10 Hit Movies Actors Thought Would Kill Their Careers

Betsy Palmer only accepted her memorable role as Jason's mother in Friday the 13th because she wanted a new car. In 1979 after her Mercedes packed it in she needed some cash for another one but her savings were scarce after her TV and film career had dried up in the early 70s.

However, this all changed when she received a phone call from her agent with a guarantee of $1,000 a day for 10 days shooting, exactly the amount she needed for her desired Volkswagen Scirocco. The only problem was the script itself. Realising it was a campy horror film Palmer recalls her initial reaction was "what a piece of s**t. No one is ever going to see this."

More concerned about the money than her career prospects she agreed to film the low budget film knowing it could well have been the last thing she ever filmed. Only appearing at the end of Friday the 13th, Palmer made up for lost time with the dramatic reveal she is the killer and Jason's mother.

Unexpedectly Friday the 13th became the sleeper hit of the century making 100 times more than its measly budget and spawning an entire franchise centred on the original's mythology. Betsy Palmer's performance has been immortalised and she returned to the franchise for its sequel and continued to star in many more films and TV series before her eventual death in 2015.