For a long time, I had assumed that the answer to this question would be, “Yes, of course - actors get to see the entire movie, that they just acted in, with all the editing and modifications all completed, before the movie hits the screen for public consumption.” But then I read of accounts of actors who acted in a movie, and then were stunned (usually in a bad way) at how different the movie, and their roles/character, ended up, differently than what they had expected they would be seeing.
Do movie directors usually bring all the crew, cast, etc. together and have them watch the movie and get final feedback from everyone involved before the premiere/release?
The basic answer is “it depends”.
I would guess that if not a final version, many actors get a chance to see the movie in some format before release. I’m not sure how many want to or choose to, but I would not be surprised if some do.
Then again, I know Jack Whitehall voiced a Troll(?) in Frozen. He got an invite to the premiere and realized in theater that his troll did not speak. He asked them about it and was told his role was reduced to “a non-speaking part”…in an animated movie.
I had read of a movie (can’t recall which) in which Adrian Brody had been led all along to believe he was THE main character, and he had acted as such, and the director led him to believe as such, and Brody invited family and friends to the premiere…in which Brody discovered he had been reduced to an utterly minor character, with no prior notification, due to wholesale post-shoot editing. Brody was furious.
I don’t have a definitive answer, but the impression I get is that actors don’t get to see the finished movie until the premiere.
I speculate the reasoning is that the producers/director feel that once the actors are done acting the movie is someone else’s problem and having the actors watch the non-finished film could cause needless hassle.
The actors usually attend the movie premier. It’s a red carpet event and they see the movie then.
That was on The Thin Red Line. Because that’s how Terrence Malick rolls.
Yes, but Terrance Mallick is famous for changing movies massively in editing. I think it is a jerk move to edit people way out of movies, but this is probably the most famous example of someone being stunned at the premiere.
They can actually go in and then leave. Johnny Depp was on Letterman and told him that he has only seen a few of his movies. He saw Pirates 1 because it premiered at Disney World and they wanted him to stay. Other than that, he leaves after the red carpet and has often never seen his movies.
I doubt any actors in the Force Awakens or Last Jedi saw the final movie until the premiere. They were there making it, but only on set for their scenes.
Whether or not the cast and crew get to see the finished film, I really doubt that the director wants their feedback.
And in the case of movies like some of the Marvel films where the ending is a closely guarded secret, the cast and crew might not have seen the finished film (just to avoid spoilers).
Not movies but TV, but on some of the commentary tracks on episodes of TV shows like The Sopranos I’ve been amazed to hear some of the actors reveal this is the first time they’re watching an episode they’re doing commentary on.:smack:
IMHO in general the actors are hired guns, so they don’t have any real ownership of the finished product. In addition, they might have worked on the shoot for a week or six, and then moved on with life. It might be a year until they see the finished product. By then, they are on to whatever was next, and whatever was after that.
Post production editing can go on for a long time. Nobody can be sure when it’s completed so they’re not going to screen every edited version for the actors just in case it’s the last one.
As mentioned a couple of times already, the producers don’t care about the actors opinion unless the actor is a producer also. And the actors may not care anyway.
Consider poor Kevin Costner, who thought he was an equal member of the ensemble cast of The Big Chill, only to discover that his part had been cut entirely. (Seriously, the only shot of Costner in the film is the opening scene, where the mortician is carefully concealing his slashed wrists. His face was never seen.)
Anecdotally, the final cut of 1979’s Star Trek: The Motion Picture was completed so late that the studio had to overnight the single existing copy of the film to New York for its premiere. Literally NO ONE knew exactly what was going to be on the screen.
I think the answer is “in most cases, no”. I’ve heard too many stories of actors who never saw their film until it was in the theaters, or who still[ haven’t seen their film.
They do get to see the houses the film bought for them, though.
Gwyneth Paltrow didn’t even know she was in Spider-Man: Far From Home. She thought the scene she filmed was for Endgame.
Well, that helps explain his utter lack of self-awareness.
These days an actor can do major scenes with a co-star and never be on the set at the same time. Especially if said co-star is going to be heavily CGIed.
A lot of people cite this, and while I’m no Paltrow fan I’d like to provide a bit of context (without spoilers): The scene is very short and she’s never on screen at the same time as Tom Holland. Also, the backgrounds are green screen, further removing context.
In general, I’ll second what others have said in this thread: Unless the actor is also a producer or director, it’s unlikely that they’ll see any version of the complete film before it hits the theaters. Why would they? Editing, especially on a special-effects heavy film, can take months, and by then the actors have scattered to the four winds working on other projects. If retakes happen late in the process, the actor will still only be coming in for a limited time and filming individual scenes. They won’t be treated to a viewing of the film as made so far.
I can understand, though. Many people hate to see themselves in footage, and cringe at it - I believe Jennifer Lawrence (at least, in her early days of Hunger Games,) could not stand watching herself for some time, if I’m not mistaken. I sure wouldn’t want to see a movie of myself.