Tippi Hedren's Worst Nightmare: What Actually Happened on Set of The Birds?
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Some roles are just too demanding and stressful.
Once you see Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds, you will never look at crows and seagulls the same way again. More than half a century has passed since the movie was released, and that statement still holds true.
For the lead role of Melanie Daniels, the director was looking for an actress with a refined, "bird-like" grace. The star of Rear Window, Grace Kelly, who gave up her film career after her marriage to the Prince of Monaco, refused to participate in the film.
The Birds Was Tippi's Very First Movie Role
Hitchcock dismissed a solid list of other famous actresses when he noticed a blonde from an ad on TV – the woman's name was Tippi Hedren.
The pragmatic director realized that the debutante's inexperience would allow him to mold her into anything and use working methods that would outrage the famous actress.
He instructed studio employees to monitor Hedren's movements off-set, dictated what she should wear and what makeup she should use, and constantly made crude jokes and expressed signs of sympathy. After yet another refusal, Hitchcock decided to take revenge on Tippi by making the filming of the famous attic scene a real ordeal.
The Attic Scene Turned into a Nightmare for the Actress
The actress was sure that the scene would take several hours to shoot and that she would be attacked not by real birds, but by mechanical ones. In reality, she faced a five-day battle with a flock of aggressive seagulls trained by the famous Ray Berwick.
The result was an incredible authenticity of horror in the actress' gaze and gestures, as well as nervous and physical exhaustion, from which Tippi recovered under the supervision of doctors.
Despite the concerns of the crew, she returned to the set after a break. However, the actress still remembers the horror she experienced while filming the scene.
After The Birds, Tippi Starred in Another Hitchcock Film
Despite all the trials, Tippi starred in another Hitchcock movie – the psychological thriller Marnie – about a woman who experiences numerous fears: of thunderstorms, flowers, relationships with men.
This was Tippi's last work with Hitchcock – later, the director offered the actress roles in his films more than once, but each time he was turned down.
Hitchcock promised that Hedren would not work with any other director until the end of their contract, and so it was. Tippi Hedren did not play any more important roles. And only in the early 80s, when the actress was already over fifty, she began to be invited to television.