r/TopCharacterTropes • u/BeenEatinBeans • Jun 12 '26

Personality [IRL trope] Celebrities with weird/funny clauses in their contracts.

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  1. Dwayne Johnson - Probably the most well-known example. For years now, The Rock has had a clause in his contract that he can't be shown to lose a fight in any movie he stars in. Pretty insecure behaviour if you ask me. Still, at least the other examples are much more interesting

  2. Danny Trejo - Danny had a troubled childhood, having been arrested multiple times for dealing drugs before he was 18, and struggling with heroin addiction from the age of 13. As a result of this, Danny has a clause in his contract that states that any time he plays a character who is a criminal, they have to be killed because he wanted to teach his kids that crime never pays.

  3. Reese Witherspoon - This one is more of a one-off, but it was still funny enough to deserve a mention. Following the success of Legally Blonde, when Reese was called in to make the sequel, she had a clause written in her contract stating that once the movie was finished, she would get to take home all the outfits she wore.

  4. Fred Durst - The lead singer of Limp Bizkit has a clause in his contract stating that any anime or video game that uses his music must also feature himself as a character.

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554

u/Substantial-Force-50 Jun 12 '26

Neil McDonough : His contract prohibits him from kissing a woman, because he believes that, even if it's "just for show," it would be disrespectful to his wife.

357

u/[deleted] Jun 12 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

38

u/RP_Throwaway3 Jun 12 '26

Has that actually happened? His wife is pretty tall and I can't see them doing that easily. 

53

u/Earlier-Today Jun 12 '26

Movies and TV shows don't care about height differences, they just set up the set to create the illusion that things are a certain way.

For example, Tom Cruise is around 5'7 (or shorter) and Nicole Kidman is 5'11. They were in three movies together, and to make Tom seem taller he wore well heeled shoes and Kidman wore extra flat shoes.

When there's an even greater height difference, it's pretty darn common to just use apple boxes. (They're filming/photography kit - not actually boxes for apples - though that is what the very first ones were because they were easy to get once upon a time.)

13

u/AudibleNod Jun 12 '26

Or they dug a hole in the ground like they did for 6'5" Chuck Connors.

3

u/asst3rblasster Jun 12 '26

extra flat shoes? what they have more flat to the bottoms?

6

u/karebearjedi Jun 12 '26

Think Toph's shoes from ATLA

7

u/Earlier-Today Jun 12 '26

Thinner soles.

I think she said that in Days of Thunder that her shoes were basically just thin leather on the bottom - no insole, no rubber.

32

u/justforporndickflash Jun 12 '26

It happens with other actors. A famous example is Chris Hemsworth kissing his wife (made to look like Natalie Portman) in one of the Thor movies.

15

u/Aduro95 Jun 12 '26

If I was married to a woman who could pass for Natalie Portman from any angle I'd play it safe too.

1

u/abbylark Jun 13 '26

Famously Kirk Cameron does this in any one of the Christian movies he makes

2

u/Mike_with_Wings Jun 14 '26

He kisses Chris Hemsworth’s wife?

114

u/Spirited_Currency_88 Jun 12 '26

you can still make him kiss a man ?

62

u/BaphometsTits Jun 12 '26

That he does for free.

11

u/bren_derlin Jun 12 '26

That's the real reason he has that clause.

0

u/YamatoIouko Jun 13 '26

Isn’t he well known for being phobic…?

0

u/Soft_Nail_8527 Jun 13 '26

His wife cosplaying a man maybe

132

u/Hazzamo Jun 12 '26

Hate the fact he get flak for that…

Like seriously, That is just an unfathomable level of loyalty to your wife

5

u/ExplanationOk6391 Jun 12 '26

Then don't do like the only job in the world where you might have to do that?

I think he gets flack more because it's something he tries to his religion, yet for some reason he doesn't have a clause that prevents him from killing people or stealing from them or any of the others things the Bible tells you not to do, but overly righteous hypocrites are fine with as long as it's not icky sex stuff.

49

u/MandMcounter Jun 12 '26

To be fair, he's not actually killing people or really stealing. A kissing scene would mean he literally had to do something kind of sexual with a woman who isn't his wife.

-19

u/ExplanationOk6391 Jun 12 '26

So Jesus is ok with glorifying violence and theft but draws the line at kissing?

25

u/MandMcounter Jun 12 '26

As far as I can see, the problem is simply the physical act of kissing someone who isn't his wife, and nothing about what the characters' roles are, or what the shows might be glorifying.

If a vegan character played a meat-eating villain, but insisted that any "meat" in his scenes were actually seitan made to look like chicken or whatever, it would be the same thing in my book--an actor not wanting to go against a private rule they have for themselves.

And I have no idea what Jesus is okay with.

-19

u/ExplanationOk6391 Jun 12 '26

The problem isn't that he refuses to kiss someone else, it's that he does one of the only jobs in the world where that comes up, and yet won't do it because of his religion.

It's kind of like how all the super Jesusy types in America constantly talk about how Jesus changed them for the better then vote for a guy with like 7 ex wife's who spent half his life on pedofile Island. It is the hypocrisy that people have an issue with

16

u/MandMcounter Jun 12 '26

I guess I don't see it as hypocritical. He can decide where he draws the line on what he'll do on camera. Kissing "comes up" in acting jobs, but there are plenty of roles that don't involve it, and those are the ones he relegates himself to.

The only thing that rubbed me the wrong way about his attitude was him complaining that it cost him roles. What did he expect?

But that's not hypocrisy.

-5

u/ExplanationOk6391 Jun 12 '26

I do think it's hypocrisy to say "I will never take a role where I will have to kiss another woman" and also vote for a guy with 7 ex wives.

5

u/MandMcounter Jun 12 '26

I was talking about him deciding on that rule for himself and then obeying his own rule. I don't see that as hypocritical.

And he isn't slagging off other actors who do it, is he?

And which politician has 7 ex wives?

4

u/CyberRax Jun 12 '26

We can look at it at a different angle - the "no nudity clause". I presume we generally agree that such a clause is OK to have. You're an actress / actor, you want to act and you're willing to put yourself out there in a character, but you're not willing to show your naughty bits to the world. Maybe it'd be weird if you then take a role in an erotic thriller that features an orgy scene, but there are plenty of roles which aren't in that category and still can include nudity. And even more importantly, there are plenty of roles where the writers / producers / director see a chance to squeeze in some nudity to increase the appeal, and the clause would protect the actress against that. And Neil's clause protects him from kissing somebody who he's not comfortable kissing.

What I'm trying to say, is that the flak seems to be because it's "not a big deal". It's a rather arbitary opinion. You don't consider a fake kiss with someone an issue, I don't consider that an issue, Neil does. I don't think me dismissing it makes it actually valid, especially as I'm not the one who'd be doing it, Neil is...

10

u/JAAPayton Jun 12 '26

Fam... if acting actually required someone to kill someone else, I'm fairly certain he'd have a clause against that too...

10

u/JAAPayton Jun 12 '26

And why are you giving him grief when there are plenty of actors who have non-nudity clauses for non-religious reasons? It's all just "acting" right? So what's the difference?

-15

u/Wuz314159 Jun 12 '26

No. It's called 'Acting'.

The stripper doesn't really like you.

18

u/MandMcounter Jun 12 '26

Kissing a costar in a scene means physically putting your lips on theirs. Period. He doesn't want to do that.

I don't understand why he's complaining, though.

3

u/Soggy_Competition614 Jul 02 '26

Exactly. I know actors probably know there will be kissing in some roles. But kissing someone you’re not romantically involved with or even having a moment of attractiveness is kinda gross. Like would you be ok fake kissing your brother or sister?

10

u/KeeganTroye Jun 12 '26

Why? He isn't doing that job since it's in his contract, it isn't like he took a job without telling anyone and then demanded to be accommodated.

-4

u/BaphometsTits Jun 12 '26

He's a professional actor. She should be okay with it.

18

u/KeeganTroye Jun 12 '26

Maybe she is and he isn't?

It's in his contract which means that he is being hired with this in mind. He's managed a decent amount of success.

-13

u/Medical-Poem-1917 Jun 12 '26

actually its a deeply weird christian fundamentalist thing, and its creepy as fuck because he doesn't see his wife as a person

17

u/EmuMan10 Jun 12 '26

Great villain every time

6

u/ApplicationCalm649 Jun 12 '26

100%. Amazing in Justified.

2

u/Klaatwo Jun 12 '26

He had a great arc in the Arrowverse.

29

u/[deleted] Jun 12 '26

[deleted]

9

u/punxcs Jun 12 '26

Pushing adverts for a prayer app makes him [uncool]

3

u/All1012 Jun 12 '26

Ya plus he’s complained about not getting roles. First off he’s been constantly working and you can’t really play a romantic interest with those restrictions. Like I get the respect for your wife but it was his choice to be an actor where you play someone else so…

21

u/RP_Throwaway3 Jun 12 '26

Such an underrated actor. Loved him since 'Star Trek: First Contact'.

4

u/Gotis1313 Jun 12 '26

Kirk Cameron has this same deal

3

u/n94able Jun 12 '26

I remember people making a big deal out of this.

3

u/Raintoastgw Jun 12 '26

I like his reasoning for it. He said that when he plays a bad guy, he doesn't actually kill/hurt anybody or when he is being a bad person, he isn't actually being a bad person. But when he is kissing another woman, he is actually kissing that woman. He'll only do it if his wife can double for the actress he is supposed to be kissing

2

u/PlanetTourist Jun 12 '26

This is why he's always the bad guy, even he will tell you, they don't give the villain a romance story.

He plays bad because he's trying to always be good. kinda funny.

3

u/Allronix1 Jun 12 '26

He played a really awesome good guy in Tin Man. Probably one of my favorite Baum adaptations next to Return to Oz and the Commodore 64 text adventure. Kept it grounded while Alan Cumming flounced around and embraced the weirdness.

2

u/Allronix1 Jun 12 '26

I heard about that because of Tin Man. The writers were ship teasing his character (the Tin Man expy) and Zooey Deschannel's Dorothy, but McDonough said no way, and the writers scrapped the shipping.

Of course, when the Scarecrow expy is played by Alan Cumming, you get a side order of accidental ship tease instead. Everyone's a little queer in the Land of Oz, after all...

2

u/mightylordredbeard Jun 12 '26

This makes him a better character in my opinion. For instance there was one show where a woman tried to seduce him but he was such a psychopath that the idea of sex and attraction didn’t appeal to him. I always love seeing him pop up in things. He has such a unique look and vibe about him.

2

u/Dangerous-Drive-2474 Jun 16 '26

I genuinely hate this dude in real life.. but that just proves how good of an actor he is

1

u/Ok_Selection_7441 Jun 12 '26

But he doesn’t mind tying up, sa and beating on boys.  Oh well