Scenes That Pushed Actors Too Far

The Walking Dead nearly suffered what would have been a devastating loss in Season 3, when Lauren Cohan, who plays Maggie, contemplated quitting over a particularly stressful scene. After reading the script and realizing Maggie was supposed to perform an emergency c-section on Lori Grimes (while the character's son looked on), she took her concerns to co-star Steven Yeun, explaining she was worried it would be too intense—yet after further consideration, that's exactly why she decided to stay. Recognizing that TWD is a show about people pushed to grueling extremes, she drew on her palpable discomfort to deliver an affectingly honest performance.

Al Pacino earned a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his work as Michael Corleone in The Godfather and a Best Actor nomination for the sequel, so it's laughable to think studio execs initially wanted him removed from the role—yet according to Pacino, that's exactly what happened. He felt resistance so acutely, in fact, that he later claimed he would have walked off the set if director Francis Ford Coppola hadn't been so supportive during those early days on the Godfather shoot. "I was so confused at that time, and Francis was so supportive, you know, and so helping me in it, all of it," Pacino told Nightline. "If it wasn't for Francis, I would've just not showed up one day and said, 'Hey, look man, I don't want to be where I'm not wanted.'"

You think you hated Fox's first couple of Fantastic Four movies? Try being Jessica Alba, whose experiences playing Sue "Invisible Woman" Storm nearly made her walk away from acting altogether. Alba's frustrations stemmed from working with director Tim Story, who she later claimed issued absurd demands like telling her to keep her facial expression flat during a crying scene so she'd stay "pretty." After 2007's Rise of the Silver Surfer, she realized she didn't care about the movie business anymore, and has been more selective about acting projects. But things have still worked out pretty well for her—she went on to co-found the Honest Company, currently valued around $1 billion.

Nine times out of 10, an actor who signs up to play a major role in a movie can at least be counted on to identify with the basic crux of the story. For the exception to that rule, we turn to Russell Crowe, who agreed to star in Nottingham even though he thought the concept—a role-reversal on the Robin Hood story, with the Sheriff of Nottingham turning out to be the real good guy—was fundamentally flawed. Demanding a complete overhaul of the script, Crowe ended up costing the studio millions in extra development, and the result was the retitled Robin Hood, yet another standard re-telling of the Robin Hood story.

Mike Myers created the character of Wayne Campbell for Canadian TV, later bringing Wayne with him to Saturday Night Live. The recurring sketch became so popular that Paramount wanted a Wayne's World movie. Myers wrote the screenplay, and he was especially excited about the scene where Wayne and the boys pack into the Mirthmobile and headbang to Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody." But the studio wanted to replace the song with something fresher and cheaper to license like a Guns n' Roses song. Myers thought the Queen song was crucial, and revealed on WTF with Marc Maron that he threatened to quit unless the song stayed. Both did.

WWE produced 12 Rounds and cast some of wrestling's biggest names in the 2009 direct-to-video cop thriller – and few were bigger than star John Cena. Although his day job is to battle hulking beasts in the ring, Cena apparently isn't fearless. One scene called for his character to rappel down a skyscraper and dangle mid-air from a rope. But Cena revealed in a DVD extra that his severe fear of heights triggered intense anxiety and he considered walking away before he ever got up there. Somehow, he found the strength to put on his game face, and he shot the scene without incident.

A big part of the fourth Rocky movie involves Rocky's mentor, Apollo Creed, staging a comeback. Played by former NFL linebacker Carl Weathers, Creed gets roughed up in the ring pretty bad by Communist pugilist Ivan Drago, played by Dolph Lundgren. But one of the boxing scenes got a little too real when Lundgren, according to co-star and director Sylvester Stallone, picked up Weathers and heaved him "three feet into the corner." Weathers was so rattled, Stallone says he climbed out of the ring and said, "I'm calling my agent, I quit!" (He eventually came back.)

The dark, claustrophobic sets and constantly gushing water made for some difficult days on the set of James Cameron's 1989 sci-fi flick The Abyss. But one stands out for Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio. While filming a scene in which Ed Harris, playing Mastrantonio's estranged husband, administers her CPR, Cameron directed Harris to actually slap Mastrantonio — and then he had to get physical with her again when the take was ruined by Harris' arm blocking a shot. After the next take was botched when the camera ran out of film, Mastrantonio actually got up and left the set — and she stayed away for hours, leaving Harris to play make-believe slap-and-CPR with a sandbag until she finally calmed down enough to return and finish filming the scene. Cameron's demeanor with actors has occasionally been depicted as less than friendly, but this might be the only case where a star walked away with the bruises to prove his commitment to pursue his single-minded vision.

In the 1993 film What's Eating Gilbert Grape?, Johnny Depp starred as the titular Gilbert, a guy stuck in a small town caring for his developmentally disabled younger brother (Leonardo DiCaprio in a breakout, Oscar-nominated role) and their mother, housebound due to extreme obesity. Cast as the mom: Darlene Cates, an acting novice that director Lasse Hallström spotted on The Sally Jessy Raphael Show discussing her own struggle with obesity. 

Depp was going through some personal stuff during the film's shoot—he had just split up with his fiancée, Winona Ryder, and he was using alcohol to cope. Hallström later told Entertainment Weekly that Depp also empathized with his character a bit too much: "It was more that he could relate to the troubled family life and the desire to get out of a small-town situation." 

All told, Depp was in such a sensitive place that he had trouble filming scenes that called for his character to yell cruel insults at his mother. Cates recalled that each night, after those scenes were shot, Depp called her to apologize. "Here he is the professional; he's done all this stuff before. But I thought, 'What a tribute to his kindness that he would take the time to consider that I might be hurt by what he said.'"

There's a lot to like about Marvel's first two Avengers movies. Certainly the most ambitious and crowded superhero movies ever attempted, they boast Earth-destroying action sequences, amazing special effects, romance, and the funny and charming Robert Downey Jr. pretty much playing himself playing Tony Stark playing Iron Man. 

Marvel's The Avengers was such a huge, ambitious project that it attracted actors who usually don't do comic book movies, including two-time Oscar nominee Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton, a.k.a. Hawkeye. While some of the more famous heroes in the movie (Iron Man, the Hulk, Captain America) got to do more interesting things, Hawkeye spent most of The Avengers as the brainwashed servant of villain Loki (Tom Hiddleston). Renner was displeased. "I was just getting to know who Hawkeye was, and then zap, I go round like a zombie," he said at a Q&A event. "I'm like Loki's minion." Renner took it like a champ — just kidding, he sulked and whined. "I just had a heart attack in every scene," Renner explained. "I'd just be walking with Scarlett Johansson and just be like 'Ugh!'" Renner said he told the crew that he was providing an easy out for Hawkeye. "Just you know, at any given moment, if you wanna kill me off, daddy's gonna be having a heart attack."

Shooting a gun is one of James Bond's favorite activities, trailing only drinking shaken (and not stirred) martinis, wearing tuxedos, and bedding suggestively named women. In his duties in service of queen and country, killing bad guys and foiling terrorist plots, 007 needs to use a firearm on occasion, and one of the handful of actors who portrayed Bond onscreen had a really hard time with those moments. Roger Moore starred in seven 007 movies, including The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker, and, ironically, The Man with the Golden Gun. While he doesn't regret playing James Bond, Moore once said that what he really regretted is how "heroes in general are depicted with guns in their hands, and to tell the truth I have always hated guns and what they represent." 

It all goes back to his childhood. In his memoir My Word is My Bond, Moore said that he was rendered deaf for a few days as a boy when a gun "blew up" in his hands. A few years later, a friend shot a BB gun into the future star's leg. When he'd have to use a firearm onscreen, Moore would squeeze his eyes tightly in discomfort as he'd pull the trigger on his prop Walther PPK firearm. By the time he filmed his final Bond movie, 1985's A View to a Kill, he publicly lamented that the film series had "turned so violent."

Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill: Volume 1" and "Kill Bill: Volume 2" follow Beatrix Kiddo, aka the Bride, as she seeks to exact her revenge on the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad. Years prior, the group betrayed Kiddo by killing her groom-to-be and putting her in a coma. Now she's back on her feet and ready to dispense justice. Uma Thurman shines as the deadly Kiddo, and earned international acclaim for her performance.

In the second movie, there is a scene in which Kiddo drives a car with steely determination. As The New York Times eventually revealed, Tarantino pushed Thurman to drive the vehicle herself, despite her well-founded concerns that it would be unsafe. Those fears were soon justified when the car hit a tree, causing serious injuries with long-term effects Thurman contends with to this day. She revealed that immediately after the incident, she was scared that she would be unable to walk again. "I went from being a creative contributor and performer to being like a broken tool," Thurman remarked. After 15 years, Tarantino finally gave Thurman footage of the crash. But, as Thurman herself noted, this can't undo the damage that was done, or the pain that still lingers. 

Psychological horror film "Black Swan" is memorable for many reasons. It was a huge box office hit, earning more than $300 million against its budget of $13 million. It also won a vast array of awards, including five nominations from the 2011 Oscars. Natalie Portman stars as promising ballet dancer Nina Sayers, who struggles to cope with the demands of portraying the dual role of Odette and Odile, which is the center of Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake." She soon forms a rivalry with fellow dancer Lily (Mila Kunis), and slowly begins to lose touch with reality.

At one point in the film, Kunis and Portman's characters lock themselves in a room and end up in bed together. Filming this scene was something of a trial for both actresses. In an interview with Parade, Kunis revealed that both she and Portman knew the scene would be a hot topic. "It wasn't done for shock value, but we weren't looking forward to it," she remarked. "I don't think we were laughing between takes. I think we were like, 'Let's just get this over with.' It's uncomfortable doing a sex scene. It's just bizarre." Portman confirmed this in conversation with MTV News: "It was pretty awkward," the celebrated performer said. "I almost feel like it would be easier to do it with someone you didn't know." That said, both Portman and Kunis agreed that their friendship made the whole process smoother.

Searing drama series "Big Little Lies" follows a group of five Californian women with a big secret. Nicole Kidman portrays Celeste Wright, a wife and mother who appears to have the perfect life. But as Season 1 unfolds, it becomes clear that Celeste's husband physically abuses her. Kidman has plenty of experience playing difficult roles in movies like "The Hours" and "Eyes Wide Shut," but certain scenes from "Big Little Lies" still managed to cause her a great deal of emotional distress. 

In an interview with W Magazine, Kidman explained how the scenes involving domestic abuse were incredibly hard to film. "I felt very exposed and vulnerable and deeply humiliated at times," she revealed. "I mean, I remember lying on the floor in the bathroom at the very end when we were doing the scenes in Episode 7, and I was lying on the floor and I just wouldn't get up in-between takes." This was obviously harrowing, but Kidman believed it was her duty to deliver an authentic performance. Celeste's experience is, after all, entirely too real for millions of women around the globe, and Kidman wanted to represent them with full honesty.

If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.

Cult classic TV series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" follows teen heroine Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) as she tracks down demonic forces alongside a cast of colorful friends, allies, and rivals. Vampire Spike, played by James Marsters, is among the most memorable figures in this crew. Something of an anti-hero, Spike does some pretty terrible things in the series. At one point in Season 6, he even tries to force himself on Buffy.

Filming this scene left Marsters feeling absolutely awful. Talking to the A.V. Club, he said, "It was the hardest day of my professional life. I was curled up in a fetal position in between takes. I can't watch scenes like that." However, Marsters went on to explain that he was glad the scene was included, as it reminds the audience how bad a person Spike really is. He also described Spike's character arc as a complex one, with many peaks and valleys. Though bringing such a story to life is difficult, he wouldn't have it any other way.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).