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About 15 cable networks turned down Stranger Things because its leads were children. Many stories here start with a door that stayed shut. Walt Disney lost his rabbit Oswald to Universal in 1928, and Mickey Mouse followed. James Cameron gave up his $8 million salary rather than cut Titanic. Paramount resisted Marlon Brando for The Godfather, so he stuffed cotton balls in his cheeks to audition. Quentin Tarantino skipped Speed and Men in Black to write Pulp Fiction. These film and TV makers pushed past a no.
- James BondJames Bond got his name from a field guide to Caribbean birds. Ian Fleming wanted the dullest name he could find.
- Alfred HitchcockAt age five, Alfred Hitchcock was sent to a police station with a note and locked in a cell.
- Steven SpielbergSteven Spielberg walked into Universal Studios without a pass, and the guard waved him in.
- Quentin TarantinoQuentin Tarantino turned down Speed and Men in Black to write Pulp Fiction in Amsterdam.
- Stranger ThingsAbout 15 cable networks rejected Stranger Things because its leads were children.
- Meryl StreepDino De Laurentiis insulted Meryl Streep in Italian, not knowing she spoke it. She answered him in Italian too.
- Jim HensonJim Henson made the first Kermit from a halved table tennis ball and his mother's old coat.
- Audrey HepburnAudrey Hepburn gave underground concerts to raise money for the Dutch resistance. She was a teenager in occupied Arnhem.
- Tom HanksTom Hanks lost 35 pounds to play a dying lawyer in Philadelphia. He thinned his hair and learned to walk differently.
- Walt DisneyIn 1928, Walt Disney lost his hit cartoon rabbit Oswald to Universal. Only Ub Iwerks stayed, and Mickey Mouse followed.
- Breaking BadBreaking Bad began as a joke about two unemployed writers cooking meth in an RV.
- Titanic (1997 film)Rather than cut Titanic, James Cameron gave up his $8 million director's salary.
- The GodfatherMarlon Brando stuffed cotton balls in his cheeks to audition for The Godfather. Paramount resisted casting him.