Hollywood is the land of gossip, and what’s a juicier story than an on-set meltdown? Blowing up in public is often so popular that it becomes a viral recording or video.
It’s important to remember that celebrities are real people with valid reasons for losing their cool. They may have been pushed too hard, insulted by their castmates, or struggled with addiction. Whatever the reason, these dramatic moments can make or break careers.
Keep watching to learn about a few of them, including the one between Lucy Lui and Bill Murray where she got him fired after an on-set meltdown.
Christian Bale
Christian had the misfortune of having his rage captured on audiotape. That’s made it one of the most well-known meltdowns in Hollywood history.
Director of photographer Shane Hurlburt did the one thing that crewmembers should never do; he walked into the actor’s line of site on the Terminator Salvation set. He was met with a four-minute-long tirade. The strangest part was that the British actor used the American accent he’d put on for his character the entire time.
The recording went viral when it leaked in 2009. Christian later apologized, and he and Shane continued to work together for the rest of the film.
Lindsey Lohan
Lindsey was another unfortunate actress whose on-set meltdown was caught on tape during the filming of Canyons.
She didn’t show up for the first day of shooting, hadn’t been learning her lines, and wouldn’t leave her trailer for hours. She even had to beg to be let back on after being fired.
The clip got posted on the gossip site TMZ. It was one of the first moments of erratic behavior that began the fall of her career.
Tom Cruise
Modern celebrities can’t seem to escape having their outbursts recorded. Tom Cruise’s meltdown on the set of Mission Impossible 7 got leaked. It wasn’t his first, but it is one of the most well-known.
He saw two crew members standing too close to each other and felt that the film’s COVID-19 restrictions weren’t enough. He began swearing, saying that anyone he saw doing that again would be gone.
Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp’s reputation hasn’t been improving in recent years. He’s been fired from a set more than once, such as during 2018’s City of Lies.
Location manager Greg Rocky Brooks told him they’d have to spend extra hours shooting at night in the streets of LA. Johnny was so angry that he hit and verbally abused him, and the crew let him go. He even took the matter to court, but it was settled.
Lawrence Tierney
Most of the actors from 1992’s Reservoir Dogs worked with Quentin Tarantino again, including Harvey Keitel, Michael Madsen, Tim Roth, and Steve Buscemi. Lawrence Tierney was the exception.
He allegedly tried to undermine the director’s vision, and their conflicts went from creative differences to a fistfight. Lawrence was then fired and added another arrest to his record for drunkenly trying to shoot his nephew. Quentin later called him a “complete lunatic”.
Dennis Hopper
1993’s Super Mario Bros. is both the first major movie based on a video game and one of the worst films of all time. Dennis Hopper saw the signs of its failure early and wasn’t pleased.
The script was being rewritten almost every day. Dennis, who was playing King Koopa, got a new scene minutes before it was sent to be filmed. He mirrored his video game counterpart by flying into a rage. The crew broke for lunch early, and it took three and a half hours to calm him down and get him back to set.
Richard Pryor
Writer Paul Schrader made his directorial debut in 1978 with the film Blue Collar. He hadn’t yet learned one of the most important rules of filmmaking; don’t tell more than one actor they’re the lead.
He gave Harvey Keitel, Yaphet Kotto, and Richard Pryor that distinction. They all began to fight, but Richard’s drug addiction and paranoia made it dangerous. HE reportedly brought a gun to set one day and pointed it at the director, claiming he wouldn’t shoot more than three takes of any scene.
George Lazenby
There are many reasons that an actor may only get to play James Bond one time. George Lazenberry took on the role in 1969’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.
He was known for being a womanizer and a drinker, and he’d often show up on set drunk. He’d even throw empty vodka bottles at the crew. He was still invited to return but refused. He thought playing the superspy one time would be enough, but he now lives on in infamy instead of fame.
Bette Davis
Feuds were just as common and bitter in Old Hollywood as they are today. Bette Davis and Joan Crawford were one of the most famous.
They couldn’t hide their hatred when they were cast together in 1962’s Whatever Happened to Baby Jane. THey’d often sabotage each other, and that scene where Bette’s character slaps Joan’s is for real. Accounts vary on how hard it was. Joan “won” in the end when Bette lost the Best Actress Oscar to Anne Bancroft and she accepted it on her behalf.
Like and subscribe to Facts Verse for more of your favorite celebrities’ ugly secrets. Keep watching to learn about more on-set meltdowns.
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn was another Old Hollywood staple known for bad behavior. It’s as if she knew she was a bankable name and decided she could do whatever she wanted.
She failed to read lines properly in one of her most famous films, 1959’s Some Like It Hot. It allegedly took her 60 takes to say “it’s me, sugar.” The director Billy Wilder decided to tape her lines onto furniture for her to read.
She’s also the reason the 1962 film Something’s Got to Give was never finished. She’d often fail to show up or leave until she died two months later.
David O. Russell
Directors can have on-set meltdowns, too. The difference for David O. Russell is the end result.
Some say that David threw one of the film’s extras to the ground after a fight and George Clooney attacked him in return. In the end, George vowed to never work with him again.
There’s also dubious footage of him on the set of I Heart Huckabees that shows him screaming and throwing things at Lilly Tomlin. She claims they made up later and would work together again.
The Cast of The Island of Dr. Moreau
This entire film is one of the most cursed (and least successful) of all time. Almost every actor on its set had some sort of meltdown or got into some sort of fight.
Val Kilmer is now infamous for his behavior in films such as Batman Forever and Red Planet, but Dr. Moreau was one of the earliest examples. He’d stop production with unreasonable demands and allegedly burnt crewmembers with a cigarette.
Marlon Brando also behaved in ways that made the screenwriter Ron Hutchinson want to pull his hair out. He said that the actor was overcome by grief from the loss of his child and began acting unreasonably. He insisted on improving every line, demanded constant rewrites, wore an ice bucket to keep cool (which shows up in the final film), and more.
Martin Sheen
Apocalypse Now is also famous for its troubled production that became the subject of a documentary called Heart of Darkness. Feuds and meltdowns on set were major contributors.
Martin Sheen came on as a replacement, but he was under pressure and struggling with alcoholism at the time. He was drunk in the famous Saigon hotel room scene where he really punched through a mirror. He even suffered a heart attack during filming, and the stress of it all couldn’t have helped.
Wesley Snipes
1998’s Blade Runner and the 2002 sequel made Wesley a star. You’d think he’d be grateful to the director David S. Goyer by the time the third movie Blade: Trinity came out in 2004, but they clashed dangerously.
He reportedly chased and threatened David on set. He wouldn’t show up for shooting and would only communicate with post-it notes by the end. It ended their relationship and helped make Blade: Trinity a flop compared to the rest of the trilogy.
Rip Torn
The 1970 film Maidstone may not be well-known for its quality, but it is famous for one thing. It’ll go down forever as having one of the biggest, baddest on-set brawls ever.
The cameras were rolling and caught the entire thing. Rip Torn hit his co-star Normal Mailer in the head with a hammer, yelling that he needed to “kill his character.” A fight erupted, and Norman even bit off a part of Rip’s ear.
Norman’s ex-wife Beverly and his children had to come to break up the fight. Another surprising thing is that it made the final cut of the film.
Sean Connery
A poor experience on set can be enough to force an aging actor to retire. That’s what happened to Sean Connery when he was 73 and joined the set of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
He couldn’t get along with director Stephen Norrington. His anger exploded into a rant when the director canceled a whole day of filming because one elephant gun prop “did not look quite right.” He also asked to help edit the film’s final cut but was denied. They never worked together again, and neither the public nor the writer of the comic books it was based on took to the film.
Shelly Duvall
Getting an authentic portrayal of fear in a horror film shouldn’t require a tortuous shoot. This is, unfortunately, what happened to Shelley Duvall in The Shining.
Director Stanley Kubrick went overboard in using her to portray his vision. He’d force her to cry for hours and weeks, do hundreds of takes of scenes, and berated and chastised her efforts. It was so horrible that she lost weight and her hair began to fall out. It was like her entire performance was her having a meltdown thanks to his horrible treatment.
Gene Kelley
Gene Kelly is another infamous perfectionist who pushed his cast members to the brink. He made the production of 1952’s Singin’ in the Rain much less pleasant than it seemed.
He demanded perfection from everyone, especially Debbie Reynolds. He’d insult her dancing abilities, and Fred Astaire once found her cowering and sobbing under a piano after one of his tirades. Gene eventually apologized to her and admitted he was hard to work with.
Lucy Lui and Bill Murray
What actors need to remember is that on-set meltdowns and poor behavior can get you fired. That’s what happened when Lucy Lui and Bill Murray joined forces in 2000’s Charlie’s Angels.
Bill allegedly bullied Lucy and insulted her abilities with “uncalled-for” remarks. She eventually snapped and attacked him in a rage.
Bill was replaced by Bernie Mac in the sequel Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle. Lucy has no regrets about speaking her mind to him. Bill alleges that she was the one being unprofessional. Whatever the truth is, they won’t work together again, but they don’t have an ongoing feud and try to be civil if they see each other out and about.
That was also not the first time Bill’s gotten into an on-set fight. He clashed with Richard Dreyfuss while filming 1991’s What About Bob. He was drunk and put his face next to his co-star and started screaming. Then, he threw an ashtray at him but missed. Producer Laura Zishkin also claims he threw her into a lake after they quarreled.
Which two actors do you think could never work together? Let us know in the comments below.
