The Dark Secrets Behind Iconic Movies

Creating a feature film requires immense dedication. It takes years of effort, with a multitude of people working tirelessly to bring each movie to life. Such an elaborate and laborious process makes it easy to understand why disasters sometimes strike during production. But occasionally, things go from bad to truly catastrophic.

10. Christian Bale’s Extreme Transformation for The Machinist Nearly Cost Him His Life

Christian Bale can be compared to a real-life Nutty Professor, but rather than donning a fat suit, he chooses to follow extreme diets, drastically losing and gaining weight for roles. And we’re not talking about a modest 20-pound loss to look more like a traditional action hero. Bale reportedly set the record for the most weight lost for a film role in Hollywood history, shedding an astonishing 30 kilograms (65 lbs). He even considered losing more, but medical professionals warned that doing so could be fatal.

At the start of filming, Bale weighed only 50 kilograms (110 lbs). To reach this weight, he sustained himself on just one can of tuna and an apple each day leading up to the production. The strain of such extreme dieting drove him to take up smoking to suppress his hunger and help manage his stress. If you ever need to smoke to maintain your sanity, you might want to reconsider your actions. The toll this extreme weight loss took on his body was evident during filming, as Bale was unable to run for more than a minute or two without exhausting himself—his muscles were practically consumed by his own body. Yet, in an extraordinary feat, he regained all of his original weight and more within just a few months to prepare for his next role in *Batman Begins*.

9. A Year-Long Effort for One Scene in The Shining

Stanley Kubrick is often regarded as one of the greatest directors in film history, but his legendary status was earned through intense dedication and controversy. Known for his extreme attention to detail in set design, his films have inspired conspiracy theories, one of the most famous being that he helped fake the Moon landing and left hidden clues in *The Shining*. Besides his directorial genius, Kubrick was notoriously harsh on his cast and crew. A well-known trivia from *The Shining* is that the famous line, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy,” was repeatedly typed out on a typewriter by a real person.

But Kubrick’s obsession with perfection didn’t stop there. It was common for him to reshoot scenes multiple times, sometimes up to dozens, until he was satisfied with the result. The scene where Hallorann explains the concept of 'the shining' took a record-breaking 148 takes, but that’s just a small part of the story. The infamous blood elevator scene only required three takes, yet each reshoot took nine days to set up the elevator again. Despite its brief duration on screen, the scene required a full year of editing before Kubrick was content with how it fit into the film.

8. Cast Members in The Wizard of Oz Earned Less Than the Dogs

If you haven’t watched the 1939 release of The Wizard of Oz, then either you’re under six years old or living in a remote part of the world. Nearly everyone in the United States has seen this iconic film at least once, and for good reason—it’s a timeless classic. But just because the movie has enjoyed almost 80 years of adoration doesn’t mean everyone involved was fairly compensated for its monumental success.

I’m referring to the little people who portrayed the Munchkins of the Lollipop Guild. While the story that one of the Munchkins committed suicide on set and appeared in the film’s scenes is just a rumor, it’s easy to understand how such a tale might have originated when you learn that the Munchkin actors were paid only $50 a week for their roles. That amount might have been decent by 1930s standards, but it pales in comparison to the $125 per week earned by the dog who played Toto. The Munchkins, human actors with actual lines in the film, were paid less than the dog.

7. Making Fitzcarraldo Was Harder Than The Actual Story

Fitzcarraldo tells the tale of an eccentric man with dreams of building an opera house deep in the jungle. He planned to fund his project by transporting a 300-ton boat over a 40-degree slope to access untapped rubber reserves. The unbelievable part? The movie is based on the real story of Carlos Fitzcarrald, who actually hauled a boat over a 40-degree hill to reach the rubber reserves. However, Fitzcarrald only moved a 32-ton boat, and he disassembled it first to make the journey possible.

Moving a 32-ton boat in pieces through the Amazon rainforest was already a monumental challenge, but director Werner Herzog insisted on moving a full 300-ton boat for dramatic effect. And that’s precisely what he did. Aside from using a bulldozer for support behind the boat, most of the work was done by hired natives and contractors. The crew faced not only the peril of pushing a giant boat up a hill, but also attacks from local tribes, dangerous animals, and the harsh environment. There were injuries, possibly even fatalities, but in the end, the boat made it over the hill. It took four years of grueling labor and a complete disregard for any semblance of practicality or reality.

6. The Controversy in Old Boy

Many religions impose dietary rules. Some require fasting for specific periods, while others prohibit eating or drinking certain items. Buddhism, for example, frowns upon eating meat in certain regions, though it’s not strictly forbidden. The problem arises, however, if you’re consuming something that was killed for your benefit. Intentionally causing the death of an animal for food is considered wrong in Buddhism. This becomes relevant because Choi Min-sik, the actor in *Old Boy*, is a Buddhist.

For a pivotal scene in *Old Boy*, Choi Min-sik ate a live octopus. Not just one, but four whole octopuses were consumed before the director was satisfied with the shot. Although this act was contrary to his religious beliefs, Choi Min-sik knew the scene was crucial for his character and went ahead with it. After each take, he prayed for forgiveness, and after the film’s release, the octopuses were given a special thank-you note to make up for the act of killing them.

5. Near-Death Experiences on the Set of Lord of the Rings

Working on an epic film series like *The Lord of the Rings* for nearly half a decade means the occasional accident is inevitable. Despite taking all necessary precautions, accidents are always lurking, and the set of *The Lord of the Rings* was no exception. While most incidents were minor, one close call stands out. During a scene where Aragorn drifts unconscious down a river, actor Viggo Mortensen was unexpectedly pulled into a rapid, carried beyond the safety crew’s reach, and slammed into a stone wall. The current held him underwater for several seconds before he was fortunate enough to escape it.

While drowning might be one of the worst ways to meet your end, Viggo Mortensen almost topped that scenario with a knife to the face. During an orc battle scene, a knife was supposed to be thrown into a tree. However, the orc’s aim went astray, and the blade shot toward Viggo’s face. With quick reflexes, Viggo deflected the knife with his sword just in time, narrowly escaping disaster once again (and unintentionally proving himself as the real-life embodiment of Aragorn).

4. The Oompa Loompas in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

*Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory* was shot in Germany almost a quarter of a century after the fall of the Nazis, but the film’s crew still had to confront the lasting effects of Hitler’s reign. One of the groups Hitler had targeted were those with birth defects, including individuals with dwarfism. That’s where the Oompa Loompas come in.

As you might have noticed, Willy Wonka’s factory employed a number of little people. This presented a casting dilemma because, in the 1960s and 70s, it was extremely difficult to find adult little people in Germany who had any acting or singing experience. To assemble the right cast, the production team scoured Europe, searching for actors, many of whom had no theatrical background. If you pay close attention during the movie, you’ll notice some of the Oompa Loompas aren’t even singing. This was because many of them couldn’t speak English (much less remember their lines) when they were cast for the role.

3. The Twilight Zone Claims a Man and Two Children

*The Twilight Zone* is one of the most iconic TV shows in American history. Its episodes are so ingrained in pop culture that even those who’ve never watched it can recognize its famous plot twists. The reason isn’t that they were predictable, but because they left such a lasting impact on viewers over the years that countless references and tributes to them have appeared in various *films and TV shows*. Rod Serling’s legacy will undoubtedly continue to influence storytellers for generations, but there will always be a dark shadow over the show’s legacy due to the tragic deaths of three people during the filming of the 1980s movie remake, also titled *The Twilight Zone*.

In the early hours of the morning, actor Vic Morrow and two young Vietnamese children were filming a war sequence in which Vic had to carry both children through water that reached their waists, all while being chased by a helicopter. Vic had jokingly said before shooting that he probably needed a stunt double for such a dangerous scene, but he chose to go through with it himself. Unfortunately, as the director shouted ‘Action,’ a problem arose with the pyrotechnics, causing them to come too close to the helicopter. The pilot couldn’t adjust in time, and the helicopter crashed onto Vic Morrow and the children. The blades decapitated Vic and one of the children, while the second child was trapped underwater and crushed.

Five people, including director John Landis, were charged with three counts of involuntary manslaughter. Despite the gravity of the incident, all of them were acquitted and did not serve jail time. There were debates about whether the children should have even been in the water and concerns that multiple child safety and labor laws had been violated by having them shoot such a perilous scene in the early morning hours. However, these arguments were ultimately deemed irrelevant in the final verdicts.

2. Bigfoot Gets AIDS in Harry and the Hendersons

From the 1970s until his death in 1991, Kevin Peter Hall was the towering presence behind nearly every monster seen in movies and TV shows, standing at an impressive 7'2" (218 cm). He became most famous for portraying the Predator in the *Predator* film series. While working on *Harry and the Hendersons* as Harry the Bigfoot, Hall was involved in a serious car accident and required a blood transfusion. Tragically, the blood he received was contaminated with HIV, leading to him contracting AIDS. Not long after his diagnosis, Hall developed pneumonia and ultimately passed away due to complications related to AIDS.

1. Everyone Got Cancer for *STALKER*

*STALKER* is undoubtedly one of the strangest films to appear on this list. A foreign sci-fi film loosely based on the book *A Roadside Picnic*, where it feels like nothing happens yet everything is happening all at once. The movie is confusing on the first watch and requires multiple viewings to fully comprehend. It's probably the least-viewed film on this list, which is a shame considering the extreme toll it took to bring it to you. The entire movie was shot near a chemical dumping site, an area called 'The Zone,' which in the film is portrayed as a place where no one should venture. In real life, it was a hazardous, toxic wasteland where human presence was highly discouraged.

The radiation and poisoning effects from the land were glaringly apparent throughout the filming process. In one scene, where the Stalker lies in a small stream, iridescent streaks of color can be seen in the water. This wasn’t a special effect; it was caused by chemicals leaching into the water from a nearby factory. Even more unnerving was a scene where snow began falling in what was clearly a summer location. This snow wasn’t magical—it was actually a hazardous chemical fallout, and anyone (especially women) who came into contact with it quickly became violently ill. Several people on set developed cancer, and at least three tragically passed away due to exposure. As if that wasn’t bad enough, most of the original film footage was destroyed in an accident, forcing the cast and crew to return to the toxic site to reshoot, further exposing themselves to the dangerous substances of *The Zone*.