Famous actress Elizabeth Banks admitted to taking a huge risk with her upcoming movie “Cocaine Bear.”
The famous actress has never tried cocaine but dove deeply into a movie about a bear that ate a substantial amount of cocaine, then went on a rampage to find his next fix, according to Variety. “I definitely wanted to make something muscular and masculine,” she said.
“‘Cocaine Bear’ is a ginormous risk,” Banks said. “This could be a career ender for me.”
“It had to feel like a Nat Geo documentary about a bear that did cocaine.” Elizabeth Banks explains the thought process behind creating the cocaine bear for “Cocaine Bear.” https://t.co/146Ot2N6XN pic.twitter.com/6peBJ12Bu1
— Variety (@Variety) February 8, 2023
Banks wanted to take on the unique content and wasn’t afraid of elbowing her way through, in order to do so.
“I wanted to break down some of the mythology around what kinds of movies women are interested in making,” she said. “For some bizarre reason, there are still executives in Hollywood who are like, ‘I don’t know if women can do technical stuff.’ There are literally people who are like, ‘Women don’t like math.’ It just persists,” Banks said to Variety.
Banks didn’t seem to have any reservations about diving into a world she knew nothing about, having never experienced the effects of cocaine herself.
“I took ‘Just say no’ to heart,” Banks said. (RELATED: Bradley Cooper Reveals The Depths Of His Struggle With Cocaine)
There were numerous opportunities for her to try the drug, but she says she never crossed the line.
“Being a goody-two-shoes played into it. Personal safety played a big role in it,” Banks said to Variety.
The film is based on a true story about a bear from Chattahoochee National Forest in Georgia that consumed 70 pounds of cocaine dropped in a botched drug run. The bear overdosed and died, according to Variety. In the movie, the bear goes rogue in a desperate hunt for more drugs.
