Woody Harrelson reveals he pulled a prank by wearing extra pounds for a scene in which White House Plumber co-star Justin Theroux had to carry him
Woody Harrelson shared a hilarious anecdote about filming his new HBO series White House Plumbers with co-star Justin Theroux during an appearance on Good morning America Tuesday.
In the clip, from a pre-filmed interview Monday, the 61-year-old Natural Born Killers star recounts pulling a prank on the 51-year-old The Leftovers star.
During a scene in the show, which traces the exploits and fame of Watergate masterminds E. Howard Hunt (Harrelson) and G. Gordon Liddy (Theroux), the two had to play out a scene set after they were found guilty and sent to prison.
After Woody’s character died, Justin had to carry him to safety.
However, that turned out to be a great ordeal because – unbeknownst to him – Woody had attached a series of weights and sandbags under his costume to make it extra heavy.
LAUGH: Woody Harrelson admitted he covered his body in extra weight for a scene in his HBO series The White House Plumber in which Justin Theroux is forced to carry him
The real story: Harrelson is played by E. Howard Hunt and Theroux is played by J. Gordon Lady, two of the masterminds of the Watergate break-in. They both went to prison for their crimes; He is still a White House plumber
‘we had a lot of fun. Justin said, setting up the story.
Woody jumped in, “But we had one great thing where he made me sick and he took me and he picked me up.” People say, “He’s dying!” And he’s like, “Not on my watch!” It’s when we’re in prison, and I’ve put all those – what do you call those?
Justin took charge: “He did the scene, and he does it beautifully, actually. He falls to the ground, and I have to bend over and pick him up and kind of get him out, kind of Shawshank style getting out of jail.
I am literally bleeding from my ears and my veins (they stand on my head). And everyone’s laughing at me, and then I realize – the stars have unbuttoned his shirt – he’s got weights all over his entire body…”
Justin added that Woody probably weighed over 200 pounds with the added weights.
Woody couldn’t contain his laughter as he explained that he covered “every part” of his body, even tying weights to his wrists and knees.
George Stephanopoulos joked that Justin had his “workout” for the day, while the American Psycho actor added through his laugh that he “got a hernia.”
Earlier in the interview, Woody joked that their interactions on the set were sometimes “stormy”, and they mimicked each other while saying they sometimes “fight” on set.
Justin joked that he was “bleeding out of my ears and veins” after he tried to pick up Woody, only for the entire crew to start laughing at him.
Heavy hitter: “And then I realized—he unbuttoned his shirt with stars—he had weights all over his entire body…” Justin added that Woody probably weighed over 200 pounds with the added weights
Going all in: Woody couldn’t contain his laughter as he explained that he covered “every part” of his body, even tying weights to his wrists and knees
Both actors added that they were drawn to the show’s use of humor and its excellent writing, which they credited to screenwriters Alex Gregory and Peter Howick’s history working on HBO’s Veep.
Woody added that he found his character Hunt “awful” in real life, but liked the “satirical fashion” in which he was portrayed in the show.
He said he was particularly a fan of the character of Lady, and Justin admitted that they had to work out some of their real-life eccentricities.
White House Plumbers will premiere on HBO on May 1, 2023.
