Props That Actors Stole From The Set

As cool as it may be to imagine Mark Hamill taking his lightsaber home from Star Wars or Harrison Ford wearing his iconic hat from Indiana Jones at a party, those cool props you see in movies are actually the property of the studio. Once shooting is wrapped, those props get packed up for the next film, auctioned off for charity, or given to a museum (Indy would be proud). Sometimes actors are lucky enough to be given props from the movies they starred in, and sometimes those props get "lost" and end up in slightly sketchy auctions.

Sometimes, though, the lead actors themselves actually take the props from the set with no one the wiser. Whether due to sentimental reasons or just because they feel like their acting deserved a more tangible reward than a paycheck, there are plenty of famous actors who have admitted to nicking some valuable (and not so valuable) props once shooting was finished. From filmic floggers to magic hammers, here are props that actors stole from the set of their movies.

Fewer than ten actors have played Batman on the big screen in live action, and Ben Affleck was talented and lucky enough to be one of them. He played the Caped Crusader in 2016's Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, so it's no wonder that he was pretty proud of the work he'd put in to nab the role. Unfortunately for him, that sense of pride and accomplishment backfired on him when he believed that he could just take one of the prop Batarangs from set as a bonus. According to Affleck: "I straight up stole a Batarang. I put it in my pocket, thinking I had earned it. The props guy came to come get it and I said no. I thought I had a kind of 'movie star pass' for that kind of thing."

As it turns out, he's not exactly wrong, since he did manage to return to Los Angeles with it. Still, director Zack Snyder eventually gave him the grappling hook used in the movie as a gift. So maybe he should have just been patient if he wanted to get a much cooler souvenir from set that didn't involve larceny. That's not very Batman-like, Ben.

When it comes to living your life in the spotlight, Daniel Radcliffe could certainly offer a few pointers. The young actor was only 11 years old when he first started filming Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and continued to star in the franchise until Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 came out nearly ten years later. Considering he spent most of his childhood providing childhood memories for other kids, it makes sense that Radcliffe would want a souvenir of his time spent on set — even if he had to steal one.

That souvenir turned out to be a couple of pairs of glasses that Harry Potter wears; one from the first movie and one from The Deathly Hallows Part 1. It's a sweet reminder of the time he spent on set and the way that Radcliffe has aged over the years, but admit it: you would definitely have gone with a wand if you had the choice, right? 

Generally if you're going to steal from a movie set, it's better to swipe something small that won't be easily noticed — something you can slip in your pocket or a bag without anyone seeing. By the time the props department's figured out that a prop ashtray or lighter is gone, you're already on a talk show with Jimmy Kimmel or Seth Myers joking about it. Mark Wahlberg didn't seem to get this memo when he took home the ludicrously large prosthetic phallus that his character brandished on the set of Boogie Nights. It's anyone's guess how he actually took it from set without anyone noticing, but Wahlberg did say that he stole it to someday auction it off for charity (although there hasn't been any auction updates since). He also mentioned that it's the only prop he's stolen from a movie set, which has got to make you wonder what exactly was so appealing about it.

A movie that utilizes largely computer generated effects might not age as well as movies that use practical effects, but there is one sizable advantage for filmmakers: it makes it much harder for props to "go missing" on the set when nearly everything is added later with computers. Ryan Reynolds ran into this problem while starring in Green Lantern, a movie that fittingly required a lot of green screen. According to Reynolds, so much of the movie was shot using CGI that he struggled to find something to take home as a memento of filming.

Eventually, he realized that the prop to steal was right in front of his face — or on his finger, more specifically: the Green Lantern ring itself. Considering that the movie premiered to relentlessly negative reviews and ended up being a publicly unpleasant experience for Reynolds, maybe it's a good thing that he found some small joy to take from the set.

If there's any movie that depends on its props, it would probably have to be 50 Shades of Grey. The movie's story follows Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan), a rich entrepreneur who embarks on a steamy romance with Anastasia Steele (Dakota Johnson). The film captured the hearts and minds of viewers in part due to the sizable collection of adult toys involved in the characters' on-screen romance. The franchise became a box-office smash and made Johnson and Dornan almost as wealthy and famous as the characters they played. But Johnson did take home one thing besides her massive paycheck: one of the floggers from Christian Grey's secret room. She made sure to specify that it's just gathering dust in her garage, which seems like a very different use for the item than Christian Grey would have for it. Here's hoping the prop-master didn't get flogged himself for losing one of the on-screen items from the set.

Being part of a best-selling franchise means devoting years of your life to a specific project, usually surrounded by the same cast and crew. It's no wonder then that actors on franchise movies tend to steal little keepsakes to remember their time. After the final film of the Hunger Games franchise Mockingjay: Part 2 was released, a few of the main actors — including Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson – admitted to taking a few props home. Considering that Hutcherson played the perpetual romantic Peeta, it's actually quite sweet that he admitted to keeping the locket that Katniss wears throughout the film. Meanwhile, Katniss herself (Jennifer Lawrence), took home some of the leather outfits. However, Liam Hemsworth didn't take anything from the set, which kind of makes his two co-stars look bad. The only thing Hemsworth admitted to taking from the set was memories of filming the movies, which is actually pretty touching.

While Liam Hemsworth might be surprisingly good-hearted when it comes to not stealing things from set, his brother Chris certainly isn't as innocent. Chris Hemsworth has played Thor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in three separate solo movies and plenty of other crossover films. Accordingly, he's also kept a memento of every single time he's been called upon to play the God of Thunder. According to an interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live, the actor keeps five separate prop versions of Mjolnir, the magical hammer wielded by Thor, throughout his home. One special Mjolnir prop is on permanent display in the bathroom. That's not exactly where we thought Mjolnir goes when Thor is taking a break from smashing Frost Giants, but there is precedence for Thor and his hammer hanging out in a mundane setting. As much as you'd think Marvel Studios and Disney would notice that their Mjolnir props keep disappearing from set as soon as filming is finished, they probably have more important concerns.

While Kristen Stewart is better known these days for award-winning performances in arthouse films, she found her first major mainstream success in the 2000s with the Twilight franchise. Like the Harry Potter movies, the Twilight franchise was a box office smash that took up years of its young stars' lives; Stewart was only 17 years old while filming the first movie and 22 when the final film, Breaking Dawn Part 2, was released to theaters. While her vampire love, Robert Pattinson, and the rest of the cast don't seem to have many fond memories of filming, Stewart appears to have more of a soft spot for the franchise. She told People that she kept the jewelry that Bella Swan wears in the film to better remember director Catherine Hardwicke and co-star Robert Pattinson, emphasizing "I kept the rings. The rings are really important to me." That's a sweet way to remember her co-star and director.

Simon Pegg has been pretty open about his humble, nerdy beginnings. Starting as a kid playing around with home-made phasers and eventually appearing in an actual Star Trek movie, Pegg has definitely made it as a geeky lad living out his dream jobs. He appeared as the Enterprise's engineer, Scotty, in 2009's Star Trek reboot and reprised the role for the sequel, Star Trek: Into Darkness. While filming the sequel, he finally accomplished another long-time childhood goal: keeping a Starfleet badge.

Despite tight security, Pegg admitted that he was able to slip the badge into his bag without anyone noticing. Even though he got away with a pretty nice souvenir, that didn't stop Pegg from adding that he actually had his eyes on a different prize: the prop phasers used on-set, which he wasn't able to get his hands on. Maybe he managed to eventually snag one during Star Trek: Beyond?

When it comes to filming big budget blockbusters, security needs to be extremely tight so that plot details and other secretive information isn't revealed to the public. Even that increased security still isn't enough to stop determined A-listers from stealing props from the set. During the filming of Justice League, the actors who played Aquaman and the Flash ended up acting much less superheroic than their characters. Jason Momoa and Ezra Miller both confessed to stealing small things from the set, including "these little bullets with this little red cap on top of it. Bat bullets!"

Most actors tend to try to steal the show, but it seems like the prospect of pocketing these souvenirs were just too tempting for the two actors. If you're wondering what they did with the stolen props once they actually had them, well, according to Momoa: "I [gave] it to my son." Considering that Affleck and Reynolds both stole something from their respective movies, maybe it's a rite of passage for Warner Bros. superheroes to grab some keepsakes from filming.