Summary

• Actors go through gross and disgusting experiences to create authentic and captivating TV scenes.
• Filming eating scenes can be miserable, with actors having to eat the same food repeatedly for multiple takes.
• Some actors have visceral reactions, including vomiting, to the vile and repulsive scenes they have to perform.

Sometimes, to create the most gripping and visually incredible scenes on television, actors have to put themselves through gross situations. From eating disgusting prosthetics to experiencing foul smells and props, actors continue to show their dedication to the craft in order to produce the most authentic and captivating performances. TV has a tendency to push boundaries, sometimes showcasing scenes that are so disgustingly graphic that they're incredibly difficult to watch. Whether it is excessive gore, violence, or disturbing acts, actors often find these sequences just as challenging to perform as they are to watch.

Some actors give their all to their roles, leading them to fully commit to some horrific acting experiences. From Sydney Sweeney's experience with a pump, a pipe, and a horse bit in Cassie's infamous Euphoria vomit scene to eating fake flesh that felt disturbingly real by the actors in Yellowjackets, sometimes the scenes are so vile that they cause the actors to have a visceral reaction themselves. This can be anything from physical discomfort to even vomiting. The toll that bringing disgusting scenes to life on TV can have is another example of the extraordinary commitment actors have to their art.

10 Tom Selleck On Blue Bloods

Blue Bloods' family dinner scenes were miserable to film.

Tom Selleck shared with TV Insider the challenges of filming Blue Bloods' signature family dinner scenes. Often taking a whole day to shoot, these scenes could be terribly tedious, with the Blue Bloods cast repeatedly eating the same food for multiple takes. He describes filming the scenes as "miserable." Even though the cast receives real but mildly seasoned food, Selleck chose to stick to vegetables mainly. In contrast, Co-star Donnie Wahlberg is known for eating during these scenes, even in rehearsals and when the meals are more than hefty with pork chops and applesauce.

It’s nice to spend time with the entire cast once an episode, but filming an eating scene is miserable. Well, the eating part is. You have to eat the same foods over and over again to get all the shots. We’ll probably spend eight hours shooting this scene.

9 Kevin Costner On Yellowstone

Kevin Costner was horrified to be served grilled octopus on the set of Yellowstone.

In an interview with Delish, In Yellowstone, Chef Gabriel "Gator" Guilbeau, who doubles as the Dutton family cook on-screen and head of craft services off-screen, revealed that Kevin Costner is a picky eater. Catering to the cast, including Costner, can be challenging, especially when taking into an actor's personal preferences. During the filming of Yellowstone, Kevin Costner was served grilled octopus for a scene in Season 2, Episode 3, which he found utterly disgusting. This genuine reaction was captured on camera, adding an unexpected humorous moment to the episode.

8 Salma Hayek On Black Mirror

Salma Hayek was repulsed by her grotesque scene in Black Mirror.

In Black Mirror's "Joan Is Awful" episode, Salma Hayek took on the challenging role of a character who mirrors the life of Joan (Annie Murphy), whose life becomes a TV show. In an interview with Independent, Hayek revealed that the role required her to expose a side she describes as "disgusting and grotesque." The episode explores self-deprecating themes and involves a specific scene that involves her character defecting on the floor of a church, causing Hayek to ask herself, "Do I really want to do this? Am I going to get in trouble?" However, Hayek embraced the chance to explore an alter ego capable of actions she'd never consider in real life.

7 Ed Helms and Angela Kinsey On The Office

A hot dog-eating competition caused The Office cast to gag.

In The Office episode "Beach Games," Ed Helms who played Andy, found filming the hot dog eating contest revolting. The necessity of chewing and repeatedly spitting out hot dogs for multiple takes across hours of filming caused Helms and others to gag. Angela Kinsey shared on the Office Ladies podcast that the mere act of spitting out the chewed-up food would cause her to gag, and the sight of a communal bucket filled with chewed hot dog remnants further grossed out the entire cast, proving to be a particularly difficult shoot.

6 Jonathan Frakes On Star Trek

Jonathan Frakes ate live grub worms on Star Trek: The Next Generation.

In the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode Conspiracy, Jonathan Frakes, who played Commander Riker, ate a live grub worm. Initially, there was speculation that the actors were eating chow mein or similar food, but in a 1996 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Frakes confirmed that he actually ate a live grub worm. When asked what his favorite Klingon dish was, Frakes replied, "Gach. I like gach (serpent worms). And I once ate a live grub worm in a Star Trek episode."

5 IronE Singleton On The Walking Dead

IronE Singleton gagged on the set of The Walking Dead.

On the set of The Walking Dead, actor IronE Singleton, who played T-Dog, experienced uncontrollable gagging while filming a scene featuring a grotesque, bloated zombie in a well. During a Wizard World 2020 interview, Singleton revealed that while filming the scene in season 2 episode Cherokee Rose, the combination of the dust in the air, the zombie's repulsive appearance, and co-star Norman Reedus' gross jokes caused him to gag on set. Director Billy Gierhart attempted to get Singleton to stop gagging, but the revolting zombie proved too much.

4 John Bradley on Game Of Thrones

John Bradley was disgusted during those sickening Citadel scenes.

In the Game of Thrones season 7 premiere, John Bradley, who plays Samwell Tarly, stars in Game of Thrones' most disgusting scene. In the show, Tarly is forced to perform menial tasks like cleaning out bedpans and cooking stew at the Citadel, a comparison the show makes revoltingly obvious. Over five days, Bradley shot the sequence alone. Luckily, the disgusting substance in the bedpans was not human waste but wet fruit cake. Though it initially smelled fine, the scent worsened under the hot lights and over five days of shooting.

3 Sydney Sweeney on Euphoria

Sydney Sweeney was disgusted while filming her infamous vomit scene in Euphoria.

In an interview with Hot Ones, Sydney Sweeney details the grueling process it took to create Cassie's infamous vomit scene in Euphoria's season 2, describing it as "the most disgusting thing I’ve ever experienced." The scene involved a technical setup where a pump and a hidden pipe, CGI'd out later, were used to project vomit. Sweeney had to hold a horse bit in her mouth while the pump filled her mouth with fake vomit, which she then projected out. This experience was extremely disgusting for Sweeney, and the most disgusting thing she ever had to do for a scene.

They had to get a pump, and they had this pipe that they taped and hid on my body and CGI’d it out, up my neck, and then there was a horse bit that I had to put in my mouth. And so during that scene, they’re filling my mouth with throwup. And then, I open up my mouth, and it just starts shooting out. It was the most disgusting thing I’ve ever experienced.

2 The Cast On Yellowjackets

Yellowjackets' actors threw up while filming the cannibalism scene.

Filming the cannibalism scene in Yellowjackets season 2, episode 2, proved to be a revolting experience for the cast, particularly when acting out the eating of Jackie's (Ella Purnell) body. The fake flesh, made of jackfruit and rice paper, tasted horrible and became soggy and slimy. Despite knowing they were eating harmless foods, the vividness of the scene caused genuine gagging and vomiting among the actors, as the fake flesh's texture felt disturbingly real. In an interview with Buzzfeed News, Sophie Nélisse (Shauna) described the concoction as the "grossest thing ever," with it even causing Samantha Hanratty (Misty Quigley) to vomit.

1 Emilia Clake On Game of Thrones

Emilia Clarke's horse heart-eating scene caused her to vomit on the set of Game Of Thrones.

One of Daenerys Targaryen's best moments was incredibly hard for Game Of Thrones actress Emilia Clarke to film - the famous horse heart-eating scene. The nauseating scene involved Daenerys consuming a whole raw horse's heart as part of a Dothraki ritual. Clarke told The Mirror, "It was very helpful to be given something so truly disgusting to eat, so there wasn't much acting required." She also describes the prop heart as tasting "like bleach and raw pasta."

The experience was so unpleasant that Emilia Clarke had to vomit into a bucket after eating around 28 artificial hearts throughout the day. Clarke's numerous uncomfortable experiences while shooting Game of Thrones, particularly in season 1, are well-documented. For this scene to be the worst shows just how stomach-churning it was.