9 More Insane Demands That Famous Actors Made For Movies
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00:00Though you don't tend to hear about the phenomenon quite as much these days, there
00:04was once a time when being a rockstar or a diva pretty much required making ridiculous
00:09rider requests.
00:10But it's not just limited to musical acts, despite the stereotype.
00:14Actors also have it in them to make demands that normal people simply wouldn't dream
00:19of.
00:20So with that in mind then, I'm Ellie with WhatCulture here with 9 more insane demands
00:25that famous actors made for movies.
00:28Before we start our official countdown though, an honourable mention has to go to Robin Williams
00:32helping the homeless.
00:34As you might expect from someone as well-loved as Robin Williams, reports emerged after his
00:39death that he'd had a clause in his contracts intended to give something back.
00:43According to Brian Lord, when he attempted to hire Williams for an event, he learned
00:47of it.
00:48He stated,
00:49I never actually booked Robin Williams for an event, but I came close enough that his
00:52office sent over his rider.
00:54I was very surprised by what I found.
00:56He actually had a requirement that for every single event or film he did, the company hiring
01:01him also had to hire a certain number of homeless people and put them to work.
01:05It's not at all insane, but it's incredible that the actor would be that selfless.
01:109.
01:11Gary Busey Demands an Accurate Heaven
01:13It almost feels like everyone who's ever worked with Gary Busey has a Gary Busey story.
01:19But the best comes courtesy of actor Curtis Armstrong, who worked with him on Quigley,
01:24in which he dies and comes back as a dog, obviously.
01:28According to his co-star, Busey ground shooting to a halt over a scene set in heaven because
01:32it wasn't accurate to his own experiences of actual heaven.
01:37It wasn't a contract demand per se, but it was a requirement for him to continue.
01:41Armstrong stated,
01:42Busey supposedly had done this.
01:44He'd been in an accident and died and came back.
01:47He showed up on set made to look like heaven and he looked around and said, I can't play
01:51this scene.
01:52They were three days behind at this point, but Busey said, it's nothing like this.
01:55I've been to heaven and it doesn't look like this.
01:58That sofa's all wrong.
01:59That mirror is ridiculous.
02:00They don't even have mirrors.
02:02It was ridiculous.
02:03He was completely nuts about the design of heaven.
02:06And then, to top it off, he has a fist fight with another actor who was playing an angel
02:10and had also been to heaven.
02:12Armstrong continued,
02:13But then on top of it, one of the guys playing an angel had also died and come back.
02:17And this guy got into an argument with Busey about the way heaven looked.
02:21The two of them wound up coming to blows and they had to send everyone home.
02:24So there you go.
02:25That's what we were working with.
02:278.
02:28Lundgren Demanded a Three-Strike Rule
02:30There's nothing wrong with insisting on contract clauses that are designed to protect
02:34the star.
02:35So, some actors will refuse to do nude scenes or particularly dangerous stunts, and you
02:39can absolutely understand that.
02:41You can even understand Dolph Lundgren's insistence on a clause in his movie contracts
02:46back in the 80s, when he was just starting to get famous, that helped him preserve his
02:50brand.
02:51While making Masters of the Universe in 1987, after only a couple of other roles, he was
02:56struggling with English to such an extent that director Gary Goddard wanted him dubbed.
03:00Cleverly, though, he had it written into his contract that he had exactly three chances
03:06to get his lines nailed, allowing him the wiggle room to really get those takes perfect.
03:11Because somehow, someone clearly signed off on them, which might explain why the film
03:14bombed so comically.
03:167.
03:17Jackson Demands Golf
03:18When you're a hard-working actor who grosses phenomenal amounts at the global box office,
03:23you deserve your downtime.
03:24Hell, if you're making everyone else that much money just by turning up, they should
03:28probably pay you for the privilege of you relaxing on set, to be perfectly honest.
03:32And that's exactly what Samuel L. Jackson insists on, apparently, as well as making
03:36it very clear that he's in charge when he's on a film set, like anyone is going to argue.
03:41He spoke to the New York Times to confirm that he's contractually obligated to play
03:45golf twice a week while filming, and that he just won't do extra takes.
03:50He stated,
03:51I can be a hard taskmaster for some directors.
03:53I'm at that point where I can say, uh, you know, that's not going to be in the movie,
03:56right?
03:57We already got it.
03:58We got it when we did this, that, and that.
03:59I'm not going to do that.
04:00Nice work, if you can get it.
04:036.
04:04Steve McQueen Demands Equality
04:06It doesn't matter if you're the king of cool if you have a complex about working with
04:09another legendary actor, which seems to have been the case for Steve McQueen when he worked
04:14with Paul Newman in The Towering Inferno in 1974.
04:18The story goes that the pair had issues, to say the least, and they manifested in a fight
04:23over top billing on the disaster epic, with McQueen insisting on top billing and the exact
04:28same pay and number of lines as Newman, which must have been a nightmare for the writers
04:32and editors.
04:33A compromise on their conflict was reached with the poster, on which McQueen's name
04:37is first, but Newman's is positioned slightly higher, the thing studios have to do for egos.
04:435.
04:44Roger Moore Demanded Unlimited Cigars
04:47If you're going to play a character like James Bond, you really ought to really live
04:51the part.
04:52That doesn't mean you should go around killing people with impunity and being a great big
04:55chauvinistic pig, but dipping your toes into the 007 mentality has got to help get into
05:00the right mindset.
05:02That is presumably why Roger Moore's first Bond contract notoriously stipulated that
05:07he had an endless supply of cigars, and because he was playing Bond, it had to be the finest
05:12hand-rolled Monte Cristo cigars, obviously, leading to one bill on a single Bond movie
05:18coming to £3,176.50.
05:204.
05:21Queen Latifah Demands to Live Forever
05:27Some contract clauses are ostentatious and greedy, but others are just plain smart.
05:32That's definitely the case with the one inserted by Queen Latifah after she starred
05:36in 1996 heist flick Set It Off.
05:39In that film, according to Latifah herself, she died really good, I died my arse off,
05:45and elsewhere, she'd also got attacked by a squid underwater and died under there.
05:49With those already on her CV, she simply stopped wanting to die in movies.
05:53After 96, she insisted on a clause in her contracts that says she cannot be killed off,
05:58and that it's partly just simple business sense.
06:01She's protecting her own interests, stating,
06:03I put a death clause in my contract right after that movie.
06:06I was like, wait a minute, I'm starting to die too good in these movies.
06:09And if I die, I can't be in the sequel.
06:11No more dying.
06:12That's it.
06:13At least she's got a good one in before she stopped.
06:163.
06:17Clint Eastwood Demanded a Romantic Rival Was Fired
06:21You know you've done something worthy of note when Hollywood literally invents a rule
06:24to stop your behaviour from happening again, and then names it after you.
06:29That's how the Eastwood rule was born, off the back of The Outlaw Josie Wales, which
06:34saw the Western star rest in control from initial director Philip Kaufman.
06:38In a now notorious case, Eastwood hired Sondra Locke against the director's wishes as the
06:43pair clashed over shooting style and Kaufman's attention to detail.
06:47It also didn't help that both were romantically interested in Locke, who ended up in a long-term
06:51relationship with Eastwood, which Kaufman was allegedly jealous of.
06:56It all ended with Eastwood getting Kaufman fired and stepping into the director's chair
07:00himself, causing outrage amongst the Directors Guild of America and earning Warner Bros.
07:04a $60,000 fine.
07:07The Directors Guild then also passed new legislation called the Eastwood Rule, stopping an actor
07:12or producer from firing the director and becoming the director himself.
07:162.
07:17Tom Cruise Demanded a Scientology Tent Say what you want about Tom Cruise, but he's
07:22definitely not a shy Scientologist.
07:24He's pretty much the religion's most public spokesman, and he took that to a different
07:29level entirely on the set of War of the Worlds.
07:32As revealed by journalists who visited the set near Los Angeles, there was a fully staffed
07:36tent of the Scientology organisation right next to the food tents for the journalists
07:41and extras.
07:42Leigh-Anne DeVette, Cruise's sister and spokeswoman, called it a gift to the crew.
07:47To Cruise's credit, he was quite open about why he wanted the tent there, stating,
07:51I believe in freedom of speech.
07:53I felt honoured to have volunteer Scientology ministers on the set.
07:56They were helping the crew.
07:57When I'm working on a movie, I do anything I can to help the people I'm spending time
08:01with.
08:02I believe in communication.
08:03The volunteer Scientology ministers were there to help the sick and injured.
08:07People on the set appreciated that.
08:09I have absolutely nothing against talking about my beliefs, but I do so much more.
08:13We live in a world where people are on drugs forever, where even children get drugged,
08:18where crimes against humanity are so extreme that most people turn away in horror and dismay.
08:22Those are the things that I care about.
08:24I don't care what someone believes, I don't care what nationality they are, but if someone
08:28wants to get off drugs, I can help them.
08:29If someone wants to learn how to read, I can help them.
08:32If someone doesn't want to be a criminal anymore, I can give them tools that can better
08:36their life.
08:37You have no idea how many people want to know what Scientology is.
08:411. Will Ferrell wants a rainbow on wheels
08:44And then, of course, there are some contract demands that are cut from an entirely different
08:48cloth, which Will Ferrell was obviously keen on proving on the press tour for SemiPro.
08:53Clearly channeling his lead character Jackie Moon, Ferrell made some outrageous demands
08:58according to a rider revealed by the smoking gun.
09:01As part of his artist requirements, Ferrell demanded an electric three-wheel mobility
09:05scooter, one headset microphone, Janet Jackson style, one flight of stairs on wheels, a fake
09:11tree also on wheels, and a rainbow can be painted on canvas on wheels.
09:15Because why wouldn't you ask for them?
09:17And that concludes our list.
09:19If you can think of any other outrageous demands made by actors, then do let us know in the
09:23comments below.
09:24And while you're there, don't forget to like and subscribe and tap that notification bell.