Prepare to have your mind blown and heart broken at these wild behind-the-scenes feuds at the core of your favorite TV shows and movies.
Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson - The Fate of the Furious
There’s one word at the center of theFast & Furiousfranchise. No, it’s not “car.” Or “fight.” Or “big-explosions-that-go-kapow-kablooey,” because that’s a bunch of words and you’re cheating.
It’s “family.” It’s what unites the characters. But not, apparently, what unites two of the franchise’s biggest stars. “Biggest” being literal.
WhenDwayne “The Rock” Johnsonjoined theVin Diesel-starring franchise inFast Five, it seemed like destiny. But they butted heads immediately, with Johnson posting cryptic messages on Instagram talking about Diesel. InThe Fate of the Furious, they refused to shoot scenes together, resulting in some creative editing choices.
Bruce Willis and Cybil Shepard - Moonlighting
They were playful. Contemporary yet timeless. And an outright pleasure to watch.Bruce WillisandCybil Shepardwere the perfect couple on comedic detective seriesMoonlighting. But while they were cracking cases onscreen, they were ready to crack each other’s heads offscreen.
Shepard and Willis straight up hated each other. And those aren’t our words –Shepard said that bluntly toEntertainment Weekly. According to crew members, Shepard was too high maintenance and Willis was too casual. At one point, Shepard even slammed a bookcase into a door by Willis.
William Shatner and Everyone - Star Trek
He was the captain of the ship. But that didn’t stop everyone from wanting to mutiny.
William Shatnerbecame a TV icon in the originalStar Trekseries, playing that lovable rogue Captain Kirk. And all of his co-stars, at one point or another, detested their captain’s behavior.
Leonard Nimoywatched as Shatner took lines from Spock, so Kirk didn’t seem too dumb.George Takei(Sulu) watched as Shatner iced him from on-set conversations and friendliness. AndNichelle Nichols(Uhura) got so fed-up with Shatner she nearly quit, untilDr. Martin Luther King, Jr.convinced her to stay.
Tommy Lee Jones and Jim Carrey - Batman Forever
After they shot the superhero fever dreamBatman Forevertogether,Tommy Lee Jonesdelivered an insult toJim Carrey.
But not just any insult. The perfect insult. One that feels specific and unique to Tommy Lee Jones. One we’re not sure how Carrey recovered from.
Carrey played The Riddler. Jones played Two-Face. And when they reunited by chance at an LA restaurant, Jones said: “I hate you. I really don’t like you. I cannot sanction your buffoonery.”
DEVASTATING.
Carrey later guessed it was becauseDumb and Dumberhad beaten Jones’Cobbat the box office.
Julia Roberts and Steven Spielberg - Hook
The biggest director on the planet paired with the biggest star. What could possibly go wrong? Well, on the set ofHook,Steven Spielberg’s postmodern take on thePeter Panstory,Julia Robertssaw exactly what went wrong. Her Tinkerbell didn’t just have pirates to deal with.
Spielberg and Roberts fought regularly, with Roberts earning an unfortunate on-set nickname: Tinkerhell. Later, both parties told their side of the story: Spielberg told60 Minutes“it was an unfortunate time for us to work together.” Roberts toldVanity Fairthat she “had a turncoat in my midst.”
Jamie Foxx and LL Cool J - Any Given Sunday
InAny Given Sunday,Oliver Stone’s star-studded football melodrama, two musicians-turned-actors gave each other quite the tackling.
Jamie FoxxandLL Cool Jplay teammates who grow resentful of each other during the season. We bet it was not terribly difficult for them to access these emotions.
During an argument scene, Foxx asked if LL would take it easy. LL refused. So, Foxx punched him. LL responded surprisingly rationally, saying they should both cool it. And then – LL punched Foxx so hard he passed out.
Hey, LL Cool J’s mama: Stop telling him to knock people out!
Val Kilmer and Tom Sizemore - Red Planet
Val KilmerandTom Sizemore. Two actors with notoriously big egos. So big, that they had to travel to Mars to try and contain them. It… did not work.
Red Planetis a jumbled piece of sci-fi suspense. Would a documentary about Sizemore and Kilmer’s on-set behavior be more interesting?
Kilmer found out Sizemore made the studio ship his exercise machine to set. So he reminded Sizemore he was making ten million to Sizemore’s two. Sizemore threw one of his weights at Kilmer, and they began physically fighting. Eventually, they agreed not to be on set at the same time.
Marlon Brando and Francis Ford Coppola - Apocalypse Now
It’s a miracle thatApocalypse Nowexists. The 1979 masterpiece was a filmmaking apocalypse for directorFrancis Ford Coppola, who dealt with lead actor heart attacks, set-destroying rainstorms, and constant lapses in funding. At the center of all this drama?
The horror… the horror… ofMarlon Brando.
Brando, playing the mad Colonel Kurtz, showed up to set knowing none of his lines, seemed disoriented, and had gained a massive amount of weight. So Coppola begrudgingly rewrote the script, fed Brando lines through an earpiece, and shot him in complete darkness. They never worked together again.
Will Smith and Janet Hubert - The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
Now this is a story all about how Aunt Viv got replaced halfway throughThe Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
In the first three seasons,Will Smith’s aunt is played byJanet Hubert. For the rest of the run,Daphne Maxwell Reid. What family shenanigans went down?
Smith was the star. The titular “fresh prince.” But as he told theAtlanta Journalin 1993, Hubert behaved like a difficult diva, effectively wanting it to become “The Aunt Viv of Bel-Air Show.” When Hubert became pregnant, Smith made his move, and got producers to fire and replace her.
Edward Norton and Tony Kaye - American History X
If you’ve seenAmerican History X, you know how it burrows under your skin with its depiction of violence and hatred. But if you were to ask directorTony Kayewhat he thinks, he’d probably say it’s not his movie.
He’d probably sayEdward Nortonstole it from him.
When Kaye delivered his final cut to the studio, they froze. It was not the movie they were looking for. So, Norton helped edit a new version without Kaye’s input or consent. Kaye publicly disowned the final movie, and tried to get his directing credit replaced with “Humpty Dumpty.”
