These Actors Threatened To Quit Mid-Movie, And I'm So, So Glad They Didn't

    Can you imagine Hermione without Emma Watson or the Grinch without Jim Carrey?

    Audrey Engvalson
    by Audrey Engvalson

    BuzzFeed Staff

    1. Jeremy Renner wanted Marvel to kill off Hawkeye in The Avengers.

    Marvel

    Renner was frustrated with the role Hawkeye played in The Avengers. He was upset that the first real glimpse (not counting the brief cameo he made in Thor) the audience got of Hawkeye was a brainwashed minion. He offered to act out a heart attack so the studio could kill him off at any time. The studio opted not to kill off Hawkeye (despite Renner's best efforts), and he has been able to explore his character further in subsequent Marvel movies. Now, Renner is excited to see what Hawkeye does next.

    2. Jim Carrey only stayed for The Grinch after he went through training to endure torture.

    Universal

    After spending eight and a half hours in makeup on the first day as the Grinch, Jim Carrey felt like he was being buried alive. He said he couldn't do the film, but Brian Grazer had a fix: he asked a man who trains CIA operatives to endure torture to help Carrey. Two days later, Carrey was back in full makeup and ready to take on the role.

    3. Emma Watson almost quit the Harry Potter series.

    Warner Bros.

    Watson's contract was up for renegotiation during The Order of the Phoenix. She was determined to continue her education, something that wasn't plausible with the schedule that Warner Bros. proposed for The Half-Blood Prince. When the idea that she would walk away from Hermione became a reality, the studio shifted the entire shooting schedule around her exam dates so she would be able to continue her education and her role.

    4. Daisy Ridley almost gave up her role after her first day as Rey in The Force Awakens.

    Disney

    Director JJ Abrams told Daisy during her first day filming that her performance "was wooden" in front of the entire crew. She said, "I honestly wanted to die. I thought I was gonna cry. I couldn’t breathe." Embarrassed and hurt, she wanted to quit. Thankfully, she didn't.

    5. Al Pacino nearly left his lead role in The Godfather because the studio executives didn't like him.

    Paramount Pictures

    The studio executives were upset that an unknown was cast in a leading role. It would've gotten to Pacino without director Francis Ford Coppola's reassurance. Pacino said, "If it wasn’t for Francis, I would’ve just not showed up one day and said, ’Hey, look man, I don’t want to be where I’m not wanted.’"

    6. Ian McKellen almost walked away from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey because he was acting alone.

    New Line Cinema

    Because of Gandalf's height, McKellen was mostly filmed in front of a green screen. He felt so isolated that he almost quit. He said, "It was so distressing and off-putting and difficult that I thought 'I don't want to make this film if this is what I'm going to have to do...It's not what I do for a living. I act with other people, I don't act on my own.'"

    7. Jessica Alba almost said goodbye to Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer after she was told to be prettier when she cried.

    Twentieth Century Fox

    Director Tim Story told Alba to "cry prettier". According to Alba, he said "Don't do that thing with your face. Just make it flat. We can CGI the tears in." She was so fed up with being just a pretty face that she almost called it quits to the movie and the industry as a whole.

    8. Brad Pitt didn't want to continue with Interview with a Vampire.

    Geffen Pictures

    Pitt hated filming it. He hated his role, his makeup, his contacts, and the setting. He recalls, "One day, it broke me…I called David Geffen, who was a producer…I said, 'David, I can’t do this anymore. I can’t do it. How much will it take to get me out?' And he goes, very calmly, 'Forty million dollars.'" Needless to say, Pitt finished the movie.

    9. This iconic scene made Tippi Hedren want to leave The Birds.

    Alfred J. Hitchcock Productions

    Mechanical birds were to be used, but on the day of the shoot, Hedren was told the mechanical birds were malfunctioning and that they'd have to use live ones. For four days, handlers hurled live birds at Hedren, and on the fifth day, these birds were tied to her clothing and started gnawing on her. Exhausted and sobbing, Hedren told Alfred Hitchcock that she was done. Her doctor told Hitchcock that she needed a one-week break, and Hedren came back to finish the film afterwards.

    10. Michelle Rodriguez had serious beef with a plot point in The Fast and Furious.

    Universal Pictures

    Rodriguez's character (Letty) was supposed to be involved in a love triangle with Dominic (Vin Diesel) and Brian (Paul Walker), but Rodriguez said, "Is it realistic for a Latin girl who’s with the alpha-est of the alpha males to cheat on him with the cute boy? I had to put my foot down. I basically cried and said, I'm going to quit..." After she got Vin Diesel on her side, the script was changed, and she stayed in her role.

    11. Zoe Saldana was so miserable in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl that she was ready to leave acting for good.

    Disney

    Saldana had a small role in The Curse of the Black Pearl but got fed up with the insignificance she felt as an extra. She told the Hollywood Reporter, "It was very elitist. I almost quit the business. I was 23 years old, and I was like, 'F— this!' I am never putting myself in this situation again."

    12. John Cena's fear of heights almost made him leave 12 Rounds.

    Twentieth Century Fox

    The film required Cena to rappel off of a building. However, Cena reveals on the film's DVD extras that his fear of heights almost prevented him from filming that scene, and he almost quit because of it.

    13. Lily Tomlin was ready to give back her pay and leave her role in 9 to 5.

    IPC Films

    Tomlin was watching the test footage of Violet's fantasy scene without the animated woodland creatures, and she hated her performance. She offered to give back her week's worth of pay and forfeit her role because she was so dissatisfied. She later revisited the scene (this time with the creatures drawn in) and ended up liking it, so she decided to stay.

    14. Russell Crowe nearly quit over the original script for Robin Hood.

    Universal Pictures

    The original script for the movie, called "Nottingham", was more of a whodunnit than what Crowe wanted. Eventually, a new script was written and the film was renamed.

    15. Meatloaf walked straight out of Rocky Horror...but came back.

    Twentieth Century Fox

    Meat Loaf was in the original Broadway version as well as the movie. But, Meat Loaf revealed in an interview with VH1 that he walked off set the first time he saw Tim Curry perform "Sweet Transvestite" in full costume. He walked away so defiantly that he was issued a ticket for jaywalking outside the theater. After being convinced to stick with the production, he was still apprehensive. It was only after he lifted his leg as Dr. Scott and heard the audience's uncontrollable laughter that he decided to stay for good and go on to play Eddie in the movie.

    16. And Mike Myers would've left Wayne's World without "Bohemian Rhapsody".

    Paramount Pictures

    Lorne Michaels suggested that the movie use a Guns n' Roses song for the beginning sequence because Queen had fallen in popularity. However, Mike Myers refused and said that if they didn't use "Bohemian Rhapsody", he'd walk.

    CORRECTION

    Tim Story was the director of Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. A previous version of the article misidentified the director as John August.