10 Actors Tricked Into Doing Famous Movie Scenes
5. Die Hard - Alan Rickman Is Dropped On One
In a film stacked with iconic moments, the death of Hans Gruber in Die Hard still sits as one of the absolute finest brought to life in the Bruce Willis-starring action thriller. From the intense laugh-off followed by a sudden bullet to the chest courtesy of John McLane, to the slow-motion sequence depicting Gruber's watch-assisted demise, this character ending had just about everything.
Yet, despite the late Alan Rickman being one of the finest thespians of his generation, no doubt well-equipped enough to deliver an authentic look of shock when the time called for him to suddenly tumble to his death, stunt coordinator Charles Picerni had other ideas.
In order to produce a genuine face of concern as Gruber was dropped from a Nakatomi Plaza window, Picerni told his colleagues, holding Rickman 40-feet above a crash mat with a rope in reality, to let the actor loose on the count of one instead of three.
As you'd expect, Rickman was caught completely off-guard in this moment, giving us one of the most memorable and legitimately terrified performances ever seen during the demise of an on-screen character.