20 TV And Movie Scenes That Actors Flat-Out Refused To Film

After the mammoth commercial success of the animal-centered comedy Dr. Doolittle, Eddie Murphy elected to reprise his role as the titular doc in a 2001 sequel. But in that movie, the funnyman would refuse to partake in a segment that director Steve Carr had proposed. And it involved the late Steve Irwin.

Yes, Murphy was slated to appear alongside the charismatic conservationist in a scene in which he’s confronted by, ahem, a live alligator. But the Beverly Hills Cop star was scared stiff at the prospect and declined to partake in the scene. According to WhatCulture.com, Murphy later revealed to the media that he told director Carr, “Hey man, I’m not doing anything with an alligator. I mean, what’s Steve Irwin going to do if the alligator jumps on me — narrate while I’m getting ripped?” So, CGI was used instead. Phew!

The most memorable and awesome sequence in Wayne’s World is when Wayne, Garth, and co. head-bang and sing along to “Bohemian Rhapsody” in the car. End of story! But did you know, reader, that this almost wasn’t the case? Well, it’s true. If it wasn’t for Mike Myers turning down a different idea, this piece of celluloid history wouldn’t have existed!

Yes, the notoriously demanding Myers saved the day, when he refused to use a Guns N’ Roses hit for the car scene. The funnyman insisted that the song had to be the Queen masterpiece, and even threatened to quit the movie if he didn’t get his own way. Fortunately, sense prevailed and Myers’ vision was realized. Sometimes it pays to be a diva!

In his short life, Bruce Lee would become a cinematic legend and bona fide cultural icon. One of the early roles Lee had on his charge to superstardom was in the TV series The Green Hornet. The future Enter The Dragon star portrayed Kato in the superhero show, but there was a particular scene that the headstrong actor outright declined to do.

Lee’s co-star Van Williams — who portrayed the title character — would years later reveal what Lee’d turned down. He told a documentary how the martial arts legend was seriously irked by the idea that Kato would get beaten up by Batman’s sidekick Robin, in a crossover episode. Williams said, “[He] walked off the show [saying,] ‘I’m not going to do that. There’s no way that anyone would believe I go in there and fight Robin and lose.’” To be fair, given Lee’s expertise, he had a point!

Though it was largely ignored upon its initial release, The Shawshank Redemption has come to be regarded by critics and the public alike as one of the greatest movies of all time. But the epic prison drama could’ve had a very different ending, if it wasn’t for one of its main stars. Yes, Morgan Freeman wouldn’t do something that director Frank Darabont asked him to in the film’s closing sequence.

In the film’s moving climax, Darabont originally imagined Freeman’s Red taking out and playing the harmonica that his pal Andy had handed to him in jail. Freeman, though, was having none of it. He later revealed to the Daily News: “Frank thought I should be blowing that harmonica that Andy gave me. And I refused.” Why? Well Freeman believed the idea was “sort of asinine, sort of clichéd, sort of unnecessary, and overkill.”

Jim was one of the most popular characters in the American version of The Office. That was largely down to John Krasinski, who portrayed him with considerable charm. And if it weren’t for the actor’s intervention and refusal to do a planned storyline in season eight, perhaps Jim would’ve been a lot less lovable. You see, there was going to be a plot in which the married Jim smooched a co-worker during a work trip.

But Krasinski wasn’t having any of it. He revealed in the book Welcome to Dunder Mifflin: The Ultimate Oral History of The Office, “That’s the only time I remember putting my foot down. My feeling is there is a threshold with which you can push our audience. But there’s a moment where if you push them too far, they’ll never come back. And I think that if you show Jim cheating, they’ll never come back.” Thankfully, producer Greg Daniels saw sense and dropped the plotline entirely.

When it comes to being a difficult so-and-so, Wesley Snipes is legendary. Marlon Brando would be ahead of him, but not many others. Anyway, Snipes took things to a new level during the filming of Blade: Trinity. Co-star Patton Oswalt revealed to the A.V. Club website years later just how awkward Snipes had been. Oswalt said, “He wouldn’t come out of his trailer… he only [came on set] for close-ups. Everything else was done by his stand-in. I only did one scene with him.”

Oswalt then divulged how Snipes fell out with director David Goyer, and urged him to bail out. When the director suggested Snipes walk instead, the actor threw his toys out the pram and proceeded to express himself solely via post-it notes, which he ended with the words “From Blade.” Thankfully, the filmmaker had all the required close-ups done. Oswalt also joked about the movie’s difficult shoot on The Pete Holmes Show, quipping, “The fact that that movie exists puts it above Citizen Kane.” Erm, probably not.

Remember Into The Blue? Well, if you do, it’s probably more to do with the scantily clad leads Jessica Alba and Paul Walker than the actual plot. Still, the 2005 flop could’ve been quite different. Alba revealed on Hot Ones — a series in which celebs eat chicken covered in hot sauce and answer questions — that she turned down filming a sequence in which she would’ve swum alongside an actual shark!

Alba told Hot Ones host Sean Evans, “For some reason, they caught a wild tiger shark... and they were like, ‘It’s in this cage, so it’s docile!’ And I’m like, ‘It’s a tiger shark!’” Yeah, a 7-foot one, too, as it turns out. Anyway, the Honey actress stood firm under pressure from the director, who claimed she was using up precious filming time by refusing. Alba replied that if it was that important to him, then he perhaps he ought to get in the water himself. Good comeback!

Letty Ortiz is the chief badass in Fast and Furious. And the actress who plays her proved her own tough girl credentials by rejecting — and nearly walking out because of — a storyline the first film. The scene in question would see Rodriguez’s Ortiz be unfaithful to her partner, the Vin Diesel-portrayed Dominic.

Rodriguez revealed all about the ditched plot to The Daily Beast. “[The writers] just followed the format without thinking about the reality of it,” she said. “Is it realistic for a Latin girl who’s with the alphaest of the alpha males to cheat on him with the cute boy? I had to put my foot down.” Rodriguez added that she cried and protested that she couldn’t be a cheat in front of millions of moviegoers — and, like in the film, co-star Diesel had her back. Cool.

Air Force One was up there with the best of the numerous over-the-top thrillers released in the 1990s. Terrorists on the President’s plane? Check. Lots of running, shooting, sweating, and shouty phone calls? Check! But, intriguingly, there’s one scene that was cut from the movie — and that was all down to Glenn Close. She portrayed Vice President Kathryn Bennett, you’ll likely remember.

In November 2020 Close told Vanity Fair how she flat-out refused to cry for a scripted sequence. Close was adamant it would make her VP appear inept and unable to serve adequately. “They had a scene around that table where [Bennett] broke down crying,” the actress recalled. “And I said, ‘I will not do that. I don’t think that would happen. Not my vice president. My vice president would not break down into tears. She would step up to the challenge.’ So they changed it.” Nice one, Glenn.

Way before he was big in America as the host of The Late Late Show, James Corden was a young actor trying to make it on British television. One role he had was as a janitor called Wayne in the teen soap opera Hollyoaks. But Corden was left fuming by what was depicted on a wall in one of his scenes — and refused to film until it was removed. So, what was it he was so irate about?

Well, in his character’s home there were big photos of junk food. “I thought that they were just really being nasty about anyone that’s overweight,” Corden later recalled to The New Yorker. “I remember saying to the guy, ‘I don’t know one person who would take a picture of a hot dog and a burger and stick them on the wall.’” So, the funnyman — who’s also argued publicly with Bill Maher — refused to film unless they were taken down. Bravo!

Justice League brought together superheroes from across the DC universe into one film. But it received poor reviews from critics, including derision for its many blue jokes and over-sexualization of Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman. But did you know that Gadot refused to take part in one scene in the movie?

Yes, Gadot didn’t like the sequence in which Ezra Miller’s The Flash unwittingly ends up on top of her Wonder Woman. She declined to appear in it, but writer Joss Whedon then opted to use her stunt double for the shots, ensuring that the character’s head was turned away from the screen. Gadot has also since alleged that Whedon claimed he’d harm her future prospects in the industry in response to her actions.

Back in 2013 Harry Potter star Emma Watson made the leap into more adult fare with a cameo in the Seth Rogen-penned comedy This Is The End. But the English actress would swiftly leave the set over a particular sequence in the movie, which had Channing Tatum, ahem, going Magic Mike on her.

An extra first leaked the story of Watson’s dash off set, alleging, “Channing decided to do some of his breakdancing in front of her, but alas he was in nothing but a thong... Emma storms off set... So we wrapped the night five minutes later.” Watson herself hasn’t ever brought up what supposedly happened. And when the film came out she said she couldn’t have passed up the opportunity to “work with the best comedians there are.” So whatever went down, it seems it was all water under the bridge by then.

Zendaya’s gone from Disney Channel staple to Hollywood A-Lister in just a few years. She got her big break on the network’s Shake It Up, in which she portrayed Rocky Blue, opposite future wild child Bella Thorne. But even though she was a very young actress, Zendaya had the presence of mind and confidence to decline to partake in a kissing scene.

In an interview with British Vogue, Zendaya revealed why she refused to do the kiss on the lips. And her explanation was suitably wholesome. She said, “I remember being on Shake It Up and being like, ‘I’m not gonna do this. I’m going to kiss him on the cheek because I haven’t been kissed yet, so I don’t want the kiss to be on camera.’” Aww!

Friends’ Chandler Bing was renowned for his biting sarcasm that often served to veil his underlying insecurities. But it seems that those insecurities didn’t extend to the man who played him, Matthew Perry. That’s because the actor balked at a weird and somewhat embarrassing storyline that was proposed, and effectively refused to go ahead with it.

So, what was the storyline that Perry objected to, you ask? Well, the actor revealed all when he was on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen back in 2017. In a nutshell, the proposed script saw Chandler frequenting a male strip joint, as — wait for it — he liked the sandwiches there. Erm, OK! Anyway, Perry said he phoned the production staff up and advised, “Let’s not do this one.” Good call, Matt.

Marshall and Lily are probably the most dependable couple in How I Met Your Mother. But despite their undeniable on-screen alchemy, problems did arise between the actors who portrayed them. Indeed, Alyson Hannigan (Lily) in the show flatly declined to do certain sequences with Jason Segel, who played Marshall, unless a certain condition was met.

Before she’d do any smooching or cuddling with Segel, Hannigan required him to reach for the soap, toothpaste, and Listerine to banish any lingering trace of his smoking habit. Unless that condition was met, Hannigan would reportedly refuse to engage in any such scenes. Thankfully, though, Segel was eventually able to kick his vice.

Kirk Cameron made his name as Mike Seaver on the popular TV show Growing Pains, which aired from 1985 until 1992. The actor’s also starred in his fair share of movies, too. And it was during filming for firefighter flick Fireproof that Cameron would refuse to do something the filmmakers wanted him to. Yes, the devout Christian wasn’t happy with a scene in which he’d have to kiss his co-star, or the supposedly religious film’s focus on divorce.

Still, Cameron and the producers came up with an ingenious idea to overcome his refusal to kiss his co-star: why not smooch with his real-life wife Chelsea Noble instead? So, by incorporating close-ups, tight angles, and turning the lights down low, the producers were able to get the intimacy they wanted. And Cameron was able to uphold his values and kiss his missus. He told the Today show, “When I’m kissing my wife, we’re actually husband and wife honoring marriage behind the scenes.” Sweet!

Your Highness was a flop with both audiences and critics. So it’s perhaps fitting that one of its main stars, Natalie Portman, refused to flop into a lake in a particular scene. Yes, Portman was supposed to take off most of her clothes and dive into the water. She wasn’t having any of it, though.

It wasn’t actually the stripping down that Portman objected to. After all, she’d done that in movies before, most famously in Closer. No, what really put her off doing the scene was that the water was cold. Like, very cold. So, Portman pulled rank, and got the director to make her body double to do it. Fair enough!

The Pleasure Garden was legendary director Alfred Hitchcock’s first movie behind the camera. It came out close to a century ago in 1925, during the silent era of film. And there’s an intriguing story about one of the actresses refusing to do a scene. Elizabeth Pappritz was her name, and she appeared uncredited as a mistress who’s led out to the ocean by her man.

Well, Pappritz wasn’t at all keen to go out to sea. Hitchcock later revealed, “She told me she’d got so bad a chill she couldn’t go into the water. We couldn’t wait for her to get well again… so I got the waitress at the hotel. I convinced her [and] told her all she had to do was wade out to sea.” The actual movie scene, then, features a waitress and not Pappritz.

Portraying Jesus in a movie means you have the chance to perform miracles. But there was one reported miracle that Joaquin Phoenix flat-out declined to do, while filming Mary Magdalene. That being the one in John’s Gospel in which a blind man’s given sight by Jesus rubbing mud into his eyes. In the film it was going to be a woman, but Phoenix still said no.

Phoenix explained to CNN why, stating that “it didn’t make any sense” and was “a horrible introduction to seeing.” So, the actor instead got the scene altered to him licking his thumb and placing it over her eyes. The Oscar-winning actor added, “It freed me up, in some ways, to discover what is truthful in the moment. That moment is not so much about a real miracle. It’s about someone who has been dismissed by society, finally being seen, embraced, and encouraged to join the broader community.” Whatever you say, Joaquin.

Anna Kendrick’s renowned for being a feisty one. She lights up Twitter with her matter-of-fact pronouncements, and on the set of Pitch Perfect 3 she showed some more of that sass. Yes, Kendrick refused to accept a plotline that she felt was out of order. But what exactly did it entail?

As she told Harper’s Bazaar, the sequence in question involved her character Beca kissing Theo, the record exec. Kendrick let it be known to the director that she believed such a relationship was clearly “problematic” given their professional ties. But she had to fight hard to get it cut out completely. “They still wanted to have a version at the end when we kissed,” Kendrick recalled. “And I still said no.” You go, girl.