Hollywood is in the business of making the unbelievable believable. It’s the hub of industrialized fantasy, stoking imagination for the masses and giving fiction a foundation in which audiences can lose themselves. In other words, it’s expensive make-believe.
When audiences take their seats at a movie theater, well aware that what they’re about to see isn’t actually real, they take pleasure in immersing themselves— even if only for a couple of hours— into whatever happens to be taking place on screen. In the same way The Rocky Horror Picture Show told audiences to give themselves over to absolute pleasure, filmmakers are telling audiences to do the same - though sometimes it’s absolute hysteria or terror!
In some cases, however, that suspension of disbelief gets—f or lack of a better word— suspended. Sometimes, no matter how tight security might be, behind-the-scenes photos are leaked from set, stripping away the fantasy from a movie and revealing the oftentimes dull reality. It’s a shame when this happens, but inevitable all the same.
If you dare test the strength of you deep-seated love of film, keep reading to check out 16 Behind-The-Scenes Photos That Ruin Movies Once You’ve Seen Them.
Wolverine does Gangnam Style
Whether he’s playing a colorfully emotive stage performer or a grisly, adamantium-filled mutant, Hugh Jackman is a kind of performance magician. One moment, you wholeheartedly believe that he’s a born showman as P.T. Barnum in The Greatest Showman, but when you see him fighting monsters in Van Helsing or stabbing people in the head as Wolverine, the full-fledged immersion works just as well. No matter the role, he’s always 100 percent convincing.joe
Still, though, that doesn’t mean that immersive quality is bulletproof. For example, if a photo was released of Jackman in costume as Wolverine doing the “Gangnam Style” dance with PSY himself, you might find it difficult believing that Jackman actually is Wolverine the next time you watch him in a Wolverine-starring movie. Which is disappointing, to say the least.
Bellatrix and Harry get cozy
Bellatrix Lestrange isn’t just some paint-by-numbers villain. She’s vicious. A casual murderer who didn’t just send some poor kid’s parents to the loony bin, but laughed in his face about it, Lestrange is despicable— by wizarding or Muggle standards.
When Helena Bonham Carter, the actress who plays her, is caught kissing Daniel Radcliffe (who plays Harry Potter) on the cheek while they’re both in costume, her evil meter takes some significant dips.
Is Bellatrix the sort of character who would gladly mess with someone’s head and kiss them before killing them? Sure.
But the sheer glee in this photo is enough to strip Bellatrix of whatever nastiness Carter might have tried injecting into her.
Sorry, but the fantasy’s been foiled.
Avengers Dissemble
Joss Whedon ought to be proud of himself for the way he handled The Avengers. It was a daunting, epic adaptation, but his love of the source material paired with his proven skills in handling packed casts made him victorious. With a balanced combination of wit, action, and suspense, Whedon proved that Marvel’s ragtag team of superheroes were not to be taken lightly.
Now, had he not been caught in a behind-the-scenes photo posing like the nerd he is alongside the undeniably cooler cast, he might have had a shot at establishing himself as an equal among the Avengers. But no, his true self took hold of him and shone through, proving once and for all that heroes and geeks are hardly one and the same.
Sorry, Joss.
Bikers of the Caribbean
Even though the Pirates of the Caribbean movies got sillier and sillier as the series went on, they succeeded in making the time-specific atmosphere feel potent and real. Between the filming locations, costuming, and production design, it all felt genuinely grounded in the mid-1700s - regardless of the fact that its screenwriters specifically noted that the series is based in a “floating thirty-year environment.”
When Orlando Bloom (who plays Will Turner) is caught on camera cycling around set on his bike in costume that sense of reality starts to disappear. He may look as though he’s having the time of his life on that bike, but something about engine-powered automobiles tends to take away from what is meant to be an 18th century time period.
Selfie with Pennywise
Pennywise the Dancing Clown from Stephen King’s It is no stranger to laughter. Sure, he eats children, but his whole facade is predicated on the idea that he’s a cartoonish circus character. Laughter— even evil, creepy laughter— comes with the package.
Still, when you see someone like Pennywise just casually hanging around on set with a crew member, the suspense of disbelief goes out the window. He’s no longer It, a diabolical, interdimensional demon who seasons people with fear as though it were salt and pepper; he’s just Bill Skarsgård working a gig.
Do you think Pennywise has a lot of followers on Instagram? He seems to know how to work his angles in this picture. Or maybe he’s more of a Twitter guy.
Marie Antoinette jamming to iTunes
Sofia Coppola’s interpretation of Marie Antoinette was never intended to 100 percent historically inaccurate. She was simply trying to tell a story about a young woman dealing with adolescence and young adulthood while being pushed into royalty and power. Still, despite the modern touches, it was still very much a period piece.
When a photo surfaces of stars Kirsten Dunst and Jason Schwartzman listening to some tunes on a MacBook Pro while in full period dress, it’s jarring, to say the least.
The contrast between 18th century outfits and a portable computer designed by Steve Jobs is undeniably sharp, so any attempt at keeping this movie time period-specific goes out the window. Though the pop soundtrack certainly didn’t help either.
Annabelle says hi
If you already have an innate fear of dolls - probably on account of watching Child’s Play as a kid, despite your parents’ best efforts to stop you - then the Annabelle movies likely weren’t your cup of tea.
Based on the supposedly true story about a possessed doll that brought death upon anyone who touched it, the film interpretation takes that evil a few steps further. Unfortunately, though, all of that fear goes out the window once you catch a glimpse of Annabelle: Creation star Lulu Wilson in a casual photo with the titular doll, not acting the least bit scared.
Now, for those of you with the aforementioned innate fear of dolls, this probably comes as a relief, but for everyone else trying to actually get a few scares out of this flick, condolences all around.
Hungry, Hungry Hannibal Lecter
The late Jonathan Demme did a hell of a job creating the perfect balance of suspense, drama, and gore in his adaptation of The Silence of the Lambs. Along with his stars Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins, he managed to wrangle wins in the rare and coveted “Big Five” category at the 1992 Academy Awards (Adapted Screenplay, Director, Lead Actor, Lead Actress, and Best Picture). It’s been 27 years since the film’s release, and Lambs still looms large in cinematic history.
Unfortunately, when you catch a glimpse of Demme feeding what appears to be a french fry to Hopkins through Hannibal Lecter’s infamous mask, the fear fizzles out a bit. It may not be enough to completely ruin the movie’s reputation, but the idea that Lecter enjoys dining on human flesh doesn’t feel quite as potent when he’s snacking on fast food.
The Hobbits tower over Gandalf
There are plenty things about the Lord of the Rings franchise that are unnatural. Between sentient trees, rings of power, goblins, orcs, and magical wizards, J. R. R. Tolkien’s world is unashamedly fantastical. With that being said, there’s nothing quite as unnatural as seeing Ian McKellen standing beside Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan… and appearing shorter than them.
In the Lord of the Rings trilogy, McKellen is Gandalf, a tall, towering wizard. Boyd and Monaghan, on the other hand, are tiny Hobbits standing at roughly four-feet tall.
Seeing them as their actual, off-screen selves is slightly disconcerting. It doesn’t seem right.
Yeah, Sauron, the Lord of Barad-dûr, wanted nothing more than to “cover all the lands in a second darkness,” but seeing these three side-by-side is somehow more unsettling.
Emo-morph
The Xenomorph in Ridley Scott’s Alien is a nearly unstoppable killing machine. Lurking in the shadows and stalking its helpless prey, this creature is terrifying. Anyone who says otherwise, just automatically call their bluff by default. Those are the rules.
While this creature is undeniably creepy in the claustrophobic setting that is the USCSS Nostromo, catching it off-set behind the scenes slouched over on a dirtied apple box isn’t the same. Its overall vibe doesn’t quite tick off the same scariness boxes as it did before.
Now, it’s just some dude in a costume.
The lights are brighter than they are on camera, stripping away any shred of intimidation, and the wires running up the back of its suit don’t just immobilize it, but make it seem that much more pathetic and artificial.
BatPlane for ants
When Batman introduces his Batplane in Tim Burton’s gothic interpretation of the Caped Crusader, it’s an epic moment. Audiences have seen his gadgets, they’ve become familiar with moody attitude, and in the final face-off against the Joker, they get to see him take to the air as bats are wont to do.
Even by today’s standards, the flight of the Batplane is an impressive moment, but especially in 1989, this was an epic sight to behold.
Had audiences known that the plane was, in reality, small enough to hold in just one of their hands, that sense of wonder might have slipped down a few notches. Once you realize that it’s just slightly larger than a piece of paper, the wonder doesn’t feel quite as mighty anymore, does it?
Snacks Labyrinth
Doug Jones has starred in six movies directed by Guillermo del Toro, though you’d never be able to tell by looking at him. That’s because— between his role as Abe Sapien in the two Hellboy movies and his most recent performance as Amphibian Man in The Shape of Water— del Toro always has Jones caked under layers of latex, makeup, and elaborately-designed prosthetics. In doing so, the duo has brought to life some of del Toro’s most inspired creations.
Sadly, though, all of that magic takes a backseat to this behind-the-scenes photo from Pan’s Labyrinth, where Jones (who plays the Faun) was caught munching down some grub between takes. Seeing as the costume isn’t something Jones could simply just step in and out of, he ate in full prosthetics— much to the dismay of anyone who considered Pan’s Labyrinth to be a fully-immersive experience.
Tiger Plush in Life of Pi
The visual effects in Ang Lee’s adaptation of Life of Pi earned every ounce of gold poured into the Oscar statuettes given to its lead VFX team. Despite shooting its most turbulent scenes in a sound stage, the sense of reality is potent. From the way the light splashes against the ocean to the tiger bunking up with the titular Pi, it’s difficult to find the line between what’s real and what’s a digital creation.
Now, speaking of that tiger…
Seeing as Suraj Sharma couldn’t safely act opposite a living, breathing tiger, movie magic stepped in to not only protect him, but to help the audience suspend their disbelief.
Once you see the blue plush doll used as a digital marker for the tiger, the magic jumps ship.
It’s incredibly impressive what these artists managed to pull off on this movie, but having an emotional moment with a tiger vs. having an emotional moment with a faceless doll doesn’t have the same effect.
Darth Casual
Even though Darth Maul was shamefully underused in The Phantom Menace, he’s still very much a fan favorite in the Star Wars fandom. Between his double-bladed lightsaber, his quiet, hunter-like temperament, and those jagged Sith skin tats, it’s no wonder fans took to him so passionately.
That said, if you want to maintain the wonder offered by this short-lived character (ignoring The Clone Wars), try your best to not look at this behind-the-scenes photo/
This glimpse of Ray Park looking down the lens of a camera in a white t-shirt is enough to strip away any sense of magic and mystery he offered in the brief moments he had on screen. In this photo, he looks like a hipster on Halloween— vaguely artistic, slightly grungy, but willing to let some starving artist practice their face-painting skills on him.
Mike Myers quenches his thirst
Michael Myer is a cold-blooded killer in a pale mask who spends his Halloweens stalking babysitters. Most people tend to prefer candy and bobbing for apples, but to each their own.
In John Carpenter’s Halloween, he spends the bulk of the movie prowling and puncturing, then spends the finale trying his best to do away with his sister Laurie. This climax is loaded with classic moments - walking towards Laurie as she fumbles with her keys, attacking her through the closet door, disappearing without a trace after presumably falling to his death from the second floor - but all of the tension and suspense in these scenes are more or less brushed away with this behind-the-scenes photo.
Nick Castle (one of three actors who played The Shape) is feeding a Dr. Pepper to his mask.
Suddenly, there’s a noticeable deflation of suspense in the air…
Do the Raptor
The raptors in Jurassic World were divisive, to say the least. On one hand, the filmmakers deserve some credit for trying something new, but on the other hand, some folks just couldn’t wrap their head around the idea that these beasts could actually be tamed. Judging by the Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom trailer, this angle doesn’t seem to be going away any time soon.
Still, the scene where Owen is attempting to keep them at bay is simply fun (and borderline believable, considering how ready they are to attack him).
Once you see how painfully lame the raptors look pre-CGI, you may never be able to watch this scene the same way.
All the intimidation goes out the window once you realize that the raptors on screen are actually just some dudes in grey spandex suits wearing sneakers and raptor helmets.
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Which of these behind-the-scenes photos took you out of a movie most of all? Let us know in the comments!
