13 Stars Who Died While Filming
by Jenna GuillaumeBuzzFeed Contributor
It's always sad when someone dies, but when an actor dies while filming a key role in a movie or TV show, the rest of the production is left not only mourning a colleague but also grappling with the question of how to handle it on screen. Here are some times an actor's death completely altered the plots of their projects...
1.
There was only a week left of filming the two parts of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay when Philip Seymour Hoffman, who played Plutarch Heavensbee, died. Still, his role was so key that the script needed adjusting, with the character's presence in several scenes reduced.
Lionsgate
A scene in which Plutarch delivers an emotional speech to Jennifer Lawrence's Katniss had to be entirely rewritten, with Woody Harrelson's character Haymitch instead reading Katniss a letter from Plutarch.
Lionsgate
2.
Paul Walker's Brian O'Conner was one of the lead characters in the Fast and Furious franchise, and he was in the middle of filming the seventh movie when he died in a car crash. Originally, the movie was going to end with the whole crew gathering in a scene that set up the future of the franchise, with Brian an integral part of that.
Universal
After Paul's death, the ending was rewritten to be a tribute to him and his character, with Brian retiring happily with his family after one final drive with Vin Diesel's Dom. The scenes were shot using Paul Walker's brothers as body doubles and then altered digitally in post-production.
Universal
3.
Glee was in pre-production for Season 5 when lead actor Cory Monteith died. His character Finn was meant to have a major plot line in the season, and Cory's death sent the whole season and the rest of the show in a different direction.
Fox
The third episode of Season 5 became about Finn's death and the grief of his friends, serving as a tribute not just to Finn but to Cory himself, with the cast's real, raw emotions on display in what became the most moving episode in the show's history.
Fox
4.
Heath Ledger was about a third of the way through filming the lead role in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus when he died. Writer and director Terry Gilliam changed the script so that Heath's character Tony transforms his appearance whenever he passes through a magic mirror.
Sony
The change meant that Jude Law, Colin Farrell, and Johnny Depp all took on the role of Tony for different parts of the movie to supplement what Heath had shot. All three actors gave their fees from the movie to Matilda, Heath's daughter with Michelle Williams, who was three when he died.
Sony
5.
Carrie Fisher finished working on The Last Jedi before her death in 2016, but she was also set to star in the next Star Wars instalment, The Rise of Skywalker. Writer and director J.J. Abrams subsequently not only wrote Leia's death into the script, but he also included some new, final scenes with the character to give her a proper goodbye.
Lucasfilm
The team got creative with unused footage Carrie had shot for the previous movies. "We weren't going to recast, we couldn't do a CG character. We looked at the footage we had not used in The Force Awakens, and we realized we had a number of shots that we could actually use," J.J. Abrams said. "It was a bit like having a dozen pieces of a jigsaw puzzle and then having to make other pieces around it and paint a cohesive image from these separate pieces."
Lucasfilm
6.
Luke Perry played Archie's dad, Fred, on Riverdale and died while Season 3 of the show was still in production. Rather than drastically changing the plots that remained for Season 3, the writers tweaked the scripts to keep Fred off-screen and then wrote his death as a major plot point in Season 4, giving both Luke and his character a full and fitting farewell.
CW
Fred is killed in a hit-and-run accident, and an entire episode is dedicated to the aftermath. In a touching moment of meta casting, Luke's Beverly Hills 90210 co-star Shannen Doherty guest stars to play a motorist Fred was trying to help when he was killed.
CW
7.
John Ritter's character, Paul, was the lead character on sitcom 8 Simple Rules... for Dating My Teenage Daughter, and the show revolved around his parenting misadventures. When John died not long after production for Season 2 had begun, the show went on hiatus before returning with a plot that killed off Paul and brought a whole new direction to the show.
ABC
Later renamed 8 Simple Rules, the show explored the family's grief and moved forward into a third season as more of an ensemble show, complete with new characters.
ABC
8.
Nicholas Colasanto was a central part of the Cheers ensemble when the sitcom began, but his health deteriorated over time, and while filming Season 3, he was hospitalized and later died. His character Coach was sent on vacation for the rest of the season, appearing one final time in the cold open for the Season 3 finale using footage Nicholas had previously shot.
NBC
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