Here's A Look At 13 Actors Who Actually Died While Filming A Movie

A lot of us can't even imagine an actor passing away while working on a movie, and I'm sure that the arrangements that have to be made after something like that are incredibly complicated. I don't think it's exactly common knowledge to know who passed away while making a movie.

These movies are special, though, because they serve as the last moments of these remembered actors, and that is enough for anyone to want to rewatch them. Some of these actors passed away due to natural circumstances, while others have circumstances that are a bit eerier and might even call for some explanation.

You might actually be surprised to hear that some of our favorite characters passed away while working on a movie, which would, of course, be the last film they would play in. These situations are definitely sad, but we always have their movies to remember them by, which makes them that much more special.

We're going to take a look at 13 actors who actually passed away while they were filming what would be their last movie. Let's take a look at the actors, what happened, and which movie they were acting in before they passed away.

1. Chris Farley: Shrek

Farley actually died on December 18, 1997, from an overdose of cocaine and morphine. He was 33 years old and was found dead on his apartment floor.

He was the voice actor behind Shrek, but once he passed away, they decided to cast Mike Myers for the role.

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Here's a look into Farley's recordings for Shrek here:

2. Heather O'Rourke: Poltergeist III

Heather died on February 1, 1988, as a result of acute bowel obstruction and septic shock. Although she had finished shooting for the movie, it was still in post-production when she passed.

The director tried to postpone finishing the movie, as he said that it felt disrespectful to her and her family, but they were forced to continue the production of the movie.

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You can see the end of Poltergeist III here:

3. James Dean: Giant

James Dean died in a car accident on September 30, 1955, when he was 24 years old. It was said that technically Dean had finished all of his filming for the movie Giant, but he needed to go in for some touch-ups on the audio, which, of course, he wasn't able to do after his passing.

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Here's a popular scene from the movie Giant that he played in.

This scene is actually the one he was supposed to come back and fix the audio for.

4. Natalie Wood: Brainstorm

Natalie Wood passed away on November 29, 1981, by drowning off the coast of Catalina Island, California. Natalie was in the process of filming Brainstorm when she passed away, and it's worth mentioning that the circumstances surrounding her death have been filled with many mysteries.

There have been many persons of interest in her case, including her real-life husband and her co-star who played her husband in Brainstorm.

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You can see the ending of Brainstorm here:

5. River Phoenix: Dark Blood

Phoenix died on October 31, 1993, from drug intoxication involving lethal levels of cocaine and morphine. Phoenix had about a month left of filming for Dark Blood, and he also had a position lined up to be a reporter in Interview With The Vampire.

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Here's the trailer for Dark Blood.

6. Aaliyah: The Matrix Reloaded

Aaliyah died on August 25, 2001, along with eight other passengers on a small plane that crashed in the Bahamas. Aaliyah had actually finished filming all of her scenes for The Matrix Reloaded, but Reloaded and Revolutions were to be filmed back-to-back, and she had not started any filming for Revolutions, so her role had to be recast after her passing.

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Here's some behind-the-scenes footage of Aaliyah here:

7. Heath Ledger: The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

Ledger died on January 22, 2008, from an "accidental overdose" of pain medication, sleeping pills, and anti-anxiety drugs. Many other actors, including Johnny Depp, stepped in to play his role as he traveled through a dream world in the movie.Robyn Beck / AFP via Getty Images, Sony Pictures / ©Sony Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection

Here's a look at behind-the-scenes of Heath's role:

8. Philip Seymour Hoffman: Hunger Games: Mockingjay

Hoffman died on February 2, 2014, from a deadly mix of drugs that included heroin, cocaine, amphetamines, and sedatives. Hoffman had completed most of his filming for The Hunger Games movies, and the filming days were cut short to allow time for mourning.

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Here's an extended scene of Hoffman in Mockingjay here:

9. Oliver Reed: Gladiator

Reed passed away on May 2, 1999, of a heart attack. Reed was in the process of filming Gladiator when he passed away, and the remainder of his scenes were completed using visual effects.Martin Keene - Pa Images / PA Images via Getty Images, Dreamworks / ©DreamWorks/Courtesy Everett Collection

Here's a look into one of the scenes filmed using visual effects:

10. Brandon Lee: The Crow

Lee died on March 31, 1993, after being shot on set with a gun that was supposed to shoot blanks. The director and crew, after mourning, decided that Lee would have wanted them to finish filming, so that's exactly what they did.

Similar to the previous actor's death, they continued the movie by using digital effects.

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You can see one of the "digitally grafted" scenes here:

11. Bruce Lee: The Game of Death

Bruce Lee died on July 20, 1973, at Queen Elizabeth's Hospital after being found unconscious on his apartment floor. Lee had just passed away after only filming about 40 minutes of footage for the film The Game of Death, so the movie was initially scrapped.

A few years later, however, Golden Harvest decided to release the movie anyway and just change the storyline so that they could use only the 40 minutes of footage that Bruce Lee filmed for them.

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Here's a scene in the movie dedicated to Bruce Lee's passing:

12. Paul Walker: Fast & Furious 7

Walker died on November 30, 2013, alongside Roger Rodas in a single-car crash. Walker hadn't filmed many of the key scenes for the Fast & Furious movie, so they relied on visual effects to finish the film.Victor Virgile / Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images, Universal / ©Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection

You can see a breakdown of the visual effects used to create Walker's scenes here:

13. Vic Morrow and child actors Myca Dinh Le and Renee Shin-Yi Chen: The Twilight Zone: The Movie

Morrow, Le, and Chen died on July 23, 1982, while filming a mock Vietnam battle scene. Morrow was 53, Le was 7, and Chen was 6 years old. While filming a scene, a helicopter was used, and unfortunately, this is what killed all three of them.

Something happened, and the aircraft hit 6-year-old Renee, then the helicopter toppled over, and the blade sliced both Morrow and 7-year-old Myca.

Film Favorites / Getty Images, Warner Bros. / Courtesy of Everett Collection

Here's a look into Segment One:

Some of these stories are incredibly crazy, while others leave a lot of mystery behind them. I mean, I can't be the only one noticing a trend with movie actors dying of overdoses or "lethal amounts" of drugs.

This seems to be an ongoing issue, and it's incredibly sad. It is quite interesting how many movies decided to continue on and just use visual effects to finish off the roles of the deceased actors.