Gwyneth Paltrow's Traveling Severed Head: A Gross Se7en Legend, Explained
The best way to explain the ending of "Seven" is that it's downright chilling. After spending the entire movie chasing down serial killer John Doe (Kevin Spacey), detectives David Mills (Brad Pitt) and William Somerset (Morgan Freeman) are shocked to discover that the final victim is the former's wife, Tracy Mills (Gwyneth Paltrow), whose severed head has been put in a box. While we don't see the head, a prop was created for the film, and there's an urban legend going around that claims it appears in Steven Soderbergh's "Contagion."
Soderbergh's disease-themed thriller features a scene where Paltrow's deceased character, Beth Emhoff, gets her head cut open so scientists can examine her brain. However, rather than construct a new prop for the scene, Buzzfeed notes that the filmmakers reused the head that was made for David Fincher's disturbing serial killer flick.
That said, while it could be the same prop, it's worth noting that no one who worked on "Contagion" or "Seven" has confirmed the rumor yet. However, we do know that Paltrow was put through the wringer to bring her autopsy scene to life.
Gwyneth Paltrow's Contagion scene was challenging to make
Brad Pitt agreed to star in "Seven" on the condition that the aforementioned head remained in the box. Without seeing the disturbing visual, there's no way of telling if it really is the same prop used in "Contagion," unless someone with insider knowledge comes forward and clarifies the matter. We should take this urban legend with a pinch of salt until there's more concrete evidence to support the theory.
Furthermore, Gwyneth Paltrow's autopsy scene in "Contagion" required her to change her appearance and lie still on a table for 40 minutes, suggesting that everything we see on-screen was constructed from scratch. "The medical examiner told her that her tongue would be extruded just a bit and that she would have a yellowish fluid coming out of her nose," Soderbergh told a press conference attended by USA Today (via The Hollywood Reporter). "[Gwyneth] wanted it to be exactly right."
People can't stop watching "Contagion" due to its enduring relevance in a post-COVID climate. Hopefully, this renewed interest in the movie will eventually lead to this legend being cleared up once and for all.
To learn about behind-the-scenes movie details that have been confirmed, check out the untold truth of "Seven."