Facts About '90s Stars We Just Learned That Made Us Say 'Really?'

Many actors face harrowing situations while filming, some even getting seriously injured. Some actors even find themselves in near-death situations like Brendan Fraser. According to his The Mummy co-star Rachel Weisz, Fraser nearly met his end doing the mock hanging scene at the end of the classic movie. And apparently, the studio didn't realize the magnitude of the situation at the time. Weisz recalled in an interview:

He stopped breathing and had to be resuscitated. It didn't hold up the schedule though. They were all 'Are you all right darling? Ok, carry on. Time's money,'

Regardless of the dire situation he was actually in and whether or not his coworkers understand the fate he almost met, Fraser was okay at the end of the day, and the film ended up being a box office success. 

Before his career-making turn on The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air, Will Smith was famous as a musician - part of a hip-hop duo with DJ Jazzy Jeff that scored a major hit with "Parents Just Don't Understand." That level of fame and success was immense for Smith, who got so caught up in all of it that he neglected to pay his taxes and ultimately owed the IRS over two million dollars.

Smith recalled later that being famous and broke was so terrible "because you’re still famous and people recognize you, but they recognize you while you’re sitting next to them on the bus."

Ultimately, though, Smith's massive debt was a blessing in disguise. He was convinced by his girlfriend at the time to hang around the set of The Arsenio Hall Show, where he met Benny Medina. Medina took Smith to a party at Quincy Jones' house, and Jones recognized Smith's huge talent - offering him a deal right then and there to star in the incoming Fresh Prince sitcom. 

Bill Nye the Science Guy was an extremely popular figure for school-aged kids in the '90s. The videos that were shown in many classrooms showed Bill Nye passionately championing his cause by teaching young kids about all things science. And while he seems perfectly fit for the position he had, it ultimately wasn't his dream. Instead, Bill Nye desperately wanted to be an astronaut. So much so, that he applied with NASA four times to be a part of the program. Unfortunately - or fortunately, depending on which side of the argument you look at - NASA turned him down every time. 

Whatever the reason for NASA's reluctance to hire the Science Guy as an astronaut, his rejection allowed him the time to create a program that invigorated young minds. In the end, Bill Nye also seems to have gotten at least some of what he wanted: he is now CEO of NASA's Planetary Society.

During Britney Spears' 2001 VMA's performance, the pop icon did something incredibly memorable: she walked on stage with a large python draped over her shoulders. Given how huge that performance has become, the idea of the star having even the slightest fear of snakes is pretty surprising, but Britney does have a snake phobia. Mike Hano, the owner of the python that Britney worked with at the awards show, said in a later interview with MTV News:

She was scared of snakes, and this thing was right around her neck, and she had to dance with it on live television in front of millions of people. I remember when I got there, there was a whole bunch of people on the stage, and they're all rehearsing. And even when the director told them to take five, she kept practicing her steps. She was afraid of the snake, but she forced herself to handle it, and she did a really great job.

And this is a huge reason Britney was such a star; even though she was terrified, she performed her heart out with that python around her neck. 

'90s heartthrob hero Freddie Prinze, Jr. has done a lot over the years, but some might forget about his brief turn on the hit Fox show 24 alongside Kiefer Sutherland. Prinze never forgot about the experience, though. In fact, he almost quit acting because of how terrible he said it was working with Sutherland:

I did 24, it was terrible. I hated every moment of it. Kiefer was the most unprofessional dude in the world. That's not me talking trash, I'd say it to his face, I think everyone that's worked with him has said that.

Sutherland later responded through a representative, claiming to be shocked by the statement. Either way, it's pretty telling that Prinze had such a bad experience working with Sutherland.

Home Improvement star and '90s teen sensation Jonathan Taylor Thomas certainly had everything going for him in Hollywood, but it apparently wasn't all he wanted. In a shocking move, he ended up quitting show business shortly after his hit sitcom came to an end to pursue something else entirely: a philosophy degree at Harvard. At 19, JTT enrolled in the Ivy League college and studied philosophy and history for two years before jetting off across the pond to St. Andrews. He told People in an interview about why he left the business:

To sit in a big library amongst books and students, that was pretty cool. It was a novel experience for me. I never took the fame too seriously. It was a great period in my life, but it doesn’t define me. When I think back on the time, I look at it with a wink. I focus on the good moments I had, not that I was on a lot of magazine covers.

Apparently JTT's ambivalence toward stardom was something that he had ingrained in him from an early age. Speaking when he was 14 about the way he viewed being a child star:

How serious do you take this stuff? I mean, you should be focused on doing a good job, but… every job has an end. I think most [fallen child stars] weren’t prepared for the end. I mean, it’s not the end of your life! You can’t base your life around one thing.