A Behind-The-Scenes Look At How The Iconic Pigtail Scene In "Matilda" Was Filmed Is Going Mega Viral, And You Have GOT To See It
We all know the classic '90s movie Matilda, starring Danny Davito and Mara Wilson. The movie was co-produced and directed by Danny DeVito himself, and it is based on the 1988 Roald Dahl novel Matilda.
Fun fact: Danny's wife in real life, Rhea Pearlman, played his wife Mrs. Wormwood in the movie.
The movie has a lot of standout moments, like when Miss Trunchbull forces poor Bruce to eat a giant chocolate cake in one sitting.
TriStar Pictures
Another highly-remembered scene is when Miss Trunchbull confronts little Amanda Thripp.
After Miss Trunchbull questions her pigtails, Amanda explains that her "mommy thinks they're cute," but Trunchbull insists she must chop them off. Amanda then gets swung her around by her pigtails for responding with "but."
After spinning around around several times, Trunchbull releases Amanda into the air. The students call this move the "hammer throw."
TriStar Pictures
Thankfully, Amanda lands safely in a field of flowers.
TriStar Pictures
And millions of people are just now discovering a very neat BTS look at how that scene was filmed in a recently resurfaced Danny DeVito interview. "We had a crane. A very, very big crane. It came up and went down," he explains.
He went on to share that Jaqueline Steiger — who played Amanda Thripp — was put in a harness, and she loved it.
"But the thing about Jaqueline that I remember really well is that she read constantly. She read as much as Matilda. She read a lot of books," said Danny. And you can see in the BTS clip her reading in between takes!
TriStar Pictures / wishfulwhispers88 / youtube.com
When they start the spin, the cameraman can be heard repeating, "That looks sensational." You can then hear someone else on set say, "You okay Jaqueline?" Overall, the set seemed like a very safe place, and everyone wanted to make sure Jaqueline was comfortable.
In another part, Jaqueline can be seen telling Mara, "If I get dizzy, do you know what the code word is? JELLYBEANS!" Mara looks up at her in the harness, amazed, asking, "Are you gonna shout down, 'Jellybeans!!!???'"
TriStar Pictures / wishfulwhispers88 / youtube.com
In another take, Pam Ferris — the woman who played Miss Trunchbull — freaks out when the braids suddenly pop off Jaqueline's head, and she flies out of the shot.
"We had special braids made so that we could swing her around in a wide shot. They popped out, and we had to glue them back on," Danny explained.
The whole crew was there to help catch Jaqueline any time she swung around on the harness.
At the end, Danny excitedly tells Jaqueline, "You were flyin' kiddo! I can't believe it!" He then kisses her on the cheek and they have the sweetest interaction, both happy her safe word "jellybeans" never had to be said.
The first thing that people were in disbelief about was the fact that there was no stunt double:
Jaqueline did it herself:
And lot of had people assumed it wasn't really her:
People were really surprised to find out just how safe this set was, especially when you think about all the horror stories kid actors have told about working in the '90s:
It was clear that everyone working on the film was focused on making sure Jaqueline was out of harm's way:
And it was so genuine to see:
Lastly, people also enjoyed seeing just how much Danny loved working on this movie:
And one thing is for certain: this film will forever be a favorite. You can watch Danny share more BTS moments here:
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