Summary
- Cast members of the hit series Mighty Morphin Power Rangers faced unsafe conditions and low pay.
- The actors endured intense working hours and physically demanding scenes without proper support.
- Some cast members experienced discrimination and a lack of healthcare protection while filming the hit Power Rangers show.
Several individuals involved in the hit Mighty Morphin Power Rangers television series have revisited their experiences of when they filmed the show years ago. According to them, it could be abusive to actors.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers was a massive success when it originally aired from 1993 to 1995. This is evident in the action figures, video games, Halloween costumes, and other merchandise sold by the Power Rangers franchise. The original cast featured Austin St. John as Jason Lee Scott, Walter Emanuel Jones as Zack Taylor, Thuy Trang as Trini Kwan, Amy Jo Johnson as Kimberly Hart, David Yost as Billy Cranston, and Jason David Frank as Tommy Oliver. They were all in their late teens and early 20s when they filmed the series. It’s come out over the years that the conditions on set and the actors’ pay didn’t match the show’s success.
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In the third episode of Investigation Discovery’s new docuseries Hollywood Demons titled “Dark Side of the Power Rangers,” they revisited the shocking working conditions on Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Tony Oliver, the show’s head writer, acknowledged how the show wasn’t fair to those involved, especially the actors, who didn’t just deliver lines but were very much involved in the action sequences with minimal safety support. According to previous reports, some did their stunt without prior training, leading to injuries. “Basically, these contacts made it okay to work you to death, and they did,” Oliver said, per Entertainment Weekly. He also shared that the filming hours were way beyond the recommended working hours, and he admitted that it “could be a little abusive to the actors.” He said of the lead stars:
They’re not just sitting around saying lines. They’re jumping around, it’s very physical. They have to work out and train to maintain their characters. Our shoot days were much longer, we shot 12- to 14-hour days where unions were eight to 10, so it could be a little abusive to the actors.
Aubri Dubois, originally cast as the Yellow Ranger, witnessed the abuse when they filmed the original pilot episode, which never aired because Trang replaced her. According to her, the production decided to move the battle scene to a desert location. It was reportedly “110 degrees” and “someone had heat stroke.” The person was among the villains who wore set suits and rubber masks over their heads. She remembered that she and the other cast members agreed not to continue shooting unless the man got into an ambulance.
Working On The Original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Show Was Not Easy
Both Jones and St. John previously spoke about their low paycheck from the successful TV series. According to Jones, the money they earned from the project, despite being a huge hit, wasn’t enough to make them “wealthy.” Austin added that they were “broke” because the show wasn’t a union project and the cast and crew were paid poorly. Although Mighty Morphin Power Rangers made them popular, the two actors said they made more money from doing car shows because their earnings from the TV series were not enough to pay the bills.
The original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers appealed to kids because of its action scenes, colorful characters, and interesting storylines. However, the events behind the scenes were not as appealing. Several cast members complained about low pay, unsafe conditions, discrimination, and lack of support. Yost previously opened up about the homophobic bullying he experienced on-set from some crew members just because he was gay. The franchise began working under union guidelines in 2018, and the actors were treated well and received better pay. As for the actors involved in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, they are still thankful to have been part of the show, with some of the cast reuniting in 2023 for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always to celebrate the franchise’s 30th anniversary.
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Source: Entertainment Weekly