Despite all the glitz and glamour surrounding movie making, film sets are surprisingly dull places. Sure it’s cool seeing celebrities and hotshot directors in their element, but ultimately the days are long, repetitive, and stressful. Like any workplace, the monotony of the day can lead some stars to act out and pull pranks on their colleagues.
One notoriously mischievous person is horror movie legend Sam Raimi, who apparently loves teasing and winding up his cast. While making Spider-Man 2, Raimi took things to a whole new level, though, recruiting the one and only Willem Dafoe to help him with pulling a prank on Alfred Molina.
The prank was immortalised in a behind the scenes video, filmed by the crew who were also in on the joke. The clip, which has recently gone viral again, shows Raimi discussing what he wants Molina to do in a scene before leading him to the sound stage. Once there, it’s revealed that the crew have put Dafoe into the tentacle puppet harness that Molina should be wearing and have him deliver Molina’s monologue in an effort to show him “what they want”.
Being a good sport, Molina takes the joke in the spirit it was meant, barking with laughter as Dafoe chews the scenery. The pair part on good terms, shaking hands and laughing as Raimi twists the knife, telling Molina: “that’s how we want it done.”
Both Molina and Dafoe’s Spider-Man villains have become icons of the silver screen, so much so Marvel Studios has brought them back for Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Well, technically, we know they’ve brought Molina back. He makes an epic appearance at the end of the new trailer. We’ve had no confirmation that Dafoe’s reprising the role of Green Goblin, but at this point, it seems incredibly likely. We see a Raimi-era pumpkin bomb during the No Way Home trailer and hear a laugh so fiendish it could only belong to one cinematic imp, Dafoe.