23 On-Set Celebrity Feuds That Take Crazy To Another Level

1. Faye Dunaway & Roman Polanski

 Faye Dunaway had a legendarily intense feud with director Roman Polanski, who she worked with on Chinatown. While filming a scene for the movie, Dunaway had to use the restroom and Polanski wouldn’t let her. Faye Dunaway retaliated by pissing in a cup that was on hand and throwing it in her director’s face. [source]

2. Bette Davis & Joan Crawford

Bette Davis and Joan Crawford had a longstanding rivalry that dated back to 1935, when Davis worked with the dreamy Franchot Tone on Dangerous, who Crawford also had feelings for. Crawford married him. When they worked together on Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte, Davis had a Coke machine installed on set as a dig at her co-star, whose husband was on the board of Pepsi. Crawford had to drop out of the movie due to illness and Davis cheered her co-star’s departure over a cold glass of Coca-Cola. [source]

3. Lars von Trier & Bjork

Lars von Trier is famous for eliciting strong reactions from his actors, but the most alarming instance was when he worked with Bjork on Dancer in the Dark, who hated, hated, hated working with the Danish director. She told him this, very often, and once spat on the ground instead of saying hello. (This is how they hug in Iceland.) Tension got so bad that rumors suggest that Bjork ate her sweater in a trailer. It’s probably not true, but for Bjork, nothing is beyond the realm of possibility. [source]

4. Will Smith and Aunt Viv from The Fresh Prince

There was a reason that Aunt Viv got replaced on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Actress Janet Hubert hated Will Smith, whom she accused of being an “egomaniac,” but reports also indicate that Hubert wanted more pay and screentime than producers were willing to allow. According to Smith, Hubert wanted it to be the “Aunt Viv of Bel-Air” show. Hubert alleges that Smith was behind her replacement in the show and refuses to get involved with any reunions, claiming that Will Smith still “has not grown up.” [source]

5. David O. Russell & Pretty Much Everyone

David O. Russell is notorious for not being easy to work with — as the Lily Tomlin video from I Heart Huckabees proves. However, animosity toward the prolific director took a turn on the Three Kings set, when Russell and George Clooney got in a fist fight and Clooney punched him in the face. Even Amy Adams — who Russell worked with on The Fighter — said she wanted to hit him. When the most adorable person in the world wants to knock your lights out, you know you have a problem. [source]

6. Jamie Foxx & LL Cool J

Jamie Foxx and LL Cool J had to “act” a scene during Oliver Stone’s Any Given Sunday where the two fist fought each other. The problem was that the scene was real. Foxx and LL Cool J played rival members of the same football team in the film, and they got so into their characters that the antagonism bled over into real life, and the fighting continued after the “cut.” In 2000, Cool J spoke out about the feud on “U Can’t Fuck With Me,” a diss track obviously directed at his former co-star, but the two have since patched things up. [source]

7. James Franco & Tyrese (But Also Anne Hathaway)

Lots of people hate James Franco for perfectly good reasons, and it took years for Anne Hathaway to be able to speak to him after his infamous Oscars hosting incident. But no one has been more vocal about their lack of love for the actor than Tyrese Gibson, who worked with Franco on the little-seen and little-loved Annapolis. Franco claims he was “rude” and “mean” to Tyrese on set (because he was in character) and Tyrese said on the issue: “I never want to work with him again, and I’m sure he feels the same way. It felt very personal. It was fucked up.” [source]

8. Coked-Out Debra Winger & Shirley MacLaine

On screen, Debra Winger and Shirley Maclaine look like such a loving mother and daughter. This is called “acting.” During the filming of Terms of Endearment, the two actresses were at each other’s throats over Winger’s alleged cocaine use and flighty behavior, as Winger pulled a full-on Lohan. Debra Winger once lifted her dress up to fart in MacLaine’s general direction as a middle finger to her co-star, but MacLaine won out in the end. Shirley MacLaine won an Oscar while the winless Winger watched from the audience. [source]

9. Sean Young & Charlie Sheen (Featuring Oliver Stone, James Woods & Tim Burton)

Sean Young is famous for being nuts on set, who allegedly stalked co-star James Woods (who sued her) and campaigned for the role of Catwoman in Batman Returns by showing up to the set in a costume she made herself to beg Tim Burton for the part. When filming Wall Street, she was unhappy with the modest size of her role (as Gordon Gekko’s ancillary girlfriend) and wanted Daryl Hannah’s part instead (for which Hannah was later nominated for a Razzie). She didn’t get it and attempted to slow down production by being unprofessional, which got co-star Charlie Sheen’s goat. You know you’ve done something wrong when Charlie Sheen thinks you have a problem. To retaliate, Sheen stuck a piece of paper to Young’s back that read “I am a c**t,” and Young apparently didn’t notice until someone pointed it out to her, hours later. Ouch. [source]

10. George Takei & William Shatner

Whether its Cybill Shepherd and Bruce Willis or Shoreh Agladashoo and Kiefer Sutherland, rivalries between TV stars are nothing new, but the one between King of Facebook George Takei and William Shatner continues to this day. Calling Shatner a “d**k” and a “douche,” Takei claims that his former co-star is “self-involved.” Sulu left Captain Kirk off the invite list to his recent wedding. However, if Shatner planned on singing, I wouldn’t want him there either. #TeamTakei [source]

11. Gillian Anderson & David Duchovny

Although rumors have long circulated that X-Files co-stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson had an on-set fling, the exact opposite was true. The stars had a cold relationship throughout the show’s long run, one of the many reasons Duchovny later bowed out. According to Duchovny, being paired together all the time drove them nuts. “Familiarity breeds contempt,” he claimed. “We used to argue over nothing.” I guess the romance will have to saved for the fan fiction. [source]

12. Stanley Kubrick & Shelley Duvall & Scatman Crouthers

Although David Fincher is notorious for making his actors do incessant takes of the same scene until they get it right — leading to hostility from Jake Gyllenhaal while filming Zodiac — no case of a director’s perfectionism is more extreme than Stanley Kubrick. During The Shining, his treatment of Shelley Duvall caused made her physically sick, with Duvall claiming that her hair was falling out. Kubrick disliked Duvall’s line readings, forcing her to do her takes over 100 times. Scatman Crouthers had a tearful meltdown after filming the same scene 85 times, but Jack Nicholson wisely stayed out of his director’s way. [source]

13. Teri Hatcher & The Desperate Housewives Cast

Whenever you have an all-female cast, rumors will always circulate about feuds — as in the case between Sarah Jessica Parker and Kim Cattrall. However, the one between Teri Hatcher and her Desperate Housewives castmates was very real. During the shoot for a Vanity Fair spread with the show’s cast, Teri Hatcher wanted to be in the middle, the center of attention, which blew the lid off hostility already brewing with her castmates. Nicolette Sheridan once claimed that Hatcher was the “meanest woman in the world,” and producers considered killing off her character. Years later, the housewives bought gifts for the beloved castmates and crew members they’d worked with for a decade, but they left Hatcher’s name off the presents. [source]

14. Val Kilmer & Most People Who Have Ever Met Him

Val Kilmer has pissed off pretty much everyone he’s ever worked with — from Tom Sizemore (who he wouldn’t call by name) to a crew member that he burned in the face with a cigarette. Joel Schumacher calls the two weeks they spent on Batman Forever not speaking “bliss,” but Oliver Stone had a much bigger beef with the actor. Kilmer purposefully flubbed his lines on the set of Alexander to spend more time with co-star Angelina Jolie, who he got to film sex scenes with. He did this for four months, costing the already over-budget production millions of dollars. It’s now considered an epic financial disaster. [source]

15. Alfred Hitchcock & Blonde Women (But Mostly Tippi Hedren)

Alfred Hitchcock’s obsession with blonde women became a major factor of his filmmaking, but in real life, his fetishes destroyed the career of Tippi Hedren, who Hitchcock worked with on The Birds. Hitchcock was hopelessly in love with Hedren, even though he spent the entire shoot torturing her, having the crew hurl actual birds at the first-time actress. After working with Hitch on Marnie, the actress spurned his toxic affections, but Hedren was still under contract and the great director promised to ruin her career — which he delivered on. Hitch gave her $600 a week to do absolutely nothing, refusing to let her work. [source]

16. Shannen Doherty & Everyone

Half of the feuds in Hollywood belong to Shannen Doherty, who can’t seem to get along with anyone. On 90210, she was incredibly hostile toward producer Aaron Spelling’s daughter, Tori, her co-star in the show and nearly came to blows with Jennie Garth. Out of loyalty, Spelling later put Doherty in the WB’s Charmed, which he executive produced, on the condition that she stop pissing everyone off. However, she was later fired for the show for starting another fight with Alyssa Milano. Shannen Doherty will never change. [source]

17. Dustin Hoffman & Meryl Streep (With Sidney Pollack & Robert Benton)

Sydney Pollack once claimed that the cocky persona Dustin Hoffman portrayed in Tootsie was close to the real thing. Hoffman feels that “directors and actors are biological enemies” and Pollack claimed that Hoffman has been at odds with almost everyone he’s ever worked with. This includes Meryl Streep, with whom Hoffman co-starred in Kramer vs. Kramer. Streep confronted director Robert Benton about the way her character was written — as one-dimensional and misogynistic — and the director said she could re-write her lines to be more reflective of real women’s voices. Benton thought she could do a better job. Hoffman didn’t agree and vehemently tried to block the changes to the script. Meryl won in the end, winning an Oscar for her work. According to Hoffman, Streep is “obsessive” and an “ox” when it comes to acting: “She thinks about nothing else but what she’s doing.” [source]

18. Bill Murray & The Angels

Although Bill Murray had his share of beef with Chevy Chase, his more memorable fight was with Lucy Liu, of all people. Murray can be kind and loyal to actors and directors he respects (see: the Wes Anderson bunch) but is notoriously rude to those he doesn’t respect. Bill Murray called out his co-stars while filming a scene from Charlie’s Angels: “I get why you’re here and you’ve got talent, but what in the hell are you doing here? You can’t act!” Liu immediately exploded and took swings at him, having to be pulled away. McG wasn’t a fan of Murray either, so the director had him replaced with funnyman Bernie Mac for the next installment. [source]

19. Bea Arthur & Betty White

The famous theme song for Golden Girls thanks you for being a friend, but there was little thanks to go around between Bea Arthur and Betty White. The two women naturally pissed each other off, although White isn’t sure why. Betty White claims that her natural energy and “positive attitude” aggravated her co-star, but Rue McLanahan believed it was because White was nominated for an Emmy before Bea Arthur was, even though Arthur had the bigger part. Bea Arthur thought that White acted like she was the star and couldn’t stand it. The two never patched things up before Arthur’s passing. [source]

20. Michael Bay & Megan Fox

Michael Bay is a world-class tool, but no one knows this better than Megan Fox, who worked with the director on the first two Transformers films. In an interview with a British magazine, Fox compared him to Hitler, biting the misogynistic hand that feeds her. (Bay, apparently, treated Ms. Fox like a prop on set, and co-star Shia LeBeouf said that she had a difficult time meeting the director’s sexist demands.) Producer Steven Spielberg had her fired from Transformers 3 for her remarks (and constantly being on her Blackberry), hiring Rosie Huntington-Whiteley instead. However, Fox and Michael Bay made up, with Bay casting her as April in his forthcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles remake. You gotta pay the bills, I guess. [source]

21. Julia Roberts & Nick Nolte

On-screen chemistry is a delicate, fragile thing and every difficult to elicit if your co-stars can’t stand the sight of one another. Just ask Julia Roberts and Nick Nolte, who hated each other so much that they had to film their scenes on Charles Shyer’s I Love Trouble separately. Because of press, they were nice about it at the time, but years later Roberts came clean about her feelings on the situation, referring to Mr. Nolte as a “disgusting human being.” Nolte later shot back: “It’s not nice to call someone ‘disgusting.’ But she’s not a nice person. Everyone knows that.” [source]

22. Rachel McAdams & Ryan Gosling

Although I Love Trouble was an artistic and commercial failure, The Notebook turned out much better — despite the fact that co-stars Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling had a similarly poor working relationship. Gosling claimed that the America’s Canadian sweetheart was “difficult to work with” and “uncooperative,” and during one scene, he demanded that she be removed and a stand-in put in to read his lines with. He didn’t want to look at her anymore. This oddly only made their onscreen passionate more explosive, but years later, the pair apparently worked out their differences — forming the greatest relationship ever known. [source]

23. C3PO & R2D2

Would you believe that in real life C3PO and R2D2 had a feud? According to Kenny Baker, who was the voice of R2D2, he wasn’t alone in eliciting C3PO’s wrath. Actor Anthony Daniels, who lent his vocal talents to the iconic robot, was an epic dick to everyone. Baker referred to Daniels as an “awkward,” unsociable person who won’t do appearances for the series and is hostile toward Star Wars fans. Daniels alleged, “I’ve asked him four times now but, the last time, he looked down his nose at me like I was a piece of shit. He said: ‘I don’t do many of these conventions — go away little man.’” [source]

Bonus: Klaus Kinski & Werner Herzog

Perhaps the wildest feud of all time was the decades-spanning antagonism between Werner Herzog and Klaus Kinski, documented in the film My Best Fiend. When Kinski wanted to leave the set of Aguirre, the Wrath of God, Herzog stopped him at gunpoint, but Kinski, never to be upstaged, later blew off an extra’s finger. During Fitzcarraldo, Herzog tried to burn down Kinski’s house to kill him in his sleep. Ah, friendship. [source]