# Actors who have been scared by their own films **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 25, 2003, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-been-scared-by-their-own-films/221004 "2003-12-25T13:58:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2003, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-been-scared-by-their-own-films/221004/1 "2003-12-25T13:58:44Z")
I saw Janet Leigh interviewed on TV many years ago. She starred in “Psycho” and went through the production of it without any touble at all. But after seeing the final product, she could no longer take a shower (at least up until the time of the interview). Had to be a bath, and no doubt the door had to be locked. So I wonder if anyone has heard about other actors being spooked by their roles - or even that of a co-actor’s role. And what about child actors? How are their psyches protected in films that deal with extreme violence, eerieness, and so on? ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2003, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-been-scared-by-their-own-films/221004/2 "2003-12-25T15:13:08Z")
Well, I’m certain any number of actors have been **mortified** after seeing the final cut, but that’s not quite the same thing. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2003, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-been-scared-by-their-own-films/221004/3 "2003-12-25T15:42:48Z")
I don’t know how much it scared them, but there were a lot of strange coincidences that cropped up after _Poltergeist_, including the deaths of two of the young stars. Sort of things that E! True Hollywood Story thrives on, you know. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2003, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-been-scared-by-their-own-films/221004/4 "2003-12-25T15:58:57Z")
Sigourney Weaver reportedly went to see the first “Alien” movie a significant time after she’d been in it and reported that she was terrified. ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2003, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-been-scared-by-their-own-films/221004/5 "2003-12-25T16:03:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lumpy \* > \*\*Well, I’m certain any number of actors have been **mortified** after seeing the final cut, but that’s not quite the same thing. 😃 \*\* No argument, Lumpy. Back in the early 40’s, **The Pride of the Yankees** came out, and I was only 8 or 9, but I watched it, profoundly embarrassed for Gary Cooper. It was so obvious that Cooper was no athlete. What’s worse, here he was portraying Lou Gehrig, the Yankees’ Hall of Fame Iron Man, but this actor threw like a girl, swung a bat like a quadraplegic and spoke his lines like a wooden Indian. I wonder if he ever learned how to use his voice properly. It’s been a long, long time since I saw it, but I’d bet the farm his delivery in **High Noon** was just as bad. But all this is a hijack. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2003, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-been-scared-by-their-own-films/221004/6 "2003-12-25T19:31:25Z")
> [@](#): > > Sigourney Weaver reportedly went to see the first “Alien” movie a significant time after she’d been in it and reported that she was terrified. **Carrie Henn** , the little girl who played Newt in the 2[sup]nd[/sup] film **Aliens** , said that making that movie was not the least bit scary. The aliens were just guys in suits that she’d be talking to and playing around with right before each shot. She said she was amazed at how scary the actual movie turned out to be (and I don’t think they let her see it until she was older). ---
**Author:** ![RadioOrange](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a9adbd/32.png) [@RadioOrange](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadioOrange)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2003, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-been-scared-by-their-own-films/221004/7 "2003-12-25T21:43:12Z")
Slightly offtopic. I read that Stephen King isn’t afraid of his monsters, probably because his behind the stories. But the dead-lady-in-bathtub in The Shining creeped him out. ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2003, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-been-scared-by-their-own-films/221004/8 "2003-12-25T21:46:12Z")
The star of **A Clockwork Orange** said that one night after he’d watched it, he saw his reflection in a window and scared himself half to death. Sorry, no cite. ---
**Author:** ![stockton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@stockton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stockton)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-been-scared-by-their-own-films/221004/9 "2003-12-26T00:51:38Z")
Not a hijack, but a detour - Sir Anthony Hopkins was in Atlanta filming Freejack with Mick Jagger and Emilio Estevez when ‘Silence of the Lambs’ came out. According to the local rag, he surreptitiously popped into a local mall theater (Lenox) to see the final version. Everything was fine until the movie ended and the house lights came up. The three women seated in front of him got up leave and turned around to see Hannibal Lecter sitting behind them. Much screeching and fainting ensued. I think I would have fainted or pissed myself, given the circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![Patr100](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@Patr100](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patr100)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-been-scared-by-their-own-films/221004/10 "2003-12-26T01:10:14Z")
Not an actor but DIrector. Stanley Kubrick withdrew “A Clockwork Orange” from cinemas in the UK after it had initially been released due to death threats he had received after it had been reported by the press where young thugs were alledgedly influenced by the film. Until a couple of years ago the only way we could see it in the UK was on pirate video or go over to France. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/film/2289597.stm](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/film/2289597.stm) ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-been-scared-by-their-own-films/221004/11 "2003-12-26T01:21:49Z")
Stockton: A very similar story is told about Vincent Price. Supposedly, he was in London, filming something, and happened to see “House Of Wax” showing at a neighborhood theatre, and he hadn’t seen the theatrical cut yet, so he stopped and bought a ticket. He had a fine time watching the movie, but was greatly amused by two teenage girls sitting in the row in front of him, who were also having a good time, laughing at the funny parts, ooohing and aaahing at the appropriate points, and shrieking at the scary parts. After the movie, the lights came up, and Price leaned forward, between the two girls. “So,” he remarked, “did you LIKE it…?” I seem to remember reading this story in a magazine article, in which Price himself told the story. Couldn’t cite it, now, though… ---
**Author:** ![John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ccd318/32.png) [@John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Kentzel-Griffin)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-been-scared-by-their-own-films/221004/12 "2003-12-26T07:31:23Z")
Off to Cafe Society. **DrMatrix** - GQ Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Serpentine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3be4f8/32.png) [@Silver\_Serpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Serpentine)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-been-scared-by-their-own-films/221004/13 "2003-12-26T14:02:21Z")
I heard that What’s-her-face in Silence of the Lambs (I completely forgot her name) was so frightened by it that she refused to do the sequel. Dunno if it’s true or not. ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-been-scared-by-their-own-films/221004/14 "2003-12-26T14:33:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by stockton \* > \*\*Everything was fine until the movie ended and the house lights came up. The three women seated in front of him got up leave and turned around to see Hannibal Lecter sitting behind them. Much screeching and fainting ensued. > > I think I would have fainted or pissed myself, given the circumstances. \*\* There’s also a story shortly after _Hannibal_ was released where Hopkins was in an elevator and a little boy and his mother entered. Needless to say, he scared the little boy half to death. Of course you needn’t see _Hannibal_ or _Silence of the Lambs_ to know who Hannibal Lecter was, though. Stephen King jumped out of his seat at the ending of _Carrie_. I believe he’s said that the movie was far scarier than the book. ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-been-scared-by-their-own-films/221004/15 "2003-12-26T14:44:11Z")
**Psycho** the movie was infinitely scarier than the book. It’s been many, any years, but I think if you read it (in less than an hour and a half), you’ll find the shower scene almost a total zero. Rips open curtain, lops off head. End of scene. Hitchcock must have looked at the page and lamented the writer’s lack of talent for terror. ---
**Author:** ![Avalonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@Avalonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avalonian)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-been-scared-by-their-own-films/221004/16 "2003-12-26T15:30:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by AnimistDragon \* > \*\*I heard that What’s-her-face in Silence of the Lambs (I completely forgot her name) was so frightened by it that she refused to do the sequel. Dunno if it’s true or not. \*\* [Not](http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,5561,00.html). At least, not the part about being too scared to do a sequel. > [@](#): > > “I stand to make more money doing that sequel than I’ve ever made in my life,” she tells the fashion mag of the project simply dubbed Hannibal. “But who cares, if it betrays Clarice–who is a person, in some strange way, to me.” > > In _Hannibal_, Clarice sheds her idealism and eventually hooks up (and dines) with Hannibal Lecter, the crazy cannibal she investigated in Silence of the Lambs. At least that’s the way things went down in author Thomas Harris’ best-selling novel of the same name that hit bookstores this past summer. (Harris also wrote the book on which the original Lambs was based.) > > “The movie worked because people believed in her heroism,” the 37-year-old Foster tells W. “I won’t play her with negative attributes she’d never have.” I completely agree with her take on it… I don’t know if she was scared by the first one, though. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by AnimistDragon \* > **Slightly offtopic. I read that Stephen King isn’t afraid of his monsters, probably because his behind the stories. But the dead-lady-in-bathtub in The Shining creeped him out.** Stephen King isn’t afraid of _most_ of his monsters, as I understand it, but I’ve read interviews in which he states he never wants to re-read _Pet Sematary_ because it’s too scary for him. No cite on that that I can find, but I remember hearing/reading it from him more than once… ---
**Author:** ![MidnightRadio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@MidnightRadio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MidnightRadio)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-been-scared-by-their-own-films/221004/17 "2003-12-31T08:32:28Z")
I remember reading somewhere that Samantha Eggar had nightmares during the filming of _The Brood_. I thought I read it on the film’s IMDB trivia page, but when I tried to look it up to confirm it just now, I found that _The Brood_ doesn’t _have_ an IMDB trivia page. Oh, well. ---
**Author:** ![lee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lee/32/7455_2.png) [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-been-scared-by-their-own-films/221004/18 "2003-12-31T13:42:55Z")
According to Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty was scared by Deliverance. ---
**Author:** ![Earthworm\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f07891/32.png) [@Earthworm\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthworm_Jim)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-been-scared-by-their-own-films/221004/19 "2003-12-31T18:24:22Z")
The DVD commentary says the cast didn’t know exactly what was going to happen during the chest-bursting scene in Alien. So the scream from Veronica Cartwright is genuine fear, disgust, etc. ---
**Author:** ![TJdude825](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@TJdude825](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TJdude825)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2004, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-been-scared-by-their-own-films/221004/20 "2004-01-01T11:45:03Z")
I heard that Haley Joel Osment wasn’t allowed to watch certain parts of **The Sixth Sense** that were too gory for him at that age. Like the people that were dead and covered in blood. Which is ironic because his character was supposed to be the only one who could see them. (On second thought, perhaps that didn’t really require a spoiler box…) I don’t know how old he was when he did see those parts, or if they scared him . [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-been-scared-by-their-own-films/221004.md?page=2)