James Franco and Seth Rogen - There are plenty of scenes in 'Pineapple Express' (2008) where James Franco and Seth Rogen's characters are smoking weed. But between takes, life imitated art. When shooting recommenced, both were high as a kite. "I can honestly say that we did. Like, we really did it," admitted Rogen in an interview with First Showing.

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Martin Sheen - Sheen's truly frightening and genuine intoxicated mental breakdown in a hotel room during the opening scenes to 'Apocalypse Now' (1979) was exacerbated by the actor slicing open his thumb after accidentally smashing a mirror.

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Jack Nicholson - It's a moment that's gone down in movie-making folklore—the filming of the campfire get-together scene in 'Easy Rider' (1969), when Jack Nicholson and the since passed Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda repeatedly fluffed their lines in order to roll up another spliff. Classic stuff!

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Robert Downey Jr. - The actor's struggle with substance abuse is well publicized. According to Ben Falk's 2014 biography, 'Robert Downey Jr.: The Fall and Rise of the Comeback Kid,' while working on 'Home for the Holidays' (1995), Downey "smoked black-tar heroin throughout the shoot." The actor maintains that he has been clean since July 2003.

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Nicholas Cage - Nicholas Cage didn't have to do much during the scene in which he flips out at the roulette table in 'Leaving Las Vegas' (1995). The actor was truly wasted, as he revealed during an interview with James Lipton. "I never drink when I act, but I wanted to incorporate in some scenes actual drinking... So that scene in the casino when I'm freaking out, I'm really drunk."

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Brad Pitt and Ed Norton - "Semi-trashed" is how Pitt describes the state he and 'Fight Club' (1999) co-star Ed Norton were in during the scene where they wack golf balls into the grounds of an abandoned factory outside of Tyler Durden's house.

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John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd - Sometimes overindulgence goes with the territory. While filming 'The Blues Brothers' (1980), Dan Aykroyd snorted coke, but only revealed his habit in a 2012 Vanity Fair interview. Sadly, the late John Belushi was already well on the road to oblivion.

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Richard Burton - "I am not drinking on your film," Burton told director Andrew Sinclair on the set of 'Under Milk Wood' (1972). "That means only one bottle of vodka a day. I'm sober on two, but when I'm drinking, it is three or more." Ultimately, booze got the better of Burton. The film, co-starring Elizabeth Taylor and Peter O'Toole (who himself enjoyed a good drink), has since acquired a reputation among aficionados as a cult movie, but unfortunately all the names mentioned here have since left us.

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Carrie Fisher - The late Carrie Fisher admitted to being drunk with co-star Harrison Ford on the set of 'The Empire Strikes Back' (1980) after partying hard the previous night with the Rolling Stones. "We never went to sleep, so we weren’t hungover—we were still drunk when we arrived in Cloud City the next day," she told the Daily Beast.

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The Beatles - Perhaps it's no surprise that the Fab Four were all pretty stoned during filming of the Alps sequence in 'Help' (1965). Later that year, they all had a quick puff in the rest rooms at Buckingham Palace before each received the Order of the British Empire from Queen Elizabeth II.

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Johnny Depp - Johnny Depp's character in 'The Rum Diary' (2011) knocks back copious amounts of liquor—as did the actor, apparently, to ease himself into the role. A bottle of spirit was supplied on set by director Bruce Robinson, who began drinking again in Depp's company after remaining sober for six years.

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Olivia Wilde - In the aptly-named 'Drinking Buddies' (2013), Olivia Wilde's character is seen drinking real beer in a real brewery with her friends. The actress would later comment that the cast was "hammered the entire movie."

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Daniel Radcliffe - In 2012, the 'Harry Potter' actor admitted to having a drinking problem and being drunk from the nights prior to filming. "I can point to many scenes where I’m just gone," he reveals. "Dead behind the eyes.”

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Billy Bob Thornton - After years of rumor and denial, Billy Bob Thornton finally admitted in an October 2019 interview that he was blind drunk while shooting the 'Bad Santa' mall scene back in 2003. "I drank about three glasses of red wine for breakfast... Then I switched over to vodka and cranberry juice, and then I had a few Bud Lights. By the time I got to that scene there, I barely knew I was in a movie."

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Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman - Bullock and Kidman appeared together as witch sisters in 'Practical Magic' (1998). On the DVD commentary, Bullock admits that they both downed tequila in a scene where they get drunk with their aunts.

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Oliver Reed - An alcoholic, Oliver Reed's issues with drinking were well documented. In the infamous naked wrestling scene between Reed and co-star Alan Bates in Ken Russell's 'Women in Love' (1969), Reed turned up to the shoot drunk, and got Bates drunk. "I had to get drunk before I exposed myself on camera," said Reed by way of explanation. Sadly, Reed, Bates, and Russell have all already passed.

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Margot Robbie - Margot Robbie's breakout role in Martin Scorsese's 'The Wolf of Wall Street' (2013) required an intimate scene with Leonardo DiCaprio. She was so nervous over this that she knocked back three straight shots of tequila to calm her nerves.

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John Leguizamo and Bob Hoskins - The pair teamed up for 'Super Mario Bros.' (1993), but it was an unhappy experience for cast and crew. Leguizamo and the late Hoskins reportedly drowned their creative sorrows on set with a bottle of scotch. And no wonder: the movie is regarded as one of the worst films ever made.

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Fred Astaire - What on earth is such a sophisticated and debonair actor as the late Fred Astaire doing on a list like this? Watch the classic dance scene from 'Holiday Inn' (1942). Astaire was rumored to have consumed two bourbon shots prior to filming. Then, he downed one additional shot before each take! Fortunately, the film is best remembered for co-star Bing Crosby's evergreen rendering of 'White Christmas.'

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Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis - According to the Hollywood Reporter, in order to prepare for a very intimate scene in the psychological horror thriller 'Black Swan' (2010), Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis downed an entire bottle of hard liquor between them, rumored to be tequila.

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Jennifer Lawrence - Jennifer Lawrence admitted to David Letterman that while shooting 'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire' (2013), she and some fellow cast members drank a few too many piña coladas on set between takes. Didn't affect her aim though!

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Woody Harrelson - A notable advocate of marijuana, Harrelson turned instead to alcohol in order to play the part of the spurned husband in a scene from 'Indecent Proposal' (1993). In his words, the actor got "smashed because I was supposed to be." He later confided that it wasn't a pleasant experience.

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Shia LaBeouf - While working on 'Lawless' (2012), Shia LaBeouf took to moonshine as part of his quasi-method acting technique. The following year, LaBeouf's co-star in 'Charlie Countryman,' Rupert Grint, claimed the actor used LSD for real.

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Eminem - The rapper has admitted to popping the prescription sleep aid Ambien (zolpidem) during the filming of '8 Mile' (2002) to help counter a 16-hour working day.

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Dennis Quaid - 'The Big Easy' (1986) was anything but for Dennis Quaid, who sought solace in cocaine while shooting the crime comedy. He opened up about his 1980s-era addiction during a 2011 Newsweek interview.

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Robert Shaw - Between shoots, the since passed Robert Shaw, who played grizzled fisherman Quint in 'Jaws' (1975), engaged in binge drinking. In one scene, he delivers a drunken speech (the famous USS Indianapolis recollection) to Brody (the late Roy Scheider) and Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss). But what you see is a reshoot. He was so far gone during the first take that he blacked out.

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Michael Rapaport - There's a scene in 'True Romance' (1993) where Michael Rapaport's character is trying to negotiate a drug deal on a roller coaster with Clarence (Christian Slater). Apparently, Rapaport was so frightened he dropped a bunch of Quaaludes (a sedative now discontinued in the US) and couldn't say his lines.

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Ethan Embry -

The original version of 'Can't Hardly Wait' (1998) depicted teens drinking alcohol at an unsupervised party, and drug abuse. It was eventually recut, but one of its stars, Ethan Embry, later admitted to being high in real life while shooting, and to being "the world's biggest stoner."

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Stars acting under the influence on set

Who's been drunk or stoned as the cameras rolled?

25/10/19 | StarsInsider

CELEBRITY Curiosities

How many actors have you seen up on screen pretending to be drunk? It's all part of the act, right? Well, actually, not always. In some cases, movie stars have stumbled onto set totally inebriated. What's more, it's not necessarily always alcohol that's making them see double. Browse this gallery, sober up, and take a look at some stars found acting under the influence on set.