20 Iconic Movie Scenes That Nearly Killed Their Stars
17. Klaus Kinski: Fitzcarraldo
A deep meditation on insanity and determination, the notoriously exacting director sought to recreate these emotions behind the camera by behaving determined and insane.
The film is a fictionalized account of a rubber baron’s attempt to bring a steamship over a mountainside to gain access to a nearby river.
Naturally, this was accomplished by actually shoving a real steamship through acres of jungle, uphill, a feat of engineering that injured six crewmembers and nearly killed everyone involved.
The film’s star, Klaus Kinski, was an extremely talented man with whom Herzog had a long and successful working relationship. He was also certifiably insane. Behind the scenes footage shows him berating the producers and cast members about the smallest details like the quality of the food, and he was described as incredibly unstable by the people who knew him best.
Several Peruvian natives involved in the film became very upset with Kinski’s behavior. Herzog swears that one local chieftain offered to take Kinski into the forest and kill him. Ever the gentleman, Herzog politely declined the man’s offer, insisting that he still needed Kinski for a few more weeks to complete the film. Kinski never knew how close to death he came.
