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Everyone knows the situation when, due to some shortcomings of the employees, the overall work plan is disrupted, and an angry boss at the meeting pours out the phrases “you are fired!”. This common phenomenon happens everywhere, and the film set is no exception. True, unlike clerks and workers in a factory, actors fall under the director’s hot hand for slightly more refined reasons than being late or “kerchief”. In addition, not only other directors, but, if desired, the whole world can find out about the suspension from acting. We present you the top ten stars of the cinema of the first magnitude, fired right during the filming. There are many interesting facts here. If you’re intrigued enough, we can get started.
1. Robert Downey Jr.
Today, almost everyone knows this name due to the actor’s outstanding performance of the role of Iron Man. However, Robert’s path to the legendary character from MARVEL and three consecutive years of leadership in the list of the highest paid employees in Hollywood (2013-2015) did not start off so rosy. Downey Jr., in his own words, not without the help of his father tried marijuana at the age of 8. Unfortunately, the undertakings “were not in vain”, and Robert became addicted to drugs, as a result of which the actor lost his job in the film “Home for the Holidays”, and was also fired from several other studios where he starred. In addition, Downey received a real term for possession of the “magic powder”.
2. Charlie Sheen
It is curious that the representative of the Guinness Book of Records and the former partner of pornographic actress Bree Olson, Charlie Sheen, who got on our list, was once a classmate of Robert Downey Jr. It is not known whether the future legends dabbled in weed together, but the reason for Charlie’s dismissal from the TV series Two and a Half Men was precisely the actor’s use of drugs and alcohol. Addiction prevented Sheen from responsibly approaching his role and finding a common language with producers. By the way, work in the same project brought Charlie a record worthy of the Guinness Book (the highest salary of an actor per episode).
3. Eric Stolz
Unlike previous actors, Eric Stoltz wasn’t dropped from the set because of his own behavior and riotous lifestyle. We are talking about nothing less than the movie “Back to the Future”, where initially Eric was busy in the role of Marty McFly. By the time director Robert Zemeckis saw the failure of Stolz, work on the future masterpiece of cinema had been going on for more than a month. Despite the fact that a decent amount of material was filmed, Zemeckis insisted on the removal of the actor, citing the fact that Eric lacked something in order for the image of McFly to be fully funny and memorable.
4. Jean-Claude Van Damme
European kickboxing champion and holder of the title “Mr. Belgium”, Jean-Claude Van Damme left the set of the film “Predator”. This story is accompanied by more than one version of what is happening. Initially, the Predator was meant to be a master of martial arts, and Van Damme fit perfectly into this image. However, the actor was dissatisfied with his hero and provoked a scandal with the beating of one of the participants in the filming. The producers, in turn, were dissatisfied not only with the behavior of Jean-Claude, but also with the frail, short Predator in his performance. It seems unlikely that anyone wanted to experience the blows of a black belt in karate again, and the role was given to Kevin Peter Hall, who also looked bigger and more convincing.
5. Stuart Townsend
Another case where the actor had not yet had time to do anything wrong, but was already sent out the front door of the set. Stuart Townsend not only claimed to play the role of Aragorn in the trilogy “The Lord of the Rings”, the shooting with the participation of the actor has been successfully conducted for a month and a half. Suddenly, project director Peter Jackson came up with the idea that Aragorn should be a little older than he looks in Townsend’s performance. It is curious that instead of artificially aging through makeup, Stewart was told to go out, and Viggo Mortensen, who was born 14 years earlier than Townsend, eventually played Aragorn.
6. James Remar
Continuing the theme of the appearance of trouble, from where it was not expected, James Remar. True, this time the actor himself went astray. The fact is that at the height of the filming of the film “Aliens”, where Remar was assigned the role of Corporal Hicks, James was charged with possession of drugs and arrested. For director James Cameron, this turn of events was quite unexpected, since several scenes were already ready. However, Cameron did not publicize the offense of his namesake, citing disagreements with the actor. Michael Biehn was hired to continue filming on short notice, but the scenery for the filmed scenes had already been dismantled, and it was no longer possible to recreate them with a new actor. Thus, Remar nevertheless made his way into the final version of the film, and Corporal Hicks turned out to be “two-faced.”
7. Christian Bale
It’s time for a fantastic comeback story from Christian Bale. It’s about the filming of the movie “American Psycho”. Christian was approved for the role of Bateman, when he suddenly felt the breath of Leo DiCaprio behind him – the actor who had just become famous in Titanic was also interested in the role. The producers became so interested in Leonardo that they instantly increased the budget and put out not only Bale, but also director Mary Harron. As a result, DiCaprio refused to work, and Christian played Bateman under the direction of … yes, Harron was also returned to the director’s chair, but the film’s budget was cut back to the original one.
8. Richard Gere
Richard Gere is the oldest actor on our list, but the American did not at all decide to shake the old days on the set. On the contrary, Gere overshadowed his own film debut. It’s hard to imagine now, but 43 years ago, the young actor got into fights with Sylvester Stallone on the set of the low-budget film Lords of Flatbush. However, the fight with Stallone was only the apogee of Richard’s antics – at that time, Gere managed to quarrel with many members of the film crew and fight with several actors. Of course, no one began to tolerate such behavior, and Richard was sent from the studio with nothing.
9. Kevin Spacey
But for Kevin Spacey, the phrase “crew members” may seem ambiguous. One way or another, a wave of allegations of sexual harassment of males covered the actor with his head at the end of last year, as a result of which the career of the two-time Oscar winner rolled down a high mountain. Firstly, Kevin was expelled from the House of Cards project, in which he had been filming for 4 years. Secondly, the director of the film “All the Money in the World” Ridley Scott was so impressed with who was filming with him that he cut out absolutely all the scenes with Spacey from the film and agreed to reshoot them with Christopher Plummer. In addition, Kevin lost the Emmy Award.
10 James Purefoy
The harmless actors on our list also include a potential performer of a completely not harmless role, James Purefoy. His story is in many ways similar to that of Stuart Townsend. For the same 6 weeks, Purefoy carried a Guy Fawkes mask as part of his work on the film V for Vendetta. However, the Wachowski brothers (at that time they were still brothers), as producers, felt that James did not have a very suitable voice for V. For further filming, Hugo Wining was called, and the filmed scenes with Purefoy were re-voiced by the voice of the new actor (there were no problems with the face, you understand).