Can celebrities really manifest their dream roles through style choices?
It is also stated that the actor would often verbally abuse cast and crew mates, and even shoved an assistant director one time.
See also: Celebrities who have had major social media meltdowns
“They’re back there in Hollywood making movies right now because of us," Cruise yelled. "We are creating thousands of jobs," He refused to hear the staff members' apologies and said, "You can tell it to the people that are losing their homes because our industry is shut down ... We are not shutting this movie down."
Tom Cruise's work on the latest 'Mission: Impossible 7' led to an audio leak revealing him lashing out at crew members who were reportedly standing closer to each other than social-distancing rules would have it. "If I see you doing it again, you’re gone,” he yelled, with an audience of 50 staff members around at Warner Bros. Studios in Leavesden, UK, The Sun reports. Sources say the star took it upon himself to enforce safety precautions amid pandemic filming, but he certainly lacked the professionalism required.
Ray Fisher, who plays Cyborg in 'Justice League,' also detailed an incident when Whedon pushed him to say a line Fisher identified as a stereotypical black catchphrase. Whedon reportedly pressured him to say it, then mocked him afterward. Meanwhile, Whedon is said to have also clashed with Jason Momoa and Jeremy Irons on set. All this is on top of Whedon's abuse allegations from several stars of his vampire series 'Buffy,' including Charisma Carpenter and Michelle Trachtenberg.
On the set of 2017's 'Justice League,' Whedon allegedly pressed Gal Gadot to say lines she didn't feel comfortable with, and one witness claims he told her "she's going to shut up and say the lines and he can make her look incredibly stupid in this movie." Their argument reportedly led to an intervention from then Warner Bros. chairman Kevin Tsujihara. "What I had with Joss, basically, is that he kind of threatened my career and told me that if I did something, he would ensure that my career would be miserable," Gadot told a reporter, which was translated from Hebrew. "And I simply handled it on the spot."
Denzel Washington was invited to direct one episode of season 12 of 'Grey's Anatomy.' This was back in 2016, and Ellen Pompeo has recently opened up about her experience working with Washington. They got into a serious argument over one particular scene in which Pompeo tried to guide the actor she was working with to change up his performance a bit. According to Pompeo, Washington lost his cool and told her, "I'm the director! Don't you tell him what to do!" To which she replied, "Listen, this is my show! This is my set! You barely even know where the bathroom is!" Needless to say, there was tension on set after that, but Pompeo says they ended things on good terms and she has the utmost respect for him.
Drew Barrymore shed light on the infamous spat between Lucy Liu and Bill Murray on the set of 'Charlie's Angels' during her October 5 episode of her eponymous talk show. Liu previously said Murray had started hurling "inexcusable and unacceptable" insults at her during rehearsal, and her fellow angel elaborated: "What really happened was Bill was just in a—you know, comedians can be a little dark sometimes—and he just came in in a bad mood. What you have to know is how much Lucy stood up for herself and that was the great thing that came out of an unfortunate circumstance." Barrymore disclosed that Liu told Murray, “I do not accept that kind of behavior from you,” and received the support of everyone, adding that she respected her fellow angel for her response and the team for addressing the issue head-on. As for Liu and Murray's relationship, Liu said there wasn’t any bad blood.
The drama on set of 'Charmed' has been widely speculated about, and for years Shannen Doherty has carried a reputation of being difficult to work with, particularly after she asked to be written out of the show after the third season. On October 26, 2021, her old co-star Alyssa Milano spoke to Entertainment Tonight about her upcoming new book, 'Sorry Not Sorry,' and gave an update on her relationship with Doherty. "I would say we are cordial," Milano said. "You know, I could take responsibility for a lot of our tension that we had. I think a lot of our struggle came from feeling that I was in competition rather than it being that sisterhood that the show was so much about. And I have some guilt about my part in that."
She added, "I have respect for her. Great actress, loves her family so much, and I just wish I could've felt strong enough in who I was to recognize that back then."
Many allegations have come forward about the director's abuses of power and unprofessional behavior. Gal Gadot specifically claimed that Whedon threatened her on set of 'Justice League,' though in a New York Magazine profile, Whedon claimed, “I don’t threaten people. Who does that?” Regarding Gadot's remarks, he claimed she misunderstood: "English is not her first language, and I tend to be annoyingly flowery in my speech." But in a subsequent email to New York Magazine, Gadot wrote that she “understood perfectly.” Meanwhile, a 'Justice League' insider corroborated her allegations. As for Ray Fisher, who plays Cyborg in 'Justice League,' and his accusations that Whedon was "gross" and "unprofessional" on set, cutting out scenes that challenged stereotypes of Black characters and even lightening his skin tone in post-production, Whedon called his accusations false and unjust. He said he gave the film a "lighter" look overall, and that he'd cut Cyborg scenes because they "logically made no sense" while also claiming that Fisher was a "bad actor."
In an interview with Insider, actor Scott Eastwood recalled a tense moment on set of war drama 'Fury' (2014) in which his co-star Shia LaBeouf took offense at a scene in which Eastwood's character spits tobacco on their tank. He claimed Brad Pitt had to step in to defuse the situation and said vaguely that an actor's process should not "put people in a situation where it's a s—y work environment or you're rude or people have to be in an uncomfortable situation."
Pitt had previously spoken of the incident to British GQ in 2014, explaining that he had first told Eastwood not to spit on the tank. "he's disrespecting our home, you know?" he said of Eastwood, adding that in the scene he told Eastwood that he's going to clean it up. But then, Pitt said, "Shia clocks it, and you have to understand, we've been through severe boot camp already, we've been through a lot in this tank. Shia saw it and felt the same—he's disrespecting our home. So Shia had the same reaction I did, and started having some words." Pitt admitted that later he realized the spitting was written in the script. Eastwood's account in the same article went more like: "[Shia] didn't like what I was doing, so he said I couldn't be spitting tobacco on his tank, and he told me to clean it up. I pretty much told him off, and Brad had to break it up," he added."
Kyle Buchanan spilled the tea on Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy's feud in his book, 'Blood, Sweat and Chrome: The Wild and True Story of Mad Max: Fury Road,' an excerpt of which was published by Vanity Fair on February 22. The two stars, who played allies Furiosa and Max in the 2015 box office hit, address their spat in the book, with Theron admitting, "We were either fighting or we were icing each other—I don't know which one is worse—and they had to deal with it in the back," she said, referring to the rest of the cast and crew. "It was horrible! We should not have done that; we should have been better. I can own up to that."
The two reportedly butted heads from pre-production, what with their different approaches to their craft and some evident "animosity" towards each other, per first assistant director P. J. Voeten. But it was one incident in Namibia, when Hardy was reportedly three hours late for their 8 am call-time, that Theron really exploded. She began yelling and swearing at him, and Hardy got riled up. Theron later recalled, "It got to a place where it was kind of out of hand, and there was a sense that maybe sending a woman producer down could maybe equalize some of it, because I didn't feel safe."
"In hindsight, I was in over my head in many ways," Hardy admitted. "The pressure on both of us was overwhelming at times." He added that what Theron "needed was a better, perhaps more experienced partner in me," joking that "now that I'm older and uglier, I could rise to that occasion."
Christian Bale spoke in 2022 about taking on the off-screen role of "mediator" on the set of 'American Hustle' between an allegedly tense relationship between co-star Amy Adams and director David O. Russell. "That's just in my nature," Bale told GQ Magazine of his ability to intervene in hostile environments. "To try to say, 'Hey, come on, let's go and sit down and figure that out. There's gotta be a way of making this all work.'"
Adams previously spoke about how she often cried on set due to Russell, admitted that she was "just devastated on set" in 2016, E! News reports. "Life to me is more important than movies," she added. "It really taught me how to separate work and home."
Despite the conflicts, Bale still praised Adams and Russell as "two such incredible talents," and added, "When you're working with people of the crazy creative talent of Amy or of David, there are gonna be upsets."
When you go see your favorite artist in concert, or catch that latest flick everyone's been raving about, you don't tend to think about what may have gone on behind the scenes in the making of the show or film. But believe us, behind the bright lights is a world filled with drama!
Click through this gallery for more juicy behind-the-scenes details of celebrities acting up at work.
Unprofessional stars involved in spats at work
Find out which celebs pack a mean punch!
CELEBRITY Fights
When you go see your favorite artist in concert, or catch that latest flick everyone's been raving about, you don't tend to think about what may have gone on behind the scenes in the making of the show or film. But believe us, behind the bright lights is a world filled with drama!
Click through this gallery for more juicy behind-the-scenes details of celebrities acting up at work.