12 Actors Who Refused to Follow What Producers Wanted and Did Things Their Way

Actors are the ones who give life to the characters conceived by the scriptwriters. And while these celebrities usually follow the lead of the director and the production team, some of them are not afraid of voicing their ideas or suggesting changes in the script. The actors on this list stood their ground on some decisions involving their characters, and the results turned out way better.

1. Kirsten Dunst — Spider-Man 2

During the film production, the producer approached the actress Kirsten Dunst and advised her to replace her teeth as they did not match the director’s vision of a flawless smile. However, Dunst remained true to her instincts and refused to conform to societal beauty standards. Her close friends supported her decision, and she ultimately stuck with her natural smile.

2. Keanu Reeves — John Wick

The original concept for John Wick’s character was that of a 75-year-old man, and initially, the director considered actors like Clint Eastwood and Harrison Ford as potential candidates for the role. However, upon meeting Keanu Reeves, he was convinced that Reeves would be perfect for the part. Reeves even went on to contribute to the script and helped transform the character into a middle-aged version of John Wick.

3. Samuel L. Jackson — Snakes on a Plane

This ironic action movie from 2006 was going to lose Samuel L. Jackson if his little whims weren’t fulfilled. The actor confessed that he agreed to star in the movie only because he found its name funny and intriguing. But then the studio decided to rename the film to Pacific Air 121, as not to reveal the details of the story, and Jackson gave them an ultimatum: either the creators keep the original name, or he leaves the project.

4. Jenna Ortega — Wednesday

Jenna was so good in the role of Wednesday Addams that she made some dialogue changes. When the Nevermore students were preparing for the ball, Thing got Wednesday a gorgeous black dress as a surprise.

When Wednesday saw the dress, she was supposed to say something like, “Oh, my God, I’m freaking out over a dress, I literally hate myself.” But the actress insisted that the phrase would sound too uncharacteristic for her character.

5. Henry Cavill — The Witcher

In the second season, Geralt learns that his beloved, whom he thought was dead, is still alive. Lead actor Henry Cavill said in an interview that he and Anya Chalotra, who played Yennefer, convinced the producers to revisit their characters’ reunion scene, focusing only on emotions. So the actors just kissed, and the original plan to have a more intimate scene was not pursued.

6. Gene Hackman — Superman

In 1978, director Richard Donner chose Hackman to portray the infamous villain Lex Luthor in Superman. Despite decades of depicting the character as a bald antagonist in the comics, Hackman refused to shave his head or wear a bald cap.

To work around this continuity issue, the director had Gene Hackman do his hair to make it look like he was wearing a wig. The only time we see Lex Luthor bald is at the movie’s end when he’s being taken to jail.

7. Carrie Fisher — Star Wars

Carrie Fisher, who played Princess Leia in the first Star Wars movie, wrote about her experience in her 2016 memoir, The Princess Diarist. Although she was already thin, the movie’s producers told her to lose 10 pounds and sent her to a “fat farm” to lose weight.

She was scared she would be fired if she didn’t lose the weight, but she showed up on set at the same weight she was when they hired her. The movie was a huge success, and Fisher became famous as Leia.

8. Alan Rickman — Harry Potter

In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Severus Snape stops Draco and finishes Dumbledore himself. The actor was supposed to say, “I gave my word. I made a vow.” Severus gave Draco’s mom a vow, promising he would watch after her son.

But Rickman didn’t want to say this line because he thought it only made things more confusing. Instead, Snape was silent and then said, “Avada Kedavra.”

9. Morgan Freeman — The Shawshank Redemption

Film director Frank Darabont’s idea was that Red had to blow the harmonica his friend Andy had given to him in the final scene. However, Morgan Freeman was not impressed with this. The actor believed this move was inappropriate and stupid, a sort of cliché, so he refused to act out the scene.

10. Reese Witherspoon — Four Christmases

A comedy starring Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn seemed like a great idea at first. However, despite the fact that the movie was commercially successful, many people noticed that there was no chemistry between the characters. The thing is, the actors have very different personalities, and they couldn’t find common ground on set.

According to rumors, Witherspoon even refused to act in an intimate scene with Vaughn. The filmmakers had no choice but to take her wishes into account, and eventually this scene was removed from the script.

11. Imelda Staunton — Harry Potter

Imelda Staunton, who played Dolores Umbridge, wanted to wear padding. Her idea was to look softer and rounder, and she wasn’t supposed to have any hard edges. Umbridge needed to look soft and warm, even though she was cruel, hungry for power, and crazy about control.

The costume designers for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix agreed and added the padding to Staunton’s clothes. And she started walking more like a duck, which the actress loved.

12. Dwayne Johnson — Shazam! and Black Adam

Dwayne Johnson played a crucial role in changing the direction of the movie Shazam. The producers initially wanted to combine the origin stories of Both Shazam and Black Adam in one film. But through a phone call, Johnson was able to convince them to do separate movies to honor each character’s back story.

His influence also extended to the development of the Black Adam movie. As a result, the DCEU is looking to build a cohesive universe with interconnected stories and characters.

He also refused to take advice from Hollywood executives to change his bulky physique and drop his famous nickname if he wanted to be successful in movies. He insisted on being true to himself and refused to conform to Hollywood’s beauty standards.

“They said, ‘Okay, great. But now here’s what you have to do: You have to stop working out as much. You have to lose weight. You can’t call yourself ‘The Rock.’ You can’t talk about wrestling. That was it. When that happened, I made a choice, and the choice was I wasn’t gonna conform to Hollywood. Hollywood was gonna conform to me.”