do four weeks of pre-production, then quit three days before shooting was

04:15scheduled to begin. But that was the position that Paul Sovino found himself in while working

04:19on Scorsese's 1990 crime epic, Goodfellas, with the actor finding it difficult to bring out his

04:25character's aggressive, brutish nature, which gave him cold feet. At a film festival in 2015,

04:30Sovino 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, but when he found the

04:41character after noticing his own stern expression in the mirror, he decided to continue with the

04:46project. Now, Goodfellas is widely considered one of Scorsese's best movies and one of the

04:50greatest achievements in cinema. It was also nominated for six Oscars, including Best Picture,

04:55so yeah, he was probably quite relieved that he didn't jump ship.

04:586. Emma Watson – Harry Potter We often forget how difficult it must have

05:03been for the young stars of Harry Potter to spend 10 of the most important years of their lives

05:07working under that glaring Hollywood spotlight, and it really isn't a surprise that the pressure

05:11was too much for them at some points. In fact, there was even a time where Emma Watson was

05:15seriously considering quitting the role of Hermione Granger, as revealed during the recent

05:19Potter reunion special. According to director David Yates, who was at the helm of the franchise

05:24from The Order of the Phoenix onwards, and has also made all three Fantastic Beasts films,

05:28it was the fifth movie where Watson wasn't sure whether she wanted to come back. Watson

05:33herself added that Order of the Phoenix was where things started to get spicy, I think I

05:37was scared, with co-star Rupert Grint also claiming that he had similar moments of doubt

05:41all the way through the series. Again, it isn't surprising that such young kids found this

05:45arduous 10-year process difficult, so full credit to them for finding the strength to see it through.

05:505. The Entire Cast – X-Men 2

05:54The 2000 X-Men movie and its 2003 sequel were instrumental in propelling the comic book movie

05:59genre to the heights that we see it today, but 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

06:12of X-Men 2, wherein director Bryan Singer became incapacitated after taking a narcotic,

06:18which a couple of the crew members also took. Naturally, there were concerns that somebody

06:22could be injured if Singer continued to work while under the influence, and that's exactly

06:26what happened when star Hugh Jackman was left bleeding after a stunt went wrong. This prompted

06:31producer Ralph Winter to halt production, but bizarrely, the studio then appeared to side with

06:36Singer, essentially telling executive producer Tom DeSanto, who was on set during all of this commotion,

06:42to get out of Singer's way.

06:43Enter the majority of the movie's main cast members who confronted Singer while dressed

06:48in their full X-Men costumes, and threatened to quit the film if DeSanto was removed. Singer's

06:53reps deny that this happened, but showing up at your boss's trailer in black spandex is

06:57certainly 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. One week you could be

07:07doing some voiceover work for a family animation, and the next you could be filming a bloodthirsty

07:11death scene in an R-rated slasher flick. It was this tonal whiplash that gave Nicole Kidman

07:16second thoughts about appearing in her 2001 horror film The Others, with the actress finding

07:21it difficult to transition from the colourful and upbeat Moulin Rouge! to the dark and disturbing

07:25psychological thriller, which 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

07:38of it. I begged them to let me out. All I wanted to do was make love stories and musicals and be

07:43happy. Spoiler alert for a 20-year-old movie, but considering that The Others involves Kidman's

07:47character murdering her own children by suffocating them with a pillow, it's not hard to understand

07:51why 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. The role of hunky

08:07receptionist Kevin required a lot of on-screen improvisation, primarily because the script didn't

08:13flesh the character out at all. Naturally, this was a major concern for Hemsworth, who touched base

08:18with the director and was promised that Kevin would be written up before shooting officially began,

08:22but that didn't happen. Nervous at the prospect of having to build his character on the fly,

08:27Hemsworth then strongly considered pulling out of the project the night before production started,

08:31but was convinced at the last minute. Hemsworth later told Variety,

08:35I had no real plan and I just felt ridiculous, so I just used that. So his lack of preparation

08:39actually 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,

08:49because production has been plagued with setbacks. Initially set for 2020, the movie was delayed when

08:55writer-director James Gunn was fired in 2018, but then when he was rehired in 2019, he signed a deal

09:00to direct The Suicide Squad, which pushed back Vol. 3 even further. Fortunately, though, the movie

09:06finally started shooting in 2021, so everything kind of worked out in the end. But during that time

09:11when Gunn was fired and everything was up in the air, certain cast members, namely Dave Bautista,

09:15weren't too chuffed with Disney in the least, and even threatened to quit the film if Gunn's script

09:20wasn't used. He said,

09:21Where I'm at right now is that if Marvel don't use that script, then I'm going to ask them to

09:25release me from my contract, cut me out, or recast me. I'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. Jeez, Dave, come on,

09:40tell 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, the star came surprisingly close to quitting his 2013

09:54movie Pain and Gain. In fact, Bay claims that Johnson did actually quit the project roughly

09:59one week before shooting was scheduled to begin, forcing Bay to give him a pep talk to bring him

10:04back on board. He told Johnson,

10:06You Are My Secret Weapon, and assured him that the movie would be worth his time. He said he

10:11literally quit the week before, and he goes, I can't do this, and I'm like, Dwayne, You Are My

10:15Secret Weapon on this movie, and I wrote him this long letter of all the actors I worked with who

10:19said that they were scared to do something and how it turned out, and he goes, okay, 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, Johnson's gamble definitely paid

10:34off here. Not only is Pain and Gain one of the better Bay movies, it's also one of the best

10:38performances of Johnson's career.

10:40And there we go, my friends, those were 10 actors who threatened to quit famous movies. I hope that

10:43you enjoyed that, and please let me know what you thought about it down in the comment section below.

10:47As always, I've been Jules, you can go follow me over on Twitter at RetroJ with a zero, or you can

10:51swing by Live and Let's Dice, where I do all of my streaming outside of work, and it'd be great to see

10:55you over there. But before I go, I just want to say one thing, hope that you are treating yourself with love

11:00and respect, my friend, because you deserve all of the best things in life, like love, happiness,

11:05and success. And I don't want anything or anyone else to tell you otherwise, alright? You're a

11:09massive ledge, now go out there and absolutely smash it today. As always, I've been Jules,

11:14you have been awesome, never forget that, and I'll speak to you soon. Bye.

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