‘Rebel Without a Cause’: 10 Behind the Scenes Facts About the James Dean and Natalie Wood Movie
Learn who was seeing whom behind the scenes!
“You’re tearing me apart!” is one of the best-known movie lines of all time, and it was uttered in the groundbreaking 1955 film Rebel Without a Cause.
The story follows Jim Stark (played by James Dean) after his arrival in a new town. It isn’t long before Jim starts to stir up trouble when he falls for Judy (Natalie Wood), a local girl. That in itself is a pretty solid start for an on-screen drama, but then there’s the exploration of the proposed moral decay of American youth, conflicts between generations and an indictment of certain parenting styles.
MUST READ: The Extraordinary Life and Tragic Death of Natalie Wood
Yet even with all of that, life behind-the-scenes was actually more intense. There were multiple affairs, a death and an actor whose lines were were almost entirely cut. To learn about this and so much more, keep reading.
Want to rewatch Rebel Without a Cause? This film is available for streaming on Hulu.
1. James Dean improvised one of the movie’s scenes
James Dean was exhausted after shooting for nearly 24 hours straight, so he asked director Nicholas Ray to roll the cameras and let him try something different. This led to him coming up and filming a sequence taking place between Jim Stark and a toy monkey. Amazingly, it became one of cinema’s most well-known opening scenes.
2. There was a big age gap between Natalie Wood and James Dean
At the time of filming, Natalie Wood was 16, and James Dean was 24, making him eight years older than her. It also meant that Wood was the actual age of her character, while Dean most definitely wasn’t, as he was playing a 17-year-old.
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3. James Dean died before Rebel Without a Cause was released
Tragically, James Dean, at only 24, was killed in an auto accident on September 30, 1955. An avid auto racer, he was en route to an event when he was involved in the deadly crash. His death occurred a little less than a month before the release of Rebel without a Cause on October 27.
4. Director Nicholas Ray and Natalie Wood had an affair
Actress Natalie Wood was originally considered too young for the role of Judy, but after she began wearing heavier eye makeup and styling her hair differently, director Nicholas Ray really began to notice her. This allegedly led to the two of them having an illicit love affair. Ray was 43, and Wood was 16 at the time.
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5. Rebel Without a Cause almost had a different ending
Rebel Without a Cause almost ended with Plato (Sal Mineo) falling from the tower of the Griffith Park planetarium, but it was changed to him just being shot and killed by the police instead. In order to make sure Mineo was okay with his character’s demise, Dean never left his side all day.
6. James Dean did not receive an Oscar nomination for his work in Rebel Without a Cause
Despite giving an unforgettable performance as Jim Stark, James Dean didn’t receive an Oscar nomination for his work. It was the one of his three credited film roles for which he failed to do so.
Additionally, it was also the only film of Dean’s that was not designed to be a period piece.
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7. Many of Dennis Hopper’s lines were cut from the film
Dennis Hopper, who plays Goon in Rebel Without a Cause, originally had considerably more lines in the film, but Nicholas Ray cut a lot of them out of jealousy. Natalie Wood reportedly ended her affair with Ray to be with Hopper, so, in response, Ray tried to have Hopper fired, but Warner Brothers wouldn’t allow it. Instead, he significantly reduced Hopper’s screen time.
8. Numerous members of the cast died under very tragic circumstances
Five of the film’s cast members died under very tragic circumstances. Dean died in the aforementioned car accident, Mineo was stabbed to death in February 1976, and Wood drowned in November 1981. Additionally, Edward Platt died by suicide in 1974, and Dennis Hopper died in 2009 after a 5 month illness.
9. Jim Stark’s switchblade was real
The switchblade that Jim Stark (James Dean) uses in Rebel Without a Cause was real and injured Dean quite a few times during filming. Flash forward to September 2015, and that same blade was sold at auction for $12,000.
10. Nicholas Ray may have also had an affair with Sal Mineo
After his affair with Wood ended, Ray is purported to have had one with Sal Mineo. However, that fact wasn’t revealed to the public until 2005.
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