11 Times Actors Didn’t Just Act— They Expressed Real Emotions

7. Liv Tyler, The Ledge:

The Ledge isn’t in Liv Tyler’s list of top films, but this movie was one of the most challenging and difficult for the actress. According to the plot, Shana, the main character, is locked in a hotel room and tied up by her fanatic husband.

The creators had only one chance to film this episode because they didn’t have enough time. Liv had to endure torture: neither cutting pain nor suffocation because of a gag stopped the actress, and she managed to finish the filming.

8. Michael J. Fox, Back to the Future, Part III:

During the filming of the 3rd part of the story about Marty McFly and Doctor Emmett Brown, an unpleasant incident happened: Michael was to act in a scene where his movie enemy, Buford Tannen, wanted to hang him.

Everything was fine during rehearsals, and Fox held a rope with his fingers and was safe. But when the filming began, the rope tightened around the actor’s neck too much, and Michael was really hanged for some seconds. Fortunately, he was rescued, and Marty McFly managed to return from the Wild West to Hill Valley of 1985.

9. Jackie Chan, Rumble in the Bronx:

Jackie Chan is famous for performing tricks without stuntmen, and it’s impossible to count all the injuries he got during his long career. But sometimes it isn’t easy to do everything perfectly, even for the master of martial arts. One such situation happened during the Rumble in the Bronx filming when the actor jumped off a bridge onto a vessel.

Jackie broke his ankle, got an open fracture of the fingers, and injured his leg and thigh. Despite these severe injuries, he continued to act and hid his cast under a sock painted like a sneaker. In the clip below, you can see the injury at around the 30 Second Mark!

10. Viggo Mortensen, The Lord of the Rings:

That dramatic moment in the 2nd film of The Lord of the Rings when Gimli, Legolas, and Aragorn concluded that hobbits Merry and Pippin were murdered wouldn’t have been so emotionally powerful if not for Viggo Mortensen (who played Aragorn).

He demonstrated the bitterness of loss and hit an orc’s heavy helmet, breaking 2 fingers. As a result, we can see his real cry of unbearable pain.

11. Gerard Butler, Chasing Mavericks:

A professional surfer’s role in a movie based on real events almost cost an actor’s life. To make the film realistic, he refused the help of stuntmen in most cases and conquered giant waves himself.

But once the situation ran out of control: the powerful water flow knocked Butler and dragged him into the depths. He appeared on the water’s surface and disappeared several times. The actor had been beneath the water for some minutes before he was rescued.

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