Actors vs. directors: Fiercest on-set rivalries in Hollywood

In the entertainment trade, the importance of a director is a unanimously acknowledged fact; wherever the director takes a project, the crew must follow.

Connected to that rule is the notion then that actors need to comply with the laws their director sets down — perhaps the most creative relationship on a professional set.

But what happens when that relationship fails to materialise and the entirety of a production is forced to suffer?

While some of the works sink under the tempestuous dynamic between an actor and a director, others take on a life of their own due to the intriguing creative clash.

Take a look at some of the most memorable instances in the tug of war regarding actors vs. directors:

Harrison Ford & Ridley Scott

Though this duo’s collaboration resulted in one of the most revered and iconic works among the cinematic canon of science fiction, the two men did not exactly see eye to eye on the futuristic set of 1982’s Blade Runner.

Ford reportedly did not prefer the voiceover aspect of the film, preferring that the story remain more ambiguous and self explanatory.

However, this and other creative differences between the legendary actor and director duo led to their volatile relationship, which ultimately resulted in a fulfilling creative endeavour.

Julia Roberts & Steven Spielberg

Steven Spielberg is widely regarded for the good working dynamic he shares with his actors, particularly children.

However, he didn’t have the most swimming start to his on-set relationship with Julia Roberts, one of the stars in 1991’s fantasy adventure film Hook.

Being in a bad mood due to working in solitude most of the time, given the CGI demands, Roberts — playing Tinkerbell in the film — was nicknamed “Tinkerhell” by the crew.

While Spielberg empathised with his star — acknowledging her difficult and public breakup with Kiefer Sutherland at the time — he described their collaboration as “an unfortunate time” and the duo have never collaborated since their only film’s lukewarm and forgettable reception.

Megan Fox & Michael Bay

As the Transformers franchise turned Megan Fox into an overnight sex symbol, it also got her fired due to her poor relationship with the series’ director, Michael Bay.

However, it has been suggested that the actress was let go because she dared to publicly call out her boss in a series of tirades against him, one of which claimed, “He’s vulnerable and fragile in real life and then on set he’s a tyrant.”

His response? “I’m sorry, Megan. I’m sorry I made you work twelve hours. I’m sorry that I’m making you show up on time. Movies are not always warm and fuzzy.”

Gene Hackman & Wes Anderson

A passive and easygoing filmmaker by most accounts, Wes Anderson was perhaps always bound to fail when pitted against the whims of a notoriously difficult artist to work with in the late Gene Hackman, when the two collaborated on 2001’s The Royal Tenenbaums.

What’s most perplexing is that a concrete reason never once presented itself for the animosity Hackman had for Anderson and it all really boiled down to the fact that the actor just thought that the then rising filmmaker was too sensitive or something along those lines, as co-star Angelica Huston recalled him telling the director to “pull up his pants and act like a man” around the set at one point.

Anderson on his part remained full of praise for his actor’s work, once sharing, “He’s a huge force and I really enjoyed working with him. Even though he was very challenging with me, it was very exciting seeing him launch into these scenes.”

Florence Pugh & Olivia Wilde

This clash must be fresh in the public’s minds, as it unfolded not only in front of everyone’s eyes, specifically on the Venice red carpet, but also caught heat on social media.

What started as an opportunity which Florence Pugh initially looked forward to, her collaboration with Olivia Wilde on the set of 2022’s Don’t Worry Darling quickly descended into chaos over multiple creative and reportedly, personal differences.

Despite being the lead, Pugh distanced herself from the film’s promotion, while Wilde’s relationship with her lead actor, Harry Styles, was also reported to have caused disruptions on-set as well as suffering a public dismantling once the director and her real life beau, took their movie through various promotional rounds, accompanied by other cast members.

Tippi Hedren & Alfred Hitchcock

Iconic actress from yesteryear Hollywood and a famous “Hitchcock blonde”, Tippi Hedren’s collaboration with Alfred Hitchcock produced the horror masterpiece that was 1963’s The Birds.

However, when the duo came together to work on Marnie the next year, Hedren was sexually targeted by the legendary horror and suspense filmmaker.

In a shocking moment which left her feeling “repulsed”, the actress revealed that Hitchcock told her “I’ll ruin your career” after she rejected his unprompted advances, and it has since been largely speculated that this was the reason Tippi Hedren’s star failed to take off the way it was expected to, despite the two back to back hits she delivered while working with him.

Klaus Kinski & Werner Herzog

Arguably the most infamous bits of actor-director drama in the history of cinema is the wildly turbulent relationship between German artists Klaus Kinski and Werner Herzog, who collaborated on a total of five motion pictures.

Described by Herzog as a “perfect madman”, Kinski was well known for his disdain of directors altogether as well as his extremely difficult nature, even prompting the filmmaker to threaten the actor at gunpoint during one of their collaborations.

Despite the mutual hostility, the pair somehow came back to work with each other multiple times, including for the notoriously gruelling shoot of 1982’s Fitzcarraldo, which featured the popular sequence of a steamship being hauled across a steep hill — a complex challenge which further contributed to the volatile dynamic between Kinski and Herzog.

Everyone vs. David O Russell

While it may seem that everyone always ends up picking a fight with David O Russell, eventually it has to be considered that by virtue of being the common denominator, it is the filmmaker himself who may be the problem.

Actors like George Clooney, Amy Adams, Christian Bale, and more have been shouted at, aggressively argued with, and even came to blows with the Oscar nominated director on his various film sets.

He allegedly headbutted and attempted to choke Clooney on the set of 1999’s Three Kings, yelled at two time collaborator Adams while working on 2013’s American Hustle (leaving her “devastated”), and despite several other disturbing claims, O Russell remains one of the hottest directors working in the industry today.