10 Actors Who Didn't Know They Were Being Filmed For Movies
3. George C. Scott - Dr. Strangelove
Much like Damien Chazelle on First Man, Stanley Kubrick didn't so much film an actor without their knowledge on Dr. Strangelove as he did wildly mislead them about the intent of said filming.
In the devilishly entertaining 1964 war satire, George C. Scott played General Buck Turgidson, and according to none other than co-star James Earl Jones, Kubrick effectively tricked Scott into giving a performance he didn't want to.
Scott wanted to play the part of Turgidson completely straight, while Kubrick felt that it should be more farcical and over-the-top.
In the end, Kubrick teased a compromise out of Scott by requesting that he perform a number of outrageous takes as "practice," promising they would never be used, before giving his more serious rendition.
In a ruse Scott probably should've seen coming, Kubrick ended up using the sillier takes in the final cut, leaving Scott so irate that he vowed never to work with Kubrick again - and he didn't.
It also probably didn't help their working relationship that the pair regularly played chess on set, typically resulting in a decisive Kubrick victory.