No matter how long an actor might play a certain character, everything on set belongs to the studio. So, if he or she walks home with a prop or costume, it's not a piece of memorabilia for them to add to their collection—it's stolen property. For most actors, this is a acknowledged and respected. For others, however, they refer back to Captain Barbossa in Pirates of the Caribbean, seeing as they consider the policy of not stealing from set "more what you'd call 'guidelines' than actual rules."
Over the years, some actors have simply grown too attached to certain props or costumes from set that they simply couldn't bear to let them go. The sentimental value clearly superseded any legal consequences. Whether they pocketed a random fixture or hauled a giant prop on the back of a truck, these actors somehow made it work.
If you want to uphold whatever innocent association you've made towards your favorite actors, proceed with caution. It turns out that some of the most renown A-list celebrities in La La Land can't help but scratch their memorabilia itch.
Keep reading to check out the 16 Craziest Things Actors Have TakenFrom Set.
Norman Reedus - Rick's Beard from The Walking Dead
Actor transformations can make or break a movie or television show. In The Walking Dead, Andrew Lincoln's transformation thankfully leans towards the former. It's a subtly rugged transformation just intense enough to make fans of Love Actually not realize that he's the same guy who creepily stalked Keira Knightley's character.
Aside from some gritty makeup, the biggest change necessary to transform Lincoln into his character Rick Grimes came from his beard. According to a Yahoo interview with Norman Reedus (who plays Daryl Dixon), the remains of said beard now reside in his refrigerator (or at least they did for a time being). After Lincoln's character had to have his beard shaved off during an episode, Reedus collected the remains in a Ziploc bag and stored them away for safekeeping.
Clearly this example of set-theft leans more along the lines of creepy than criminal.
Kristen Stewart - Bella's Rings from Twilight
Marriage proposals are major moments in people's lives, even when it's based in fiction. After concluding her time filming the Twilight Saga, Kristen Stewart took a piece of her character home with her— a prop that sparkled even more than her glittery vampire co-stars.
In Eclipse, Edward proposes to Bella, gifting her with a solid piece of diamond-studded jewelry, and it turned out to be one of Stewart's most beloved souvenirs from the series. She kept it for herself, according to an interview with People magazine. In fact, it wasn't the only ring she took home.
Stating that the rings were "really, extremely important" to her, Stewart also nicked the moon ring that her character receives from her mother because it reminds her of Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke, with whom she got along especially well, and her character's wedding band.
Aaron Paul - Heisenberg's Hat from Breaking Bad
In the world of Breaking Bad, there is one character with whom you should never mess. That character is, of course, Heisenberg (aka Walter White, aka the actor who plays him, Bryan Cranston). Nevertheless, his co-star Aaron Paul (who plays Jesse Pinkman) went ahead and stole from him anyway.
If Heisenerg is known for anything, it's his hat.
It's a defining feature. It's iconic. Even though Cranston himself took the hat home with him as a souvenir, it turns out that it wasn't the only prop hat used during filming. With that being the case, Paul went ahead and grabbed one for himself.
According to Entertainment Weekly, he also has his character's license plate from the show, but the hat is definitely the standout, considering the consequences he faces if Heisenberg ever actually finds out.
Gabrielle Union - Cheerleading Uniform from Bring It On
Pretty much everyone wanted to be a cheerleader after they saw Bring It On for the first time back in 2000. That said, few could have managed to look quite as cool as the characters from either of the movie's cheerleading squads: the Rancho Carne High Toros and the East Compton Clovers.
Happy to own her role in the cheerleading cult classic, Clovers cheer captain Gabrielle Union went ahead and kept her uniform after filming had commenced.
In an interview with People magazine, she stated that the two oldest outfits in her closet are her wedding dressing and her uniform from Bring It On. A self-professed anti-hoarder, Union makes it a goal to "purge every three months," but her cheer-tastic uniform is simply too memorable to throw/give away.
Andrew Garfield - Spider-Man Costume from The Amazing Spider-Man
When Andrew Garfield took over for Tobey Maguire and swung into screens as the new Spider-Man in The Amazing Spider-Man, he brought some necessary freshness into the role. As it so happens, he also took something from the role as well when filming was finished: his suit.
During an interview with Radio 1, Garfield admitted to sneaking the costume off set; though he didn't think it'd be too much of an issue, considering how many copies of the suit existed for filming. He said, "I may have stolen one and it may be in my luggage, it may be in my hotel room luggage. It may even be in my back pack in the car. It's possible."
While it's not exactly the noble move for superheroes to go from saving to stealing, Garfield gets a pass, considering he never even got to finish out the rest of the series.
David Tennant - Sonic Screwdriver from Doctor Who
Every few seasons, the Doctor in Doctor Who regenerates— save for the 7th and 9th Doctors, who only got a single season (and the 8th Doctor who only got an episode and a half). When they pass the torch to their successor, it's bittersweet. They don't want to hog the role, but at the same time, leaving behind all the adventures they've embarked on is a tough pill to swallow.
When David Tennant (aka the 10th Doctor) left the show, passing the role onto Matt Smith, he didn't leave empty-handed. According to the Express, Tennant left with a piece of memorabilia— one that just so happened to be one of the most coveted pieces of equipment in the entire universe: his trusty sonic screwdriver.
Luckily, the show didn't need it anymore, given that the 11th Doctor had his screwdriver's design updated.
Rupert Grint - The Golden Egg/No. 4 Plaque from 4 Privet Drive from Harry Potter
In the Harry Potter series, Ron Weasley is as innocent as they come. Does he sometimes have a knack for ignoring authority? Sure. But what more can you expect from someone whose brothers are Fred and George Weasley, and whose best friend is Harry Potter? All things considered, he deserves some credit.
During the ten-year production that was the entire Harry Potter series, Ron actor Rupert Grint felt the urge to not leave the set empty-handed, and according to an interview with the Daily Mail, he parted ways with what might easily be the least magical object in the entire series: the number 4 plaque from the Dursley's home.
In another interview with HungerTV, he admitted to also stealing the golden egg from The Goblet of Fire. Warner Bros. might have let the plaque slide, but considering how expensive the egg was, they eventually had no choice but to ask for it back.
Daniel Radcliffe - Glasses from Harry Potter
Even though Harry Potter may come across as one of the most noble wizards in J.K. Rowling's Wizarding World, the actor who plays him has a few apparent Slytherin characteristics. Then again, considering how sentimental the cast must have been after completing filming, it makes sense that Daniel Radcliffe might want to take home some heirlooms after production concluded on the final film.
According the same interview with the Daily Mail, Radcliffe ended up taking home two of the same prop. Instead of going with something more flashy like his character's Nimbus 2000 or wand, he pinched two pairs of Harry Potter's glasses— one pair from The Sorcerer's Stone and one from The Deathly Hallows.
With all of the fantastical props he could have chosen from, Radcliffe definitely showed some restraint.
Emma Watson - Cloak, Treasure, Wand, and Chess Piece from Harry Potter
Rounding out the Potter trio nicking things from set is Hermione Granger, as played by Emma Watson. In an interview with OK Magazine, Watson opened up about being very anti-Hermione when she kicked her morals to the curb and stole something of her own.
Instead of leaving the past in the past, Watson went ahead and took some props from the set home with her. Only, she didn't bother with too much self control, as she stole not one, not two, and not even three, but four different props from the Harry Potter set.
She said, "I stole a piece of the chess set on the first film. I took a piece of the treasure out of Bellatrix's vault on this film. And I've taken my wand and I've got my cloak."
You can argue that she could have read about all these things in Hogwarts, A History, but you can't blame her for wanting some physical pieces of history of her own.
Chris Pratt - Star-Lord's Jacket
Peter Quill (aka Star-Lord) has traveled from galaxy to galaxy fighting crime (and sometimes even being the criminal) in Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy. He's the antihero everybody loves rooting for, and things aren't entirely different off-screen with the actor who plays him, Chris Pratt. He's charming around the clock, but every so often, he's got to scratch an itch.
Case in point: stealing his character's jacket from set.
In an interview with Panzer TV, Pratt had no shame in admitting that he didn't leave the red leather jacket behind when he finished filming. In the same way his character might take something that didn't belong to him (Rocket Raccoon literally just did this in Vol. 2), Pratt weighed out the negatives and positives of being a thief, and he was happy to lean towards the latter.
Jennifer Lawrence - Katniss' Jacket and Boots from The Hunger Games
Even though the Hunger Games franchise is aimed at a Young Adult crowd, that's not to say they're necessarily little kid-friendly. A dystopian future, a facist government, violent attacks, torture, misery, poverty, it's not exactly a textbook example of entertainment. With this being the case, it shouldn't be too shocking that one of its actors did something that didn't entirely align with family values, right?
After filming The Hunger Games, star Jennifer Lawrence celebrated fighting the good fight by turning engaging in a little light thievery. According to an interview with E! News, she took her leather hunting jacket and leather boots, joking that she wears them "all the time," going "on hikes in full Katniss gear."
Josh Hutcherson - Katniss' Locket from The Hunger Games
As it so happens, Jennifer Lawrence wasn't the only thief on set, as her co-star Josh Hutcherson (who played Peeta Mellark) also managed to avoid being empty-handed once filming finished. Speaking with E! News, he explained that he took home the locket that his character gives to Katniss in Catching Fire, which means he technically stole from the production and his character's friend/teammate/lover.
Then again, considering the fact that his character spends the bulk of the last two movies being tortured and on the edge of life, maybe a small token of memories isn't anything to bat an eye at. Worse things have happened in the context of the Hunger Games franchise, so some petty thievery isn't really worth fussing over by comparison.
Robert Pattinson - Edward's Underwear from Twilight
In a fantastical film series revolving around magical beasts, war, and forbidden love, the general takeaway would be that the production must have chock-full of interesting trinkets. Especially considering how beloved the book series is, fans could easily imagine countless props that would be worth scavenging from set post-filming. As it were, though, star Robert Pattinson left with the least fantastical prop imaginable.
He stole some of his character's underwear.
At a press junket for Breaking Dawn: Part 2, Pattinson admitted that he stole some underwear from set because "they have the best underwear and I have no idea where they get it from," adding that he did this after wrapping on every one of the five movie in the franchise.
Some people clearly have life goals that are significantly more modest than others.
Ryan Reynolds - Deadpool's Costume
When Ryan Reynolds gave audiences what they wanted with Deadpool, he pretty much became the celebrity equivalent of "made men" in the mafia. Not only is he beloved, he's untouchable. He's celebrity royalty. When he walked off set after production ended on the first Deadpool movie with the entire Deadpool costume, nobody batted an eye.
According to an interview with Marie Claire, Reynolds more or less stated that he earned the right to take it home with him. He said, "I'll probably get into trouble for saying that, but I've waited 10 years to do this movie so I'm leaving with a f***ing suit."
Leave it to someone playing Deadpool to explaining his motivation for stealing with a curse words and cockiness. Fans really wouldn't expect anything less.
Dakota Johnson - Flogger from 50 Shades of Grey
50 Shades of Grey is one of those books that nobody admits to reading, but has still somehow been read by pretty much everyone. %ough the movie is slightly more watered down than the source material, the same applies to filmgoers.
Behind the scenes, however, the actors don't seem to be bothered by the material whatsoever, going so far as to steal some of the props from set— no matter how saucy they may be. For example, star Dakota Johnson ended up stealing one Christian Grey's floggers from set.
Though it's not necessarily the sort of prop that most people would feel comfortable casually having around the house, Johnson told Glamour that she took it anyway. Then again, considering that it's in the garage and covered in dust may take away from the shock value.
Robert Downey Jr. - The 30-foot "A" from Stark Tower in The Avengers
When it comes to stealing props from set, actors tend to keep things relatively low-key. There's evident self control in their scope, and they tend to swipe items that can either fit in their pockets or bedroom closets. That said, the rules don't really apply to someone like Robert Downey Jr., and he proved this after wrapping production on The Avengers.
The Tony Stark/Iron Man star has every other actor beat when it comes to stealing from set, as the prop that he went home with was the 30-foot "A" from Stark Tower.
According to an interview with Simon Mayo of BBC Radio One, Downey Jr. went all out with his movie memorabilia. To be fair, he didn't steal this prop, but considering its magnitude of this example, it earns a place on this list. Downey Jr. jokingly mentioned to the crew that he "needed" it in his Venice office, so they went ahead and let him have it.
—
If you could take home any movie prop, which one would you choose? Let us know in the comments!
