Hollywood was once the ultimate goal for many working in the film industry. But between strikes, scandals, and sinister secrets being revealed, Tinseltown seems to be losing some of its sparkle. People are beginning to realize that not all that glitters is gold. Many revelations have come out over the past few years.
Those who were once silent are speaking up. During #MeToo, we heard how some actresses were harassed after being asked to meet with producers, directors, or agents in hotel rooms. We've been made aware of discrimination, the lack of inclusivity, and other unsavory aspects of set life.
Redditor u/ramjikatidda recently asked Hollywood workers to reveal the worst things they’ve seen on the job. And people didn’t hold back. From serious allegations of criminal activity, to what happens behind the scenes at parties, there were enough comments to compile a bestseller book. We've put together the wildest ones, to give you a glimpse of just how shady Hollywood can be. And don't miss the chat Bored Panda had with director and producer duo Matthew Salleh and Rose Tucker, who run Urtext Films. They shared some secrets about what it's like to work in the film industry.
#1
There was this time around 2005 when a B-level TV celebrity was caught on an open hot mic, talking about how he would go about sexually attacking women. Groping them and kissing them without their consent. He explained that you can get away with that when you're famous. The f****d up part was he didn't lose his job. In fact he became even more popular. His acting still sucks, but half the audience believes it to be authentic to the character. Oh and then a lot of his fans began believing in conspiracy theories that Hollywood elite are preying on children yet still supported this sexual predator even after hearing about his crimes in his own voice. Unfortunately children and women are exploited and abused around the world, but for some reason, this demographic believes that Hollywood is some hotbed of deviants, when statistically speaking there is more abuse in many other industries than show business. So yeah, that's the most f****d up thing I've seen in my 25 years in the business.
Image credits: scorchedhalo
When comedian Ricky Gervais took to the stage to host the 2020 Golden Globe awards, the audience wasn’t quite prepared for what would come out of his mouth. Gervais didn’t hold back as he held Hollywood over the coals during an epic roasting session. “You’ll be pleased to know this is the last time I’m hosting these awards, so I don’t care anymore. I’m joking. I never did,” began Gervais. “NBC clearly don’t care either—fifth time. I mean, Kevin Hart was fired from the Oscars for some offensive tweets—hello?”
Gervais took a jab at actors, producers, industry racism, and Leonardo DiCaprio’s penchant for much younger women. Nothing was off-limits as the Brit shamelessly shone a spotlight on the elephants in the room. “If ISIS started a streaming service you’d call your agent, wouldn’t you?” he said to the audience.
“Tonight isn’t just about the people in front of the camera. In this room are some of the most important TV and film executives in the world. People from every background,” said Gervais. “They all have one thing in common: They’re all terrified of Ronan Farrow. He’s coming for ya.”
The comedian was referring to Woody Allen and Mia Farrow’s son, Satchel Ronan Farrow. He’s the investigative journalist who helped expose producer Harvey Weinstein. Farrow’s reporting earned him a Pulitzer Prize for public service and propelled the #MeToo movement.
Matthew Salleh and Rose Tucker run the Brooklyn-based film production company Urtext Films. They specialize in documentaries and have traveled the world chasing interesting stories. Their latest film Slice of Life: The American Dream. In Former Pizza Huts has just premiered in Sydney, Australia. More on that later. First, we wanted to know their thoughts on Hollywood. And it turns out they have mixed reactions when it comes to Tinseltown...
#2
I lived in LA in the 90s I worked on the fringes of the industry, but my company printed a lot of movie posters, so I saw a lot of folks when delivering proofs and such at different lots and offices.
But, where I ran into stuff was from when I had a second part-time job at Banana Republic, and the majority of the kids who worked there were all struggling actors, writers, etc. There were a lot of TV shows that were outfitted by BR, and people's party lives crossed over. The amount of times I would be at house parties in which there was a mountain of c***ine on a coffee table was mind-boggling to me, and it was usually "a gift" that was given to one of those kids from someone in the industry (according to them).
Side note: I once helped Alan Rickman with finding some pants, and he was incredibly nice. I rang him up, wrapped and bagged his stuff, and said "Here are your pants, Mr. Rickman." He chuckled at me, took his bag, turned around to the other people in line behind him and proclaimed: "Yes, THESE are Alan Rickman's trousers!" I still find it hilarious to this day.
Image credits: Ok_Percentage5157
#3
Since it's a good story I'll name drop: Will Smith. Was in Budapest with some of the production team for the world premiere of Gemini Man. Will stopped by the Buda Castle and shook hands and took selfies with all the tourists gathered there. Then later in the evening he held a concert in the downtown area. He didn't have to do any of that, but they shot a portion of the movie there and he liked the city and wanted to do something for the people. Walking around town that day everyone was pretty hyped about Will being there, and it was a fun atmosphere at night during the concert.
Edit: My bad, I just remembered this is supposed to be f****d up stories. Oh well, I'll leave the comment anyway in case anyone cares.
Image credits: redlaburnum
"Hollywood isn’t a place, it’s a concept. A film industry where, if you’re connected, things get easier," says Salleh during our chat. "I’m not convinced Hollywood really exists in the way we used to imagine it. I’m not sure any of the big companies really know how to handle the current media landscape."
The Director and Cinematographer adds that this doesn't mean he'd turn down an offer from Tinseltown. "They still have money – and I’d happily take that money if they offered it – but a lot of ‘Hollywood’ doesn’t know how to reach audiences anymore," he told Bored Panda. "That’s why we’ve stayed so independent. So no matter what, we can continue to make films our way, without waiting for Hollywood to come calling."
Tucker agrees. "I think we have very realistic expectations about ‘making it’ in Hollywood," said the Producer and Sound Recordist. "If Hollywood was to come calling, we would take the call, but it’s not something we have false hope over, particularly in documentary world!"
#4
I work as a 1st AC or assistant camera on film / tv shoots , the garbage treatment I’ve seen PA’s (Production Assistants) and Interns really boils my blood all the time. This is usually since they are the lowest usually on the command chain and are treated bad and do what many would call b***h work running errands, getting coffee, moving equipment and other things many times these are unpaid positions and are doing this to get experience in. Treat PA’s with respect they may be the lowest on the pole but they are trying to make it like we are and word does travel fast of ill treated crew, and people will remember you. Shout out to my PA’s on shoots thank you guys for helping our operations run smoothly, to cleaning and fetching food for us you guys are the unsung heroes of all shoots big and small.
Image credits: TennisAppropriate747
#5
Without calling out any specific artist
Honestly the horrible things that paparazzi scream at celebrities to get a response
It’s atrocious the horrible and abusive things that they scream in their face for a reaction.
Image credits: RestInPeaceLater
#6
Middle-aged men trolling young girls. It's a big problem and it's f*****g sickening to see.
Image credits: ExcitingPlum6653
We asked Salleh what he's heard about Hollywood that left him a bit shook. "I always think about the crazy lengths some filmmakers go to get the perfect shot," he replied. "I remember hearing the story of Chris Nolan planting entire crops of corn for Interstellar, so he could get his perfect corn field shot. I also recall when Antonioni made his first film in color (Il Deserto Rosso), he had whole fields painted to get the color just right."
The duo says they've encountered some pretty crazy things while working in the film industry. "I was never a fan of low-budget film productions that expected the crew to work ridiculously long hours," said Tucker. "Crew would often wear their lack of sleep as a badge of honor. But in reality, it leads to a decrease in quality of the work, and can be very dangerous."
"One of cinema’s greatest cinematographers, Sven Nykvist believed that working when tired made the work useless," added Salleh. "He even had a bed sitting next to film sets, so he could sleep between shots. And he advocated for shorter filming days."
#7
Production assistant here. Had to sign so many NDAs about celebrities doing hard d***s between takes. The worst was watching them pressure young actresses into joining them. Some of these girls were barely 18.
Image credits: Handsome01Rose
#8
I don't work in the industry but know a bunch of people who do. My favorite story is the filming of Black Hawk Down was delayed because Tom Seizmore got a really nasty infection on his face when a Moroccan [sex worker] peed on his face. Apparently that's the reason he keeps his helmet on the whole movie.
Edit: a word.
Image credits: dskot1
#9
Commercial shoot with bodybuilders. The producer asked the client on set if they wanted to be oil boys and lube up the bodybuilders. They gladly took up the offer and spent 30 minutes oiling up the bodybuilders, who had no choice but just to take it even though I could tell they weren't comfortable. At the time, everyone was laughing and joking around, including the bodybuilders, but looking back, it was pretty messed up to put them in that situation.
Image credits: bourbonstringcheese
We were curious to know how and why Tucker and Salleh got into the film industry. "I was always obsessed with film," explained Salleh. "In college, in Australia, I worked as a video store clerk, in a very fancy video store that rented foreign and arthouse films. I watched thousands of films during that time. That was my only film education; I never attended a day of film school."
He tells us that he eventually dropped out of college to start his own film company. "The first four or five years, I experimented with other filmmakers, producing small low budget films that didn’t really go anywhere. Eventually my partner, Rose and I switched to producing commercials and freelancing to actually earn a living."
#10
I shared a flight with Gwendoline Christie from LA to London once. She was quiet and didn’t draw any attention to herself. Also, they did her dirty on GOT because she’s so much prettier in person.
Image credits: OSUJillyBean
#11
I was 20 or 21 and about to board a plane to a film a low budget shoot in Romania. As I was getting into the van to the airport, a producer came up to me with a blank envelope.
"Hey, I need you to give this to the producer, Vlad, when you get there."
"What is it?"
"$25,000 in cash. Don't declare it at customs."
I was a kid, so I did it.
Image credits: Peralton
#12
While I've seen my fair share of d**g use and horrible people, my most f****d up moment was when Gary Busey put on a Gingerdead Man mask, grabbed me by the sides of my face and screamed crazy loud.
A portion of my soul evaporated.
Image credits: nomercyvideo
"I also did not attend film school," adds Tucker, revealing that she actually has a degree in biology. "When I met Matthew, I thought it would be a laugh to come out as an extra on one of his short films. Before you know it, I was working my way up through the various roles on set: continuity, first assistant director, and then producing."
Tucker says they started taking the business side of things seriously, a few years later. "We started doing a lot of commercial work to make things sustainable. We always continued working on creative film projects on the side, and discovered where our true passion and skills lie: documentary."
#13
I worked for an indie film company at the end of the dot com boom. We were expanding rapidly, far beyond our means. The bosses had rented a huge multi floor office space with tons of desks and computers, but very few employees - because there was very little work coming in the door. One day, some VC investors were coming down to check us out. The bosses had us run around and put fake work on all of the computer screens. And used coffee cups. And jackets and sweaters on empty chairs. All to appear as if we were a huge bustling office, and they had just happened to come by when the entire staff was out to lunch. It was like that scene in The Sting, or a similar scene in The Grifters, where some con men fake a bustling office. The deception was shameless and probably illegal and we all felt horrible for having been forced to participate. .
Image credits: ghostprawn
#14
I was working on an Indy film in Vancouver as a line producer's assistant. The movie was having money problems as it turned out the financing was coming out of the middle east and we almost missed payroll twice. Head of the teamsters, who was also a Hell's Angels captain sat down with the producer's.
"Hand over your passports, or I'm gonna take you out back and break both your legs. You'll get them back when everyones been paid what they're owed".
I was a volunteer at TIFF an an actress had overdosed in the bathroom, was supposed to do a Q&A after the movie. Someone involved with the movie managed to get her functional enough to get through the Q&A before calling an ambulance.
#15
Didn't firsthand witness this, but I was a production coordinator on a show where one of the cameramen followed an actress back to her hotel room and tried to sexually attack her. Fortunately she was able to fight him off and get help. He was fired and charged, and she quit because she didn't feel safe anymore. The guy had a 20 year career and I can't imagine this was the first time he'd done something, but it was definitely the first time anyone found out. Terrifying. I don't know what happened to the actress after she left the show. I hope she's doing well.
Image credits: Kahzgul
Salleh says the duo made a few short documentaries on the side of their commercial work. Some did well at film festivals, they told Bored Panda. They got the opportunity to make their first feature documentary Barbecue in 2017. It gave viewers a glimpse into the barbecue culture around the world.
"Upon completing this film, we decided to move from Australia to the U.S. Shortly after moving here, 'Barbecue' was selected to premiere at SXSW, a prestigious film festival in Austin, Texas," he told Bored Panda. "The day after our world premiere, we sold the film to Netflix–our 'American Dream' was underway!"
#16
I learned first hand that Marie Osmond is not exactly the God blessed Mormon America thinks she is.
Image credits: EyePuzzleheaded4699
#17
I lived there.
At the Time P!nk had a little dog named
F****R
Tome Cruise is super nice to the point of creepy. Like he has dead and intnse eyes simultaneously.
Image credits: ComfortableDegree68
#18
A major makeup artist had come to do a special event at my store. The store had some of their VIP clients book appointments ahead of time and for about 2 hours she would do 10 minute one on ones with each client which included consulting and answering questions plus applying some makeup. She arrived early and the event began on time and she was super professional throughout it and the clients loved it.
After the event was complete, I am going to one of the offices on the side of the Beauty department and I hear some howling kind of crying and I go towards the sound and I see the makeup artist is having a full on breakdown alone on the floor. Her makeup had completely ran down her face and was on her clothes and shoes and the floor. I hid on the side and then I overheard her call someone on the phone and she howled "I can't do this anymore! I hate pretending I enjoy doing this! If I didn't need the money I would have stopped years ago. S**t I have to go I think someone is coming." She hung up and pulled some sort of scarf/wrap out of her bag and wrapped it over herself and put on some oversized sunglasses and got up and walked quickly and I hid on the other side as she left.
I felt so sad for her and her situation having to do something she doesn't really like anymore.
Image credits: SeanSweetMuzik
Tucker tells us that since moving to America, they've completed two more feature documentaries: We Don’t Deserve Dogs (2020) explores the relationship between humans and dogs around the world. "And we recently premiered our third feature ‘Slice of Life: The American Dream. In Former Pizza Huts.' The film explores the current-day uses of former Pizza Hut buildings across the U.S. and will be released on streaming in 2025."
#19
I lived in LA for 15ish years and worked in the industry. The things that are not NDA protected are:
- Seeing Lindsay Lohan doing lines of c**e off the back of a toilet in a club bathroom- this was during the height of the "fire fotch" incident.
- A ~~married~~ not married, but in a long term committed relationship Ty Pennington during Extreme Home Makeover having with local production assistants and promising to set them up in LA. One of which ended up pregnant and was forced to have an abortion by him.
- My married executive producer texting me at 3 in the morning in an attempt to get me to sleep with him (absolutely didn't happen). Then being pissed when I told everyone, and tried to say it was a joke, and I should lighten up.
- Another creepy EP that allowed rumors to spread that he was sleeping with me, and when I asked him to clear it up, he chuckled and patted my head saying something along the lines of "oh they won't believe me anyway".
- On a reality shoot, seeing cast member get groped by a rando on camera and the EP not letting me shut it down, intervene or at least pause filming once the guy left so she could process off camera and decide if she wanted to continue.
- An older (50s/60s) director of photography clearly sleeping with the 18 year old, very naive, AC who came to me asking if I could take her to get Plan B and if I could help her find an OBGYN because she had never been to one and her family wouldn't allow it. The (female) EP & Production Manager knew and encouraged it.
That's what I remember off the top of my head. That doesn't include any of the actual reality content that I worked on, just real life stuff. The best thing I ever saw was not on a set, but sitting at a bus stop on Santa Monica Blvd. An older Mercedes pulls up to the red light blaring classical music out of the open windows. I look up to see a mess of dark curly long hair and realize it's Slash. Truly a bad a*s moment!
ETA: Ty's proper marital status at the time.
Image credits: chickychickynug
#20
Relatively tame, but gross, worked on a show where the lead would deliberately eat huge amounts of raw garlic, onions, and canned tuna before kissing scenes as a f****d up power play over the actresses who he was partnered with for the scene.
Image credits: cyclejones
#21
Honestly? Nothing to do with celebrities. The most f****d up thing is watching a 22 year old PA climbing into a big white box truck at the end of a 14 hour shoot at 1 AM and driving back from the boonies after crushing a few beers and a couple bumps. I've heard of some bad accidents involving sleep-deprived grunts trying to break in.
Image credits: semantic_satiation
Tucker tells Bored Panda that Slice of Life: The American Dream. In Former Pizza Huts is "a portrait of modern-day America, as told through a collection of stories observed within the walls of former Pizza Hut buildings across the country." The making of the film saw them traveling through the country, in a bid to unearth the best Pizza Hut stories they could find.
"We filmed in everything from an LGBTQ+ church in Florida, to a cannabis dispensary in rural Colorado, to a karaoke bar in Texas – and of course, lots of restaurants," she said, adding that they shot the majority of the film throughout 2023. "It premiered in October 2024 at SXSW Sydney – a new offshoot of the famous SXSW festival in Austin, Texas," she added.
"Our US premiere took place at the prestigious Chicago International Film Festival, and the film is currently continuing to tour the film festival circuit. We plan to release the film on streaming services in 2025."
#22
Worked on a movie set where a white stunt double showed up for Jonathan Majors and was in blackface. I think the excuse was they couldn’t find a black stunt double in New Mexico but he was (understandably) pissed and it made everyone super uncomfortable.
Image credits: tacobuenofreak
#23
I do IT for the hilariously rich in LA, so we also work with all kinds of vendors for various home theaters, technology, and random other services. We went to Tom Cruise’s house and he was so off-putting and weird about people having phones on them while in his house. Not even that there was creepy s**t to see, but he kept acting like all of us were plants to try and take pictures of his stuff or things like that. It was very strange.
Image credits: Big-Routine222
#24
Gave my boss 6 months notice of my upcoming wedding. Hadn’t taken more than 3 days off in 3 years. I asked for 2 weeks, minimum 5 days.
I was the only person who did “my” job at this place.
Some new “important” project came up and of course I was asked to cut down my PTO.
Down to 3 days.
The most f****d up part is that I didn’t stand up for myself and let it happen. My first wife and I never had a proper honeymoon.
Image credits: TheFoulWind
#25
I met Hugo Weaving on set, and said “Hi Hugo, I’m Clem.”
“Slim,” he said, and shook my hand.
“No, it’s “Clem””, I said.
“I had a cat named Slim,” he replied, and kept shaking.
That’s nice, Hugo Weaving, but it’s still not my f*****g name.
EDIT: I appreciate this isn’t exactly “f****d up”, but I still wanted to share it.
#26
After being a studio-floor level HOD for 35 years I’ve seen a bunch of crazy d**g and sex- related stuff, but here’s an “Suitable for All Audiences” one:
I caught an Oscar-winning actress emerging from her trailer while stuffing three rolls of toilet paper from the under-sink cabinet into her Hermes backpack: a bag that was, by the way, likely worth more than $6,000.
The kicker? Of course Production was putting her up in a penthouse suite in the best apartment hotel in Vancouver. She could’ve called the desk, demanded two entire cases of premium toilet paper delivered to her room in the next half hour, and the concierge wouldn’t have even blinked.
But no, she just *had* to steal cheap, airport quality single-ply TP from her Winnebago; if the Transpo Dep’t member in charge of maintenance didn’t catch that her supply had disappeared, it’s likely he would have caught hell for slacking off.
Image credits: theartfulcodger
#27
Not that f****d up, but Andy Garcia punched his co-star in between takes while shooting the incredibly bad film Big Gold Brick.
I'm now reflecting that my career in film was pretty tame if that's the best I've got. .
Image credits: Nugget1765
#28
There were active rumors within the Korean film industry that a certain famous Korean actor who tried to make it big in Hollywood and appeared in several Hollywood blockbusters was a little too close with his sister. She was always in his trailer and followed him around when he was working in Hollywood. I was thinking it was just a brother being overly protective over his sister, but according to almost everyone I've talked to, it's definitely more than that. Usually I take rumors like this with a grain of salt, but these people were dead serious about the whole affair, as if it's pretty much common knowledge.
The other less disgusting fact is that the actor was pretty close friends with my mom's friend's Korean American son and lived with the family for a few weeks or so near LA. And he worked his absolute a*s off to work out his English pronunciations.
Image credits: eldakim
#29
Worked as a PA on an end-of-the-world-type show that relocated to filming in Texas way back in the early 2010s. This was my third production working as a PA but first working in the general office production assistant work. I was excited because It was a cool cast of actors - and some people I was a personal fan of. One was a veteran actress from probably the biggest cult tv show of the 2000s (and one of my fav characters on that respective show)
Not necessarily f****d up - but more so baffling stuff i heard from colleagues in wardrobe about this actress: that would often have her period in the clothes she wore for filming….repeatedly. And she would act like nothing had happened at the end of the day offilming. Word was she didnt really do anything or try to prevent this from happening….
Because of the type of show it was, these clothes often went through aging and dyeing procedures. I know this whole thing around this actress eventually moved from a minor open-secret that crew could giggle (ie. *“shes so loopy, hippie-dippie, etc.”*) to something way more inconvenient when clothes - *beholden to story and filming continuity* - had to start getting rewashed, rebought, reaged, redyed…. you name it, which caused tons of redundant or duplicative work on behalf of the crew members (mostly in costuming) as it kept happening very frequently.
Never felt like maybe there was a medical issue or anything with this actress - just more so strange in how nonchalant and unembarrassed it all felt - like the way she handled all of this situation was a *normal* thing.
It definitely altered my perception of her to a more neutral fan standpoint.
Image credits: danceofthedreamman89
#30
I was at a brunch with an old British tv star, wife of a then and current movie star. My favorite quote from that day was about her meeting with a landscaper for her home in Hollywood: "I'm just not sure we need the third fountain, at 80 thousand dollars apiece."
Edit I recognize this isn't in the spirit is the question. Maybe question adjacent though?
Image credits: Unravelled-biscuit
