History EnforcedMethodActing / LiveActionFilms

* In ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'', when Carlisle bites Edward, he whispers in Edward's ear. The in-character "I'm sorry" failed to get the right terrified reaction, as did the equally in-character "My son", but when he whispered "You're sexy", [[Creator/RobertPattinson Robert Pattinson]] actually breaks into a broad smile as if he's about to laugh. But that's the take they used.

* In ''{{Film/Airplane}}'', Creator/LeslieNielsen slapped Lee Bryant for real during the GetAHoldOfYourselfMan scene, and threw in a [[CrossesTheLineTwice second slap]] without warning for good measure. Her confused reaction in this scene is entirely real.

** While filming ''Franchise/StarWars Episode V: Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'', Creator/MarkHamill was only told Darth Vader was Luke's father a few minutes before the scene was filmed. Creator/DavidProwse, who was playing the physical half of the Darth Vader part, wasn't told at all. In order to make sure that no one on the crew would leak the surprise, Prowse was given the line, "No, Obi-Wan killed your father!" This pissed him off once he saw the actual film, as he believed that his body language would've been entirely different if he knew what the actual line was (which could constitute an example of [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools Tropes Are Not Good]]).
** ''Franchise/StarWars Episode III: Film/RevengeOfTheSith'' has further Vader-related examples:

*** After Vader's body is reconstructed and he is given his life supporting suit of armour, he breaks off of his table to take a few slow, thudding steps forward, almost stumbling when he does. Creator/HaydenChristensen was not told that the helmet and boots would be weighted, lending an authentic sense of not yet being used to the cumbersome suit Vader would wear for the rest of his life.
** The day that the actors filmed the insert shots of the Rebel pilots for the Battle of Yavin in ''Film/ANewHope'' happened to be a fifty-year record high for England's hottest temperature. The sweat pouring down the pilots' faces only adds to the tension of the battle.

*** Director Creator/RidleyScott placed a veiled cage with a German Shepherd in front of JonesTheCat, and unveiled it when he shouted "Action!!" Hence when The Alien rose up behind Brett like a phallic gargoyle, the menacing hissing of fear from the poor kitty cat was ''real.''

** Creator/DolphLundgren actually punched Creator/SylvesterStallone hard enough to hospitalize him in ''Film/RockyIV''. Dolph punched him hard enough that the impact ignored Sylvester's ribs and ''bruised his heart''. The Insurance Company first thought Stallone was lying since such an impact on a chest usualy was because on a direct collision in traffic. Stallone showed them the tape (that is still in the finished movie) and said "Dolph is a truck!"

* In ''Film/PlanetOfTheApes1968'', Creator/CharltonHeston's famous 'get your stinking paws off me' line was made all the more realistic because Heston was suffering from pneumonia-the director liked it because he felt it made Heston's voice sound more authentic.

* In ''Film/SuperMarioBros'', Creator/DennisHopper's performance as Koopa legitimately scared Mojo Nixon during the scene where Toad de-evolves. Toad freaking out as he's strapped into the chair wasn't acting.

-->'''Spock:''' Jim, there is a historic opportunity here.
-->'''Kirk:''' Don't believe them. Don't trust them.
-->'''Spock:''' They're dying.
-->'''Kirk:''' ''Let them die!''
** According to William Shatner's ''Star Trek Movie Memories'', this wasn't how he had intended the line to come off. The unedited shot includes Kirk physically recoiling, to provide the impression Kirk had regretted saying something so bloodthirsty. Meyer promised Shatner he'd use the full shot. [[ILied He lied.]]

** When it got to filming a scene where the character of [[spoiler:Bridget]] was strangled to death, Tarantino was concerned faking a strangulation wouldn't look correct on film and requested permission to strangle actor [[spoiler:Creator/DianeKruger]] ''for real''. They consented to it (they both agreed to only try it for one take), and during the close-up shot, you're seeing Tarantino's hands genuinely cutting off the actor's air for several seconds.

* In ''Film/InglouriousBasterds'', Creator/QuentinTarantino didn't let Creator/ChristophWaltz rehearse with the rest of the cast so that their reactions to him would seem more natural.

* ''Film/{{Network}}'': In the scene where Max Schumacher (Creator/WilliamHolden) confesses his infidelity to his wife Louise (Beatrice Straight) director Creator/SidneyLumet ran the scene through numerous rehearsals and even filmed takes so that by the time the takes that actually made the final cut were filmed, Straight was extremely tired and so in addition to her performance being explosively angry and heartbroken it also had a distinct air of exhaustion and defeat that was exactly what Lumet wanted. When called out on this by screenwriter Creator/PaddyChayefsky, who in many ways had more control over the production than Lumet and was very particular about the tone he was trying to set, Lumet rebuffed him by saying, "Paddy, you know comedy, I know divorce." [[labelnote:*]]Not only was Lumet twice divorced at the time of filming but Straight ended up winning Best Supporting Actor at that year's Academy Awards so it's probably safe to say he knew what he was talking about.[[/labelnote]]

* ''Film/DoctorStrangeInTheMultiverseOfMadness'' has two cases: Creator/XochitlGomez [[https://www.tiktok.com/@marvel/video/7109882679373352238 is screaming for real]] as she jumps on a falling ledge, and [[spoiler:Scarlet Witch shouting at her sons has both Creator/ElizabethOlsen angry at the child actors actually throwing things in her head, and the boys subsequently got terrified]].

* During filming of ''Film/TheSilenceOfTheLambs'', real-life FBI Agent John Douglas, on whom the character of Jack Crawford was based, played audiotapes for actor Creator/ScottGlenn to get an idea of the stress of dealing with serial killers. Those tapes were of real young women being raped, tortured and murdered by serial killers Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris. The tapes were so horrific that Glenn broke down in tears, telling Douglas "I didn't know there were people who could do things like that," and he later said that he could no longer oppose the death penalty (which Douglas has strongly supported). Glenn also refused to sign on to the sequels, so his character was [[AdaptedOut cut completely]] out of ''Hannibal'' (in a deleted scene, it was revealed that Crawford died between movies, resulting in a combination of type 2 of DeathByAdaptation and KilledOffscreen) and recast with Creator/HarveyKeitel in ''Film/RedDragon''.

** Another enforced method acting moment was when Cleavon Little can't keep a straight face after Gene Wilder delivered the "You know... morons" line. Little was not told about the line in advance.

** When filming ''Film/TheShining'', he verbally abused Creator/ShelleyDuvall and notoriously made her do numerous takes of a single scene in order to render her performance as Jack Torrance's meek and increasingly terrified and hysterical wife Wendy more compelling. He similarly made Scatman Crothers do hundreds of takes of scenes until eventually Crothers broke down crying and yelled "What do you ''want'' from me, Mr. Kubrick?" As Crothers's character has comparatively little screen time this might be less an example of this trope and more of Kubrick just being his usual PrimaDonnaDirector self. Also, as the film's making of explains, Creator/JackNicholson's AxCrazy performance is partially influenced by the infinite reshoots, given how after 20 takes an actor gets tired and ''really'' [[EvilIsHammy hams up.]] Though interestingly, he was entirely the opposite with Danny Lloyd, the actor who played Danny Torrance. The kid had no idea at all he was in a horror movie; he thought he was just filming a movie about a family that lived in a hotel, because Kubrick kept him away from anything scary...including Kubrick's normal directing style. Lloyd apparently didn't know it was a horror movie until he saw it as a teenager, eleven years after it was made.

*** On the other hand, Creator/GeorgeCScott wanted to play General Turgidson as a dignified WellIntentionedExtremist, so Kubrick tricked him by telling him to do a few over the top takes as "practice" and that [[BlatantLies they would never be put into the real movie]]. ''[[LeftItIn Kubrick used all of them.]]'' Scott eventually admitted it was better that way, but nonetheless he vowed never to work with Kubrick again.

* In ''Film/{{Apollo 13}}'', the scenes where the spacecraft had become very cold were shot on a soundstage that was actually made freezing cold via the use of massive fans and refrigeration units. The visible breath onscreen is real. Not to mention that ''all'' of the zero-gravity scenes in the spacecraft were shot in the infamous Vomit Comet.

* There's an iconic scene in ''Film/{{Casablanca}}'' where the Nazis at the bar start singing "Die Wacht am Rhein," a German patriotic song, but are drowned out by a singing of "La Marseillaise," the national anthem of France. To make sure the bar was authentic in the film, actual French refugees were cast as extras, and the song ends with some very real crying that wasn't in the script, but was left in the film. Keep in mind this was filmed in 1941, when the Nazis had the upper hand and French refugees were unsure if they'd ever see home again.

** Similarly, Georgie Henley had never seen Creator/JamesMcAvoy in his Mr. Tumnus costume before shooting their scenes together.

* A {{Website/Cracked}} [[http://www.cracked.com/article_19901_5-great-movie-scenes-made-possible-by-reckless-endangerment_p2.html?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=fanpage&utm_campaign=new+article&wa_ibsrc=fanpage list of five truly abusive moments]] is topped by ''Film/TheEvilDead1981'', which due to NoBudget was basically the actors being scared shitless (real windows being broken, real daggers being wielded).

* In ''Film/TheFabulousBakerBoys'', when real-life brothers Beau and Creator/JeffBridges have a fight, Jeff very nearly actually broke Beau's hand. They planned to come up with a "safe word" in case things went too far, but Jeff forgot himself and Beau went to the hospital directly afterward. When he yells "my hand, my hand!", it's totally genuine.

** Creator/LeePace spent twelve weeks in a wheelchair pretending to be unable to walk while filming so the Catinca Untaru would deliver a more realistic performance. An extra on the DVD shows the moment where he and the director admitted to the crew that he could actually walk and got up out of his wheel chair. Also, most of Catinca's lines were only loosely scripted and she adlibbed most of her lines in reaction to what was happening in the scene, and everyone referred to Pace by the name of his character, Roy.
** The scene when five year old Alexandria, hysterical already, comes to find that Roy is [[spoiler: alive after he attempts suicide with what he thinks are morphine pills]] Lee Pace was frustrated by the number of takes it had taken to get the scene, Tarsem's insistence on repeated takes and Catinca's inability to get her physical movements quite right. Tarsem had infamously been calling CUT right before Roy was supposed to react to waking up meaning Pace had by the 30+ take built up quite a lot of tension. When Tarsem finally let the scene continue after Alexandria draws the curtain back, Lee unleashed his bottled rage and lost his mind, screaming hysterically (in character) and knocking a side table over. Catinca was totally terrified and genuinely wet herself in fear. Tarsem, in the commentary described her as being like a giraffe; when scared, she goes very still and pees. He also cast her after meeting her, at which point she barely spoke a word of English, telling a fellow crew member 'We have to make this film now, in six months, she'll be a different person.' All the hospital scenes were shot in sequence so that Alexandria's grasp of English developed naturally, taking her from one or two confused words a scene to complete English language conversations with Pace.
** Also, in the scene depicting the finale, [[spoiler: where Roy tries to kill off the hero of the fairytale he has been telling Alexandria]] They had another difficult day of shooting and Pace, once again, got quite wound up. His frustrated, angry telling of the story is fuelled by quite genuine anger not to mention, in the moment when he lifts his hand to mime punching someone as in the story, Catinca once again flinched totally realistically as she genuinely thought he might hit her.

** Similarly, when Walter Peck gets deluged with "marshmallow" goo (actually shaving cream) in the climax, the actor Creator/WilliamAtherton wasn't warned about what was going to happen.

** Also, when filming the severed horse head scene, they used a realistic prop head for the filming. After a few takes, they replaced the prop with a real horse head without the actor knowing. His reaction was completely genuine.

** An accidental case of this occurred during the filming of the original ''[[Film/{{Gojira}} Godzilla]]''. The original suit that the actor wore in filming was so stiff and inflexible, that the suit could, quite literally, stand upright ''by itself''. This forced the actor wearing the suit to move in ways which were not like those of a human, making the monster that much more real and terrifying.
** In ''Film/MothraVsGodzilla'', When Creator/HaruoNakajima (Godzilla's suit actor) tripped on part of the Nagoya Castle set and slammed into the castle's keep, some teeth from the Godzilla suit fell out. Also, the impact of slamming into it also dislocated the jaw on the Godzilla suit, giving it the wobbly muzzle that is seen throughout the movie. SFX director, Eiji Tsuburaya liked the outcome of the shot so much that he keep it in the film.

** In the first hanging scene, the pyrotechnic severing the rope spooked the horse significantly more than anyone besides Creator/SergioLeone expected, and it literally galloped for miles with Wallach tied helplessly to its back. Fortunately Wallach was an expert rider (he never would have agreed to do the stunt otherwise) but he was understandably furious when they found him again. Wallach's look of fear at the beginning of the scene is also genuine because as an avid equestrian he knew there were any number of ways that stunt could have gone wrong, from the horse spooking prematurely to the rope failing to part, any one of which could have have left him with a broken neck.

** The director decided to use local Ugandan children as extras for a scene where Creator/JamesMcAvoy's character is giving vaccinations. Of course, the director did not tell the children or their parents/other adults with them that the syringes were just props. Many of the children thought they were really going to get shots, so their apprehension and nervousness is completely real.

** Also, in the scene where the children are to take their medicine, a bottle with several internal compartments is used to dispense several colors of elixir. The children were not informed of this, so when Jane shrieks in shock at the changing color, it's real.

* Creator/TommyLeeJones hated the script to the first ''Film/MenInBlack'' movie so much, he re-wrote all of his own lines. Of course, he didn't tell Creator/WillSmith of any of his changes, so Smith had to constantly ad-lib to keep up.

* In the Creator/AdamSandler remake ''Film/MrDeeds'', there is a scene where Sandler invites Creator/JohnTurturro's character to hit his foot with a fireplace poker to prove he has no feeling in it. While Sandler doesn't even shrug at the first two strikes, at the third Deeds screams in pain before revealing he was joking to get a rise out of the butler. As you might have guessed, the scream wasn't in the script, Sandler and the director threw it in at the last minute to get an amusing reaction out of Creator/JohnTurturro. The end of the movie involves Sandler using that foot to save Creator/WinonaRyder from drowning. See the entry for ''Alien: Resurrection'' above to see why this is significant.

** Not to mention the crew's collective looks of confusion at Jack's "Jar of Dirt" song.

* The three lead actors in ''Film/ProjectX'' were sent to Ride/{{Disney|ThemeParks}}land together and spent a weekend up at a cabin in Big Bear City so as to make a more believable friendship between them. Also, during filming of [[WildTeenParty the party scenes]], the music kept playing even when cameras weren't rolling so as to maintain the party atmosphere among the extras.

** As the page quote shows, Creator/DolphLundgren actually punched Creator/SylvesterStallone hard enough to hospitalize him in ''Film/RockyIV''. Dolph basically punched him hard enough that the impact ignorered Sylvester's ribs and ''bruised his heart''. The Insurance Company first thought Stallone was lying since such an impact on a chest usualy was because on a direct collision in traffic. Stallone showed them the tape (that is still in the finished movie) and said "Dolph is a Truck!"

** When Scorponok attacks the soldiers in the desert the actors were told to run and not to stop no matter what. That was because Scorponok's "tracks" were being made by detonating buried strands of primacord (basically rope with explosive materials in it). So the panic in that scene is quite genuine.
** And when Sam's on the hood of a car, and Barricade slams it, demanding to know where the glasses are? One of the first pieces of movie-related video released to the Internet was a clip of that scene being filmed, complete with Shia [=LaBeouf=] screaming afterward that they didn't tell him the car was going to jump up.

** At one point, the character Pink phones his wife, knowing she's with another man. The phone call? Real. The operator's confused reaction ("There's a man answering...") is genuine. They had to do the call several times before they found one who realized what the situation was. The exact same phone call was originally featured on the album of the same name (See under Music.)

** Similarly, the scene when the Oompa Loompas walk out for the first time was unscripted; all the reactions that the actors have to them are real.

** When ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} first confronts ComicBook/{{Magneto}}, the initial look of shock at Magneto's entrance was a result of Creator/HughJackman's fear of what was happening around him. He was told Magneto would tear open the train car; he thought this meant ripping off the door, not half of the train being literally pulled apart by hydraulics. He mentioned having to study that shot when doing the reaction shots so he could reproduce all the various twitches and tics he went through.

* In Andrzej Wajda's film ''Danton'', he created distance between the two different factions by having Robespierre's supporters all be Polish actors, and Danton's all French, so that they came from different backgrounds and could barely even talk to each other off-set.

* Creator/CharltonHeston's costume in ''Film/TheTenCommandments'' supposedly resulted in many of the local extras thinking he *was* Moses... they were heard saying "Mosiah! Mosiah!".

** In ''Film/MothraVsGodzilla'', When Creator/HaruoNakajima (Godzilla's suit actor) slammed into the Pagoda during Godzilla's attack in Nagoya, some teeth from the Godzilla suit fell out. Also, the impact of slamming into it also dislocated the jaw on the Godzilla suit, giving it the wobbly muzzle that is seen throughout the movie. SFX director, Eiji Tsuburaya liked the outcome of the shot so much that he keep it in the film.

*** In the case of ''Film/TerrorOfMechagodzilla'', the result is also very apropos; considering Godzilla is fighting Mechagodzilla, a walking, roaring [[MoreDakka weapons platform]], suit actor Toru Kawai's startled reaction to the suit's dorsal fins being set on fire gave Godzilla a very fitting reaction to Mechagodzilla's might.

** Creator/HelenaBonhamCarter is British and didn't know what Marla's "I haven't been fucked like that since grade school" line meant, since England has a different education system. When she found out that grade school was the American equivalent of ''primary school'', she was ''not'' happy.[[note]] Grade school constitutes 1st-8th grade, so the age could be anywhere from age 7-14.[[/note]]

** In the "burn the witch" scene from ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail'' when Creator/JohnCleese held his pause for an extremely long time (far longer than in the rehearsals), Eric Idle had to bite on his prop scythe to stop himself from laughing.

** In ''[[Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheFellowshipOfTheRing The Fellowship of the Ring]]'', Billy Boyd was not aware that Gandalf's firework actually was going to flare. Pippin's scream is real. He admitted in the film's commentary that he got so freaked out by the firework that he peed his pants. Creator/DominicMonaghan actually called him 'Pissylegs' for the rest of the production because of it.
** While practicing canoeing for the scene in which the Fellowship leaves Lorien by river, Creator/OrlandoBloom and Creator/JohnRhysDavies were unable to keep their balance and fell in the water, fueling animosity between elf and dwarf.
** When Merry is given the orc brew in ''[[Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheTwoTowers The Two Towers]]'' they used all sorts of ill-matched ingredients for the brew, and since Merry is unconscious when it's given to him it was more or less forced down the actor's throat. Apparently it made him actually vomit in a few takes (like the one used in the film).
** While filming the scene where Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli are examining the pyre of Uruk-hai bodies, believing Merry and Pippin has been burned along with them.
*** Aragorn kicks a helmet lying on the ground and screams in anguish over his hobbits friends most likely being dead. The intensity of the scream was due to Creator/ViggoMortensen (who played Aragorn) breaking two toes when he performed the kick, but Creator/PeterJackson liked the shot so much that it was left in the movie.
*** In the DVD extras for the movie, you can see the other takes filmed before the one that made the cut. There were quite a few, suggesting Mortensen was having trouble getting the reaction just right, until he kicked the helmet and channelled his pain into a realistically heart-rending scream of genuine anguish.
** There was something of a rivalry between the extras playing Elves and the extras playing Uruk-hai. The Uruks coined the nickname "cupcakes" for their Elven counterparts. This apparently started because the Elven extras (who were largely local college students) weren't getting into character as soldiers, so the Uruk-hai decided to start taunting, jeering, and otherwise acting like actual members of an opposing army. This got the Elven actors riled up enough to be in character.

* In ''{{Film/Birdman}}'', the infamous Times Square sequence was only shot twice, so as not to arouse the suspicion of tourists. Apart from Creator/MichaelKeaton and a few extras that pass by close to his character, everything else around them is very real.