Most difficult actors to work with?
07-13-15, 02:08 PM
#1
DVD Talk Special Edition
Thread Starter
Most difficult actors to work with?
Hard to beat Klaus Kinski's legendary on set antics but I'm sure there are others. I was actually surprised to read this about Mike Myers:
Source and full story with more on-set antics What the Hell happened to Mike Myers?
In 1992, Myers and Dana Carvey were tapped to bring the Wayne's World sketch to the big screen. Trouble began immediately when Myers wanted to have Carvey's character, Garth, written out of the movie.
Myers had originally developed the Wayne character as a solo character while performing with Second City. The character of Garth was added for Saturday Night Live. When it came time to take the act to the big screen, Myers wasn’t interested in sharing the spotlight with Carvey, who was arguably the bigger star at the time.
Myers has developed a reputation for being, well, a demaning control freak. He started earning that reputation with his very first movie. Reportedly, Myers once stormed off the Wayne’s World set due to a lack of margarine for his bagel.
Director, Penelope Spheeris recounted to Entertainment Weekly, ”He (Myers) was emotionally needy and got more difficult as the shoot went along. ‘You should have heard him *****ing when I was trying to do that ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ scene: ‘I can’t move my neck like that! Why do we have to do this so many times? No one is going to laugh at that!”’
Eventually, the director assigned her daughter to babysit Myers and fetch his snacks.
”To this day, I have this image of her sitting on this little cooler, looking at me, like, ‘Mom, I f—ing hate you,” said Spheeris.
In spite of the trouble behind the scenes, Wayne’s World was an unqualified hit.
Myers followed up Wayne’s World with the romantic comedy, So I Married an Axe Murderer in 1993.
Other actors who had been considered for Axe Murderer included Woody Allen, Chevy Chase, Albert Brooks, and Martin Short. When Myers agreed to star, he insisted on re-writing the script to better suit his sensibilities.
This resulted in a law suit with the original screen writer, Robbie Fox which eventually resulted in Fox getting sole writing credit.
Myers also clashed with director, Thomas Schlamme. When Myers was unhappy, he locked himself in his trailer and refused to work. As a result, the film went over budget.
So I Married an Axe Murderer opened to mixed reviews and flopped at the box office. But it has accrued a cult following over the years.
Later that year, Myers and Carvey returned for a Wayne’s World sequel. But Wayne’s World 2 couldn’t duplicate the success of the original. It got mixed reviews and disappointed at the box office.
The director of the original WW, Penelope Spheeris, has said she believes Myers prevented Paramount from hiring her for the sequel.
Myers had originally developed the Wayne character as a solo character while performing with Second City. The character of Garth was added for Saturday Night Live. When it came time to take the act to the big screen, Myers wasn’t interested in sharing the spotlight with Carvey, who was arguably the bigger star at the time.
Myers has developed a reputation for being, well, a demaning control freak. He started earning that reputation with his very first movie. Reportedly, Myers once stormed off the Wayne’s World set due to a lack of margarine for his bagel.
Director, Penelope Spheeris recounted to Entertainment Weekly, ”He (Myers) was emotionally needy and got more difficult as the shoot went along. ‘You should have heard him *****ing when I was trying to do that ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ scene: ‘I can’t move my neck like that! Why do we have to do this so many times? No one is going to laugh at that!”’
Eventually, the director assigned her daughter to babysit Myers and fetch his snacks.
”To this day, I have this image of her sitting on this little cooler, looking at me, like, ‘Mom, I f—ing hate you,” said Spheeris.
In spite of the trouble behind the scenes, Wayne’s World was an unqualified hit.
Myers followed up Wayne’s World with the romantic comedy, So I Married an Axe Murderer in 1993.
Other actors who had been considered for Axe Murderer included Woody Allen, Chevy Chase, Albert Brooks, and Martin Short. When Myers agreed to star, he insisted on re-writing the script to better suit his sensibilities.
This resulted in a law suit with the original screen writer, Robbie Fox which eventually resulted in Fox getting sole writing credit.
Myers also clashed with director, Thomas Schlamme. When Myers was unhappy, he locked himself in his trailer and refused to work. As a result, the film went over budget.
So I Married an Axe Murderer opened to mixed reviews and flopped at the box office. But it has accrued a cult following over the years.
Later that year, Myers and Carvey returned for a Wayne’s World sequel. But Wayne’s World 2 couldn’t duplicate the success of the original. It got mixed reviews and disappointed at the box office.
The director of the original WW, Penelope Spheeris, has said she believes Myers prevented Paramount from hiring her for the sequel.
07-13-15, 02:15 PM
#2
Re: Most difficult actors to work with?
Originally Posted by Penelope Spheeris
‘You should have heard him *****ing when I was trying to do that ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ scene:
Fucking?
What was he doing in the backseat of that car?
07-13-15, 02:20 PM
#3
DVD Talk Legend & 2021 TOTY Winner
07-13-15, 02:36 PM
#4
Re: Most difficult actors to work with?
Is "bitching" a bad word all of a sudden? Odd that "fuck" in that article gets the "first letter-dash" treatment while "bitching" gets all asterisks, as if the word is so terrible they can't even hint at it.
Anyway, back on topic;
In the Hearts of Darkness doc, Marlon Brando comes off like a lazy, pain in the ass.
I seem to recall Martin Lawrence had a restraining order placed against him by his sit-com co-star Tisha Campbell so they couldn't have any scenes together.
F. Thomas Wilson has some interesting stories about Eric Stolz being an asshole on Back to the Future.
Anyway, back on topic;
In the Hearts of Darkness doc, Marlon Brando comes off like a lazy, pain in the ass.
I seem to recall Martin Lawrence had a restraining order placed against him by his sit-com co-star Tisha Campbell so they couldn't have any scenes together.
F. Thomas Wilson has some interesting stories about Eric Stolz being an asshole on Back to the Future.
07-13-15, 02:36 PM
#5
DVD Talk Hero
Re: Most difficult actors to work with?
Interesting to read that Penelope Spheeris feels Myers blocked her from getting hired for the sequel. I had always read that she turned the sequel down because Myers was such a pain in the ass.
07-13-15, 02:57 PM
#8
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
The stories about Brando are all pretty well know, but I hear lots of stories about actors being divas. Back when the star system was even stronger, some of them, even if they weren't producers, had a lot of sway on the set. Guys like Arnold Schwarzenegger used to have director approval, for example. In some cases, actors work as producers on vehicles for themselves, ala Tom Cruise. Clint Eastwood evidently got into it with Michael Cimino because he didn't want to do the director's endless takes.
Last edited by hanshotfirst1138; 07-13-15 at 05:45 PM.
07-13-15, 03:03 PM
#11
DVD Talk Hero
Re: Most difficult actors to work with?
Apparently Marilyn Monroe was a pain in the ass to work with. Constantly arriving late and not knowing her lines.
07-13-15, 03:09 PM
#12
Re: Most difficult actors to work with?
Bill Hader was on the Howard Stern show a couple years ago, telling stories about the time he worked as a production assistant. He talked about how Schwarzenegger would hold up shooting, burning tons of money, because he wouldn't come to set until he finished his chess game.
07-13-15, 04:28 PM
#15
DVD Talk Hero
Re: Most difficult actors to work with?
Didn't Russell Crowe once smash a phone over someone's head?
07-13-15, 04:43 PM
#17
DVD Talk Hero
07-13-15, 06:37 PM
#20
DVD Talk Ultimate Edition
Re: Most difficult actors to work with?
Kevin Smith: "The biggest pain in the arse I ever worked with... Linda Fiorentino. When we were making Dogma, the cast was working in a favoured nations type of affair where everyone was getting paid the same - scale, which is the minimum wage for the movie business.
And we were all trapped out in Pittsburgh shooting this movie, which is the middle of nowhere, so whenever people had a few days off they would ask if they could go to New York, or back to Los Angeles, or elsewhere. I always said "sure", because why would I want to make anybody sit in Pittsburgh if they've got something else to do?
Linda, on the other hand, had to work every day on the movie because she was in every scene, so she really never got to leave and she got irritated when cast members would go elsewhere. She got really angry about that and asked me to do something about it. And I said, "What am I supposed to do? I mean, they want to go away and they're not working, so that's fine." And one day she stopped talking to me for a whole day, because she was so irritated by the fact that other people got to leave the set. That was kind of weird. The weirdest experience I had making a movie."
And we were all trapped out in Pittsburgh shooting this movie, which is the middle of nowhere, so whenever people had a few days off they would ask if they could go to New York, or back to Los Angeles, or elsewhere. I always said "sure", because why would I want to make anybody sit in Pittsburgh if they've got something else to do?
Linda, on the other hand, had to work every day on the movie because she was in every scene, so she really never got to leave and she got irritated when cast members would go elsewhere. She got really angry about that and asked me to do something about it. And I said, "What am I supposed to do? I mean, they want to go away and they're not working, so that's fine." And one day she stopped talking to me for a whole day, because she was so irritated by the fact that other people got to leave the set. That was kind of weird. The weirdest experience I had making a movie."
07-13-15, 06:53 PM
#21
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Most difficult actors to work with?
according to Bruce Willis, Kevin Smith is no peach either.
Gwyneth Paltrow has a pretty bad rep apparently.
Shia LeBeuf has matured into a real asshat. Harrison Ford couldn't stand him on the set of Indy 4
Gwyneth Paltrow has a pretty bad rep apparently.
Shia LeBeuf has matured into a real asshat. Harrison Ford couldn't stand him on the set of Indy 4
07-13-15, 06:57 PM
#22
DVD Talk Hero
Re: Most difficult actors to work with?
Sounds to me that Kevin Smith keeps a casual set and some don't find that professional enough, so they act like children.
07-13-15, 08:01 PM
#23
DVD Talk Hero
Re: Most difficult actors to work with?
Didn't being difficult kill Heigl's career as well (I think it was mainly TV, but I'm sure that extended to movies too)
07-13-15, 08:04 PM
#24
Re: Most difficult actors to work with?
Does Shannen Doherty still count?
07-13-15, 08:05 PM
#25
DVD Talk Hero