And now for celebrity facts (that they probably rather you didn’t know!)
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Julianne Moore (an Academy Award winning actress) was abruptly fired from the production of “Can You Ever Forgive Me” due to creative differences with the film’s director Nicole Holofcener just six days before production was due to start. Reportedly Moore’s vision of the character she was to play (who was eventually played by Melissa McCarthy after Holofcener was also replaced as director) differed so drastically from Holofcener’s vision that the actress was let go.
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Jerry Lee Lewis, the high-energy rock and roll star known for his hit “Great Balls of Fire” once married his 13 year old cousin once removed, Myra Gale Brown, when he was 22… and it was his THIRD marriage. The marriage was under the radar until the couple traveled to Europe and a reporter asked Myra’s age and Lewis lied to say she was… 15. The entire situation caused a huge scandal and effectively ended Lewis’ career atop the rock and roll charts, although he did still enjoy some fame on the country music circuit as those fans were more accepting of his marriage… which lasted until Myra was only 23.
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Gary Busey once refused to perform a scene that was supposed to be set in Heaven… because he said it looked nothing like what Heaven had looked like when he had a near-death experience in 1988. LOLWUT? Later when filming a movie about a billionaire who dies and comes back to Earth as a Pomeranian (yes, you read that right; the movie’s called Quigley and was a box office bomb. You gotta wonder if it’s at all riffable…) Busey took issue with how the film set was portraying heaven and even got into a fight with another actor on set over how Heaven looked… because THAT actor had also had a near-death experience and his image of Heaven was nothing like Busey’s.
4.TW: SEXUAL ASSAULT Victor Salva, the writer/director of the Jeepers Creepers movies, is a convicted sex offender who spent 15 months in jail for sexually assaulting the 12 year old star of his first film, Clownhouse. Despite this, he has gone on to box office success with films like Powder and the Jeepers Creepers films (the third of which at one point contained a controversial scene discussing one of the characters having to go live with her grandparents at age 13 because her in-movie stepfather had begun making overtures at her; the scene was controversial because the two characters discussing it seemed to be making excuses for the stepfather’s lewd conduct based solely on the character’s appearance).
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Melanie Griffith, the daughter of Tippi Hedren (known for her role in The Birds) was once clawed across the face and nearly lost an eye to a young lion while filming Roar, a film which included over 70 untrained lions and resulted in over 100 cast and crew members being injured by the beasts. Hedren had become fascinated with lions while filming in Africa and started collecting the animals (as well as tigers, panthers, cougars, leopards, and elephants) at a ranch in Soledad Canyon. The film itself ended up stretching to a full five years to shoot, and in addition to Griffith’s injuries (which required plastic surgery to correct) the cinematographer Jan De Bont (later known for directing the movie Speed) was nearly scalped by one of the lions and required over 200 stitches to repair the wound. To add salt to the MULTIPLE wounds, the movie was a box office bomb.
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Matt Damon was going to reprise his Ocean’s 11 role in the all-female leads version, Ocean’s 8 (and even filmed his part) but was cut due to problematic statements regarding Harvey Weinstein, who was under fire for his long-time practices of coercing actresses for sexual favors in exchange for roles in films. Damon condemned Weinstein and abusers, but added that not all misconduct claims “belong in the same category” and that there was a “spectrum of behavior.” He later apologized, and his role in the film was left on the cutting room floor.
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Ed Norton was let go from his role as Bruce Banner/The Hulk in the most awkward possible way when Marvel released a statement that read in part: “We have made the decision to not bring Ed Norton back to portray the title role of Bruce Banner in The Avengers . Our decision is definitely not one based on monetary factors, but instead rooted in the need for an actor who embodies the creativity and collaborative spirit of our other talented cast members.” Norton had purportedly wanted the film to stretch to 135 minutes, while Marvel wanted to keep it under two hours, and additionally was often unavailable when it came time to promote the film; Norton also allegedly wanted more creative control than Marvel was willing to give.
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While on a drug and alcohol-fueled tour in 1984, Ozzy Osbourne, in an effort to gross out his tourmates Motley Crue, drank his own urine after peeing on the ground next to a swimming pool and then used a plastic straw to snort a line of ants up his nose.
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Guns N’ Roses singer Axl Rose can be heard having sex with Adriana Smith (the then-girlfriend of the band’s drummer Stephen Adler) on the track for the band’s 1987 song Rocket Queen. Adler had reportedly told Smith that he no longer considered her his girlfriend, so in hopes of making him jealous she went to hang out in the studio with Axl and Slash, at which point Axl approached her with the idea of recording the two of them having sex and including the audio on the bridge of the song. Smith agreed “for the band! And a bottle of Jack Daniels”, and the result can be heard in recordings of the song.
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Two films Bruce Willis turned down… and wishes he hadn’t… include the lead role in Ghost (which went to Patrick Swayze and became a smash hit), and Ocean’s 11 (which went to Andy Garcia and was ALSO a smash hit).
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Speaking of actors turning down roles; Will Smith probably wishes he hadn’t turned down the role of Neo in The Matrix. Making matters worse, the film he chose to film instead? Wild Wild West. Oh Will…
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Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson was friends with (and even persuaded the band to record a song by) none other than Charles Manson.
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Jean Claude Van-Damme BRIEFLY played the role of the Predator in the 80’s film, but was fired and replaced by Kevin Michael Hall. What went wrong? Seems Van Damme allegedly expected to show up on set to show off his martial arts skills, but was instead fitted with a rubber suit and mask that restricted his movement and air so much he kept passing out. Van Damme allegedly quit in a rage or was fired by producer Joel Silver.
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And finally, filmmaker Ed Solomon, who co-wrote all three Bill and Ted films, was at one point briefly considered a suspect in the Night Stalker killings. Solomon kept getting calls one night from people asking him if he was the Night Stalker, and it wasn’t until he talked to a reporter that he found out a car he’d co-signed on the loan for a friend had been found at the scene of one of the murders (Richard Ramirez, the actual Night Stalker, had stolen the car after the friend of Solomon’s gave the car away to one of HIS friends, and by the time police came to Solomon’s door they pretty much knew it wasn’t him and the visit was a mere formality.) However, fingerprints found in the car eventually DID lead police to Ramirez, so at least the car helped!