Cinema history is filled with cases where actors and directors had very fruitful collaborations: James Stewart and Alfred Hitchcock, Robert DeNiro and Martin Scorsese, Samuel L. Jackson and Quentin Tarantino, and so on. There have also been cases of actors and directors who ended up hating each other. This should come as no surprise; filmmaking is all about passion and creativity, and when you combine those two things, personalities and visions can easily clash.
It stands to reason that actor/director feuds can lead to bad or underwhelming movies its participants regret, such as Super Mario Bros. and Blade: Trinity. Sometimes, however, great films happen in spite of - or maybe even because of - behind-the-scenes drama. Watching Chinatown, you would never guess that Faye Dunaway and Roman Polanski hated each other. While laughing at Groundhog Day, you might be stunned to learn that it kicked off a 21-year stretch of Bill Murray and Harold Ramis not speaking to one another.
The stories of the most turbulent productions where actors and directors stopped speaking to each other - or worse - reveal how fragile egos, creative ambitions, and intense pressures can bring out the worst in people.
The set of Blade: Trinity was a seriously unhappy place thanks to the antics of star Wesley Snipes. Co-star Patton Oswalt spilled the beans on Snipes's bad behavior, which included staying in his trailer smoking weed, refusing to say certain lines of dialogue, and having his stuntman do everything that wasn't a close-up of Blade. This created tension with director David Goyer.
The final straw came when an African American extra showed up on set wearing a t-shirt that said "Garbage" on it. Snipes saw that and accused Goyer of racism, not realizing he had nothing to do with the fashion choice. Snipes choked the filmmaker, whom then paid a group of bikers to be his bodyguards for a day.
Snipes was sufficiently shaken by that. He stopped talking to Goyer, and communicated with him only through Post-It notes for the rest of the production.
Super Mario Bros. is widely regarded as one of the worst video game-based movies ever made. That may be partially due to the fact that everyone making it was miserable.
Star Bob Hoskins, who played Mario, said the experience of doing the movie was "a f*ckin' nightmare." He grew frustrated with what he termed the "arrogance" of co-directors Annabel Jankel and Rocky Morton. The two music video and commercial directors had never made a feature film before, and were fired near the end of production. Hoskins and co-star John Leguizamo did whiskey shots in between takes just to cope.
Co-star Dennis Hopper also disliked the directors. He was angered by the constant last-second script changes that left him uncertain of what he was supposed to do - and his confusion was exacerbated by the fact that the producers and investors all had differing ideas of what the movie should be. One day, tensions rose so high that Hopper spent 45 minutes screaming at Jankel and Morton on the set.
Actors: Bob Hoskins, John Leguizamo, Dennis Hopper, Samantha Mathis, Fisher Stevens
By his own account, director Joel Schumacher had heard horror stories about Val Kilmer when he hired the actor to portray the Dark Knight in 1995's Batman Forever. He hoped for the best... and got the worst.
Schumacher told Entertainment Weekly that Kilmer was "rude and inappropriate" to the crew members. After two weeks of filming, things became so tense between the director and actor that they got into a shoving match. The director laid down the law, telling his star that this sort of behavior would no longer be tolerated on set.
"Then we had two weeks where he did not speak to me, but it was bliss," Schumacher said.
Actors: Val Kilmer, Tommy Lee Jones, Jim Carrey, Nicole Kidman, Chris O'Donnell
David O. Russell has a well-documented history of troubling behavior on movie sets - particularly after footage of his screaming match with actress Lily Tomlin on the set of I Heart Huckabees was leaked to the public. Not long after, footage of a second fight emerged.
Both Russell and Tomlin have remained coy about the exact cause of the fights, but the initial video shows Tomlin seemingly upset by what she perceives to be Russell's inconsistent direction. Patient at first, he eventually blows a gasket, clearing a desk, hurling vulgarities at Tomlin, and knocking over a lamp. In the second video, Tomlin is more the aggressor, issuing a string of profanities at Russell and complaining that he's asking her and co-star Dustin Hoffman to alter the tone of their performances after an entire day of filming.
Tomlin has described herself as "stoic in my suffering" while making Huckabees, and added that she and the director overcame their differences.
Actors: Jason Schwartzman, Isabelle Huppert, Dustin Hoffman, Lily Tomlin, Jude Law
Actor Klaus Kinski and director Werner Herzog made a number of movies together, despite having a contentious relationship. Actually, calling it contentious is something of an understatement, considering that Herzog pulled a piece on his star during the making of Aguirre, the Wrath of God.
The movie was being filmed in a remote jungle location, which created its own set of stressors that had everyone on edge. Kinski, a notoriously temperamental man, would scream at Herzog whenever he was unhappy, which was most of the time. They especially clashed over the portrayal of the title character, Aguirre. Herzog wanted him to be quietly menacing, but Kinski wanted to portray him as an overt madman. Tensions between them rose, and Kinski decided to walk off the set. That's when the director pulled out a side arm, threatening to fire on the actor and then himself.
Interestingly, Herzog later made a documentary about their love/hate relationship called My Best Fiend.
Actors: Klaus Kinski, Helena Rojo, Peter Berling, Dan Ades, Ruy Guerra
Marlon Brando was known for two things: his immense talent and his eccentric behavior. The latter caused serious problems on the set of the 2001 crime drama The Score. Brando's character was gay, and director Frank Oz felt he was giving an over-the-top performance that could prove offensive. Brando resented this suggestion and began calling Oz "Miss Piggy," a reference to the Muppet character he portrayed for many years. This created animosity between the two men.
As things worsened, Brando broke off all communication with the director. He refused to come to the set if Oz was already there. To get around that, Oz eventually directed Brando's scenes from afar, watching everything on a video monitor. He relayed what he wanted to an assistant director, who relayed it to co-star Robert DeNiro, who relayed it to Brando.
Actors: Robert De Niro, Ed Norton, Angela Bassett, Marlon Brando, Gary Farmer
