10 Times Celebs Revealed Disturbing Experiences That Made Them Uncomfortable in Acting Jobs
#10: Naya Rivera “Glee” (2009-15)
Mean girl characters can be fun, especially in teen shows like “Glee,” but there are some lines you don’t cross. While discussing “messy” scenes from the show on a podcast with her co-stars, Naya Rivera brought up a memorable scene featuring her character, Santana, and Chris Colfer’s Kurt. In the scene, Santana really lays into Kurt, insulting his voice, appearance, and poor dancing skills. It really blurred the line between character and actor, and apparently upset Colfer during filming. Of course, it wasn’t the first time “Glee’s” insults had gotten uncomfortably personal. Many of Sue’s insults directly referenced characters’ race or weight, and there was a shockingly mean-spirited recurring gag on the show about Sam Evans’ lips.
#9: Winona Ryder “Alien Resurrection” (1997)
Although it’s often considered one of the worst “Alien” films, “Resurrection” has a pretty memorable chase sequence. It takes place entirely underwater. To a viewer, this looks pretty cool. But for actress Winona Ryder, But for actress Winona Ryder, who had traumatic past experiences in the water, the scene was a nightmare, the scene was a nightmare. To get the shot just right, the scene required actors to swim in a 4.5-meter-deep tank with no fins and no masks. Ryder held onto hope that a body double would be able to take her place for the sequence, but when it proved impossible, she was forced to do it herself. Understandably, she had a panic attack on the first day of filming.
#8: Charisma Carpenter “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” (1997-2003) & “Angel” (1999-2004)
In 2020, “Justice League” star Ray Fisher tweeted that Joss Whedon was “abusive” and “unprofessional” on the set of the comic book film. To some, the accusation came as a shock. Following the success of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” Joss Whedon was often hailed as a progressive feminist director in fandom spaces. Unfortunately, what he was representing on-screen didn’t quite match his off-screen behavior. Following Fisher’s accusation, “Buffy” and “Angel” star Charisma Carpenter opened up about her own experiences with the director. She claimed that she was frequently berated and called fat in front of coworkers during her pregnancy, and sustained a chronic physical condition during filming that still affects her to this day.
#7: Shelley Duvall “The Shining” (1980)
With “Barry Lyndon” delivering mixed results upon release, Stanley Kubrick was eager to make a film worthy of critical acclaim and financial success. “The Shining” became that film… at the expense of one of its lead actors. In pursuit of perfection, the auteur shot some scenes thirty-five times, claiming he could tell the actors were unprepared by the look in their eyes. This was particularly hellish for actress Shelley Duvall, whose character Wendy is terrorized for the majority of the film’s runtime. The actress described grueling sixteen-hour days where all she did was carry a child and hysterically cry on cue. At times, the mere thought of having to spend a full day crying was enough to cause the tears needed for the shoot.
#6: Tippi Hedren “The Birds” (1963)
Working with animals can be tricky. That’s why, for this memorable attack scene in “The Birds,” the intention was to use mechanical creatures rather than live ones. However, when the mechanical birds failed, the shoot carried on… with real birds. If you think this sounds dangerous, you’d be correct. The attic attack seen on-screen is completely real, and almost resulted in star Tippi Hedren losing an eye. Ironically, Hedren didn’t seem to learn from this traumatic experience. Years later, the actress went on to produce and co-star in an adventure film titled “Roar,” which prominently featured real lions. The wild animals involved infamously injured 70 members of the cast and crew, including Hedren herself, leading to a reputation as the “most dangerous movie ever made.”
#5: Jennette McCurdy “iCarly” (2007-12)
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In 2018, the over two-decade-long partnership between Nickelodeon and Dan Schneider came to an end. Though the sudden severing of ties came as unexpected to some, others used the opportunity to highlight long-standing rumors and allegations about the producer’s misconduct both on set and online. Although she never named Schneider directly, Jennette McCurdy would seemingly add weight to these allegations with the release of her 2022 memoir. In the book, she detailed her time on the sets of “iCarly” and “Sam & Cat,” describing “The Creator” as harsh and controlling. She even described a moment in which he pressured her to drink alcohol underage, claiming it would give her more “edge” …for their preteen comedy show.
#4: Jessica Walter “Arrested Development” (2003-06; 2013-19)
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Following Jeffrey Tambor’s allegations of misconduct on the set of “Transparent,” the actor sat down for an interview with the cast of “Arrested Development,” where his co-stars were asked to speak about his behavior on their show. During the conversation, Jessica Walter tearfully recounted moments when he’d yelled at her in a way that felt uniquely cruel. In spite of her clear discomfort, her co-stars spoke over her, trying to excuse Tambor’s behavior as typical of Hollywood, with only the youngest cast member in attendance, Alia Shawkat, attempting to speak up for the older woman. Though Walter eventually forgave Tambor, the initial reaction to her account by her co-workers spoke volumes about how normalized abusive behavior had become on film and television sets.
#3: Uma Thurman “Kill Bill: Volume 2” (2004)
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On-screen exploitation is what Quentin Tarantino does best - shocking plays with history that manipulate contemporary cultural anxieties. It’s behind-the-scenes exploitation that we take issue with. While filming “Kill Bill,” Uma Thurman says that she was forced to perform a dangerous car stunt in a vehicle she referred to as a “deathbox.” The seat in the car wasn’t secure, and the road Thurman was meant to drive on was unpaved. Eventually, the inevitable happened: she crashed. The actress suffered a concussion, and briefly feared that she may never walk again. Thankfully, she was able to escape the wreck with her life, but her story still serves as a harrowing cautionary tale in favor of stunt safety.
#2: Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio “The Abyss” (1989)
In case it wasn’t obvious from the thirteen-year gap between “Avatar” and its sequel, James Cameron is a bit of a perfectionist. This can result in some beautiful imagery… and some awful working conditions. In 1988, filming began on the director’s underwater sci-fi film, “The Abyss,” which would become so rife with on-set issues that actor Ed Harris would compare his time shooting it to going to war. His co-star, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, seems to have gotten the worst of it, as she eventually broke down and told Cameron they were “not animals.” Seventy-hour work weeks spent primarily in an isolated water tank understandably took its toll. It didn’t help that one of Mastrantonio’s scenes involved her being repeatedly hit and screamed at.
#1: The Cast & Crew “One Tree Hill” (2003-12)
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In 2017, when the
#MeToo movement was gaining traction, writer Audrey Wauchope made a Twitter thread about repeated instances of harassment and inappropriate behavior by a former showrunner. As support poured in, it became clear that the once-anonymous showrunner she referred to was “One Tree Hill’s” Mark Schwahn. A day later, eighteen women from the set came together and penned a letter to Variety detailing their own experiences with Schwahn. The cast described being manipulated psychologically and emotionally by their boss while being put in increasingly uncomfortable positions. Hilarie Burton has even gone on to describe a situation in which Chad Michael Murray had to defend her from the showrunner, while Sophia Bush has expressed discomfort with the sexualization of her character on-screen. Did anything in this list surprise you? Let us know in the comments.
