Even Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson can't handle the pressure sometimes...
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00:00So, the life of a movie star is often viewed as glamorous and enviable. Riches, exotic
00:05locations, fame and adoration. All that stuff is certainly nothing to sneeze at, right?
00:10But at the same time, there can also be a much darker side to this lifestyle. Some actors,
00:15from child stars to seasoned veterans, just can't handle the pressure and will begin
00:19to veer off the rails, their money and adulation just blowing up in their face.
00:24Even putting those extreme cases to one side, actors of all levels can feel nervousness
00:28and uncertainty or self-doubt and fear. Like everybody else, they can sometimes have confidence
00:33or esteem issues and occasionally can be unsure that what they're doing is the right thing
00:38for them. And these feelings have led actors to seriously consider quitting some rather
00:42famous movies. From a wizarding world icon getting cold feet in the middle of the franchise,
00:47to an entire superhero team confronting their director and threatening to bail.
00:51Of course, they ultimately didn't quit in the end, but for a moment, these stars were
00:55deadly serious about throwing in the towels. So let's take a look at them as I'm Jules,
00:59this is WhatCulture.com, and these are 10 actors who threatened to quit famous movies.
01:0410. Mark Ruffalo – 13 going on 30
01:08One of the reasons that actors get paid the big bucks is because they often have to do
01:11things that are extremely uncomfortable, like dangerous stunts, sex scenes, horse riding
01:16and almost getting your nipple waxed off, you know, that sort of thing. In Mark Ruffalo's
01:20case, that discomfort revolved around the dance scenes in his 2004 rom-com, 13 Going
01:25on 30, which almost made him quit the film entirely. According to co-star Jennifer Garner,
01:30"[Ruffalo felt like a bit of an idiot during the rehearsals for a dance scene that was
01:33set to Michael Jackson's thriller, mainly because the people he was dancing with were
01:37far more experienced than he was. This, understandably, wasn't a nice situation to be in, and Ruffalo
01:43contemplated dropping out as a result."
01:45On the plus side, it all turned out great in the end. That dance scene is one of the
01:48most memorable moments in the movie, and Ruffalo's career has been absolutely smashing
01:53it ever since.
01:549. Kellan Lutz – The Twilight Saga
01:57When we think about movie stars, we often think of the red carpet premieres, the huge
02:01paychecks, the glitz, the glamour and all-around fabulous lifestyle. What we don't think
02:06about are the cold winter nights on set, where actors will often have to sit around doing
02:10nothing waiting for the crew to prepare the next shot. It was this waiting around that
02:15almost made Kellan Lutz walk out of The Twilight Saga during the production of the two-part
02:19final chapter, with the actor recently revealing that he grew extremely frustrated with that
02:24part of the process, which, in turn, caused his passion for the job to diminish.
02:29He said,
02:30Now, it's easy for someone making a lot of money to say, I don't care about money,
02:57nonetheless, a refreshingly candid take on some of the downsides of the Hollywood game.
03:01And in the end, he did appear in all five Twilight movies, so clearly he mustered enough
03:05willpower to see the franchise through. Either that, or he just phoned it in like the rest
03:09of them.
03:108. Evangeline Lilly – Ant-Man
03:13Ant-Man made its way to cinemas in 2015, as the final film in Phase 2 of the Marvel Cinematic
03:18Universe. But not before it endured a rather tumultuous production cycle that saw original
03:23director Edgar Wright replaced with Peyton Reed. Wright, of Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz,
03:27and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World fame, did a lot of pre-production work on the film before
03:31exiting in May 2014 due to creative differences, leaving Marvel Studios little time to right
03:37the ship for that aforementioned 2015 release.
03:40As you can imagine, there was a lot of pressure on everyone's shoulders, and there were
03:43lots of mixed emotions, with lead actress Evangeline Lilly even considering leaving
03:47the project with Wright, initially believing his exit to be an injustice.
03:52Considering that it was Wright who cast her in the film, it's understandable why she
03:55felt that way. But after several lengthy creative discussions, she ultimately decided to stick
04:00around for Reed's own take on the material.
04:027. Paul Sorvino – Goodfellas
04:05Few actors would turn down the opportunity to appear in a Martin Scorsese movie. And
04:10even less than that would sign up for one, do four weeks of pre-production, then quit
04:13three days before shooting was scheduled to begin. But that was the position that Paul
04:18Sorvino found himself in while working on Scorsese's 1990 crime epic Goodfellas, with
04:23the actor finding it difficult to bring out his character's aggressive, brutish nature,
04:27which gave him cold feet.
04:28At a film festival in 2015, Sorvino stated that portraying Thug Paulie was so far from
04:33me, I'm a poet, I'm an opera singer, I'm an author, none of it's gangster. So he called
04:38his manager and asked for him to be released from the movie. But when he found the character
04:42after noticing his own stern expression in the mirror, he decided to continue with the
04:46project.
04:47Goodfellas is widely considered one of Scorsese's best movies and one of the greatest achievements
04:51in cinema. It was also nominated for six Oscars, including Best Picture. So yeah, he was probably
04:56quite relieved that he didn't jump ship.
04:586. Emma Watson – Harry Potter
05:01We often forget how difficult it must have been for the young stars of Harry Potter to
05:05spend ten of the most important years of their lives working under that glaring Hollywood
05:09spotlight. And it really isn't a surprise that the pressure was too much for them at
05:12some points. In fact, there was even a time where Emma Watson was seriously considering
05:16quitting the role of Hermione Granger, as revealed during the recent Potter reunion
05:20special. According to director David Yates, who was at the helm of the franchise from
05:24The Order of the Phoenix onwards, and has also made all three Fantastic Beasts films,
05:28it was the fifth movie where Watson wasn't sure whether she wanted to come back. Watson
05:33herself added that Order of the Phoenix was where things started to get spicy. I think
05:37I was scared, with co-star Rupert Grint also claiming that he had similar moments of doubt
05:41all the way through the series.
05:43Again, it isn't surprising that such young kids found this arduous ten-year process difficult,
05:47so full credit to them for finding the strength to see it through.
05:515. The Entire Cast – X-Men 2
05:54The 2000 X-Men movie and its 2003 sequel were instrumental in propelling the comic book
05:59movie genre to the heights that we see it today. But they were reportedly a pain in
06:04the arse to make. In a retrospective about the many bits of drama behind those original
06:08X-Men movies, The Hollywood Reporter detailed a troubling incident that occurred during
06:12the production of X-Men 2, wherein director Bryan Singer became incapacitated after taking
06:17a narcotic, which a couple of the crew members also took. Naturally, there were concerns
06:22that somebody could be injured if Singer continued to work while under the influence, and that's
06:26exactly what happened when star Hugh Jackman was left bleeding after a stunt went wrong.
06:31This prompted producer Ralph Winter to halt production, but bizarrely, the studio then
06:35appeared to side with Singer, essentially telling executive producer Tom DeSanto, who
06:40was on set during all of this commotion, to get out of Singer's way. Enter the majority
06:45of the movie's main cast members, who confronted Singer while dressed in their full X-Men costumes,
06:49and threatened to quit the film if DeSanto was removed. Singer's reps deny that this
06:54happened, but showing up at your boss' trailer in black spandex is certainly a good way to
06:58make your voice heard.
06:594. Nicole Kidman – The Others
07:02Actors often have to jump between movies with wildly different tones. One week, you could
07:06be doing some voiceover work for a family animation, and the next, you could be filming
07:10a bloodthirsty death scene in an R-rated slasher flick. It was this tonal whiplash that gave
07:15Nicole Kidman second thoughts about appearing in her 2001 horror film, The Others, with
07:20the actress finding it difficult to transition from the colourful and upbeat Moulin Rouge
07:24to the dark and disturbing psychological thriller, which takes place almost entirely inside a
07:29creepy old house.
07:30She said,
07:31When I got there and was just about to start rehearsals, I really didn't want to do it.
07:34My whole being, my whole psyche, was rejecting it, and I was desperate to try and get out
07:38of it. I begged them to let me out. All I wanted to do was make love stories and musicals
07:42and be happy.
07:43Spoiler alert for a 20-year-old movie, but considering that The Others involves Kidman's
07:47character murdering her own children by suffocating them with a pillow, it's not hard to understand
07:52why she couldn't enter that headspace easily.
07:543. Chris Hemsworth – Ghostbusters 2016
07:58Chris Hemsworth received a ton of praise for his fun performance in the 2016 reboot of
08:03Ghostbusters, but the actor himself was terrified that he just wouldn't be any good. The role
08:07of hunky receptionist Kevin required a lot of on-screen improvisation, primarily because
08:12the script didn't flesh the character out at all. Naturally, this was a major concern
08:16for Hemsworth, who touched base with the director and was promised that Kevin would be written
08:20up before shooting officially began, but that didn't happen. Nervous at the prospect of
08:25having to build his character on the fly, Hemsworth then strongly considered pulling
08:28out of the project the night before production started, but was convinced at the last minute.
08:33Hemsworth later told Variety,
08:34"'I had no real plan and I just felt ridiculous, so I just used that.' So his lack of preparation
08:40actually helped him in the end."
08:412. Dave Bautista – Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
08:45Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is the only movie on this list that actually hasn't
08:49come out yet, and that's because production has been plagued with setbacks. Initially
08:53set for 2020, the movie was delayed when writer-director James Gunn was fired in 2018, but then when
08:58he was rehired in 2019, he signed a deal to direct The Suicide Squad, which pushed
09:02back Vol. 3 even further. Fortunately, though, the movie finally started shooting in 2021,
09:09so everything kind of worked out in the end, but during that time when Gunn was fired and
09:12everything was up in the air, certain cast members, namely Dave Bautista, weren't too
09:16chuffed with Disney in the least, and even threatened to quit the film if Gunn's script
09:20wasn't used.
09:21He said,
09:22"'Where I'm at right now is that if Marvel don't use that script, then I'm going to
09:25ask them to release me from my contract, cut me out, or recast me. I'd be doing James
09:29a disservice if I didn't.'"
09:31Bautista was by far the most outspoken cast member in the wake of Gunn's firing, even
09:35accusing Disney of empowering a smear campaign by cyber-Nazis. Geez, Dave, come on, tell
09:40us how you really feel.
09:411. Dwayne Johnson – Pain and Gain
09:44Dwayne the Rock Johnson doesn't seem like the type of guy to throw in the towel on anything
09:49he does, and yet, according to director Michael Bay, the star came surprisingly close to quitting
09:53his 2013 movie Pain and Gain.
09:56In fact, Bay claims that Johnson did actually quit the project roughly one week before shooting
10:01was scheduled to begin, forcing Bay to give him a pep talk to bring him back on board.
10:05He told Johnson,
10:06"'You are my secret weapon,' and assured him that the movie would be worth his time.
10:10He said,
10:11"'He literally quit the week before, and he goes, I can't do this, and I'm like,
10:14Dwayne, you are my secret weapon on this movie. And I wrote him this long letter of all the
10:18actors I worked with who said that they were scared to do something and how it turned out.
10:22And he goes, OK, OK, all right.'"
10:25Though joining a Michael Bay movie is something of a gamble in terms of the final product's
10:29quality – I mean, for every Armageddon, there's also a Transformers 2 – Johnson's
10:33gamble definitely paid off here. Not only is Pain and Gain one of the better Bay movies,
10:37it's also one of the best performances of Johnson's career.
10:40And there we go, my friends. Those were 10 actors who threatened to quit famous movies.
10:43I hope that you enjoyed that, and please let me know what you thought about it down in
10:46the comments section below.
10:47As always, I've been Jules, you can go follow me over on Twitter at RetroJ with a zero,
10:51or you can swing by Liv and Let's Dice, where I do all of my streaming outside of
10:54work, and it'd be great to see you over there.
10:56But before I go, I just want to say one thing. Hope that you are treating yourself with love
11:01and respect, my friend, because you deserve all of the best things in life, like love,
11:05happiness, and success. And I don't want anything or anyone else to tell you otherwise,
11:08all right? You're a massive ledge, now go out there and absolutely smash it today.
11:13As always, I've been Jules, you have been awesome, never forget that, and I'll speak
11:16to you soon. Bye.