10 Ridiculous Secrets Behind Iconic Movie Scenes

by Jack Pooley

1. Choi Min-Sik Ate Four Live Octopuses For Real - Oldboy

Oldboy Octopous
Show East

Chan-wook Park's Oldboy is a masterful, haunting thriller with a bevy of jaw-dropping twists, but even with a plot that involves rampant murder and incest, the most disgusting thing in it is still the scene where protagonist Oh Dae-su (Choi Min-sik) devours a live octopus.

And despite actor Choi Min-sik being both a Buddhist and a vegetarian, he agreed to perform the scene the hard way...four times. No CGI was used while filming the scene, with the actor eating four live octopus for real to get a usable take.

According to director Park, Min-sik would pray to each octopus and offer his apologies before filming a take.

The end result is certainly striking and suitably revolting, and with a mere $3 million budget, there clearly wasn't any possibility of a digital equivalent.

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Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.