Cocaine Bear director shares what child actors really swallowed when their characters did drugs in the movie

The director of Cocaine Bear has revealed what substance the children in the movie actually took when their characters tried cocaine.

Yes, a film about a bear taking cocaine. A cocaine-taking bear, called - you guessed it - Cocaine Bear.

If you thought 2022 was bizarre - a lettuce lasting longer than a British Prime Minister, Louis Theroux rapping and Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars - be warned, because it seems like 2023 is only getting weirder.

Unsurprisingly, given it's title, the horror comedy - which less surprisingly is based on a true story - features a hell of a lot of cocaine.

For those of you who are unaware, cocaine is a white powder stimulant and Class A drug.

Funnily enough, none of the actors in Cocaine Bear actually took cocaine on set of the film, but what did the two child actors Brooklynm Prince and Christian Convery use as a substitute to accurately represent the narcotics appearance but not, ultimately, get high as a kite?

Universal Pictures

In the movie, Prince and Convery play the roles of Dee and Henry - two kids who come across a pound of coke while in the dark and dangerous woods, having bunked off school to go on an adventure. And boy are they in for a wild ride.

Little do the rebels know, but the night before, a drug dealer chucked pounds of cocaine out of his plane leaving it scattered across the woods.

Sure enough, the kids come across it and despite the warnings our parents gave us, do what most of us probably would - sorry mum - and decide to give the white powder a little taste test, scooping some up on their knife and taking turns to swallow it.

Thankfully, unlike the bear, Dee and Harry don't like the taste of cocaine, so leave it behind and carry on with their journey - but what did they actually taste which made them wrinkle their noses in disgust?

Universal Pictures

Elizabeth Banks - director of the bamboozling dark comedy - revealed to Insider the film used a mixture of ingredients to create the fake cocaine.

She said: "It was mostly sugar but we did add a little salt because we wanted their reaction to be as real as possible and I felt if we fed these kids just sugar, I don't think they are going to think it tastes bad. So there was a mix of salt."

Despite its title and the comedic nature of the film, the director also stressed the movie is 'not pro-drug'.

Banks explained: "That's obvious. We are not glorifying drugs in this film. So the kids got that. They weren't interested in it. And their parents were there the whole time. They were well supervised."

Cocaine Bear is currently in cinemas, first released on Friday, 24 February.