Film lovers have long been fascinated by the final frontier, and directors have been chasing that celestial sparkle since Georges Méliès sent a projectile to the Moon in 1902. In this roundup of 10 behind scenes tidbits, we’ll lift the curtain on everything from genuine peril on a 1980s set to the clever engineering that made a zero‑gravity masterpiece possible.
10 behind scenes Highlights
10 Real Danger on the Set of The Right Stuff
Based on Tom Wolfe’s 1979 book, The Right Stuff (1983) follows the daring test pilots who paved the way for America’s early space program. The job was perilous, and that danger seeped onto the soundstage. Production designer Geoffrey Kirkland once said, “I think it’s the single most dangerous filming environment I’ve ever been in.”
Tragically, stuntman Joseph Svec lost his life while performing the stunt where Chuck Yeager ejects from his NF‑104A after a spin‑out. His parachute failed to deploy, and he struck the ground. The likely cause was loss of consciousness from inhaling the smoke used to simulate the crash, preventing him from opening his chute. Director Philip Kaufman recalled, “I didn’t use any of those shots. We were all stunned. It was so connected with the theme of the movie, how dangerous all of this stuff was.”
9 Making a Profit from the Corn in Interstellar
Interstellar (2014) imagines humanity’s exodus to other worlds after a blight wipes out most Earth crops. Instead of fabricating a half‑million‑acre cornfield with CGI, Christopher Nolan chose to plant a real one. He consulted Zack Snyder—who had grown 200 acres for Man of Steel—to gauge feasibility, then went ahead.
Investing roughly $100,000, Nolan cultivated the corn in Calgary, despite warnings that the region’s mountainous terrain was unsuitable. The gamble paid off: the crop thrived, and once filming wrapped, the corn was harvested and sold, earning a profit. Nolan summed it up: “In the end, we got a pretty good crop, and we actually made money on this.”
8 Prescribed Method Acting in Sunshine
Set in 2057, Danny Boyle’s Sunshine (2007) begins 16 months into a mission to reignite the dying Sun, meaning the crew already shares deep bonds when the cameras roll. To forge authentic chemistry, Boyle had the cast live together for two weeks in student housing before shooting, creating a “group alliance” that persisted throughout filming, as confirmed by Hiroyuki Sanada.
Boyle also pushed the actors into method‑acting exercises: they watched classics like Das Boot and Alien, attended lectures by scientific consultants such as Brian Cox, and even went scuba diving and did flight‑simulated space training to experience weightlessness firsthand.
7 Growing Potatoes on the Set of The Martian
Ridley Scott’s adaptation of Andy Weir’s The Martian (2015) follows stranded astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) as he attempts to grow potatoes using Martian soil fertilized with human waste—a scientifically plausible concept. Because the film was shot out of sequence, the crew needed potatoes at various growth stages on set.
To meet that demand, the production built a dedicated potato farm adjacent to the soundstage. Damon explained, “They were growing them in a soundstage next to the one we were shooting in. So we planted them and re‑planted them on the set.” While he didn’t become an astronaut, he did walk away knowing how to cultivate potatoes.
6 Sound Design in WALL‑E
The opening twenty minutes of Pixar’s WALL‑E (2008) contain no spoken dialogue, yet the world is alive with sound thanks to legendary sound designer Ben Burtt, famed for his work on the Star Wars saga. Director Andrew Stanton kept referring to R2‑D2 as a sonic benchmark, eventually insisting, “Can we just get Ben Burtt?”
After completing the Star Wars prequels, Burtt initially refused further robot work, declaring, “No more robots. No more spaceships.” When he learned WALL‑E was more a Buster Keaton‑style romance than an action flick, he signed on. He crafted roughly 2,500 fresh sounds—far more than the 700‑1,000 typical for a Star Wars film. Burtt even voiced WALL‑E himself; the cockroach’s click was made with handcuffs, and EVE’s laser‑gun “pew” came from striking a slinky.
5 Katherine Johnson’s Involvement in Hidden Figures
Hidden Figures (2016) chronicles three African‑American women mathematicians who propelled NASA during the Space Race. Though Mary Jackson and Dorothy Vaughan had passed before filming, Katherine Johnson met with Taraji P. Henson, the actress portraying her. Johnson’s humility shone through; Henson noted, “I don’t even think she sees herself as a hero.”
While Johnson’s insights helped Henson embody the role, Henson still had to practice the math repeatedly. Johnson also contributed to the source book, ensuring other women’s stories were included. As author Margot Lee Shetterly explained, “She didn’t want this to be just about one person.”
4 Alien School for Galaxy Quest
The 1999 sci‑fi comedy Galaxy Quest introduced Mathesar (Enrico Colantoni), leader of the Thermians—an alien race that looks like a squid in human disguise. Colantoni crafted a distinctive voice using a Yale vocal exercise that “touches all seven resonators.”
Director Dean Parisot loved the vocal work and instituted an “alien school” where the Thermian actors experimented with voice and movement. “During alien school, we all threw out all kinds of ideas,” Parisot said, acting as conductor while the cast contributed. Colantoni, Missi Pyle, Jed Rees, and Patrick Breen attended; Rainn Wilson missed the session and had to receive a crash course from his fellow Thermians.
3 Zero Gravity Scenes in Apollo 13
When Ron Howard tackled the true story of the aborted lunar mission for Apollo 13 (1995), he needed authentic weightlessness. Before digital effects could deliver, Howard considered wire rigs until Steven Spielberg suggested using NASA’s KC‑135 “Vomit Comet,” which creates brief periods of near‑zero gravity by flying parabolic arcs.
NASA initially balked, but astronaut Jim Lovell intervened, urging them to grant a test flight. Lovell, who also served as a consultant and cameoed as the recovery ship’s captain, convinced NASA to allow six months of access. Howard, Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton, and Kevin Bacon endured roughly 600 stomach‑churning parabolas during production.
2 Creating New Technology for Gravity
Alfonso Cuarón sought uninterrupted long takes for his space‑survival epic Gravity (2013), ruling out Ron Howard’s “Vomit Comet” method. Together with visual‑effects supervisor Tim Webber and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, they filmed actors on a set and digitally constructed the surrounding environment.
Since existing technology couldn’t match the lighting needs, the team invented a massive “lightbox”: a 6 × 3‑meter structure lined with 4,096 programmable LED bulbs. Actors were strapped to a tilt rig that simulated orbital motion; Sandra Bullock often spent up to ten hours alone inside the box for space‑walk scenes. The rig’s complexity forced Cuarón to finish post‑production planning before pre‑production could even begin.
1 The Chestburster Scene in Alien
Ridley Scott’s iconic chest‑burster moment in Alien (1979) required genuine terror from the cast. He deliberately kept the script vague—only noting “This thing emerges”—so actors would react authentically. Sigourney Weaver recalled the minimal direction, while John Hurt lay beneath a table panel that had been removed for the effect.
Art director Roger Christian placed a prosthetic chest over Hurt, stuffing it with animal organs such as liver, intestines, kidneys, and lungs. A hydraulic rig propelled the alien baby through the fake chest, and a second blood pipe sprayed actors, creating a dramatic fountain of gore.