Actors Hollywood Just Can't Stand Working With
When you're famous, you don't need to be nice — but it definitely helps. That hasn't stopped these actors from developing reputations for being difficult to work with.
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00:00When you're famous, you don't need to be nice, but it definitely helps. That hasn't stopped
00:04these actors from developing reputations for being difficult to work with.
00:07From stuntmen to directors to other actors, people of all backgrounds in Hollywood simply
00:12can't stand Steven Seagal. His hosting of Saturday Night Live in 1991 infamously encapsulated
00:17just how difficult and rigid a performer he could be, as he frequently talked down to
00:21the cast and writers and forced the staff to rewrite a Hans and Franz skit to be about
00:24how tough he is. The Marked for Death star went as far as to pitch an idea for a sketch
00:28that involved him playing a therapist who assaults his patient. The experience led to
00:32Lauren Michaels, along with many fans, referring to Seagal as the worst SNL host of all time.
00:37Over the years, multiple actors have gone on record to describe how Seagal took his
00:40role as an action star way too seriously, taking extreme physical liberties with his
00:44co-stars and stuntmen.
00:46Michael Jai White, an accomplished martial artist and actor, explained it very bluntly
00:49in a 2021 interview with VladTV.
00:52Steven Seagal hits the s— out of people. That's a unique situation."
00:57According to the Spawn star, Seagal's bullying antics drove those on set with him crazy,
01:01to the point that a director and producer both blatantly asked White to hurt Seagal
01:04for real when filming a fight scene. White refused.
01:07As White described it, the under siege actor was always strategic about who he got physical
01:11with on set. If Hollywood gossip is to be believed, perhaps Seagal learned the hard
01:14way after being humiliated by legendary martial artist Gene LeBell on the set of Out for Justice.
01:20Once upon a time, Charlie Sheen was the sitcom king, earning record-breaking millions for
01:24his run on CBS' Two and a Half Men. However, things came crashing down in 2011 when the
01:29actor's personal troubles and animosity with series creator Chuck Lorre culminated in his
01:33abrupt departure.
01:34Not long after his shocking exit, Sheen was already starring in another sitcom, FX's Anger
01:39Management. It didn't take long for trouble to start brewing again.
01:42Halfway into the second season, Sheen's co-star Selma Blair was let go from the show after
01:45the two reportedly quarreled over the former's work ethic, or lack thereof. Sheen allegedly
01:50dismissed Blair through an expletive-filled text and threatened to walk from the FX series
01:54if she was not let go.
01:55While Sheen has successfully managed to sober up and heal his relationship with Lorre, that
01:59doesn't mean that his previous co-stars are lining up to work with him again. In a 2024
02:03appearance on The View, actor John Cryer explained that while he wished Sheen nothing but the
02:07best, restarting a working relationship was simply out of the question. He elaborated,
02:11"...the thing for me is, when Two and a Half Men was happening, Charlie was the highest-paid
02:14actor in television, probably ever, and yet he blew it up."
02:17Cryer continued,
02:18"...I love him. I wish him the best. He should live in good health for the rest of his life.
02:22But I don't want to get in business with him for any length of time."
02:25Chevy Chase's comedic fame has often been eclipsed by just how much of a pain he can
02:29be to work with. The actor's time with Saturday Night Live, where he was one of the original
02:32castmates, was nothing short of a toxic rollercoaster. Even when he came back to host in 1978, it
02:37was bad, as he fought with Bill Murray moments before going live. And when he hosted again
02:41in 1985, he reportedly hurled homophobic comments at Terry Sweeney. Chase's contentious SNL
02:47tenure is essentially a how-to manual on being a terrible co-worker. Later in his career,
02:51when he seemed to be going through something of a resurgence thanks to his role as Pierce
02:54Hawthorne in Community, Chase once again made headlines for all the wrong reasons.
02:58Even at the height of the show's popularity, he couldn't keep himself from talking badly
03:01about the NBC sitcom and clashing with his co-stars.
03:04"...Let Pierce cool down. You know how crazy and paranoid he can get?"
03:08"...Ha ha! Crazy, paranoid, impotent!"
03:11His heated relationship with the series, its creator Dan Harmon, and his castmates culminated
03:15in his dramatic exit in 2012. As Community geared up for its Peacock revival film, series
03:20star Joel McHale plainly admitted that fans should not expect a Pierce Hawthorne return,
03:24directly pointing to Chase's chaotic exit. He told the New York Post,
03:27"...I don't think he's allowed to. I don't think it would happen."
03:30Obviously, his unceremonious departure in season four pretty much did that in.
03:34From 2009 to 2015, Lea Michele earned her fame for portraying Rachel Berry in Glee,
03:39the show's resident good-natured and lovable protagonist. However, years after the show's
03:43conclusion, allegations arose that painted the performer in a not-so-good-natured light.
03:47In her 2016 memoir, the late Naya Rivera recalled her experience working with Michele, describing
03:52her co-stars her polar opposite and explaining that the two were no longer on speaking terms
03:56by the show's end. Rivera wrote,
03:58"...if I'd complained about anyone or anything, she'd assume I was b-----g about her.
04:02Soon she started to ignore me, and eventually got to the point where she didn't say a word
04:05to me for all of season six."
04:07In June 2020, Samantha Marie Ware, who joined Glee for its sixth and final season,
04:11made a since-deleted tweet accusing Michele of tormenting her on set.
04:15In all caps, Ware declared,
04:16"...remember when you made my first television gig a living hell? Cause I'll never forget.
04:20I believe you told everyone that if you had the opportunity you would s---- in my wig."
04:23Amongst other traumatic microaggressions, it made me question a career in Hollywood.
04:27An avalanche of allegations soon followed, with each spotlighting accounts of Michele
04:31treating some of her fellow Glee co-stars, along with the show's background extras, horribly.
04:36Over the years, Mike Myers hasn't developed the most stellar reputation when it comes to
04:40his behavior on set. According to Wayne's World director Penelope Spiris, the actor was not the
04:44easiest to deal with. She admitted to Entertainment Weekly, he was emotionally needy and got more
04:48difficult as the shoot went along. In a 2016 AV Club interview, actor Amy Hill recalled how strange
04:54and reclusive Myers was while filming 2003's The Cat in the Hat. According to Hill, the Austin
04:59Power star was able to exercise firm creative control over filming, frequently taking the
05:03reins from director Bo Welch. At the same time, he refrained from interacting with the rest of
05:07the cast, going so far as to cover his trailer with tenting. Allegedly, Myers even had his own
05:11personal chocolate courier. She explained,
05:13"...there was a guy who held his chocolates in a little Tupperware. Whenever he needed chocolate,
05:17he'd come running over and give him a chocolate."
05:19In early 2023, Myers' name was once again brought to the forefront for all the wrong reasons.
05:24Canadian radio host Jay Brody claimed to have previously worked on the set of 2008's The Love
05:28Guru as Security, and claimed that it was the movie's main star who got him fired.
05:32According to Brody, he was let go after making eye contact with Myers,
05:35an apparent hard rule that loomed over the set.
05:38Jared Leto is such a pain to work with that it made national news.
05:42The actor-slash-rockstar-slash-cult leader is notorious for his commitment to method acting,
05:46but his co-stars don't exactly appreciate it when he stays in character behind the scenes.
05:53I love this guy. He's so intense."
05:58The most glaring examples of Leto's bad behavior occurred when he stepped up to
06:02play the Joker in 2016's Suicide Squad. The actor's take on the Clown Prince of Crime
06:06allegedly involved him sending a rat to Margot Robbie and a dead pig to Viola Davis.
06:11Years later, when Leto jumped into the superhero realm once more with Morbius,
06:14the actor made it a habit to emulate his disabled character by limping on crutches
06:18across the restrooms. This burdened production to the point where a compromise had to be made.
06:22Eventually, someone — probably a horribly underpaid production assistant — had to
06:26start pushing Leto to the bathroom in a wheelchair. That said, it seems that Leto
06:29is very particular, almost strategic, about who he goes full method actor with. Denzel
06:34Washington plainly admitted that Leto didn't pull anything strange with him on the set of
06:37The Little Things. Washington joked,
06:39"'Nah, he'd have been paid a visit. That wouldn't happen.'"
06:42Things weren't always smooth sailing on the set of the CBS police procedural Criminal Minds.
06:47The show's original run debuted in 2005 and ran until 2020, with an incredibly demanding
06:52shooting schedule to match. Whenever things got difficult on set during the first handful
06:55of seasons, there appeared to be one recurring name at the center of things — Thomas Gibson,
07:00who played Unit Chief Aaron Hotchner from 2005 to 2016. Gibson was fired from the series after
07:05he reportedly kicked producer Virgil Williams in the shin. This was the last straw, as it wasn't
07:10the first time the actor was involved in a physical altercation on set. In 2010, it was reported that
07:15Gibson had shoved assistant director Ian Wolfe. Aside from these two instances, the actor's
07:19presence on set burdened the show in other ways. Filming reportedly had to allocate time for
07:23Gibson to travel home to San Antonio, and in 2013, after receiving a DUI and getting his license
07:29revoked, it suddenly became the responsibility of staffers to drive him to and from set.
07:33Few shows have garnered as much gossip and controversy as ABC's Grey's Anatomy. The show
07:38debuted in early 2005, and at its peak, there seemed to always be some type of drama unfolding
07:43behind the scenes. Ellen Pompeo, who played Dr. Meredith Grey, hasn't been afraid to admit as much.
07:48She explained to Variety in 2019,
07:50"...first 10 years we had serious culture issues, very bad behavior, really toxic work environment."
07:55Patrick Dempsey, who played Dr. Derek McDreamy Shepard for 11 seasons before being killed off,
08:00often has his name brought up alongside the word diva whenever Grey's Anatomy drama is brought up.
08:05According to Lynette Rice's book How to Save a Life, The Inside Story of Grey's Anatomy,
08:09James D. Perriott, a former executive producer on the show, described Dempsey as an absolute terror.
08:13He admitted,
08:14"...Dempsey sort of was terrorizing the set. Some cast members had all sorts of PTSD with him.
08:19He had this hold on the set where he knew he could stop production and scare people."
08:22Dempsey reportedly clashed frequently with Pompeo and series creator Shonda Rhimes,
08:26with his actions and attitude on set often dumbfounding the cast and crew.
08:30After all, McDreamy was the highest-paid actor on the show during his tenure,
08:33a move that inevitably created friction with the show's main star. According to Pompeo,
08:38she was rejected multiple times when she asked Dempsey that they negotiate their salaries
08:41together. In her words,
08:43"...there were many times where I reached out about joining together to negotiate,
08:46but he was never interested in that."
08:48Bill Murray made a career out of playing affable protagonists in hit comedies. But behind the
08:52scenes, the Ghostbusters star has consistently cemented a reputation of being a difficult actor
08:56to work with. In 2022, Murray's inappropriate actions toward a crew member led to production
09:01of Aziz Ansari's film Being Mortal getting suspended.
09:04"...Um, I did something I thought was funny, and it wasn't taken that way."
09:08That same year, Geena Davis, who starred alongside Murray in 1990's Quick Change,
09:12recalled how much of a terror her co-star-slash-director was in her book
09:15Dying of Politeness, a memoir. According to the Oscar winner,
09:18Murray not only incessantly pressured her into using a massage device on her back,
09:21despite her multiple objections, but he also yelled at her in front of the
09:25entire crew while she was delayed waiting for the wardrobe department.
09:28In another incident, Murray was allegedly so condescending and rude to Lucy Liu during
09:32a rehearsal on Charlie's Angels that the latter fought back, literally, with some punches.
09:36Even a 9-year-old Seth Green apparently wasn't safe from Murray's erratic behavior.
09:40Green claimed that Murray dangled him by his ankles over a trash can during an episode of
09:43Saturday Night Live after the young Green refused to get off the couch.