VIVIEN LEIGH’S CIGARETTE BREAKS

 VIVIEN LEIGH’S CIGARETTE BREAKS BETWEEN TAKES OF GONE WITH THE WIND

When we think of Vivien Leigh filming Gone With the Wind, we usually picture the finished Scarlett O’Hara—perfectly dressed, perfectly posed, and seemingly full of endless energy.

But behind the scenes was a very different story.

Filming Gone With the Wind was a long and demanding production, and Vivien was working incredibly long days. Between takes, cameras captured a much more relaxed side of her, and in a number of behind-the-scenes photographs, she can be seen sitting in costume and taking a cigarette break.

Smoking was extremely common in Hollywood at the time, and Vivien herself was a smoker. There’s something fascinating about seeing her dressed from head to toe as Scarlett—sometimes in these enormous, elaborate costumes—while casually holding a cigarette and waiting for filming to begin again.

Photos like this are also a reminder that underneath all those layers of Scarlett O’Hara was a real woman doing an exhausting job.

One minute she was delivering an emotional scene as Scarlett, and the next she might be sitting off-camera, cigarette in hand, getting a few quiet minutes before someone called her back to the set.

It’s these little unguarded moments that make behind-the-scenes photographs so interesting to me. For a moment, we aren’t looking at Scarlett O’Hara—we’re seeing Vivien Leigh between takes.

 Do you enjoy seeing these candid photographs of the stars when the cameras weren’t officially rolling?