What you see on camera is only about 20% of the work that goes into making a film. Sometimes, where the real magic happens isn’t in from of the camera but rather behind-the-scenes .
Below is a collection of 15 incredibly wholesome behind-the-scenes facts that are guaranteed to not only heighten your viewing experience — but will stay with you forever .
The dog in *Pearl Harbor* belongs to Michael Bay.
The name of this beautiful shoe-chewing beast is Mason. At the time that the movie was made, he had just turned 5-years-old.
In the beginning, Mason was resistant. But once he started getting rewarded with treats — he quickly changed his attitude.
Kristen Bell was cast in *Zootopia* due to her love of sloths.
“In Zootopia (2016), Kirsten Bell has a cameo as a sloth. Sloths are her favorite animal. Because of this, Disney offered her the small role. Her character has two words.” – Reddit u/Tokyono
Both of James Gunn’s parents make a cameo in *Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2*.
Do you see the elderly couple taking photographs? Those are James’ real-life mother and father. As a joke, James credits his father as “Weird Old Man” and his mother as “Weird Old Man’s Mistress.”
Stan Lee really loved his wife with his whole heart.
During this scene in Mallrats , Stan Lee tells a story about the girl who got away. He made a special request to director Kevin Smith to also include a scene where he says that he was “just joking” — so as not to offend his real-life wife.
The elderly vampire in *What We Do In The Shadows* really was living in a returement home.
“In What We Do in The Shadows (2014), the retirement home where Viago finds Katherine is a real retirement home. Katherine was also played by one of the residents, Ethel Robinson. She was “thrilled” to be in the movie. Jermaine Clement even put fangs in her dentures.” – Reddit u/Tokyono
Christian Slater stole a Star Fleet uniform from the set of *Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country*.
Christian was able to land the role because his mother was the casting director. He grew up a Trekkie and was so excited to be a part of the film that he framed his paycheck and never crashed it.
Those are real couples in the intro to *Love Actually*.
Director Richard Curtis took a team of people with hidden cameras to the airport in order to capture the genuine reactions of people greeting their loved ones as they got off the plane.
That’s Jeremy Renner’s actual baby in *American Hustle*.
When the scene calls for you to kiss a baby, why not make it your own? That’s Jeremy’s daughter Eva, who at the time filming was taking place was just 1-month-old
Truman Capote has a cameo scene in *Annie Hall*.
Ironically enough, the real-life Truman Capote is cast as the winner of the Truman Capote look-alike contest in the film. It’s one of the sillier, more tongue-in-cheek cameos you’re ever likely to see.
Paris Hilton had some help from the crew during one particular scene in *House Of Wax*.
The story goes that Paris was feeling a little self-conscious about having to scream on camera. Before her first take, she asked the crew to join in with her — to which they happily obliged.
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Paul Rudd is always repping KC wherever he goes in *Clueless*.
If you’re a Kansas City sports fan then you know that Paul Rudd is about as diehard as they come. He specifically asked the prop designer if it would be alright for him to wear the hat in order to honor his school colors.
There’s a reason why Po’s father runs a noodle shop in *Kung Fu Panda*.
“In Kung Fu Panda (2008), Po’s father owns a noodle shop. This is actually a reference to his voice actor, James Hong. Hong’s father owned a noodle shop and Hong would often work there. When the filmmakers learned about this, they integrated it into his character.” – Reddit u/Numerous-Lemon
It was a real challenege to get Mary Gibbs to say her lines in *Monsters Inc.*.
This is mainly because, at the time of filming, Mary was only 2.5-years-old. The director had to quite literally chase her around with a microphone in order to capture all of her audio.
J.R.R. Tolkien’s great-grandson makes a cameo appearance in *Lord Of The Rings The Return Of The King*.
It shouldn’t warrant an explanation but J.R.R. Tolkein is of course the brilliant author who created the Lord of the Rings franchise. His great-grandson has a small part in the final film and is even seen wearing Viggo Mortensen’s wig.
The character Maui in *Moana* was modelled after Dwayne Johnson’s grandfather.
Dwayne’s grandfather was also a former professional wrestler who went by the name Peter Maivia. ‘The Rock’ confirmed to Teen Vogue that his grandfather was also a Samoan High Chief.
h/t: Reddit
