Octavia Spencer almost used prop money — with Ryan Reynolds’ face on it — to make a purchase.
During an appearance on “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon,” the actress opened up about the time she nearly used the prop item from her upcoming Christmas musical “Spirited” when buying Halloween candy. Spencer joked with Fallon that she’s happy she realized the money was fake before attempting to use it, admitting she “could have gone to jail” for using counterfeit bills.
“I’m glad I’m one of those people who likes to be prepared, because I’m looking at the $100 bill, and I’m like, ‘Ben Franklin looks really, really weird.’ I realized it was a prop from ‘Spirited.’ And I almost paid with it,” she explained. “It’s a prop from the set, and I saw it on the floor and thought, ‘Wow, that’s great, it looks real.’ And I thought, because I never have money in my wallet, that I would remember.”
In her defense, Spencer argued that it had been over a year since she filmed the movie and swiped the fake bill from set, saying it was natural for her to have forgotten.
OCTAVIA SPENCER SAYS HER HOUSE IS HAUNTED BY GHOST OF LATE WESTERN MOVIE STAR: ‘HE IS MY PROTECTOR’
The bill she was looking at had her co-star Reynolds’ face on it, but looks similar to an average $100 bill because his hair is edited to look like the founding father’s. Spencer revealed the fake bill is no longer in her wallet as she now keeps it on her bookshelf along with keepsakes from other sets she’s worked on.
In addition to Spencer and Reynolds, “Spirited” also stars Will Ferrell as the Ghost of Christmas Present. The movie is a twist on the classic Dickens story “A Christmas Carol,” but this time told from the point of view of the ghost, who begins to reexamine his life after he picks the wrong person as the Scrooge that year.
Earlier this year, Reynolds spoke candidly about how difficult it was to prepare for his role in the musical, explaining he and the rest of the cast went to a seven-week theater camp to learn how to sing and dance, something Spencer also found difficult.
“I had no idea what it takes to do a musical, because here is the thing, we all sing every day,” the actress explained. “I don’t consider myself a singer, but I thought I could probably do it, because when you’re singing with the radio, you sound so good right? You hit the notes, but you realize that you’re singing very low. They were going to have a microphone, so I thought I could use my little radio singing voice… and the voice coach Eric Vetro was like, ‘Yeah, I’m going to need you to sing out — project!'”
Spencer says she “started panicking” when he told her that and started wondering what she signed up for, because she thought she “was going to walk around singing in (her) mouse voice” the whole time.
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When Fallon asked if she is going to be hosting the holidays this year, Spencer admitted she doesn’t think that is something anybody wants her to do.
“I usually go home because it’s just easier for me, but in all honesty, nobody in my life would ever want me to host a party, only because I have to tap out early,” she explained. “I’m ready to be done before other people are, and if you’re hosting you can’t go, ‘Oh, guys, you know dinner is from 8:00 to 10:00, it’s 9:30.’”
Spencer did claim that she is going to try to host next year, and will give everyone an update on how it goes.
“Spirited” is set to premiere Nov. 18 on Apple TV+.
