26 Times Actors and Directors Completely Brutalized Each Other On Set

Egos gone wild!
26 Times Actors and Directors Completely Brutalized Each Other On Set

The hierarchy on a movie set is a messy thing. The director, the star and the studio executive could all make a claim for that head honcho position, but each movie is its own beast, and sometimes one or more of those big dawgs stake their claim like an episode of Game of Thrones. 

In the power struggle, the A-list actor might not want to take a back seat to the director, and as you’ll see here, that can cause some pretty spicy moments. Cue the behind-the-scenes brawls! 

Evil Dead

Sam Raimi tortured Bruce Campbell on Evil Dead, as a technique, he says. Campbell got an ankle injury during a stunt, so Raimi teased him about it and used a stick to poke him. Raimi calls it a director-actor technique. CRACKED.COM

Chinatown

On Chinatown, Roman Polanski plucked out a hair from Faye Dunaway once. It was spoiling the shot, apparently, so he just went up and yanked it from her head -presumably, moving it would never have worked. CRACKED.COM

The Abyss

On The Abyss, an actress complained about being treated like an animal. Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio got slapped for a scene in the ,James Cameron movie even after the camera went off, so she got up, said We are not animals! and left. CRACKED.COM

The Exorcist

William Friedkin slapped one of his actors as hard as he could on a movie set. It was for The Exorcist, and the person was a priest who couldn't portray the right level of shock-so Friedkin slapped him as hard as he could. CRACKED.COM

Wesley Snipes

Wesley Snipes choked out the director of Blade: Trinity. P4 Не said David Goyer should be fired, Goyer replied that Snipes should be fired, and Snipes tried to strangle him. Не spent most of the shoot in his trailer. The film relied on a stand-in for most scenes, then cut to unrelated Snipes closeups for reaction shots. CRACKED.COM

American History X

Tony Kaye shattered his own hand. AMERICAN HISTORY X CRACKED.COM Norton was an incredible pest during production and post-production. While editing, Kaye got so fed up that he offered to replace his name with Humpty Dumpty in the credits, then punched a wall so hard he broke his hand.

Zodiac

Robert Downey Jr. planted pee landmines. ZODIAC CRACKED.COM RDJ isn't the first actor to point out that David Fincher is a demanding director. But he had the most inventive way of saying it: he would leave mason jars full of piss around the set to prove that he didn't have enough time for a proper bathroom break.

The Birds

Alfred Hitchcock installed a sexual harassment door. THE BIRDS CRACKED.COM Hitchcock was a horrible creep to Tippi Hedren, stalking her and making shameless, aggressive sexual advances. The worst thing he did was threaten to ruin her if she wouldn't boink him; the dumbest was installing a door between her dressing room and his office so he could casually walk in on her changing.

Transformers

Meghan Fox called her boss Hitler for... making her work. TRANSFORMERS CRACKED.COM Michael Bay isn't the easiest director to work with, but publicly calling him Hitler and insulting his social skills was probably a bad idea. Bay made a public faux-pology: I'm sorry I made you work twelve hours. I'm sorry that I'm making you show up on time.

Sean Connery

Sean Connery straight-up retired. THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN CRACKED.COM Stephen Norrington was a relatively inexperienced director, and he rubbed lots of his actors the wrong way. Connery had such an awful time on set, it took the steam out of his decades-long career. His only work post-League was a couple of VO gigs.

I Heart Huckabees

David О. Russell threw a violent temper tantrum. I HEART HUCKABEES CRACKED.COM After Lily Tomlin expressed frustration with his notes and revisions, he freaked out and started throwing and kicking props all over the set. The whole thing was caught on camera! It's wild!

Aguirre, The Wrath of God

Werner Herzog held Klaus Kinski at gunpoint. AGUIRRE, THE WRATH OF GOD CRACKED.COM The two were close friends and frequent collaborators, but still had regular and brutal on-set clashes -- the most volatile of which came when Kinski tried to walk out, and Herzog revealed he had a gun.

Easy Rider

Rip Torn was fired for de-escalating a knife fight. EASY RIDER CRACKED.COM Torn was out to dinner with Dennis Hopper, who starred in and directed the film, when a fight broke out. Hopper pulled a knife, and was enraged when Torn de-knifed him. Hopper later claimed that it was Torn who had pulled the knife, but ended up losing a $1 million defamation suit.

Titanic

KATE WINSLET & JAMES CAMERON CRACKED.COM Winslet described 'Titanic' as grueling. She suffered from hypothermia in the ocean scene, caught her coat on a gate and almost drowned in another, and got no sympathy from director James Cameron. She said, Не has a temper like you wouldn't believe. You'd have to pay me a lot of money to work with Jim again.

Cop Out

BRUCE WILLIS & KEVIN SMITH CRACKED COM With multiple clashes on their 2010 film 'Cop Out', director Kevin Smith described Bruce Willis as unhappy, bitter, and mean. Willis was disruptive on set, telling Smith, I'm Bruce Willis, and I've been doing this for 25 years very successfully. Please don't put your loser stink on me.

Hook

JULIA ROBERTS & STEVEN SPIELBERG CRACKED.COM Her difficult on-set presence earned the nickname Tinkerhell by 'Hook' production staff. Spielberg knew she was dealing with a break up with Kiefer Sutherland, and said it was an unfortunate time for us to work together, before stating that he wouldn't make a movie with Roberts again.

Justice League

GAL GADOT, RAY FISHER & JOSS WHEDON CRACKED.COM When original director Zack Snyder bowed out of 'Justice League', Joss Whedon was roped in. Ray Fisher, who played Cyborg, alleged that Whedon behaved inappropriately on set, and Gadot alleged that Whedon threatened her career after she expressed unease with a sexualized comedy scene.

Christmas Vacation

CHEVY CHASE & CHRIS COLUMBUS CRACKED.COM On 'National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation', Chase's nasty behavior led to director Chris Columbus quitting, and being replaced with Jeremiah Chechik. To be completely honest, Chevy treated me like dirt. I called John Hughes and said there's no way I can do this movie. I know I need to work but I can't do it with this guy.

Groundhog Day

BILL MURRAY & HAROLD RAMIS CRACKED.COM Director Harold Ramis and Bill Murray's friendship collapsed on 1993's 'Groundhog Day' when Ramis grabbed Murray by the shirt collar and threw him against a wall during a heated creative dispute. They didn't speak for two decades, but when Ramis was ill in 2010, they reconciled and became friends again for the final 4 years of Ramis' life.

The Shining

SHELLEY DUVALL & STANLEY KUBRICK CRACKED.COM Production delays on 'The Shining' kept Duvall from her family for a whole year, and Kubrick made her life a living nightmare by berating her in front of the crew. In an interview, she said, My character had to cry 12 hours a day the last nine months straight, five or six days a week.

Batman Forever

TOMMY LEE JONES, VAL KILMER &JOEL SCHUMACHER CRACKED.COM In 1996, Batman Forever director Joel Schumacher called out Jones & Kilmer, saying I'm tired of defending overpaid, overprivileged actors. I pray I don't work with them again. Не called Jones an asshole and Kilmer psychotic and said, The two weeks where Kilmer didn't speak to me was bliss.

American Hustle

AMY ADAMS & DAVID O RUSSELL CRACKED.COM There could be a whole list for o Russell. In 2014, Amy Adams and David o Russell clashed on American Hustle. Adams said that he made her cry with his process of shouting at actors mid-scene. Не was hard on me, that's for sure, she told GQ. I was really just devastated on set. She has no intention of working with him again.

The Score

MARLON BRANDO & FRANK OZ GRAGKED.COM Having De Niro and Marlon Brando together on 'The Score' should've been a dream, but the shoot mostly became a fight between Brando and director Frank Oz. Brando hated being directed by a Muppeteer, mockingly calling Oz 'Miss Piggy' (the character he voiced). Oz said I was confrontational too, acknowledging it was partly his fault.

Boogie Nights

BURT REYNOLDS & PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON GRACKED.COM Reynolds felt that director Paul Thomas Anderson was unoriginal and cocky, and the pair once came close to blows on set. A 2018 article reported, Reynolds was so unhappy with Boogie Nights, despite never having seen it, he fired his agent afterward.

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