Cocaine Bear Had A Human Stand-In That Led To A Hilarious BTS Atmosphere
Bear attacks are a scary sight to behold (ask Leonardo DiCaprio, he knows). An attack from a bear out of its dome on cocaine, however? Those of slightly darker humor might well get a kick out of it. Those are the kind of laughs that director Elizabeth Banks was aiming for when she brought "Cocaine Bear" to the big screen, tweaking the true story of a bear in 1985 who had a class-A time after it ingested 75 pounds of the substance and got a bit rowdy. In reality, the poor bear died from ingesting such a large amount and was taxidermied before being passed around various locations.
With a story like this, the obvious furry hurdle to jump over is bringing the titular drug-induced terror to life and making sure that, no bears were harmed in the making of this wild film. Thankfully, as revealed by the cast of "Cocaine Bear," that wasn't the case, and instead, in the moments when an intoxicated bear was needed, the magic of motion capture was put in its place.
Enter Alan Henry, the human stand-in for when bear and blood were filling the screen and the rest of the cast needed something to work with. As revealed by Keri Russell, there were times when they couldn't help but laugh at the carnage being supposedly caused by a bear that wasn't there. Thankfully, Banks was on hand to paint them all a picture while they were attacked by a man in a unitard.
Cocaine Bear cast took turns in making fun each other during bear attacks
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Keri Russell revealed that for Henry's stand-in moments for scenes when a bear was going berserk, the classic motion capture unitard was included. Sometimes though, when scenes needed more bite, the director who had previously handled less violent projects like "Pitch Perfect" (pitch-slaps excluded) had that covered. "Better than that is Banks on our close-ups yelling back from video village in the woods, going, 'And now he's eating his leg off! He's eating his face off! And blood is squirting all over! And now his body is falling!'" Russell said.
The descriptions, as detailed as they were, might not have had quite the intended effect, though. Russell revealed that while Banks' efforts were appreciated, co-stars Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Margo Martindale would crack up over what they were hearing. "We would take turns making fun of each other, I was like, 'I don't think this is the way this is supposed to go, but I think the Oscars should consider it,'" she said. Well, Hollywood stars have to take on jobs like this from time to time, but you know the rules. Just bear with it.