Quote
"A happy family is but an earlier heaven."
George Bernard Shaw
Joke
"I have a split personality," said Tom, being frank.
Fun Fact
Medieval chastity belts are a myth. A great majority of examples now existing were made in the 18th and 19th centuries as jokes.
History Fact
Failed Attempts
In South Korea in 1968, while four brothers were out searching for firewood, they stumbled across the camp of a group of North Korean commandos on a mission to assassinate the South Korean president. The commandos lectured them on the benefits of communism and spared their lives, but both of their missions failed as the brothers, unconverted, alerted the police.
Movie/TV Trivia
Natalie Portman was originally cast as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet could have looked a whole lot different if Natalie Portman hadn’t been 13 years old at the time of casting. The fresh-faced actress was actually awarded the role, but the age difference between she and leading man DiCaprio soon became very awkward.
At 21 years old, Leo was nearly ten years older than his on-screen love interest, and the icky age gap didn’t really translate well in front of the cameras.
Producers eventually decided to re-cast Portman because they said that “it looked as though DiCaprio was molesting her” in the romantic scenes.” Yikes! Eventually the role went to Claire Danes, and the rest is history. We’re glad that somebody was looking out for young actresses in a time before the #Metoo movement! Aside from underage casting drama, Romeo and Juliet also suffered a highly traumatic incident during filming which left cast and crew members shocked.
Keep reading below…
One of the crew members on Romeo and Juliet was kidnapped
Yep, you did read that correctly. One of the crew members on the set of the Shakespeare tragedy was kidnapped by gang members and held for ransom. A hair and make-up artist named Aldo Signoretti was held captive by some bandits during a shoot in the Mexican desert, and it was up to director Baz Luhrmann to try and negotiate terms.
Eventually the gang members demanded $300 for Signoretti’s safe return and the film’s producers promptly paid up in order to save him from being murdered. Talk about drama!
Luhrmann has admitted that he was relieved they only asked for such a small amount of money, the director later joking that the sum was “a bargain”. One of the producers had to wait outside a hotel and hold up a bag of cash for the gang to collect, and in turn they threw poor Aldo out of a moving car, which broke his leg in the process. Luhrmann later praised his cast and crew for putting up with all of the drama around the film and ended up calling the movie “an incredible quest”.
We’ll say! Fair play to DiCaprio and Danes for putting up with all that drama as budding actors. Of course, we’re also glad that Aldo escaped from the set with his life.
Movie/TV Quote
"Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me. Aren't you?"
The Graduate, 1967
Conversation Starter
Have you ever stalked someone on social media?
Writing Prompt