Difficult Directors and Actors

I find it interesting to read about how an actor or director becomes known for being difficult to work with or under.

Here is an article that mentions a few: http://www.celebzen.com/8-celebrities-you-wouldnt-want-to-work-with/8/

There are two people that stood out to me and I will post what the above link says about them:

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 bounds.


Katherine Heigl:

Publicly slamming people she has worked with, rude behavior and outrageous demands led to this actresses hasty decline from one of the highest paid actresses in Hollywood to a non-speaking role in a commercial for cold medicine.

Known for rants, Katherine had something to say about almost everyone she has worked with. Knocked up was sexist, for example, according to Katherine.

The worst of it got the writers of ”Grey’s Anatomy” after her statement that she will not accept an Emmy nomination because of “bad writing”.


What are everyone's thoughts about these types of attitudes and behaviours?
 
i take it on a case by case basis..

i had an actor that was terrible, tried to screw up the whole production, got personal with me, refused to do ADR.. i would have no problem making a public statement against him that people should not work with that guy.

he's not a real actor and no one would anyway, but still. I could say something like that and easily end up on a list like you've posted.

i do feel though if people are serious, and trying to do their jobs, i would never say anything bad about them in public. it's really unprofessional
 
I had a pretty bad experience with a couple of actors. I always say nice things about them in interviews though because I think it's better to keep a positive reputation for your film, and everyone involved. It's a good enough solution for me to just not work with them again.
 
It depends on what you're asking. If you're asking whether I'd work with James Cameron after knowing that he pushes the limits of his cast and crew, I'd probably say yes I'd still like the opportunity to work, even knowing those conditions. From what you described, this is far from being unprofessional, it's just the way that he works.

Heigl bad mouthing. While it's far from optimal and my career isn't at the point where I can pick and choose what comes my way, if I had another option, I may consider it.

If you're asking whether I think that bad attitudes are acceptable? Yes and no. Many consider my attitude bad. I'm rather direct, I prefer not to beat around the bush. I call a spade a spade. I like a quickly run set and easily get aggravated if people are holding everyone else up due to fart assing around instead of doing their job. Does that make me a bad person to work with? If you're the guy holding us up, I'm sure the answer is yes. I'm the kill joy.
 
It depends on what you're asking. If you're asking whether I'd work with James Cameron after knowing that he pushes the limits of his cast and crew, I'd probably say yes I'd still like the opportunity to work, even knowing those conditions. From what you described, this is far from being unprofessional, it's just the way that he works.

Heigl bad mouthing. While it's far from optimal and my career isn't at the point where I can pick and choose what comes my way, if I had another option, I may consider it.

If you're asking whether I think that bad attitudes are acceptable? Yes and no. Many consider my attitude bad. I'm rather direct, I prefer not to beat around the bush. I call a spade a spade. I like a quickly run set and easily get aggravated if people are holding everyone else up due to fart assing around instead of doing their job. Does that make me a bad person to work with? If you're the guy holding us up, I'm sure the answer is yes. I'm the kill joy.

I would work with him too because at the end of the day I would be involved in a massive project with a director I admire and I would understand that he's not being unprofessional. He is passionate about what he does and is dedicated to the craft. I agree with you because I think that it's better to be straight up with everyone and not to beat around the bush as you say, and I would rather work with someone like that instead of someone who was lazy and blase.
 
I don't care much for any of his movies, but James Cameron might be the closest thing I've ever had to a hero, and that link barely scratches the surface as to why. He should be an inspiration to every aspiring filmmaker.
 
I got to work with a crew from L.A., shooting here, and the director was so rude to everyone that he sexually threatened the women workers, for not doing the kind of job he wanted, and even got so mad at me, for whatever reason, that he tried to bait me into a fist fight.

I talked to another guy about it later who has had more experience, and he said that's how it's like in L.A., which rich people who can get away, with it, cause they have the money, which is why he said he will never work in L.A.. I hope that's not true, and there are a lot of better people there.
 
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