When you’re making a movie, you can only control so much. You can meticulously plan your shots; you can account for every dollar of your budget in advance; you can hire all the best people to make sure each department completes its mission at the highest caliber. The world is random and full of tragedy, however, and sometimes, film productions have to deal with shocking, unexpected loss. When an actor dies while still in production on a movie, that can send a production reeling.
It’s happened many times in the past. For example, James Dean had just finished shooting “Giant” when he died in a car crash, only 24 years old. Because his part still required a significant amount of ADR, his “Rebel Without a Cause” co-star Nick Adams dubbed over many of his lines.
Sometimes, movies don’t recover. However, these days — especially thanks to the advent of CGI and other technology that allows a filmmaker to manipulate an actor’s performance — many projects that lose a star find a way to work around their absence. In fact, if fans know that they’re about to watch an actor’s final role, the loss of a star can even increase excitement for a film. Vanity Fair editor Katey Rich told The Guardian, “There’s a morbid fascination that exists in so many elements of culture … which makes it all the more of a spectacle.” Here are 10 actors who died in the middle of filming, and how their films handled the tragedy.