8 Genius Ways Actors Made Sure You Noticed Them In Movies

6. Steve McQueen Demanded The Same Amount Of Lines As Co-Star Paul Newman

Geoffrey Rush Johnny Depp Pirates Of The Caribbean
20th Century Fox

Acting legends Steve McQueen and Paul Newman are remembered as peers and equals today, both just as famous and "A-list" as each other. So it's quite hard to imagine a time when there was a competitive friction between the two, but while filming 1974's The Towering Inferno, McQueen tried as hard as he could to be viewed on the same level as co-star Newman.

While Newman is the lead of the film, McQueen didn't want to be viewed as just another supporting player, and sought ways to make his character - Michael O’Hallorhan, a fire department chief - a more prominent part of the movie.

So, in a no-nonsense move, he demanded that 12 more lines of dialogue should be given to his character, so he and Newman would be on more of a level playing field in terms of screen time and words spoken. In an effort to be noticed even further, he also requested for the brim on his fireman's helmet to be cut back slightly, so that his eyes weren't covered in shadow.

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Danny has been with WhatCulture for almost nine years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. He has been writing and video editing for 10+ years, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers and uploading them to YouTube (they're admittedly a bit rusty by today's standards). If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order or to tell you about the making of 1988's Remembrance of the Daleks, Danny is the person to ask.