Justin Lin/James Franco
Future Fast & Furious series director Justin Lin had an early film job directing James Franco in drama Annapolis. When Franco publicly badmouthed the movie years later, Lin wasn’t happy. Calling Franco’s remarks “disrespectful,” the director stated, “A lot of people worked very, very hard to make him look good. Whether we succeeded or not? You know, that’s subjective.” Burn!
David Fincher/Jake Gyllenhaal
When Jake Gyllenhaal worked with David Fincher on Zodiac, the director was not impressed with the actor, calling him “distracted”: “[Gyllenhaal was] very scattered… [He had] his managers and his silly agents who were all coming to his trailer at lunch to talk to him about the cover of GQ and this and that. He was being nibbled to death by ducks, and not particularly smart ducks.”
Kevin Reynolds/Kevin Costner
Actor Kevin Costner and director Kevin Reynolds have collaborated several times, but their relationship has often been tricky. On 1995’s Waterworld they tried to put past tensions behind them, but continued clashes led Reynolds to quit the film and leave Costner to oversee the final cut in the edit, about which Reynolds reportedly said: “Now Kevin gets to work with his favorite actor and director.”
David O. Russell/George Clooney
On 1999’s Three Kings, George Clooney had an infamously tense relationship with director David O. Russell which allegedly resulted in a full-on fight. Russell later denied this, declaring, “I never physically attacked [Clooney]. If I ran into him, I’d say, ‘Shut the f*** up, you lying-ass b***h.'” Clooney, for his part, remarked, “if [Russell] comes near me, I’ll sock him right in the f***ing mouth.”
Michael Bay/Megan Fox
After shooting two Transformers movies, Megan Fox was fired from the franchise after an interview in which she compared Michael Bay to an infamous dictator. The director’s reaction? “Megan loves to get a response. And she does it in kind of the wrong way. I’m sorry, Megan. I’m sorry I made you work 12 hours. I’m sorry that I’m making you show up on time.”
Joss Whedon/Ray Fisher
In 2020, almost three years after the release of the infamous Justice League, Cyborg actor Ray Fisher accused Joss Whedon (director of the catastrophic reshoots on Zack Snyder’s film) of “gross, abusive, unprofessional and completely unacceptable” behavior on set. Denying various allegations made against him, Whedon eventually responded by calling Fisher “a malevolent force… a bad actor in both senses.”
Joss Whedon/Gal Gadot
Wonder Woman actress Gal Gadot also spoke out against Joss Whedon’s behavior on Justice League, claiming he “kind of threatened my career and said if I did something, he will make sure my career is miserable.” Whedon later tried to dismiss this by claiming Gadot, an Israeli, misunderstood him: “English is not her first language, and I tend to be annoyingly flowery in my speech.”
Tony Kaye/Edward Norton
American History X should’ve been Tony Kaye’s big break – but the director’s outlandish behavior, largely rooted in a clash with leading man Edward Norton, wound up near enough killing his career. Kaye has variously described Norton as a “buffoon” and a “narcissistic dilettante,” and rows between the two during editing got so bad that the director needed stitches in his hand after punching a wall.
Joel Schumacher/Val Kilmer
When they worked together on 1995’s Batman Forever, actor Val Kilmer and director Joel Schumacher didn’t exactly see eye-to-eye. Schumacher didn’t hold back when discussing the matter, later calling his leading man “childish and impossible… He was badly behaved, he was rude and inappropriate.” After Schumacher admonished Kilmer for his behavior, the director said “we had two weeks where he did not speak to me… it was bliss.”
Peter Bogdanovich/Cher
Pop star and actress Cher gave one of her most acclaimed performances in 1985 drama Mask, but she and director Peter Bogdanovich didn’t exactly get along. Calling her the most difficult person he’d ever worked with, Bogdanovich remarked in 2019: “She didn’t trust anybody, particularly men. She doesn’t like men… She can’t act. She won Best Actress at Cannes because I shot her very well.”
