We all like to imagine that our favorite actors and actresses are great people in real life. Sure, they might play a jerk onscreen once in awhile, but that's just acting, right? It's what they do. Well, with great fame comes great entitlement, and some of Hollywood's finest are just downright jerks.
That's not to say that any of these stars are necessarily jerks, but for one reason or another, each of them got a bad rep for the way they act between takes. Maybe they talk down to the caterers, or maybe they have a reputation for getting in fights with directors. Or hey, maybe they were just having a bad day … over and over again.
Lindsay Lohan
Lindsay Lohan certainly hasn’t had an easy ride for the last few years thanks largely to her inability to show up on time on sets, and be extremely demanding when she eventually gets there. Grant Bowler has confirmed one of the worst kept secrets ever – Lindsay Lohan is indeed very hard to work with. Grant starred with Lindsay in Liz & Dick. As he told Celebuzz: “Lindsay is not the easiest person I’ve ever worked with, but acting is acting. We’re not hired as marketing people or as greeters or as anything else — you’re hired to do a job. I’ve always found it amazing that people expect actors to be wonderful human beings as well as good at their job, because they never expect lawyers to be the same.”
“I found it very challenging, but the interesting thing about that was I think that relationship was very challenging, so maybe it made good for the characters.” “It was a lot of mirroring and how I imagine how Burton and Taylor must of been. probably did us a lot of favors.” This is, maybe, how she explains her bad temper: ”I want to win an Oscar. I want to be known for more than, like, going out. For being the ‘party girl’. I hate that. I bust my ass when I’m filming and when I have time off, yeah, I like to go out and dance. I’m the hardest working person I know. I’m 20 years old – is it a crime to want to go out dancing with my friends?”
Val Kilmer
At this point, Val Kilmer's reputation tends to show up in a room way before he does. As far as acting jerks go, Val Kilmer is right at the top of the list. Starting all the way back in 1995 with Batman Forever, Kilmer has been known for his attitude behind the camera.
Actually, he's supposedly been a bit of a perfectionist since he was 12, when he quit a role in a hamburger commercial because he couldn't find "his character's motivation," according to The Telegraph.
After filming for Batman Forever wrapped, director Joel Schumacher said in an interview that Val Kilmer was "childish and impossible." This from the same guy who later directed Batman and Robin (which, coincidentally, didn't star Kilmer).
But The Island of Dr. Moreau was where Val Kilmer really hit his stride, according to those who worked with him. After making that film, the director, John Frankenheimer, said, "I will never climb Mount Everest, and I will never work with Val Kilmer again."
Shia LaBeouf
Shia LaBeouf has had something of a strange career arc. From becoming Disney's wunderkind in Even Stevens to snagging minor roles in major blockbusters like Constantine and I, Robot, he seemed set for success, even before he landed the starring role in Transformers in 2007. That movie — and its sequels — kicked his career into the stratosphere. And then … well, nobody's really sure what happened. He started taking more avant garde roles.
He staged strange publicity stunts, like wearing a paper bag that said "I am not famous anymore" and running around an art gallery … 144 times. Clearly, he wants the world to take him seriously, even while we're finding it harder and harder to take anything about him seriously. More recently, his penchant for over-the-top method acting has begun to rub people the wrong way.
He got into a fist fight with Brad Pitt on the set of 2014's war epic Fury, although to be fair, the director allegedly told them to get into fights as a bonding experience. While filming 2012's Lawless, Shia LaBeouf tried to get into his character (who runs illegal moonshine during Prohibition) by guzzling bottles of actual moonshine. And he didn't stop there.
He carved his name into co-star Mia Wasikowska's dressing room door and followed Tom Hardy (who played his character's older brother in the film) around the set fawning like his younger brother. From an acting standpoint, Shia LaBeouf's craziness seems to be working. Both of those roles brought him praise from critics. But it can't make working with the guy any easier.
Alec Baldwin
There's no doubting that Alec Baldwin is an outspoken man. Whether he's being accused of fighting paparazzi or shouting homophobic slurs, his private life is usually shoved into the limelight on a weekly basis. And then he apologizes and we're all okay with that, because, well, he's Alec Baldwin. As a number of his co-stars have said, that's just who he is.
Does being that way make Alec Baldwin a pleasure to work with? Not always. Baldwin was allegedly part of the reason Shia LaBeouf left the Broadway show Orphans in 2013 because the two actors had clashed so often at rehearsals. On 30 Rock, his co-star Cheyenne Jackson had one thing to say about Baldwin: "What I learned from him was really good comedic timing and don't get in his light."
Steven Seagal
Love him, hate him, or just sort of put up with him, Steven Seagal was born to raise hell. Somewhere between Marked for Death and Out for Justice, he must have made an executive decision to go from churning out low-budget action films in the '90s to churning out low-budget action films all the way through the next two decades (six and counting so far in 2016 alone).
It's almost like he had a fire down below, like some sort of glimmer man. The truth is, Steven Seagal has been hard to kill for a long time now, which is surprising, because he doesn't have a reputation for being a good man. In fact, he almost seems above the law, if you can believe any of the countless allegations of rape, sexual assault, and sex trafficking that have been leveled against him over the years.
That includes one by Playboy model Jennie McCarthy, who said in an interview that Seagal told her to take off her dress during a private audition for Under Siege 2, despite the absence of nudity in the film.
Then there was the incident in which John Leguizamo claims that Seagal elbowed him up against a wall with maximum conviction on the set of 1996's Executive Decision, all because Leguizamo laughed at something Seagal had said, thinking it was a joke. It wasn't a joke. "I wanted to say how big and fat he is and how he runs like a girl," Leguizamo later said, "but I couldn't because I didn't have enough air."
Edward Norton
Ed Norton has apparently become more easygoing in recent years, but it's been a hard battle to repair the damage he caused to his reputation in the past. That reputation? A supposedly impossible perfectionist who siphons creative control for himself. On the one hand, it's great to see an actor who takes pride in his or her films. On the other hand, sometimes you just go too far.
While Norton is infamous for completely re-cutting the 1998 drama American History X without director Tony Kaye's approval (and mostly to put himself in more scenes, according to Kaye), he surged back into the headlines during promo time for the 2008 Marvel bomb, The Incredible Hulk.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is generally action-packed, explosive, and witty. But when Edward Norton signed on to play Bruce Banner in Hulk, he wanted a slow burn filled with all the nuances of Bruce Banner's life. Universal put its foot down, and the "creative differences" spiraled out of control. Despite rewriting most of the script for The Incredible Hulk, Norton wasn't given a screenwriting credit.
When the studio tried to get him to promote the film in interviews, Norton took off for a humanitarian trip to Africa, then came back and joked on Jimmy Kimmel Live, "This is like my first big action movie and this is what I f—ing get. … This is not what I f—ing signed up for."
Mike Myers
It's almost a cliche now that comedians often have darker sides. As Extras summarized it, "When the laughter stops … what is left of the clown? Nothing but an empty costume." The world has seen many a comedian fall into depression, a state so at odds with their cheerful public personas that the news hits with an extra big hammer. And Mike Myers isn't immune to the pressures of being a full-time funnyman.
Between Wayne's World, Austin Powers, and The Love Guru, Myers' whole brand is over-the-top, outrageously colorful characters, most of whom he's meticulously crafted himself. He's been called a perfectionist on his good days, and on his worst he's been dubbed "emotionally needy" and "difficult." That last quote comes from none other than Penelope Spheeris, who directed Mike Myers in 1992's Wayne's World. Spheeris also told the story of how Mike Myers stormed off the set once because the caterers didn't provide margarine for his bagel.
Gwyneth Paltrow
It's easy enough for the internet to hate Gwyneth Paltrow, who's managed to outrage non-millionaire parents everywhere with her lifestyle blog "Goop" and has an unfortunate tendency to come across as aloof and entitled. As we hear all so often, Paltrow is just one of those everyday moms, the kind who allegedly refuses to touch "other people's shower water" at her gym and won't use toilet paper if the roll is already unwrapped, as an unnamed source told Life & Style magazine.
So yeah, her apparently uptight mannerisms have earned her a starring role as a punching bag for celebrity gossip. But difficult to work with? According to reports from the set of 2010's Iron Man 2, that seems to be the case. Supposedly, Gwyneth Paltrow made it a point to avoid her co-star Scarlett Johansson during the whole production and then got angry when she was upstaged by Johansson during the promotional work for the film. Of course, one of her press representatives denied those claims, so it's possible that the story was simply another piece of trumped-up gossip. When it comes to Gwyneth Paltrow, who can tell?
Chevy Chase
Chevy Chase has something of a reputation as the meanest man in show business, a sentiment that's followed him all the way from his rock star beginnings on Saturday Night Live in the '70s up to his most recent recurring gig on NBC's hit show Community. In fact, Gawker put together a convenient timeline of Chevy Chase's worst moments, and some of the notes it hits are definitely cringe-worthy.
Highlights include getting into a fist fight with Bill Murray and suggesting that SNL co-star Terry Sweeney, who was openly gay, do a weekly segment where he would get weighed to see if he had contracted AIDS yet. It certainly seems like Chevy Chase has a penchant for rubbing people the wrong way.
He even came clean about it in 2012, when he said, "Nobody prepares you for what happens when you get famous, and I didn't handle it well." That may be the understatement of the decade, but really, it doesn't matter, because he's Chevy Chase and you're not.
Kanye West
Kanye West isn't an actor. He tried it once, though, and it wasn't what you'd call smooth sailing. Obviously, Kanye has his own high-profile reputation as a rapper and off-and-on activist, so there's no need to get into that. This is about his cameo on Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues. According to Will Ferrell, Kanye really likes his own songs. A lot. Ferrell told the Jonathan Ross Show, "He was playing the new tracks a lot — over and over.
Even when you're trying to film, he's playing the tracks." The problem was, nobody really wanted to go up to him and ask him to turn the music down. All said and done, it seemed like the cast and crew of Anchorman 2 had a good time with Kanye West on set, but as Will Ferrell reiterated about the music, "We didn't want Kanye to get upset, but at the same time, we kind of had to film."
Katherine Heigl
Few people have become the target of tabloid fodder as completely as Katherine Heigl. In 2008, she publicly bashed the Judd Apatow comedy Knocked Up as "sexist," despite — or perhaps because of — her starring role in the film. She later went on The Howard Stern Show to clarify her comments, saying, "I liked the movie a lot. I just didn't like me." She used the same interview to apologize for complaining about not getting enough "juicy, dramatic material" on Grey's Anatomy.
She's also been accused of being a prima donna on set, with an unnamed source who allegedly worked with her on 2010's Life As We Know It claiming that Heigl caused problems during the entire production: "Wardrobe issues, not getting out of the trailer, questioning the script every single day." On the flip side, Life As We Know It's director, Greg Berlanti, had nothing but praise for the actress and said that he'd definitely work with her again.
Bruce Willis
You may remember the time Kevin Smith described Bruce Willis as "f—ing soul crushing" to work with. He said it during an interview about 2010's Cop Out, a critical and box office bust with a 19 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which starred Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan. Smith went on to say that Bruce Willis was pretty much his hero … until he actually worked with the guy.
To be fair, Kevin Smith and Bruce Willis seem to be complete opposites in Hollywood, with Smith famous for off-beat comedies like Dogma and Clerks, and Willis for gritty action films. So maybe it was just a one-off disagreement, but then again, maybe not.
Because Bruce Willis hasn't always paddled a smooth stream in his journey to starhood. In 2003, Willis sued the producers of Tears of the Sun because he was hit in the head by a prop projectile that was meant to simulate bullets. Director Antoine Fuqua also called Bruce Willis a major "pain in the ass" to work with.
Sylvester Stallone similarly seemed to have issues with Bruce Willis during the Expendables series. He dropped Willis for Harrison Ford in Expendables 3, and immediately after announcing the switch, Stallone tweeted a vague, possible stab at Willis, seeming to say he was "greedy and lazy … a sure formula for career failure."
Patrick Dempsey
The set of Grey's Anatomy must be the most chaotic, stressful place for an actor to work, because there is apparently no end to the drama between cast members. We already talked about Katherine Heigl's public complaints about working on the show, and it turns out Patrick Dempsey has his own bone to pick with the cast of the critically acclaimed medical drama.
Dempsey, who played Dr. Derek Shepherd since the beginning of Grey's Anatomy, was apparently suspended once for acting "like a diva," whatever that means, and was killed off on the show not long after that. The report, which originated at celebrity gossip mag Page Six, also said that Dempsey had clashed with the show's creator and executive producer, Shonda Rhimes.
Patrick Dempsey later denied that there was anything but goodwill between him and the cast and crew of Grey's Anatomy, so in the end it's impossible to say exactly what went on behind the scenes at Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital.
Mandy Patinkin
Mandy Patinkin isn't quite a household name, but you certainly know his work, probably from his unforgettable role as Inigo Montoya in 1987's The Princess Bride. ("You killed my father, prepare to die.") More recently, you may have seen him in CBS's Criminal Minds and the Golden Globe-winning Showtime series Homeland.
With such success in film and television, you probably have Mandy Patinkin pegged as a pretty nice guy, if perhaps a little intense. But by his own admission, Mandy Patinkin can be extremely difficult to work with.
Before nearly destroying his television career in 2007 by suddenly walking away from Criminal Minds and never coming back, Patinkin was already behaving like a stuck-up starlet. In a 2013 interview with the New York Times, he came clean with his sordid past behind the camera.
Talking about the hospital drama Chicago Hope, Patinkin said, "I never let directors talk to me, because I was so spoiled. … I was saying, 'Don't talk to me, I don't want your opinion.' I behaved abominably." Hopefully he's turned it around since then.
From 2004 to 2012, Desperate Housewives, a comedy/drama about four women in the suburbs, was one of the hottest shows on ABC's prime-time lineup. But behind the scenes, trouble was brewing almost from Day One. Teri Hatcher, who played Susan Mayer on the show, apparently took the brunt of the criticism from her cast mates, who felt she acted like a diva off-camera. Hatcher's co-star Nicollette Sheridan went so far as to call her the "meanest woman in the world," according to Marc Cherry, the show's creator.
Teri Hatcher
Now that the show is off the air, we'll probably never know the true extent of the problems the rest of the cast had with Teri Hatcher.
After the final episode of Desperate Housewives, Hatcher reportedly stated, "I will never disclose the true and complicated journey of us all." It's probably just as well. Some questions are probably best left unanswered.
Russell Crowe
This actor has made quite a name for himself with his drunken fights, threatening to kill movie producers during phone calls in the middle of the night, and insulting people on Twitter. His eccentric personality has involved him in foot races with the film crews, “fun” trips off set during filming and many more interesting shenanigans.
He also angered George Clooney after he criticized his appearances in TV commercials, calling him a sellout. Clooney replied: “Dude, the only people who succeed when two famous people are fighting is People magazine. What is wrong with you?” We hope he actually learned something from Clooney.
“When you read it in black and white it sounds like I was being ridiculously aggressive, but one of the main misunderstandings is that I’ve been sold as an angry person and that’s just not true. I like to put a lot of effort into what I do and that comes with a certain amount of energy, especially when you’re weary and it requires you to dig deep inside yourself… I certainly have a temper that can flare up, but having a temper is a completely different thing from being an angry person,” Russell explained.
Crowe said in an interview with the Telegraph that his bad temper and even worse manners have been well blown out of proportions in the media.
He thinks he’s not a diva and he’s certainly not the mean guy he’s been portrayed as.
James Cameron
Known for telling people who wanted to talk with him on set to “take a number”, Cameron has ruffled some feathers in the past but also directed some of the most successful movies ever. He has a reputation for pushing his cast and crew to their boundaries.
He’s commonly known as ‘Iron Jim’ for his bossy attitude. Let’s explain it in his own words: “I mean, you have to be able – you have to have made the commitment within yourself to do whatever it takes to get the job done and to try to inspire other people to do it, because obviously the first rule is you can’t do it by yourself.”
And a little critic, “I watched a couple of really bad directors work, and I saw how they completely botched it up and missed the visual opportunities of the scene when we had put things in front of them as opportunities. Set pieces, props and so on.” Other than being bossy, one could say he’s modest, too, “Building upon the world we created with ‘Avatar’ has been a rare and incredibly rewarding experience.
In writing the new films, I’ve come to realize that ‘Avatar”s world, story and characters have become even richer than I anticipated, and it became apparent that two films would not be enough to capture everything I wanted to put on screen.” He’s also a time traveler. This is one of his most creative and (perhaps) delusional quotes: “I’m a storyteller; that’s what exploration really is all about. Going to places where others haven’t been and returning to tell a story they haven’t heard before.”
Sharon Stone
Sharon Stone is a diva with a capital “D” and thoroughly enjoys her stardom, and who can blame her? She worked hard to get there and refuses to feel guilty about making demands. We suppose she’s been giving her colleagues hard times, but her quotes are quite right. Oh, yes, we forgot she is out-of-this-world intelligent.
“Some people work hard in this business and become really popular, really big stars but they never receive an award from within the business. Somehow, when your colleagues and friends believe in you to the point of handing you an award it means so much more,“ she says in her diva manner, and continues about life wisdom, “I feel more grounded and more settled than I ever have.
I don’t know whether that is to do with my spirituality or whether I’m wiser about life, but as you age you become more selective about what you listen to, devote your time to and who you hang out with.“ On a website Failing at Famous, you can read an experience of her former assistant, saying, “Ugh, I worked for her as her personal assistant for a couple of months and I’m pretty sure she’s my least favorite person on the entire PLANET.
She was a complete b**** all the time, yelled at me for everything, unless she wasn’t yelling, at which point she was belittling me.“ On the other hand, we can understand this as she is just another aging sex symbol. In addition, just to show she knows it, too: “There was a point in my 40s when I went into the bathroom with a bottle of wine, locked the door, and said, ‘I’m not coming out until I can totally accept the way that I look right now.’“
Charlie Sheen
Love him or hate him, but you simply can’t ignore him. After Charlie Sheen’s very public break-down and departure from the highly successful Two and a Half Men, his “Tiger blood” started to boil once more on the set of his new series Anger Management when he attempted to fire his co-star.
Here’s what a celebrity expert, Robin, says about him: “As an actor, replenishing his narcissistic supply is inevitable because public adoration goes along with the job. Can Charlie be cured? I would guess it’s unlikely. Regardless of what he does for a living, he is still going to find some group of people who will feed his need for admiration, keep his narcissistic supply well stocked.
As long as the media finds the story of the escapades of Charlie Sheen compelling, his saga will live on.“ Jon Cryer, on the other hand, has only good things to say about his brother in Two and a Half Men: “Charlie and I had a great rapport, and the writers had a great facility with using that, so we felt like, “Well, it’s gonna be a fun show to do if we get a chance to do it.”
And CBS were very big fans of Charlie… at that time.“ Anyway, as said before, you can love him or hate him, but he is a true entertainer. And we think all the prostitutes and drug dealers think so too.
Madonna
Madonna has never pretended to be easy to work for. She has an incredible work ethic and expects the same of others. She doesn’t really care what people think, just as long as they work hard and she get her what she wants. Some journalists revealed what is was like working with her.
Ginny Dougary of The Times said, “I’d gone to Los Angeles to interview Madonna. The first thing was that she cancelled the interview on the day with no explanation. Then, two days later, when it did happen, she was sort of pale in her personality, but also rude. She didn’t particularly acknowledge me and was rude to her assistant in front of me. At one point I thought I would have to resign.
It was disappointing because I admired her so much, but it was stupid of me – you don’t admire Madonna because she’s nice.” Madonna’s trainer, beautiful Nicole, seems to be very open minded when she explained how it was like working with pop diva: “Madonna stands as an icon. Her body, work ethic, and persistence is an inspiration to the people,” says Nicole.
“The gym is a place where people can experience the ‘Addicted to Sweat’ workout that is inspired by the workouts I have been doing with Madonna for five years. I update the program every three months, so the gym always has fresh new content.” “She is the most incredible woman in the world. Her dedication, persistence, intelligence and work ethic are bar none,” says Nicole. “I couldn’t ask for a better workout partner.”
Mariah Carey
Mariah is well known for being one of the most diva-like and demanding Hollywood stars of all. Nicki Minaj said of their time working together on American Idol that she was a nit-picky nightmare.
So, after all that fuss about her being this or that, she explains, ” But I think I’m a nice friend and a good person, and I try to do my work as best I can.” ”I try not to be a jerk. I really do. I try to be nice and cordial.” Do you? Really? ”I think certain people like to torture me because they think I’ve had it easier than I actually have and they think: ‘Oh, she’s got this, she’s got that, she’s always had everything perfect,’ and it’s sooo not true.”
Sometime, though, she seems like a nice lady, thankful and all, ”Forget the image, forget the ensemble, forget the rumors, forget the short skirts, the big hair, whatever! I owe this to the fans and I will never forget you so I want to accept this award on behalf of all of you.”
”I am very insecure about my looks, and I always have been because of being mixed race.You really have to look inside yourself and find your own inner strength, and say, ‘I’m proud of what I am and who I am, and I’m just going to be myself.” Let the audience be the judge. After all, she did say: ”In this world, I call the shots and I think I know best.”
Christian Bale
Christian Bale is an extremely talented Hollywood actor, and like many other extremely talented Hollywood actors he takes his work extremely seriously. Unfortunately, that makes many of the people working with him very nervous indeed. He’s got one hot temper and he’s not afraid to show it. We all love him for his looks, charms, talent, but there’s another side to the story.
Everybody hates him. And he prefers to stay silent about his private matters, ”I don’t want to know about the lives of other actors and I don’t want people to know too much about me. If we don’t know about the private lives of other actors, that leaves us as clean slates when it comes to playing characters.
That’s the point, they can create these other characters and I can believe them. I think if you’re a good enough actor, that’s the way to longevity in the film business. Keep everybody guessing.” And what do you think about this?
This is the way this Hollywood hottie feels about violence (maybe there’s the reason for the hatred towards him): ”You can’t help but find that violence is endlessly fascinating–and I mean true violence, not action-movie violence, just because it is used as the answer to so many problems. We’re all taught as kids not to be violent, but you can’t help but also see that violence is what works very often. Bullies thrive.”
Jennifer Aniston
Who’d have thought that everybody’s favorite “Friend” was a bit of a diva at heart? Instead of eating with the rest of the crew on her latest movie she opted to eat alone. Does that make her a diva? Maybe she doesn’t like to eat in company. Or she just had a bad day.Some say she’s trying too hard.As the source told Radar Online, Jennifer has been isolating herself from the cast and crew on the set of the Untitled Elmore Leonard Project.
”Every day at lunch the entire cast and crew head to a cafeteria facility where they all sit down and eat lunch together for well over an hour. But the only person who doesn’t eat with everyone else is Jen. She quickly grabs a lunch to go and leaves.”
The insider claimed that Jennifer has her private luxury trailer much farther away from the set than the other cast members’. Is she a loner or a diva, we ask? ”All the actors ride in normal production vans when they head to lunch, but Jen has her own luxury SUV,” the source said.
”And not only is Jen’s private trailer miles away from the set, but she heads all the way back there each day to eat her lunch away from everyone else.”
But there’s something even worse. Rumor has it that Jenny’s most outrageous diva demand ever is that she wants the studios pay for her hair guy, Chris MaMillan. She even wants him to travel with her during tours. That costs $50,000. Per week.
Jennifer Lopez
If rumors can be believed, our beloved J Lo is a real fire-cracker and horrible to work for and with.If her exacting demands are not met before she shows up, she’s more than likely to go off.This is what is required to be her assistant: “The person has to be graceful under pressure, have a thick skin, and be resourceful in foreign countries, among others things,” an insider told the Scene Queens.
“You’ll be expected to travel at a moment’s notice and must know how to adjust in each city.” “The job is 6 days a week, at least 12 hour days with one day off, but you may not get off for weeks,” says the source.
“You’ll be on call 24/7 and you’ve got to be organized and always on point.” The insider also notes the candidate must be comfortable around “very high profile people”.“You have to change diapers, work on little sleep and cook if the butler is away,” the insider continues. But our source says there are some glamorous moments attached to working with this horror-diva.
Qualified candidates get to help J. Lo dress for red carpet appearances and photo shoots. The salary for this gig? $55,000 to $65,000. Tickets to the Oscars and other fancy events may or may not be included! Good luck!