Only around 20% of the work that goes into making a film is seen on camera. Sometimes the real magic happens behind the scenes, rather than in front of the camera. The making of a film is a genuine and full-time job for the cast and crew, and like with our lives and careers, both commonplace and strange things happen. That's why we've compiled a list of fascinating facts about everyone's favorite Hollywood films! It appears that the performers and crew have accumulated quite a few intriguing facts and anecdotes over the years, and it's good to watch some of them have fun with it. The best thing is that there will almost certainly be some movie trivia from your favorite flicks.
Below is a list of 15 wholesome behind-the-scenes facts that will not only enhance your viewing experience — but will stick with you forever.
#1 "You're going to need a bigger boat" was an inside joke made up during the filming of Jaws (1975)
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According to Carl Gottlieb, Richard Zanuck and David Brown were VERY stingy producers. 'You're going to need a bigger boat,' everyone kept telling them.
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Gottlieb explained that it became a catchphrase whenever something went wrong.
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Then, at the ideal moment, actor Roy Scheider improvised the inside joke into the film, and the rest is history.
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#2 None of the 300 horses used during the filming of The Lord of the Rings trilogy were harmed
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And Jane Abbott, who portrayed Arwen's stunt double (Liv Tyler), loved riding Arwen's horse so much that Viggo Mortensen bought it for her so she could retain it at the end of production.
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He also purchased two horses for himself.
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#3 Alan Rickman and Michael Gambon played a prank on Daniel Radcliffe in front of a girl he liked
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Daniel asked director Alfonso Cuarón to place his sleeping bag next to a girl he liked.
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Alan and Michael put a fart machine in his sleeping bag during filming.
#4 Tom Felton's candy-sneaking on the set of the first two Harry Potter films forced the wardrobe department to sew ALL of the students' pockets shut by the time they got to The Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
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Felton confirmed that he was sneaking food and drinks onto set because of the robes' big pockets. The robes eventually had to be sewn shut.
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He wasn't the only one who did it. Every kid would have chocolate and sweets in their pockets.
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#5 While we're talking about Marvel, Zendaya and Tom Holland's height difference caused them to regularly goof up a Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) stunt in the most precious way possible
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"Spider-Man does a trick in which he slings me onto the top of a bridge and sets me there. So he's meant to place M.J. gently on the bridge and walk away from her "Zendaya explained. "Because of our height disparity – we were connected [by a harness] — I'd land ahead of him."
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"Zendaya would land," Tom predicted. "And I am the hero. I'm meant to appear cool. And she'd land, and I'd land like this, and she'd catch me...great it's to be caught for a change!"
#6 The hilarious "He's a friend from work!" line in Thor: Ragnarok (2017) was a suggestion from a child.
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During Thor and The Hulk's combat scene, Chris Hemsworth was experimenting with how he wanted his character to react when he first sees his Avengers pal arrive — and the finest possible suggestion came from a lovely source.
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"We had a little youngster on set that day, a Make-A-Wish kid," Chris Hemsworth explained. "And he says, 'You know, you should add, 'He's a work pal!'" Hemsworth DID say that, and the phrase not only made it into the film, but it was also the huge closing line for the film's first teaser trailer!
#7 Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder may have actually gotten married on the set of Dracula (1992), and the story is seriously a rom-com in itself
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During the press tour for their 2018 film, Destination Wedding, Winona addressed this long-held suspicion to Entertainment Weekly, saying: "In fact, we married in Dracula. No, I swear to God, I think we're actually married! Francis [Ford Coppola] employed a real Romanian priest in that sequence. We shot the master, and he accomplished everything. So, I believe we've married."
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According to the interview, Keanu laughed briefly before taking in this knowledge. However, realizing that they both said "I do" in the scene, Keanu exclaimed, "Oh my my, we're married!"
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#8 Angelina Jolie's young daughter, Vivienne, had to replace young Aurora in Maleficent (2014) since all of the other young performers were too afraid to approach her
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They tried to use six children (yes, SIX) for the scene, but Angelina noticed that they were all basically like NOPE: "They said, 'She's so frightening!'"
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"We think it's entertaining for our kids to make cameo appearances and join us on set, but not to be actors. That is not at all our intention for Brad Pitt and myself "Angelina explained. "But the other three and four-year-old actors would not approach me. It had to be a child who liked me and wasn't scared of my horns, eyes, and claws. So Vivienne had to be it."
#9 In Labyrinth, the first baby who was supposed to play Toby kept weeping at the sight of all of the puppets, so he was substituted with Toby Fround, the son of the film's conceptual and costume designer, who was used to being among deliciously odd puppets!
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But just because he didn't cry didn't mean he didn't have an awkward baby moment: "I was wearing a diaper underneath my dress, but the diapers were too thick, so they made smaller diapers...which didn't contain liquid. I peed all over David Bowie the first time I met him and sat on his lap."
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"He handled it with grace. He was, in fact, "Toby stated. "He was an incredible rockstar at the time, but he was truly pleasant about the whole affair, and we kept on after that. We worked on the scenes together. But, sure, I met the dude and peed on him very rapidly, perhaps a couple of times during the filming. It was all because of the diapers."
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#10 Jamie Dornan would actively try to make Dakota Johnson laugh in order to lighten the mood during their intense sex scenes in the Fifty Shades of Grey series.
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"There are some sequences where they might play music and take broad shots of it, and that's the closest we come to trying for it all in one piece," Jamie explained. "And the temptation is always to make Dakota laugh."
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"So, if there's a moment when I'm supposed to, like, orgasm, then I'll be like, 'Doo-doo-doo-dooly-doo!'" he explained. "And if they don't [do it during orgasm], they should!"
#11 The "Something Good" section in The Sound of Music (1965) had to be shot entirely in silhouettes because Julie Andrews couldn't stop giggling.
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The lights above her and Christopher Plummer were apparently making very ridiculous noises during the performance, which made her chuckle.
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According to her, the light would make weird noises that sounded like moans and groans while her and Plummer was trying to act.
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"So we had lunch, came back, and started over," she explained. "Robert Wise [the director] said, 'I know what we'll do: I want you to walk into the silhouette, I'll shoot it at the door...then you can laugh all you want and it won't show." "And then we stopped talking, and everything was good."
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#12 Mary Gibbs, who played Boo in Monster's Inc. (2001), was so little at the time of recording that getting her to deliver the lines correctly was tough – so production had to be inventive.
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They decided to follow her around with a microphone and capture whatever she said. They then stitched what she said together in post-production, which is why a lot of Boo's talk — like most genuine youngsters — is ridiculous and nonsensical.
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"I wasn't one of those kids who just auditioned for a bunch of movies. I was just three years old, and my father had brought me here to draw and sketch "Mary stated. "Because they couldn't get me to sit still, they followed me about with a microphone."
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She also mentioned that they'd use a Cookie Monster puppet to ask her questions in order to elicit emotion: "If [the director] wanted me to say 'Kitty' in a melancholy tone, it'd be Cookie Monster asking me, 'How would that feel if you lost your cat?'"
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#13 Despite being absolute jerks to her in the movie, Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman took excellent care of Mara Wilson all while shooting Matilda (1996).
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While Mara was filming the picture, her mother, Suzie, was in and out of hospitals due to breast cancer, and Mara noticed how her co-stars assisted her. They took her to see plays, movies, and just hang out with her to keep her entertained and happy while her mother was in the hospital.
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Suzie passed away shortly before the film's release, and the film was dedicated to her memory.
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#14 Mana Ashida, who played little Mako in Pacific Rim (2013), was mortified on set because she couldn't properly pronounce director Guillermo del Toro's name, so they devised a hilarious solution.
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Mana, who is Japanese, asked if she may instead refer to del Toro as "Totoro-san," a nod to Studio Ghibli's My Neighbor Totoro (1988). Because, you know, he has a heart, the director agreed.
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#15 Adam Driver "saved" Ben Affleck's son's birthday while the two actors were filming The Last Duel (2019) together.
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The romantic story goes that, while filming the Ridley Scott epic, Ben jumped on a plane to attend his son's (at the time) 8th birthday party. He arrived on time, but the gifts he had purchased for his kid did not.
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However, after learning that it was Ben's son's birthday and knowing that his son was a huge Star Wars fan, Adam Driver took it upon himself to send over a load of Star Wars paraphernalia as gifts without informing the actor, including a card signed by none other than THE Kylo Ren.
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"He unwrapped the gifts, and I showed him the video [that Adam had recorded for him on set], and...Adam made me a hero to my child. I'll never, ever, ever forget it "Ben stated. "It's a great lesson in making simple gestures because you never know...it meant the fucking world to me!"
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