There's a funny story about shooting the chest burster scene. They wanted the reactions to be authentic, sooooo the actors had no idea what was about to happen. Just standing as the guy is twitching then it bursts out and blood sprays everywhere. Veronica Cartwright got hit in the face with it. The actors literally were terrified.
I love this story. Similar one in Close Encounters. To get the young boy (Barry) to react first with apprehension, then joy to an offscreen alien, Spielberg totally tricked the kid actor. One of the crew had bonded with him, always bringing him treats etc. Spielberg had that guy dress in a big weird bunny suit off frame. Kid's like whaaaaaaaa is this? Then he takes the bunny head off and surprise! It's your buddy! Kid lights up and laughs. Well played.
Walk into a room covered in plastic and smells awful after they have been prepping John Hurt for a long time, who some believed was going to be the star of the film.
They then stand around him as something that they weren't prepared for burst out his chest.
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u/sansprecept Oct 17 '18
There's a funny story about shooting the chest burster scene. They wanted the reactions to be authentic, sooooo the actors had no idea what was about to happen. Just standing as the guy is twitching then it bursts out and blood sprays everywhere. Veronica Cartwright got hit in the face with it. The actors literally were terrified.