Cast insurance protects against the risk that stars won’t be able to film due to special circumstances (sickness, injury, overdose, imprisonment, death). Any actor starring in a movie must, by law, be insured to protect the production company.
Insurance costs for a movie can also increase depending on the nature of the film. Action movies can have higher insurance costs, taking into account the location of the set and whether there will be flying arrows, bears, etc. This is the main reason stunt coordinators work so closely with production staff — any small injury for an actor could delay production and lead to extra expenses. Costs for delays on major films can run $250,000 or more per day, so the last thing a production crew wants is an actor taking a day off with a hangover. Here are a few examples that directors may think twice about casting.
Lindsey Lohan
Lindsey Lohan is having trouble landing any big-budget films lately, as her shenanigans with the law have made her difficult to insure. Some high-risk actors such as Lohan can be slapped with certain conditions in order to work on a film; Lohan was prohibited from driving a car while shooting “Liz and Dick,” for example (which she did — and she got in an accident).
Elizabeth Taylor
Ironically, Liz Taylor was at one point just as uninsurable as the girl who portrayed her in “Liz and Dick.” When the star became involved in a scandalous affair with costar Richard Burton on the set of “Cleopatra,” she was already considered a risky proposition for carrying a big-budget film — due to being on her fourth husband and being dubbed a home-wrecker. During production, Taylor fell ill with fever, bringing production to a halt; she later came down with double pneumonia and slipped into a coma — rumors surfaced that she had even died.
Charlie Sheen
Since having an actor off the set can cost producers hundreds of thousands per day (unions have rules requiring payment for crew even if filming is delayed), producers need cast insurance to avoid complete ruin. While any star could fall and break their ankle on or off set, many actors are harder to underwrite because of drug use and other risky behaviors. Director Roman Coppola was recently unable to land insurance for a new film after casting the highly-erratic, drug-addicted Charlie Sheen.
Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson’s concert promotion company attempted to take out a $17.5 million insurance claim after the star’s 2009 death. Unfortunately, AEG Live was forced to withdraw the claim since there were concerns about Jackson’s stability long before his death. Luckily AEG was reimbursed the amount by Jackson’s estate; stars that don’t disclose important information like drug use can be sued if such behavior causes them to miss work. Fortunately, not all hope is lost. Stars like Robert Downey Jr. have been able to make comebacks after years of uninsurability.
Nicole Kidman
Some stars become uninsurable for reasons other than drugs. Nicole Kidman, plagued by knee pain on the set of 2001’s “Moulin Rouge!” caused some alarm, resulting in her being replaced by Jodie Foster in “Panic Room.” Kidman again found success when using a stuntwoman in “Cold Mountain.”
