21 of the most notorious feuds between actors and directors

Rumors about Wilde and Pugh not getting along began in July 2022, when Page Six reported that Pugh was “displeased” about Wilde’s relationship with “Don’t Worry Darling’s” other costar (and pop music sensation) Harry Styles. Wilde and Styles have since broken up.

Eagle-eyed fans noticed that Pugh did little-to-no promotion of the film on social media. Pugh also was not involved in any of the film’s events besides its premiere at the Venice Film Festival (notably missing the much-memed press conference) and declined to comment about Wilde in a profile on the director in Variety.

At the premiere itself, fans seemed convinced that Pugh refused to make eye contact with Wilde, didn’t stand next to her in any photos, and generally seemed unbothered.

Add in the “Miss Flo” comments from a leaked video of Wilde sent to Shia LaBeouf, and we had all the makings of a feud.

“As for all the endless tabloid gossip and all the noise out there, the internet feeds itself. I don’t feel the need to contribute; I think it’s sufficiently well-nourished,” said Wilde during the Venice press conference.

A video leaked a few years ago shows Russell screaming at Tomlin while filming 2004’s “I Heart Huckabees.” 

The video is profanity-laden: After Tomlin complains to Russell about his constant re-writing of lines and scenes, he has a complete meltdown. Russell shoves and knocks items over on the set as crew members flee. 

But the episode did not harm Russell and Tomlin’s relationship for more than a few hours. She told The Hollywood Reporter in 2015, “We’ve overcome it. It dissipates and it’s gone.” The two have stated they would gladly work together again.

McGregor and Boyle were close friends due to Boyle casting McGregor in his directorial debut “Shallow Grave” and his follow-up, the critically acclaimed “Trainspotting” in 1996.

However, when it came time for Boyle to direct “The Beach” in 2000, he chose DiCaprio to be his leading man, instead of McGregor. According to a 2021 interview between McGregor and The Hollywood Reporter, this fractured their relationship for years.

McGregor said the two did not speak for “a long time” and even sat together in a first-class cabin on a transatlantic flight “without exchanging a single word.”

“It wasn’t handled very well. There was probably both sides to it,” McGregor said. “I was upset. But at the same time, it’s part of life, it’s just part of growing up.”

Boyle has said he felt “great shame” about what happened, even admitting that he had given McGregor the impression that the role in “The Beach” would be his.

“I handled it very, very badly, and I’ve apologized to you,” Boyle told McGregor on “The Graham Norton Show” in 2017. “I felt a great shame about it. I was not proud of the way I handled it,” Boyle added.

Eventually, the two reconciled and worked together again on the 2017 sequel “T2 Trainspotting.”

French director Clouzot was well-known in the horror genre during the ’50s and ’60s. While filming “La Vérité” (“The Truth”) in 1960, he wanted his lead actor, Bardot, to realistically fall asleep and drool for a scene. 

So he apparently gave Bardot sleeping pills, claiming that they were painkillers, The Guardian reported. Bardot took too many and ended up having to get her stomach pumped as a result.

After the fact, Bardot called Clouzot “a negative being, forever at odds with himself and the world around him,” according to the outlet.

This was just one of many incidents for Clouzot, however, as he reportedly slapped Suzy Delair while filming “Quai des Orfèvres” in 1947.

“American History X” got off to a rough start: Controversial British director Kaye didn’t even want to hire Norton to play the lead, but he told The Guardian in 2002 that he “couldn’t find anyone better.”

Norton and Kaye reportedly began to clash when the film was being edited. Kaye’s 95-minute cut was not favorably received by New Line Cinema and Norton, who both began to offer Kaye some notes — and he did not take the suggestions well, reported Den of Geek.

Entertainment Weekly reported in 1998 that Kaye was so furious with Norton that he punched a wall and broke his hand. Kaye also threatened to replace his director’s credit with the name Humpty Dumpty. Kaye even called Norton “a narcissistic dilettante” to the outlet.

Hedren ascended to stardom after scoring lead roles in Hitchcock’s “The Birds” and “Marnie.” But Hedren later told Variety that the director made unwanted sexual advances on her throughout the filming of “The Birds” in 1963 — and threatened her career if she didn’t comply. 

Hedren repeatedly rebuffed his advances. She said, “When he told me that he would ruin me, I just told him to do what he had to do. I went out of the door and slammed it so hard that I looked back to see if it was still on its hinges.”

According to Hedren, the inappropriate behavior continued on the set of “Marnie.” At one point, Hitchcock and Hedren were in the back of a limousine, and she said he lunged at her, begging her to kiss him.

“It was absolutely awful, and as soon as the movie ‘Marnie’ was over, I was out of there,” Hedren said. “That was the end of the Hitchcock relationship.”

Smith discussed the making of the 2010 film “Cop Out” on an episode of “WTF with Marc Maron” in 2011, almost a year after its release. He told the comedian that one of the stars of the film wouldn’t sit for a poster photo shoot — and once Maron pressed the director for a name, he let loose.

The “Mallrats” director confirmed that it definitely wasn’t Tracy Morgan,” who he called “a dream” and said he would “lay down in traffic for.”

“Were it not for Tracy, I might’ve killed myself or someone else in the making of that movie,” Smith said. “It was difficult. I’ve never been involved in a situation like that where one component is not in the box at all.” He added it was “soul-crushing.”

Wills, for his part, kept it simple in his response. “Poor Kevin. He’s just a whiner,” he told Time Out in 2013.

However, the two seem to have squashed their beef. Almost a decade later, in 2019, Smith told a story on his podcast, “Fatman Beyond,” about the action star texting him to ask for his address, as Willis had some pictures he wanted to send Smith.

“Reach out to an old friend or to someone you never thought would be a friend again. You never know what bridges you can mend,” said Smith.

In 2022, Willis’ family announced the actor was stepping back from acting after he was diagnosed with aphasia, and the director had some kind words to say on X. “Long before any of the Cop Out stuff, I was a big Bruce Willis fan – so this is really heartbreaking to read,” he wrote. He also expressed regret for his previous comments.

Kinski was known for being a difficult actor to work with, and this seemed to prove true for director Herzog on the set of “Aguirre: The Wrath of God” in 1972. 

Kinski and Herzog began to disagree about how Kinski should play his character, and Kinski became defiant. He reportedly threw wild tantrums on set and constantly threatened to quit the production. In one of the latter instances, Herzog is said to have held Kinski at gunpoint in order to make him stay, reported Indiewire.

The two went on to work together four more times, and Herzog made a documentary about their mercurial, decadeslong friendship called “My Best Fiend” in 1999.

Carney blasted Knightley in a 2016 interview with The Independent after “Begin Again” was released, calling her a “supermodel” who was unable to capture the essence of her musician character.

Carney said, “Keira’s thing is to hide who you are and I don’t think you can be an actor and do that … being a film actor requires a certain level of honesty and self-analysis that I don’t think she’s ready for yet, and I certainly don’t think she was ready for on that film.” 

Directors rallied to defend the Oscar-nominated actor on Twitter (now X), calling her “utterly spectacular” and “a joy” to work with. Carney then issued an apology on X in 2016, saying, “Keira was nothing but professional and dedicated during that film and she contributed hugely to its success.” 

In 2019, Knightley revealed in an interview with the Irish Times that Carney had privately apologized to her, and she had accepted it.

“It was a very difficult shoot. We didn’t get on. It’s just a thing that happens sometimes and I say that with no blame. It takes two to tango,” she said. “I think we can both be very proud of ourselves for the film that we made because it’s difficult when a lead actor and director don’t get on. And I don’t think you could tell that from watching the film.”

Kim Basinger spoke to The New York Times in 1986 about what a grueling experience it was shooting the erotic drama “9 1/2 Weeks.”

Basinger was reportedly bullied by director Adrian Lyne, who also convinced costar Mickey Rourke to completely ignore Basinger off-camera in order to add to the duo’s intensity on-screen. Lyne said to The Times, “In order for her to be angry I would rage at her and she would rage back at me.”

It wasn’t until after “9 1/2 Weeks” was released that Basinger realized the level of manipulation that was happening on set. She reflected, “Mickey was egging me on — I hated him sometimes. I got confused. I didn’t know who I was after a while. My husband [Ron Snyder] and I had a bad time during this movie.”

Even though Basinger said there were times she was ready to quit the movie, she holds firm that the experience — and the final product — were worthwhile.

Though the scene depicting the rape of Schneider’s character was in the script for “Last Tango in Paris,” director Bertolucci created a disturbing last-minute addendum.

Bertolucci and actor Marlon Brando had the idea of using a stick of butter as a lubricant for the scene, but they apparently didn’t warn Schneider beforehand because Bertolucci wanted “her reaction as a girl, not as an actress,” he said in 2013.

In 2007, a few years before her death in 2011, Schneider told The Daily Mail that the scene felt real to her. “Marlon said to me: ‘Maria, don’t worry, it’s just a movie,’ but during the scene, even though what Marlon was doing wasn’t real, I was crying real tears,” she said.

Bertolucci said Schneider hated him for years after the film, and “Last Tango In Paris” received renewed media attention in 2016 before the #MeToo movement, as celebrities — both actors and actresses — rallied to defend Schneider on X.