Movie Scenes Actors Refused To Film

Red carpets, private jets, second homes in exotic locales — the life of an actor may seem pretty plush. But don't forget that being an actor requires work, and it isn't your typical 9 to 5. Showing up for a day means long hours on set, demanding directors, uncooperative co-stars, and — of course — egos coming at you from every angle. And sometimes the script (aka the blueprint of the actor's job) has something in it that A-listers just aren't willing to do for fear of harming their reputation or crossing personal boundaries.

When things go too far and a star declines to do a scene, rumors swirl and often leak, leading fans to speculate as to what kind of drama went down on set. But sometimes actors are candid about how their own beliefs and values conflict with their profession of choice. From nudes to feuds, here's a look at movie scenes that actors refused to film.

Isla Fisher's breakthrough role as "stage-5 clinger" Gloria Cleary in 2005's "Wedding Crashers" catapulted her to fame — and earned her a reputation as a comedic force. The film was a huge hit at the box office, thanks in part to raunchy R-rated gags, including 54-year-old Jane Seymour casting off her robe for her first-ever nude scene. But as far as Fisher was concerned, nude scenes were an absolute dealbreaker. In an interview with Hello magazine shortly after the movie premiered, she said, "I totally hate the puritanical approach to the whole nudity thing, but then when it comes to me I have double standards."

In a later interview with Entertainment Weekly, she elaborated on just how many scenes she skipped ... and how many stand-ins her shooting contract stipulated. "I had a hand double for the under-the-table scene. I had a breast double for the boob-in-the-face and I had a butt double," she said. "My argument was, if you see a character's breast, she's no longer funny. You see her as someone sexual rather than as someone funny. I lost that argument with the producers."

Fisher further explained how that conflict influenced her performance as sweet and lovable, yet ultimately conniving Gloria. "I amped up the reality of my character even more," she told EW. "I thought, to combat the fact that you're going to see her boobs, I have to make her even more extreme for us to still get a laugh."

The final installment of the "Blade" trilogy, "Blade: Trinity," didn't exactly wow audiences when it premiered in 2004. Panned by critics as being shallow and scattered, it left fans disappointed and confused — especially after Snipes filed a lawsuit against the production company after the film's release.

Eight years after the film came out, cast member Patton Oswalt shed some light on what went down — namely that Snipes was barely around. Calling him "crazy in a hilarious way," Oswalt told the A.V. Club, "He wouldn't come out of his trailer, and he would smoke weed all day ... he only [came to the set] for close-ups. Everything else was done by his stand-in. I only did one scene with him."

Oswalt also revealed that Snipes had big beef with writer-director David Goyer, stemming from an argument during a night out in Vancouver while filming. "Wesley sat down with David and was like, 'I think you need to quit. You're detrimental to this movie,'" he recalled. "And David was like, 'Why don't you quit? We've got all your close-ups, and we could shoot the rest with your stand-in.' And that freaked Wesley out so much that, for the rest of the production, he would only communicate with the director through Post-it notes. And he would sign each Post-it note 'From Blade.'"

Kirk Cameron's strict Christian faith means that he considers even the smallest onscreen romantic gesture to be risqué — which is why he told producers of the 2008 faith-based family drama "Fireproof" that he wouldn't be kissing his co-star.

As Cameron claimed during an appearance on the Today Show, it wasn't just the kiss — he clashed with producers over several storylines he felt were immoral, mainly that his firefighter character spends much of the film contemplating divorce. "The reason this movie was important to me personally is because I love my wife dearly," he said. "In a day and age where marriage is falling apart, we want to make movies and projects that really uphold and have a high view of that which is beautiful and wonderful in our culture."

That commitment to marriage meant that kissing his co-star was out of question. Luckily, the film crew was able to make it work with some low lighting, tight angles, and a very special co-star. Chelsea Noble, Cameron's wife, was dressed up in the female lead's costume and shot in silhouette. "When I'm kissing my wife, we're actually husband and wife honoring marriage behind the scenes," said Cameron of the finished product.

Back in 2008, "Four Christmases" sounded like the best idea since Christmas tree cakes and rum-spiked eggnog. Put America's sweetheart Reese Witherspoon and America's favorite funnyman Vince Vaughn together as a couple that's forced to spend Christmas with their disapproving, divorced relatives. Hilarious holiday hijinks ensue! While the movie brought in a bundle, the reviews were abysmal, with many critics panning the lack of chemistry between the leads. Oh, if only they knew.

It was a Christmas miracle the film got finished at all, given that Witherspoon and Vaughn couldn't stand each other. Honestly, these two not getting along shouldn't have surprised anybody. She arrived bright and early to the set; he would wander in looking like he partied the night before. She wanted to rehearse and block scenes; he wanted to ad-lib. Their relationship grew so cold that Reese is reported to have refused a sex scene with Vaughn. After pushing back, she got her wish — the scene was scrapped.

Isn't it nice when fake movie couples bicker and fight as much as real-life ones? Ah, the power of love.

If you've ever seen "Borat," "Bruno," or basically any of Sacha Baron Cohen's work, you know the dude has zero issues with filming in his birthday suit ... or with doing anything in poor taste, for that matter. So it's no surprise that he expects the same nonchalance about nudity from his co-stars, but one of his famous female scene partners flat-out refused to go nude, despite Borat's badgering.

Rebel Wilson is known for her bawdy, anything-goes brand of humor. As ribald as Rebel is, she does draw the line when it comes to dropping her drawers. She refuses to go nude and has it written into her contract that her clothes stay on. In 2016's "The Brothers Grimsby," Wilson played the girlfriend of Cohen's screw-up turned spy character, and one scene called for full-frontal nudity. Despite having a body double — a South African burlesque dancer — Cohen wanted Wilson to be the one to bare all.

"Sacha would go, 'See, she looks good.'" Wilson recalled to Metro. "I'm like, 'I'm not doing it. I don't care what you say.'" Wilson won the battle, not that many people would have seen her naked anyway. "The Brothers Grimsby" earned an atrocious $25 million total at the worldwide box office, or less than what "Borat" made in one weekend. 

Amber Heard has gone nude on film before, but when it came time to go topless for 2018's "London Fields," she flat-out refused — and consequently was sued by the producers.

Based on Martin Amis' 1989 novel of the same name, the film stars Heard as Nicola Six, a clairvoyant femme fatale who predicts she will be murdered by one of her three lovers. Given that both the script and the novel it was based on were, according to the lawsuit (via The Wrap), "salacious, provocative and contained nude scenes," producers argued that Heard was well aware she'd be asked to go nude. She still refused, meaning that "key scenes in the script had to be removed and/or rewritten to accommodate Heard's behavior."

Producers also argued that Heard didn't just disrupt the production, but also damaged the film's publicity. They alleged that Heard was contractually obligated to attend the premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (which she did not), and that she even tried to get the film pulled from TIFF's lineup (which it was). The production company, Nicola Six Limited, sued Heard for $10 million, or about 40 times what it made at the domestic box office when it was finally released three years after it was pulled from Toronto. Its $250,000 take makes it one of the biggest bombs in history.

Jim Caviezel became a household name, if not a Hollywood A-lister, for his role as Jesus Christ in Mel Gibson's 2003 passion project "The Passion of the Christ." Before going Biblical, he was well on his way to being the next big blockbuster heartthrob with parts in "Frequency," "The Count of Monte Cristo," and "Angel Eyes." It was in the latter two that the devout Catholic earned his reputation for refusing explicit sex scenes.  

Tinseltown is a tough place for chastity, and Caviezel raised eyebrows when he wouldn't do a love scene with Jennifer Lopez in "Angel Eyes" —unless she kept her clothes on. He likewise refused to film a sex scene with his "Monte Cristo" co-star Dagmara Domińczyk unless she put something between her breasts and his chest. She wound up taking flesh-colored underwear and fashioning pasties from it.

Caviezel has argued that his commitment to staying clothed is out of respect for his wife and his Catholic faith. "If it is embarrassing for people on set," he told The Independent. "If they think you're a wimp, that you're an embarrassment, talking this way — well, I'd rather be embarrassed before the whole country than before God."

As anyone who ever followed Charlie Sheen's Twitter account can attest, the dude has a colorful mouth. Perhaps his penchant for drinking tiger's blood was too much for Lindsay Lohan.

In the 2013 horror spoof sequel "Scary Movie 5," Lohan was supposed to kiss Sheen three times in their bedroom scene. However, Lohan refused to lock lips with Sheen out of fear of germs (or worse) from his hard-partying past. Both stars had already signed releases saying that they didn't have cold sores, but even with contractual assurances, Lohan still refused to smooch. While filmmakers tried to use a body double, they ultimately just dropped most of the kissing from the scene entirely.

The lack of mouth-to-mouth didn't hurt the film (it made a respectable, if underwhelming, $72 million worldwide on a $20 million budget) and it didn't damage Sheen and Lohan's relationship, either. He reportedly gave her $100,000 to help pay off her taxes. With that handout, it's clear that the "Scary Movie 5" co-stars didn't need to kiss and make up ... although they eventually did lock lips on an episode of Sheen's "Anger Management" TV show.

Ian McKellen is a consummate professional, so when the classically trained British thespian of stage and screen is upset, something's wrong. A widely admired actor for decades, he didn't garner movie star status (and the salary it commanded) until playing Gandalf in Peter Jackson's "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy in the early 2000s. It's no surprise he jumped at the chance to reprise his role in 2012's "The Hobbit."

As they say, be careful what you wish for (especially if you're a wizard). While the filmmakers had employed an in-camera technique known as "forced perspective" to make Gandalf larger than the hobbits in the "Rings" movies, they used a green screen for "The Hobbit." McKellen, who delights in performing with other actors, was now by himself in a sea of green. "It's not what I do for a living," McKellen told The Guardian of the experience. "I act with other people, I don't act on my own."

It was pretty soul-crushing, so much so McKellen didn't simply refuse to film a scene — he nearly refused to continue his acting career. Sensing McKellen's misery, Jackson used some magic of his own, convincing him to stay and even staging an impromptu "Gandalf Appreciation Day." It apparently worked.

Although there has been a lot of debate about which actor was the best James Bond, Sean Connery consistently ranks highly. Connery was the first actor to play the character on the big screen and set a precedent that all others would be judged by with his effortless portrayal of the British spy. In total, the actor played 007 in a total of six films produced by Eon Productions plus the unofficial "Never Say Never Again" in 1983. During that time, Connery's character faced numerous challenges and dangers, but one proved too much for the Scottish actor.

During filming for "Thunderball," Connery — along with several other actors and stunt performers — was required to go into a pool filled with sharks. Not particularly thrilled with the idea of swimming with sharks, Connery demanded changes to the scene before he got in the water, including the installation of a plexiglass shield to separate him from the live animals. But there wasn't enough plexiglass, which allowed the sharks to reach the actor, who made a swift exit and decided not to get back in the pool.

The episode may also have led to his nervousness at having to scuba dive with sharks for "Never Say Never Again" some years later, with Connery saying: "The underwater stuff, I'm not very good at it, and was very, very nervous about going under."

The "Friday the 13th" franchise has become one of the longest-running and most successful horror series in history. In 1989, Rob Hedden wrote and directed "Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan," in which Kane Hodder reprised his role as the serial killer Jason Voorhees. In this installment, Jason follows a group of teenagers heading to New York City via boat, targeting them as part of his murderous schemes.

As a horror villain, Jason has never been afraid of getting his hands dirty and has dispatched plenty of victims with the kind of barbarity you'd expect from a senseless killer. But there was one thing that he — or at least actor Hodder — was unwilling to do. As part of his arrival in Manhattan, the script had Jason kicking a helpless dog he encountered on the shore. Hodder apparently refused point blank the very idea of performing the scene, telling the director that even his character wouldn't be sadistic enough to hurt an animal. So the script was altered to remove the offending scene, leaving Jason free to add to his already impressive human kill count.

Like several of the main cast of the "Fast and Furious" franchise, Michelle Rodriguez has been a constant throughout a series that now numbers in the double figures in terms of theatrical releases. The actor plays Letty Ortiz, a skilled street racer and mechanic who operates as part of Dominic Toretto's crew. In the very first movie it is established that Letty and Dom are involved in a romantic relationship, something that has continued in the subsequent films.

But that might not have been the case if Rodriguez hadn't argued against a storyline in "The Fast and the Furious" that would have seen Letty cheating on Dom with Paul Walker's character Brian O'Conner. Unwilling to be perceived as a cheater and believing that these events would not have been believable to audiences, she fought against the love triangle idea.

The actor went to the filmmakers and demanded that the scenes be removed from the script before filming took place, threatening to quit the project altogether if they insisted on keeping them. Fortunately, Diesel felt similarly and backed up his co-star, helping to convince those in charge to drop the arc and keep the relationship between Dom and Letty strong.

Making his first appearance in 1977's "The Spy Who Loved Me," Jaws (Richard Kiel) is an assassin and henchman who is well known within the criminal underworld. Throughout the film, Jaws battles against James Bond (Roger Moore) while working for the primary antagonist, Karl Stromberg (Curt Jürgens). The character was initially intended to be killed during the final moments of the movie but, after test screenings, the producers decided to keep Jaws alive due to his popularity.

That led to Jaws appearing in the next entry in the series, 1979's "Moonraker." This time around, he was more of a comedic foil than a relentless killer, although he does pose a serious threat to Bond before he is reformed. Eventually, Jaws fights against supervillain Hugo Drax (Michael Lonsdale) and works with Bond — largely as a result of his relationship with new girlfriend Dolly (Blanche Ravalec).

In an original draft of the script, Jaws' love interest would have been a hulking woman even taller than the 7-foot, 2-inch character portrayed by Kiel. The actor spoke out against this and threatened to quit the production. In the book "Some Kind of Hero: The Remarkable Story of the James Bond Films," Kiel explained, "I felt strongly that what they had in mind wouldn't work for me or the audience."

Denzel Washington is one of the most celebrated actors of modern times. Not only has he appeared in some of the most successful films in recent history, winning numerous high-profile awards in the process, but he's also a producer and director with a lot of power and influence in Hollywood. So if Washington doesn't want to do a scene, the chances are that no one is going to be able to force him to do it.

That was definitely the case for the 1993 legal thriller "The Pelican Brief," where he co-starred with Julia Roberts as the two attempt to uncover the real motives behind a series of assassinations at the top of U.S. politics. The two characters develop a close relationship during the course of the story, leading to questions about why they never kiss on screen or seemingly develop a romance despite the indications.

It turns out that Washington has a particular dislike of kissing white women in projects. Roberts explained to Newsweek in 2002 that it was Washington's idea to have the scenes removed from the script. The actor later admitted in the same article that he does this to avoid alienating his main fanbase — generally made up of Black women — which happened following a test screening of "The Mighty Quinn" in 1989. "Black women are not often seen as objects of desire on film," Washington said. "They have always been my core audience."

"Your Highness" is a 2011 stoner comedy that stars Danny McBride and James Franco as two medieval princes determined to kill an evil sorcerer who is holding a princess hostage, and thus save the kingdom from his machinations. Filled with the same kind of humor that made "Superbad" and "Pineapple Express" such hits, although to a far less successful degree, it is exactly the type of film you'd never expect to see Natalie Portman in.

According to McBride and Franco (via Cinemablend), Portman was more than willing to embrace the filthy jokes and join in on the fun. McBride went on to say, "On the set she never shied away from that stuff, I mean she can definitely hang with the boys. She wasn't intimidated by any of the foul stuff going on."

Yet there was one thing that the "Black Swan" and "Thor: Love and Thunder" star was unwilling to do. At one point in the movie, Portman's character Isabel jumps into a lake completely naked. Portman flat-out refused to do that scene, but only because of how cold the water was, prompting a body double to step in for her. "There's one shot that's me and the shot of her diving into the water is a body double, because I didn't wanna go in the water — it was really, really cold," Portman told The Daily Star.

Over the course of the last 30 years, Ben Affleck has established himself as one of the biggest leading men in Hollywood, and one of his most celebrated performances came in David Fincher's 2014 film "Gone Girl," starring opposite Rosamund Pike.

During one scene, Fincher wanted Affleck's character Nick Dunne to wear a New York Yankees baseball cap as part of his attempts to travel unnoticed through an airport. But the actor, who comes from Massachusetts and is a huge fan of the Boston Red Sox, couldn't bring himself to wear the hat of such a hated rival. Affleck recalled to The New York Times how he told Fincher he wouldn't film the scene if he had to put on the cap, saying, "David, I love you, I would do anything for you. But I will not wear a Yankees hat. I just can't. I can't wear it because it's going to become a thing."

According to Decider, Fincher later confirmed the story in the "Gone Girl" DVD commentary. In fact, the director revealed that the argument led to the film halting production for several days. "I really wanted it to be a Yankees cap but [inhales loudly], being from Boston and not being very professional as an actor, Ben refused to wear a Yankees cap," Fincher said. "I mean it did not come to blows but we had to shut down production for four days."

1994 was a huge year for comedian and actor Jim Carrey. He rocketed to fame thanks to his appearances in three hit films: "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective," "The Mask," and, of course, "Dumb and Dumber." Directed by Peter Farrelly, the movie sees Carrey portray Lloyd Christmas alongside Jeff Daniels, who plays his best friend Harry Dunne. The two slackers and idiots end up traveling across the country as they try to return a briefcase to Mary Swanson (Lauren Holly), inadvertently becoming involved in a kidnapping plot along the way.

"Dumb and Dumber" ends with the pair beginning the long journey back home to Rhode Island. While walking down a road, a bus filled with bikini-clad women invites them to be oil boys for the group as they tour the U.S. The pair decline, with Lloyd instead pointing them in the direction of the town they had just left. However, this was not how the scene was originally intended to play out, with the script initially having the two friends get on the bus.

Farrelly explained to The Hollywood Reporter how the studio felt this was necessary, as it provided a happy ending the audience would enjoy. The director felt different and Carrey agreed. Committed to the fact that his character was so dumb that he wouldn't seize this opportunity, Carrey refused to film that version of the scene, with Farrelly reporting that the actor said, "I am not stepping foot on that bus. I won't do it."

Chris Columbus' 1993 comedy "Mrs. Doubtfire" easily ranks among Robin Williams' best-ever films. The movie follows Williams as Daniel Hillard, who goes through a complicated divorce with his wife Miranda (Sally Field) and finds himself unable to see his children as often as he would like. To combat this, Daniel takes on the persona of an elderly woman known as Euphegenia Doubtfire, who acts as a housekeeper and nanny, giving the father more time to see his kids.

As well as being incredibly funny, the film expertly deals with issues around family separation and abandonment. By the end, Daniel and Miranda come to find a new respect for each other and put in place a plan for joint custody, putting forward the idea that the children should come first. But this message was almost eroded in the original script as it concluded with the separated couple getting back together to make one big happy family.

Williams and director Chris Columbus pushed back, believing that this ending was neither realistic nor helpful to younger viewers who might watch it and therefore expect their own parents to get back together. They eventually won the argument, with the filmmakers and studio executives relenting.