10 Movie Industry Secrets You Didn't Know
3. Actors Usually Wear Dirty Clothes For Continuity
As much as most major movies benefit from well-funded costume departments which can provide actors with countless versions of the same outfit, it's usually the case that even the most prim-and-proper A-lister will find themselves wearing dirty or used clothes while shooting their scenes.
This is done less to keep costs down and more for continuity's sake. For example, if an actor is required to wear the same clothing for lengthy periods of the shoot, washing the clothes presents the risk of creating continuity errors if said clothing fades in the wash.
And so, it's not at all uncommon for actors to wear the same unwashed clothes for days or even weeks at a time.
For the sake of hygiene, though, the clothes are usually lightly sprayed with a cleaning mixture to stop them whiffing of an actor that's spent the last 12 hours sweating under a bunch of heat lamps.
Even so, it's a vaguely icky aspect of the acting craft which those outside of it typically don't even think about.
The next time you get jealous of that swanky suit Leonardo DiCaprio's wearing in a movie, remember that he'd probably been wearing it for 60 hours that week.