Getty Image / Emma McIntyre
Vincent D’Onofrio is one of the most recognizable actors in Hollywood. He’s probably best known for playing Private Pyle in Full Metal Jacket but his role as Wilson Fisk in Netflix’s Daredevil was a masterpiece.
He’s 6’4″ and has a hulking frame. He actually set the record for weight gained for a role when he packed on 70-pounds to play Private Pyle, the most weight ever gained by an actor for a movie role. What’s my point here? The man could probably tear a monkey in half with his bare hands if he had to but he wouldn’t because he has a crippling fear of monkeys.
Vincent took to Twitter to share a lengthy story about how he’s absolutely terrified of monkeys and how it all started with a childhood field trip that legitimately borders on trauma. I’ll let him tell the story instead of paraphrasing, so strap in because this one’s pretty haunting:
https://twitter.com/vincentdonofrio/status/1104458526372421632?s=21
https://twitter.com/vincentdonofrio/status/1104458527274221568
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Apparently, this place was a common destination for field trips:
Yes the tagline was something like, “where the monkeys are free and you’re in the cage” but of course they were still essentially in cages? And the entire time you’d just get pooped on by sad primates
— Arielle Castillo (@ariellec) March 9, 2019
I knew this place had to be in Florida before I ever even searched the comments. Vincent D’Onofrio was born in Brooklyn but moved to Hialeah, Florida (Miami) after his parent’s divorce and that’s where he experienced this monkey trauma.
Personally, I’ve never been on the business end of monkey torture. I’ve actually heard from friends that that Monkey Jungle in South Florida was a cool tourist destination, I’ve never been. But after hearing Vincent’s story there’s not a shot in hell I’m going.
And I guess I’m fortunate to have grown up on the West Coast of Florida because it would’ve been a 4-hour bus ride to get there which is way too much for a field trip. Instead, we have the wild monkeys in this area who are infested with herpes.