Re: Most difficult actors to work with?
 

From this account, it seems to me that Fiorentino's claims were quite legitimate. Smith evidently didn't figure on his star needing a break a couple days out of a week. Y'know, like workers are supposed to get? What, did he think she was as dedicated to his stupid movie as he was? Directors can be assholes, too.

Re: Most difficult actors to work with?
 

Just because she had to work every day on the movie doesn't mean she had to work every day of the week.

Re: Most difficult actors to work with?
 

Do they normally shut down production on weekends? (I actually am asking, I don't know these things.)

Re: Most difficult actors to work with?
 

If it's a normal production, yes. Most of those people are union and they can have pretty strict rules.

Kubrick was known for sometimes shooting seven days a week, but he was basically independent with studio financing.

Re: Most difficult actors to work with?
 

There's an anecdote in If Chins could Kill where Bruce Willis didn't come to shoot some scene where his dad in the movie was having this conversation with him, like Frasiers dad came so Bruce Willis could read his lines to act off him, but Willis couldn't be bothered for Frasiers dads half of the scene.

Re: Most difficult actors to work with?
 

Kevin Smith worked every day. The DP worked every day. The caterer worked every day. She's getting fucking paid and she agreed to be the lead character in a film where she was in nearly every scene. Hell, if anything, looking at her resume she's not used to being a lead ;)

Re: Most difficult actors to work with?
 

For a movie like Dogma or Eyes Wide Shut it's seven fucking days a week and often 12-18 hours a day. Now Dogma and Eyes are two very different films and the reasons for each are different, but the bottom line is most productions shoot 7 days a week.

Re: Most difficult actors to work with?
 

Dennis Quaid is a real asshole - according to Funny or Die.

Re: Most difficult actors to work with?
 

Val Kilmer was infamously difficult to work with, which explains how quickly his leading man career fizzled out in the late 90s.

Leonardo DiCaprio was also known to be quite a prick during the late 90s. I remember reading how it took Martin Scorcese to finally shut down that shit during the Gangs of New York shoot.

Re: Most difficult actors to work with?
 

Right here...

http://www.deathandtaxesmag.com/2042...-work-with/?-0

Didn't that mostly have to do with drugs?

Filmmaking is not a 9-5 job, it's an 18 hour day, especially for directors, and the more hands-on they are, the more work they have to do. It's a gigantic endeavor, at least on a studio production.

You really have to love what you do, be willing to devote a part of your life to it, and accept that the final product not only might not be what you were expecting, but might not turn out well. I admire people willing to devote themselves to something of artistic value which might outlast them or me. It must be wonderful to wake up in the morning and love what you do and be so passionate about it. I wish I could imagine that.

Re: Most difficult actors to work with?
 

Almost 2 full pages and no mention of Mickey Rourke. For shame.

Also, I believe the only person on the planet who could possibly rival Klaus Kinski in the insanity department is Lawrence Tierney.

He would have had a career on the level of Robert Mitchum if it wasn't for his self destructive behaviour. Self destructive behaviour that he displayed all the way into the 90's during the twilight of his career in things like Resevoir Dogs and Seinfeld. Tierney was supposed to be a recurring character as Elaine's father but got bounced after one episode. And Tarantino almost quit Resevoir Dogs on account of Tierney.

Re: Most difficult actors to work with?
 

Yeah, but when every other cast member gets a break and you don't, that starts to wear on you. Fiorentino may have had second thoughts after a couple of weeks of that pace. Directors can pull that with actors they've worked with a lot and who depend on them for various reasons, but if it's your first time working with someone and the pace gets grueling and you're expected to keep up but no other actors in the cast are, one can get upset. If Smith hadn't vetted her properly to see if she could put up with that kind of workload, it's on him. I haven't looked up her filmography to see if she'd worked with him before and I'm not going to bother. I'm just trying to look at it from her perspective, while everyone here seems to be adopting Smith's perspective. Since I can't stand Smith anyway (for reasons I'm none too clear about), I may be a little biased.

Re: Most difficult actors to work with?
 

True. I think the conversations may have gone something like this:

Cimino: I think we'll do one more.
Eastwood: Nah, we've got enough.
Cimino: OK Clint.

I recently watched Thunderbolt and Lightfoot again for the first time in many years, and while it's not exactly the masterpiece I remembered, it's very, very good. Eastwood was also concerned that Bridges was stealing the movie (true) and when the movie was released, was not happy with United Artists' efforts to promote the film. That may have soured the whole relationship there.

I wish that Cimino could have found a producing partner as strong as Eastwood for the rest of his career as he obviously needed something like that. TaL is lean, mean, and funny, and has a light touch, not things that Cimino was later associated with, and I wish he could have made 10-15 more movies like that instead of what we got, The Deer Hunter (which I like a lot) notwithstanding.

Re: Most difficult actors to work with?
 

The story, as I remember it from Steven Bach's book, "Final Cut," about the making of HEAVEN'S GATE, is that they'd reached the end of the shooting schedule for THUNDERBOLT AND LIGHTFOOT, with one day left and Cimino still had X number of setups to do or, at his pace, several days' work. Eastwood told him in no uncertain terms that he had a plane to catch at the end of the day and he would be on it no matter what, so Cimino had better get those setups done. And Cimino got them done. He used this story to convince UA that he could finish HEAVEN'S GATE on time despite the glacial pace of the shoot. Well, without Eastwood to temper him, he proved himself wrong.

I'm a big fan of THUNDERBOLT AND LIGHTFOOT also.

Re: Most difficult actors to work with?
 

Well, they do make a shitload of money doing it, so they need to shut up and do the work.

I always scoff when they mention so and so got fit for a role and it's like, well, they don't have anything else to do, so why wouldn't they have not gotten fit for a role? It's not like they have a day job that takes up all of their time. The acting gig IS their job.

Re: Most difficult actors to work with?
 

They filmed Salton Sea at my place of business and one of our security guards worked overtime and was surprised to see Kilmer eating with the rest of the grunts. Granted, no one would look at him or make eye contact let alone talk to him - but Kilmer took a bite of his steak, chewed on it for a bit, made a face of discomfort, and spat it out on the floor, got up and walked away. My friend was all like: what an ass.

It took 2-3 years for The Salton Sea to finally be released and it was a really good neo-noir piece.

Re: Most difficult actors to work with?
 

Why So Hostile? He didn't say anything about directors whining about it, he was talking about their fucking passion for it. Plus not all directors make a "shitload" of money.

Re: Most difficult actors to work with?
 

I didn't know I was being hostile. I just don't feel bad for actors, because if you're a "working" actor and director then you're doing alright for yourself. You're definitely making more than the average person sitting at a cubicle.

Re: Most difficult actors to work with?
 

I'm actually surprised there aren't more stories from the fury road shoot which apparently lasted 6 months in an isolated area with filming six days a week.

Re: Most difficult actors to work with?
 

Nobody has ever heard of her, but the evil queen in Deathstalker II was played by a Penthouse pinup named Monique Gabrielle. She would say these incredibly bitchy things on the set and in the hotel, and the director started writing them into her script.

Re: Most difficult actors to work with?
 

What was Tierney doing on set of Reservoir Dogs that was so bad it almost made QT quit?

Re: Most difficult actors to work with?
 

I just read there's a book coming out soon by Rutanya Alda called The Mommie Dearest Diaries. It also highlights Faye Dunaway's daily on set diva bitchiness while filming Mommie Dearest. Should make for a fun read I think.

Re: Most difficult actors to work with?
 

Paul Lynde was supposedly a real asshole.

Re: Most difficult actors to work with?
 

What do you mean no one has ever heard of her? I just assumed everyone had seen Deathstalker 2. That reminds me, I need to watch Deathstalker 2 again.