The biographical film 'What's Love Got to Do With It,' depicting the life of music legend Tina Turner, continues to reveal shocking behind-the-scenes stories decades after its release. Actress Vanessa Bell Calloway, who played Turner's friend Jackie, recently shared a harrowing account of filming one of the movie's most infamous violent sequences, confirming that a brutal slap she endured was terrifyingly real.
The Infamous Cake Scene: Art Imitating Life
In a recent interview with Cocoa Butter, Vanessa Bell Calloway reflected on her role in the 1993 film, calling it one of her favourites. She specifically discussed the pivotal 'cake scene,' a moment drawn directly from Tina Turner's traumatic real-life experiences with her then-husband, Ike Turner. In the scene, Ike (played by Laurence Fishburne) publicly humiliates Tina (Angela Bassett) by shoving her face into a cake and then violently slaps her friend Jackie.
Calloway explained that the production initially planned to use a stunt double for the slap. "They wanted to put the double in for the slap, and then I'd pop up," she recalled. However, the actress insisted on performing the moment herself to maintain authenticity and emotional continuity. "I told the director, Brian Gibson, 'This is not going to be right because I need to be in the moment... I need to have that energy, that adrenaline,'" she stated.
When the Choreography Failed: A Real and Painful Hit
The scene was carefully choreographed for safety. A professional was supposed to guide Calloway on when to turn her head in sync with Laurence Fishburne's hand movement, creating the illusion of impact. However, during one crucial take, the timing failed disastrously.
"On one take, we missed. We didn't have the eye connection and he slapped the living s--- out of me. My face was pounding," Calloway revealed. Despite the intense pain and shock, the dedicated actress did not break character. She continued the scene, and this authentic, unplanned take is the one that ultimately made it into the final cut of the film.
"Of course, when they cut, everybody ran to me with ice packs... But I mean he slapped the poop out of me," she concluded, laughing about the incident in hindsight.
The Chilling True Story Behind the Film
The film's violence was not mere artistic license. In her memoir, the late Tina Turner recounted the real-life incident that inspired the scene. Her husband, Ike Turner, in a cruel act of public humiliation, forced her face into a cake and made her eat it. In the same outburst, he slapped a friend of hers so forcefully that she fell to the ground. The film's commitment to portraying this brutal reality, even at the cost of a real on-set injury, underscores the dark truth of Turner's early career and marriage.
'What's Love Got to Do With It' remains a powerful cinematic portrait, praised for the stellar performances of Angela Bassett and Laurence Fishburne. Vanessa Bell Calloway's recent revelation adds a new layer of understanding about the sacrifices and intense dedication involved in bringing Tina Turner's painful, yet ultimately triumphant, story to the screen.
