15 Films and TV Series Which Put the Actors Through Fire and Water

There are many difficult moments in an actor’s career. Sometimes directors make strange demands and forbid them to drink bottled water on set, while at other times, they might get visited by unfriendly animal colleagues. Some film stars create their own difficulties when trying to get into character. Here are some films and TV series that have put the actors through more than they may have bargained for.

The English

Emily Blunt wore a corset for the role, which she compared to an “oven for her organs.” According to the actress, it was awful because the shooting took place in Spain during the hot summer.

Noah

Due to the message of the film being to protect the environment, the director forbade drinking water from plastic bottles on the set. Because of this, Emma Watson had an unpleasant incident: she drank from a mug of water that had been in her trailer for about 3 months, and felt quite ill. The director didn’t let her take a break and suggested using the way she felt as part of her acting.

The Banshees of Inisherin

Colin Farrell interacted with various animals on the set of the film, but their relationships weren’t so great. A donkey kicked him in the knee, a dog bit him, and a horse almost made him go for a swim in the Atlantic Ocean.

Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens

For the desert chase scene, actors Daisy Ridley and John Boyega trained on treadmills. But that didn’t prepare them for the filming, as running on sand was much harder. Ridley admitted that it was hard on the legs.

In the Heart of the Sea

For this film, the actors needed to lose a lot of weight and had to work out and watch their physique even during filming. Chris Hemsworth and the other actors only consumed 500 calories a day.

House of Gucci

In the film, Salma Hayek had to take a mud bath, which turned out to be the most pleasant experience. She just couldn’t immerse herself in the mud and struggled for a long time. Hayek said it was the most difficult scene of her life.

The Suicide Squad

In one of the scenes, John Cena’s character is eating an empanada. It wasn’t possible to capture this moment perfectly straight away. It took 31 takes, with the actor eating an entire empanada in each take. By his own admission, after the shoot, he waddled like a penguin.

Wednesday

Choosing a hairstyle for Jenna Ortega’s character was more difficult than the audience could have imagined, as the actress had to work with the very demanding Tim Burton. It took him 3 hours to choose the right braids. Burton himself even took a comb and arranged the fringes of the actress exactly the way he wanted. In addition, for the role of Wednesday, Jenna learned fencing, archery, playing the cello, and studied German.

Nomadland

For the role of the traveling woman, Frances McDormand decided to spend the night in a van herself. In such circumstances, the actress was deprived of many comforts. Something that complicated matters, even more, was that she’d had spicy chicken wings for dinner. McDormand had to do her business in a bucket.

The Thing About Pam

To transform herself into her character, Renée Zellweger wore elaborate makeup and prosthetics. The actress was found to be allergic to the glue used by the makeup artists. To cope with this, Zellweger resorted to using many allergy medications.

Bridgerton

Actress Phoebe Dynevor was nervous about the dance scenes. She studied with a choreographer for six weeks, but it still proved difficult to film. Often the actors had to hold conversations while dancing, which is not as easy as it sounds. Dynevor described those scenes as the most nerve-wracking, yet satisfying.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 2

The filming of the sewer scenes, which lasted three weeks, was far from easy for the actors. Jennifer Lawrence recalled, with particular sympathy, the experience of her film partner Liam Hemsworth: he couldn’t even stand up straight in those tunnels.

The Eyes of Tammy Faye

Jessica Chastain tries to take good care of her skin, but she fears that working on this film may have affected her appearance. She had to wear heavy makeup for the role, which stretched her skin. She jokingly claimed that she looked older after filming.

Elysium

The filming of the movie about a future where the entire Earth is a slum took place in a landfill in Mexico City. The smell, as one might imagine, was horrible because of the filth. The crew could escape it by wearing masks, but actor Matt Damon had to breathe the “fresh” air.

Ammonite

In order to embody her role as paleontologist Mary Anning, actress Kate Winslet also decided to spend some time in isolation, and rather than living in a comfortable hotel, she did so in a shack on the beach. It was cold and noisy. During the storms, waves pounded against the cabin windows, and the electricity kept cutting off constantly.

What other films and series do you know that have been difficult for actors to work on?