When two highly ante up creative illusionist work together , things do n’t always go smoothly . Here are a few of the most memorable fizzle - ups between Hollywood directors and actor .
1. GEORGE CLOONEY AND DAVID O. RUSSELL
After reviewing the book forThree Martin Luther King , David O. Russell ’s Iraq War action - drollery , George Clooney — who was angle for film diligence genuineness at the time — urgently wanted in . But the feeling was n’t mutual . “ Russell detest Clooney ’s expressive style of acting , which he considered a lot of oral sex - bobsled and mugging for the camera , ” Sharon WaxmanwroteinRebels on the Backlot . After Nicolas Cage — Russell ’s first selection for the role of U.S. Army Special Forces Major Archie Gates — declined , and Warner Bros. disallow the director ’s other choices ( including Dustin Hoffman ) , Russell awarded the part to Clooney .
The human relationship , which was n’t great to lead off with , deteriorate as the doer struggled with Russell ’s constant coaching and improvisational directing style . Things last came to a head when Russell , whose behavior toward the crew Clooney severely dislike , switch an spear carrier to the ground ( Russell would take he was demonstrating how he wanted the extra to treat Ice Cube in the scene they were filming ) . The detail that followed differ from one story to the next , but what ’s certain is that the two ended up brawling and had to be dragged apart .
“ It was truly without exception , the worst experience of my life , ” Clooney would subsequently say . Russell , for his part , said he would never again make a film with Clooney . In 2012 , they reportedlyburiedthe hatchet . In 2013 , RusselltoldThe New York Timesthat , " George and I had a friendly resonance last class . I do n’t love if we would be working together . I do n’t call up we would rule it out . But the item is , much ado was made about thing long exit . ”
2 . FAYE DUNAWAY AND ROMAN POLANSKI
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Faye Dunaway , who vaulted to A - list status through a string of memorable function in the late ‘ sixty and early ‘ 70s — most notably as Bonnie Parker in Arthur Penn’sBonnie and Clyde — was used to having a collaborative relationship with directors . That was n’t the case with Roman Polanski , who aim her in 1974’sChinatown . In response to Dunaway ’s inquiry about her character Evelyn Mulwray ’s motive , Polanski wouldbark , “ Your wage is your motivation ! ”
If Polanski had a reputation for being a dictator on set , Dunaway was sleep with for cast on airs . “ She considered herself a ‘ principal , ’ and did not go out of her way to ingratiate herself with the manager or the crowd , ” save Peter Biskind inEasy rider , Raging Bulls . The relationship took a smash after Polanski snuck up behind Dunaway and plucked a stubborn pilus that he arrogate was ruining his shot . And it went off the rails after Dunaway threw what was reportedly a cup of urine in the music director ’s face . The actressrefusesto talking about the incident these days , while Polanski has called Dunaway “ unhinged . ”
3. MARLON BRANDO AND FRANK OZ
Even in his quondam age , the fabled Marlon Brando could deliver a nifty performance . But he ’d put a managing director through hell to get it . Nobody knew this better than Frank Oz , who unforgettably clashed with Brando while filming the 2001 rip-off movieThe Score . harmonize to study , Brando frequently tried to interchange the shot schedule and obdurately clung to his own rendition of his character , an get on mobster named Max . The Godfatheractor became so outraged with Oz , a Muppets veteran who was directing his first play after several successful comedies , that he refused to take direction from him . He would also refer to Oz as “ Miss Piggy , ” in quotation to the Muppets character Oz voiced .
Things would have deteriorated further if not forRobert De Niro , who took over in the film director ’s death chair when Brando refused to make with Oz , and who soothed the worker ’s ruffled plumage on legion occasion .
4. SHELLEY DUVALL AND STANLEY KUBRICK
Shelley Duvall , who had light formal training as an actress , spent her other career work with freewheeling directors like Robert Altman and Woody Allen . This did little to set up her for cooperate with a perfectionist like Stanley Kubrick , who point her in 1980’sThe glow . Duvall ’s role as Wendy Torrance , who tries desperately to protect her son as her hubby slue into madness , was a demanding one . And Kubrick ’s counter mental attitude toward her — captured in glimpse in the fashioning - of documentary film above , shot by the film producer ’s daughter , Vivian — didn’t make thing any easy .
“ For a person who can be so likeable , he can do some pretty vicious things , ” Duvallsaidin the documentaryStanley Kubrick : A Life in Pictures . Kubrick frivol away vista again and again — as many as 127 times , according to report . Many consider Kubrick was intentionally wearing down Duvall in a mode that would heighten her quality ’s despair . But as Emilio D’Alessandro , Kubrick ’s longtime assistant , recentlyrecalledin an essay forEsquire , Kubrick was also annoyed with Duvall ’s insecurities as an actress . “ I would n’t swap the experience for anything , ” said Duvall . “ But I would n’t require to go through with it again . ”
5. EDWARD NORTON AND TONY KAYE
ConsideringAmerican History Xwas Tony Kaye ’s first pic directing gig , you ’d call back he would keep off cockle too many feathers . Well , imagine again . plain Kaye did n’t desire Edward Norton for the lead theatrical role — Joaquin Phoenix was his first selection — and only tally to the actor because he did n’t have time to drift someone else . The shoot , which endure a speedy 45 days , extend off amicably enough . Afterwards , Kaye produced a rough undercut of the picture show that pleased Norton and the studio apartment , New Line . But thenthings go south .
Norton , along with New Line , gave pageboy of note to Kaye on how to make his slice well , which the director did not take well . The two position fought so bitingly that Kaye was banned from the editing room . New Line let him back in for a twelvemonth , but then gave the rein over to Norton after Kaye tell he wanted to completely rework the film . “ I was so distribute by what [ Norton ] was doing to my film , and by the fact that New Line O.K. , that I punch the wall and broke my hand , ” Kayewrotein an essay forThe Guardian .
What Kaye did next is the stuff of Hollywood legend : He remove out ads in trade publication disparaging the project , scuttled the film ’s premiere at the Toronto Film Festival , and in the end defend to slay his name from the characterization altogether . Norton , for his part , was incensed . “ permit ’s not make any mistake : Tony Kaye is a victim of nothing but his own professional and spiritual immaturity , ” Norton toldEntertainment Weekly . In the years sinceAmerican History Xcame out , Kaye seems to have mellow . In a 2007interviewwithThe telegraphy , he owned up to his spoiled behavior . “ I did a tidy sum of very insane things , ” he order .
6 . KLAUS KINSKI AND WERNER HERZOG
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There was likely no player - film director relationship more tempestuous than the one between Werner Herzog and Klaus Kinski . Herzog was — and still is — an uncompromising film producer who gravitates toward hazardous projects , while Kinski was unstable and given to prolonged fits of rage . Put together , the two push relentlessly . While filmingFitzcarraldoin the jungles of Peru , Kinski threatened to go away the set , and Herzog replied that he would shoot him dead if he try . Later , an supernumerary who was fed up with Kinski ’s tyrannical behavior offer to kill the actor for Herzog . Their bitterness is the stuff of moviemaking legend , and yet both seemed to thrive off the energy it produced .
In an interview , Herzogsaidthe actor ’s rages were often his way of getting into character . After Kinski give out in 1991 , Herzog frequently expressed appreciation for his acting acquisition and idolatry . “ I think he require me as much as I needed him , ” HerzogsaidinMy Best Fiend , a 1999 infotainment the conductor made about their relationship .
7. WESLEY SNIPES AND DAVID GOYER
Despite the success of the first twoBladefilms , audience just could n’t get behind the third installment in the serial publication , Blade : triad . Many observers chalked up the movie ’s smoothness to a troubled product , which included a bitter feud between ace Wesley Snipes and writer / theater director David Goyer . Detailswere unmanageable to immobilise down during cinematography , but became clearer in a $ 5 millionlawsuitfiled by snipe a twelvemonth after the pic liberate . In it , snipe take that he never approved of the theatre director or the hand , which he claimed had a “ jejune level of humour , ” and that this was a breach of his contract . Snipes also claimed racial favoritism during the casting process . So Snipes was not a happy camping bus before film start , and according to costar Patton Oswalt , things really live downhill during filming .
In a memorable audience withThe A.V. Club , Oswaltsaidthat Snipes pop off Goyer after they had a variance on solidifying . Goyer , in answer , enlisted a biker gang to pretend as his security particular , which unnerved Snipes to the point that he defy to interact with the director . According to Oswalt , Snipes would only convey with Goyer by Post - It notes , which he would sign , “ From Blade . ”
8 . BRIGITTE BARDOT AND HENRI - GEORGES CLOUZOT
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Although not well known these 24-hour interval , Henri - Georges Clouzot was a highly regarded director in the ‘ fifty and ‘ 60s . His suspense movies were so well - crafted , Alfred Hitchcock reportedly worried that Clouzot would unseat him as the “ Master of Suspense . ” Clouzot’smethods , however , were quite controversial . In one photographic film , he made his lead role player undergo an real profligate blood transfusion . In another , he thwack an actress so as to get her furious for a tantrum .
InLa Vérité(The Truth ) , Clouzot ’s film about the trial of a woman impeach of kill her boyfriend , the director slip sleeping pills to an unwitting Brigitte Bardot in social club to make her appear washed-out . He overdid it , and Bardot ’s stomach had to bepumped . At another point , according to Jeffrey Robinsonin his bookBrigitte Bardot : Two life , Clouzot took the actress by the shoulder joint and shook her . “ I do n’t need amateur in my films , ” he suppose . “ I want an actress . ” Bardot slap him . “ And I involve a theatre director , not a sociopath ! ” she reply .
In later years , Bardot would say thatLa Véritéwas her hunky-dory performance . But she still hated Clouzot , depict him as a “ disconfirming being , forever at betting odds with himself and the world around him . ”
