Celebrities

Rare Photos From the Making of ‘Rebel Without a Cause’ That Reveal a Little-Seen Side of James Dean

See James Dean goof with Natalie Wood, listen to the director and show off his car-racing trophies

By Abbey Bender April 23, 2025

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1. Making faces

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James Dean may have been known for his brooding intensity, but he also had a silly side.
2. Water cooler chat

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Think water cooler small talk is just for the office? Think again!
3. Trashy behavior

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We don’t know how Dean ended up reclining in a trash can while signing autographs, but we love this quirky shot.
4. Getting directions

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James Dean and Natalie Wood appear to be listening closely to all the directions Nicholas Ray has to give, and it clearly paid off, as the director and the actress were both nominated for Oscars.
5. Director-actor duo

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Back in the ’50s, the deepest conversations between actors and directors often took place during smoke breaks.
6. Puppy break

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Wood and her pet poodle look absolutely adorable during a pause in filming.
7. Lending a hand

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Dean and Wood look to be having a fun time on set as they gaze into each other's eyes while holding their hands together. Their bond was real, and Wood said, “All of us were touched by Jimmy, and he was touched by greatness.”
8. Setting up a shot

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Here, Ray prepares to film a scene with Dean, Wood and Marsha Hunt. Hunt was originally supposed to play Dean’s mother, but ultimately dropped out due to a prior commitment to appear in a play. The role ended up going to Ann Doran, and decades later, Hunt admitted, “It broke my heart to leave Rebel . . . I didn’t know anybody would remember that I was originally a part of that or even know about it.”
9. Fight rehearsal

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In this candid, Dean and Corey Allen, who played his antagonist, rehearse for the film’s famous fight scene. Of course, Dean ends up winning, but it comes at a high cost.
10. An unexpected outfit

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Is Dean showing off some avant-garde couture? Nope, he’s just wearing some protective gear for the film’s dramatic car-racing scene.
11. Cop comedy

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Here, Dean goofs around with an actor playing a police officer. We certainly didn’t see this side of him in the movie!
12. Signing an autograph

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Rebel Without a Cause was the second of Dean’s three movies, and his star was on the rise, leading him to sign more and more autographs. In this shot, he autographs a fringed jacket while Wood and Jim Backus, who played his dad (and starred as Thurston Howell III, the millionaire in Gilligan’s Island), look on. We can’t help but wonder where that jacket ended up!
13. Fashionable friends

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Dean and Wood look spiffy as they hang out with Dean’s friend, actor Perry Lopez, on set. In an essay recounting his experience making the film, Ray described him as, “a tough, dark-haired young man . . . whom he had met in New York,” who Dean brought in to Ray’s office before he was cast in the film. Lopez didn’t act in the movie, but Dean thought he might serve as a source of inspiration for the role, and told Ray, “You should talk to him. You may be able to get some information from him.”
14. Two ’50s dreamboats

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Here, Dean shares a moment with fellow ’50s heartthrob Tab Hunter. Hunter was gay and had to hide his sexuality during this repressive era, and he was good friends with Wood, who often served as his beard. Over the years, there has been much speculation about whether Dean was gay or bisexual, and in an interview, Hunter revealed, “I knew Jimmy pretty well. People always said that. All I know is I saw him with Ursula Andress a lot and with Pier Angeli. People want to hang labels on people—Oh, he's like this or he's like that—[but] to me I don't buy into that . . . As far as I know [about] Jimmy, no.”
15. Motorcycle madness

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Dean is the epitome of cool as he sits on a motorcycle—and yes, he really did know how to ride.
16. Running lines

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Here, Dean practices his lines with Wood and Nick Adams, a close friend of his who had a small part in Rebel Without a Cause. There were rumors that Dean and Adams had an affair, and after Dean’s death, he tried to capitalize on his friendship with the star through publicity stunts like posing at his grave and claiming he was being stalked by his female fans.
17. James and Sal

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In this photo, Dean and his costar, Sal Mineo, who played his closest friend, sit on a car in between takes. Like Dean, Mineo died tragically, as he was murdered at age 37 in 1976. Mineo was bisexual, and called his character “the first gay teenager in films,” saying, “You watch it now, you know he had the hots for James Dean. You watch it now, and everyone knows about Jimmy, so it’s like he had the hots for Natalie and me.”
18. Showing off

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Dean looks proud as he shows off a collection of trophies he won in a car race, but the photo takes on an unsettlingly ironic quality given the fact that he died in a car crash that same year.
19. An iconic pose

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Dean looks devastatingly handsome as he strikes a male model-esque pose on set.
20. A moment of solitude

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This shot of Dean sitting alone in an auditorium perfectly captures his eternally enigmatic nature.

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