EXCLUSIVE: Hollywood Legend Debbie Reynolds' Secret 'Singin' in the Rain' Misery and Pain Revealed on 73rd Anniversary of Movie
Debbie Reynolds hid pain over the Singin' in the Rain production.
May 15 2025, Published 7:30 a.m. ET
The 1952 movie Singin' in the Rain is one of the most beloved musicals of American cinema, yet filming it was an absolute nightmare for Debbie Reynolds, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
For starters, when informed newcomer Reynolds – just 19 at the time – would be his costar, legendary screen Gene Kelly pitched a royal fit.
"He never wanted me in Singin' in the Rain,'" recalled the late actress before her tragic passing on December 28 at the age of 84 – one day after the death of her daughter, Carrie Fisher.
She added: "When studio chief Louis B. Mayer told him that I was going to be his leading lady, Kelly said to me and said, 'What have you done before?'
"I said, 'Nothing... but I won the Miss Burbank beauty pageant.'"
Fred Astaire helped Debbie Reynolds survive 'Singin' in the Rain' after Gene Kelly's brutal rehearsals left her in tears.
The Texas-born girl had never danced a lick before snagging the iconic chorus girl Kathy Selden, although she was a trained gymnast.
Her parents belonged to a strict Baptist church that forbade acting, but her father, Raymond, saw her incredible talent and allowed her to perform. Her mother, Maxene, reluctant manager, said there would be no "evil" in her movies.
Hollywood legends Judy Garland, Ann Miller and June Allyson were considered for the role of Kathy but all were deemed too old. Miller and Allyson were both pushing 30 before filming, and Allyson was nearly 35.
Kelly, who was 83 when he died in 1996, was very demanding on the set so much that Reynolds took to hiding out beneath a piano while sobbing uncontrollably.
Thankfully, Fred Astaire offered his help and taught her some steps.
Judy Garland and Ann Miller lost out on the role of Kathy Selden in the musical for being 'too old' at nearly 30 and 35.
Then 39, Kelly was relentlessly controlling while rehearsing the choreography to the chipper tune Good Morning, and they worked 15 hours straight trying to get the steps just right.
"My feet were bleeding from all that dancing and when I pointed it out, Gene would say, 'Clean it up,'" remembered Reynolds.
The scene finale in which Kelly, Reynolds and Donald O'Connor collapse onto a couch took a whopping 40 takes to film.
Reynolds also said Kelly would become irritable when he felt she wasn't "enthusiastic enough" on camera, said one insider.
"If I wasn't smiling, Gene would yell at me to smile more," Debbie said. "I thought my cheeks were going to crack from all that smiling."
Donald O'Connor joined Kelly and Reynolds in filming 40 exhausting takes of the iconic couch scene.
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Kelly also surprised his leading lady during their first kissing scene.
While Reynolds was expecting a peck on the lips, her horny co-star shoved his tongue down her throat.
A panicked Reynolds then raced to her dressing room. "I immediately backed up and started coughing and oh, it was like something horrible had happened," she revealed, adding she gargled with Coca-Cola before deciding to return to the set.
Despite the arduous hours and intense work, the film was a rousing box-office smash that launched Reynolds' fledgling career.
Looking back, Reynolds said: "The two hardest things I ever did in my life are childbirth – and Singin' in the Rain."
