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31 Facts About TV Shows and Movies for the History Books

Hey, history books. Maybe a little less Revolutionary War, and a little more ‘Lego Movie’!

31 Facts About TV Shows and Movies for the History Books

May 26, 2024

Okay, yes, the film and TV industries are old enough to get their own history books. But when will the big dawg history books give them the respect they deserve by bringing them into the fold? Like entertainment is some lesser form of history? Look, you crusty old historians — these movie and TV show facts happened, but you were nowhere to be found. Luckily we were there to jot them down.

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31

BRIDGET JONES'S DIARY TONI COLLETTE AND KATE WINSLET WERE UP FOR THE LEAD ROLE. After Colette turned it down, Winslet was considered but producers thought she was too young. It ultimately went to Renée Zellweger. CRACKED.COM — Source

30

Bradley cooper spent 6 months to sound like sam Elliott in A star is Born. Cooper worked with a dialect coach for four hours a day - even before Elliott was cast to play his brother. Had Elliott turned down the role, Cooper would've wasted half a year of work. CRACKED.COM — Source

29

CRACKED.COM scream was originally titled scary Movie. NO, seriously. When Harvey Weinstein, the producer of the film, was listening to Michael Jackson's Scream in his car, he thought that would be a better title. So two (alleged) sex criminals caused the name change. — Source

28

Toy story 2 was almost deleted. A Pixar employee accidentally typed in a command that erased all the movie files. Thankfully, this multi-million dollar mistake was averted as a technical director on maternity leave had a copy of everything at home. CRACKED.COM — Source

27

steven spielberg refused a paycheck for schindler's List. The movie being a close and personal project for Spielberg, he refused to take a salary for it. His share of the profits went to the Shoah Foundation, a history archive for the Holocaust and other tragic events. GRACKED COM — Source

26

Censor Joe Breen almost had the most famous line in GONE WITH THE WIND replaced with such alternatives as: Frankly, my dear, I don't give a whoop! Thankfully director David Selznick successfully contended that the dramatic use of the word 'damn' was at worst a common vulgarism, not a curse or oath that required censoring. CRACKED.COM — Source

25

The relationship between Ed Wood and Bela Lugosi CRACKED.COM in Tim Burton's was a reflection of Burton's own relationship with Vincent Price. — Source

24

While auditioning for Elizabeth I, Eddie Redmayne led the director to believe he was an experienced horseback rider. Не got the part and the truth came out. Redmayne nearly killed himself trying to shoot his scene on the horse. GRACKED.COM — Source

23

THE CIGARETTE-SMUGGLING ROACHES IN ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK WERE REAL TRAINED COCKROACHES. Prop master Rachael Weinzimer said she CRACKED.COM couldn't just attach a cigarette to a cockroach and send it on its way, SO insect handlers had to teach the bugs to navigate a prototype maze they designed. — Source

22

Hugh Jackman says he owes his career to Russell Crowe. Crowe passed on the role of Wolverine, and then recommended his friend Hugh for the job, which eventually made him a household name. CRACKED.COM — Source

21

DAVID LeTTeRmAn auditioned and screen-tested for the role of Ted Striker in: ARTIS GRACKED COM — Source

20

RIED THE A1A CAR - - ASH Marius Stan, who played Bogdan on Breaking Bad, is actually a scientist - a computational physicist and chemist. Не works at Argonne National Laboratory as a Senior Computational Scientist. CRACKED.COM — Source

19

The District 9 voices were made from the sound of pumpkins being rubbed together combined with clicking and the actors' voices. CRACKED.COM — Source

18

Stanley Kubrick WHITE was a fan of MEN CAN'T JUMP and hated The WIZARD of Dz CRACKED.COM — Source

17

The house party from SUPERBAD was filmed half a block from the OJ Simpson murder house. 4 90 to is - DEL - RUSA ON and . - — Source

16

The role that made Viggo Mortensen's career, Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, almost went to Nicolas Cage. CRACKED.COM — Source

15

CRACKED.COM Gal Gadot was five months pregnant while shooting Wonder Woman. Gadot reportedly didn't want any different treatment, and hid her pregnancy when doing reshoots, even during action scenes. RUB — Source

14

CRACKED.COM Jimmy Stewart suffered wartime PTSD while shooting It's A Wonderful Life. Stewart was going through much mental turmoil after his service as a pilot during World War II, to the point that he considered quitting acting. Accepting the now-Christmas classic relaunched his career. — Source

13

CRACKED.COM NORTH OLF Tyra Banks' first speaking role was on The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Before she screamed her belief in us, Banks had a recurring role as Jackie, Will's friend/ex-girlfriend from West Philadelphia who got to University of California on a basketball scholarship. — Source

12

140 141 ICE AL The same high school set was used on Saved By The Bell, iCarly, and That's So Raven. This means that same set of lockers first aired in 1989 during Saved By The Bell's heyday, and stayed on the air until iCarly's final season in 2012. CRACKED.COM — Source

11

Pumbaa was the first Disney character to fart on screen. Before The Lion King, no other Disney character audibly farted on a film. (That said, we have no idea which characters silently farted in previous movies. Smart money is on Tinker Bell.) CRACKED.COM — Source

10

Heath Ledger's Joker scared the script out of Michael Caine. Ledger wasn't present during certain rehearsals for The Dark Knight, so Caine's first exposure to Ledger's character was when shooting a scene - and he was so terrified, he forgot his lines. CRACKED.COM — Source

9

CRACKED.COM In The wizard of OZ, Toto made more money than the Munchkins. Hollywood has never been fair, but it's mind-boggling that the actors portraying the Munchkins were paid $50 per week, while Toto and his trainers got $125 per week. — Source

8

CRACKED.COM christian Bale's American Psycho was based on Tom cruise. Bale called up director Mary Harron, saying that he saw Tom Cruise on David Letterman and thought that energy would be perfect for Patrick Bateman, citing Cruise's very intense friendliness with nothing behind the eyes. — Source

7

CRACKED.COM DO Taxi Driver was written in two weeks. Screenwriter Paul Schrader was going through marriage problems, lost his job, was broke, and suffered a bleeding ulcer. His depression from all this at the same time drove him to write about Travis Bickle, or I was going to start to become him. — Source

6

WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING The original concept was gender-flipped. The original idea was for a man to pretend to be engaged with a woman in a coma. While the premise is creepy regardless of gender, it somehow feels creepier that way. CRACKED.COM — Source

5

4

CRACKED.COM THE POLIC LEGO MOVIE The movie caused a 15% worldwide increase in Lego sales. The year the film was released, Lego sold 62 billion Lego elements. That would equate to 102 Lego bricks per living person. — Source

3

CRACKED.COM FG DM KILL BILL: VOL. 1 The Bride's name is in the first movie. While her real name is bleeped until Kill Bill: Vol. 2, eagle-eyed movie viewers with a pause button can see it printed on her plane ticket to Tokyo. BOARDING PA KIDOO SEATRIX - EL PASOSTENKE OKINAWAR SPAS AIRO со CO 978 1945 - CHECK IN RESURRED 005 2115497747 ATAF — Source

2

It's a wonder we didn't have an Avengers TV show in the '80s. The Incredible Hulk was the most successful, but Captain America, Thor, and Doctor Strange all had their own abortive TV attempts. CRACKED.COM — Source

1

CRACKED.COM zac Efron played simon Tam. Efron's first TV role was as a young Doctor Tam in Firefly. — Source

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