Actors Who Never Recovered From Their Most Distressing Roles

Tippi Hedren in The Birds

In the final scene of Hitchcock's The Birds, Tippi Hedren is attacked by droves of birds. There's a reason that Hedren's performance is so convincing: it's because she wasn't acting. Without warning, Hitchcock launched dozens of birds at Hedren to record her authentic reaction. Hedren later said that Hitchcock put her in a "mental prison." He had promised Hedren that the birds would be mechanical; instead, Hedren was pelted with actual birds, who pecked and battered her day after day.

Advertisement

Next Page →

The More You Know

  • During the filming of Star Trek (2009), Zachary Quinto could not manage to properly do the Vulcan salute. Eventually, J.J. Abrams had to glue his fingers together in order for Quinto to do it correctly.
  • In Saving Private Ryan, all of the main cast were given basic military training except Matt Damon, in the hope that the cast would build a resentment towards him necessary for the role.
  • Alred Hitchcock’s Psycho was the first American film to show a toilet flushing.
  • Jim Caviezel was struck by lightening while he was on the cross in, Passion of the Christ.
Next Page →