Neve Campbell is one of the few people who can say she was attacked by a bear while shooting a film, and survived to tell the tale.
The actress recounted her experience while on “The Kelly Clarkson Show,” with Kelly and audience members shocked and nervously laughing along.
© GettyImagesNeve Campbell has been acting since she was very young, appearing in a variety of iconic films over the years. The bear attack while on a film set, when she was 17 years old. “It was in Canada, but it’s not like when we were camping or anything. I was actually on a movie,“ she said. Neve explained that a bear was brought on set by the crew, who told her to feed the bear a bottle of Coke and then told her to dip her hand in honey and run, hoping to capture the bear trailing her on camera.
“And I dip my hand in honey and run to this rock. I turn around and put my hand out and the bear is not slowing down, and he grabs me by the leg and pulls me through the forest,” Neve said. “My mother happens to be visiting set and so she’s screaming and everyone on set froze because no one knows what’s happening.” Neve was saved by luck and by the bear wrangler, who started throwing rocks at it, and managed to distract it or get it mad enough to leave her alone. “I, this people pleaser was like, ‘No, that was rehearsal. We didn’t get it on camera. Let’s do it again.“
While Neve now knows that no acting job is worth being chased by a bear, the safety measures of that set leave much to be desired. “I’m old,” she said. “No, absolutely not. I’m not doing that.”
Neve Campbell stars in “Scream,” the new film in the emblematic horror franchise. She joins original cast members Courtney Cox and David Arquette, and a wide string of newcomers that include Melissa Barrera, Dylan Minnette, Jenna Ortega, and more. “Scream” premieres in theaters in January 14th.
