Hollywood stars can be rather picky once they reach the top – either factually or in their minds. Producers are used to actors and actresses demanding small changes and requests that rarely affect production schedules. That said, some stars take those “small requests” to whole new levels of absurdity, forcing even the most lenient producers to reconsider. Fame can only take you so far, as these 15 actors soon found out.
15. Val Kilmer Actually Got His Demand Met On The Island of Dr. Moreau — Just Not How He Wanted
Most horror stories surrounding the production of The Island of Dr. Moreau revolve around Marlon Brando and his “creative” approach to acting. But before Brando ever showed up, original director Richard Stanley was already dealing with Val Kilmer.
Kilmer signed on as the film’s lead, Edward Douglas, but weeks before shooting began — reportedly amid his divorce from Joanne Whalley — he asked Stanley to cut his role by 40%. Stanley couldn’t make that work for a lead character, so the two struck a compromise instead: Kilmer switched to the smaller supporting role of Montgomery, and the part of Douglas had to be recast from scratch.
That scramble was one of several reasons Stanley was fired just days into filming and replaced by John Frankenheimer, according to Collider — meaning Kilmer’s demand didn’t get shut down at all. It got him a smaller, easier role, at the cost of blowing up the production before a single scene was in the can.
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14. Ryan Gosling Was Fired From The Lovely Bones For Gaining 60 Pounds — Peter Jackson Finally Explains Why
Everyone loves Ryan Gosling – everyone except Peter Jackson. The beloved actor was set to star in Jackson’s The Lovely Bones, a movie about a teenager who helps her grieving father solve her own murder from Heaven.
Gosling took some creative liberties with the script. According to him, a grieving father wouldn’t be going to a gym or following a strict diet. Gosling gained 60 pounds following a diet of melted Häagen-Dazs ice cream, without telling Peter Jackson about his vision. Jackson had a different idea of how the character should look, and the two parted ways, with Mark Wahlberg stepping into the role instead.
Speaking at Cannes this year, Jackson finally addressed the decision directly, according to Variety — insisting the miscasting was on him, not Gosling.
13. Jake Gyllenhaal Wanted To Slap A Fish In Suddenly — And It Killed The Movie’s US Release
Thomas Bidegain’s Soudain seuls (aka, Suddenly) is a serious survival thriller about a couple that has to endure the elements on a remote island in the South Atlantic. Production itself was based in Iceland before the shoot collapsed just four days in. The film was supposed to have a wide, international release. To pull in worldwide audiences, Jake Gyllenhaal and Vanessa Kirby would play the central couple.
Unfortunately, “creative differences” happened. Gyllenhaal (and Kirby, to an extent) wanted his character to be a “survival expert,” with the movie focusing on survival and nature preservation instead of human drama. One scene had Gyllenhaal’s character slapping a fish to prove his… survival tactics? Suddenly‘s international version was scrapped, and Bidegain parted ways with Gyllenhaal and Kirby.
12. Ben Affleck Refused A Yankees Cap On Gone Girl And Briefly Stalled Production
Ben Affleck’s Nick Dunne is capable of some rather shady stuff – but he wouldn’t be caught dead wearing a New York Yankees hat. That’s a line Affleck wasn’t ever willing to cross during the production of Gone Girl.
A devout Boston Red Sox fan, Affleck insisted his character would never wear a Yankees cap, even if it made perfect sense within the film. Production reportedly paused while the two argued it out. Finally, as a compromise, Affleck consented to wear a New York Mets cap instead.
11. Daniel Day-Lewis’s Method Acting On Gangs of New York Almost Killed Him
Die-hard method actors would sacrifice anything for a role. Daniel Day-Lewis is well-known for becoming his characters, as he did when he played Bill the Butcher in Martin Scorsese’s Gangs of New York. He learned knife-throwing tricks from circus performers, worked as an apprentice butcher, and even caught pneumonia like a real 19th-century New York gang member.
As “Bill the Butcher,” Day-Lewis refused modern medicine, opting for natural, era-accurate remedies to treat his condition. As his condition worsened, Scorsese and the crew finally demanded that he take his health seriously. In the end, antibiotics saved his life just in time.
10. James Caan Refused To Star In A Movie Called Elf — Will Ferrell Talked Him Into It Anyway
After appearing in movies like The Godfather and Misery, Elf seems like a wild detour for James Caan’s career – and it almost didn’t happen. Caan was adamant about appearing in a film called “Elf”. Ultimately, Will Ferrell had to convince him about the film’s potential. Funnily enough, that sounds exactly like something Ferrell and Caan’s characters would do in Elf.
9. Crispin Glover Wasn’t Even In Back to the Future Part II — And Won $760,000 Proving It
Back to the Future famously had to recast its main lead midway through production, replacing Eric Stoltz with Michael J. Fox. A few years later, Back to the Future Part II would have to recast a different McFly. This time, Crispin Glover, who plays Marty’s dad in the first movie, wouldn’t return for any of the sequels.
Glover demanded a $1 million salary for Part II. The producers refused his offer and replaced him with Jeffrey Weissman, using a prosthetic mask molded from Glover’s face. Glover sued Universal Pictures over the unauthorized use of his likeness, and per Mental Floss, the studio settled out of court for $760,000.
8. Andy Kaufman’s Alter Ego Got Fired From Taxi — Kaufman Showed Up Fine The Next Day
Few comedians have been as notoriously difficult to work with as Andy Kaufman. Rumors say Kaufman wasn’t precisely thrilled with his starring role in the hit sitcom Taxi. To shake things up, he essentially invited himself as a co-star.
“Tony Clifton,” Kaufman’s alter ego, was “invited” to cameo in a Taxi episode. Clifton stirred chaos immediately, showing up late, bringing sex workers on set, and generally being a nuisance; he had to be forcefully removed from the lot. To make things weirder, Kaufman showed up a day later to work as usual – it was Tony Clifton who was fired, not Andy Kaufman, after all.
7. Nicolas Cage Wanted A Real Bat For Vampire’s Kiss — Producers Said Absolutely Not
Vampire’s Kiss is a brilliantly absurd movie that perfectly captures Nicolas Cage at his most unhinged. Here, Nic Cage plays a stressed literary agent who believes he’s slowly turning into a vampire. In one scene, production required Cage to come into contact with a bat.
Naturally, Cage wanted a real bat in the scene, but that idea was quickly shot down since that would pose a threat to the actor’s life. He did grab a real pigeon in the same film, however.
6. Charlie Sheen Turned Two and a Half Men Into His Personal Empire — Until Ashton Kutcher Replaced Him
Charlie Sheen was born for drama. His entire Two and a Half Men run was marred with behind-the-scenes controversies that frequently stalled the show. By his final season, Sheen was already the highest-paid actor on television, earning $1.8 million per episode — but after a public feud with creator Chuck Lorre and another stint in rehab, CBS and Warner Bros. fired him outright and canceled the season’s remaining episodes. When asked whether he’d return for a hypothetical next season, Sheen floated a $3 million-per-episode price tag, then walked it back as a joke within the same news cycle. Either way, the show moved on without him, replacing him with Ashton Kutcher, and it was never the same.
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5. Shia LaBeouf Got Fired From Broadway — Then Admitted To Stalking Alec Baldwin Afterward
In 2013, Shia LaBeouf attempted his Broadway debut after leaving the Transformers franchise. He joined the cast of Orphans alongside none other than Alec Baldwin. LaBeouf knew he had to make a strong impression, taking method acting to new, concerning lows.
He would frequently engage in loud arguments with Baldwin and the crew. The conflict grew so severe that director Daniel Sullivan had to fire him. LaBeouf later admitted to Playbill that he stayed “in character” for weeks after his dismissal, following Baldwin home from rehearsals on multiple occasions.
4. Lindsay Lohan Wouldn’t Do A Russian Interview Unless She Met Vladimir Putin
When Lindsay Lohan was invited to the Russian talk show Pust govoryat (“Let Them Talk”), her crew had a series of, let’s say, creative demands. Before the star would agree to appear on the show, her team demanded a fee reportedly in the $650,000–$860,000 range, a penthouse suite at Moscow’s Ritz-Carlton, and a private meeting with Vladimir Putin himself.
Even though she appeared in Pust govoryat, the fabled Putin-Lohan interview never happened.
3. Kim Cattrall’s Demands Reportedly Ended The Sex and the City Franchise For Good
For years, rumors about the growing feud between Kim Cattrall and Sarah Jessica Parker threatened the Sex and the City franchise. In 2017, Warner Bros. entered negotiations to produce a third film in the Sex and the City “cinematic universe.” There was only one issue: Cattrall wanted nothing to do with the franchise anymore.
Though Cattrall vehemently denies it, rumors have suggested she would only join the film if Warner agreed to greenlight her other projects. Instead, Warner shelved the movie.
2. Bruce Willis Wanted $4 Million For Four Days On The Expendables 3 — Stallone Publicly Called Him “Greedy And Lazy”
The Expendables franchise reunited every Hollywood tough guy under the sun. Bruce Willis joined the ensemble since the first Expendables, with an extended role in Expendables 2. For the third one, Willis demanded a more substantial payment. How substantial, you may wonder? Well, Willis requested $4 million for four days of work, up $1 million from his usual rate.
Producers refused his proposal, replacing Willis’s character with a new one, played by Han Solo himself, Harrison Ford. Stallone announced the swap on Twitter, and per The Hollywood Reporter, followed it minutes later with a jab widely understood to be aimed at Willis: “Greedy and lazy … a sure formula for career failure.”
1. Steven Seagal Made Saturday Night Live So Miserable He’s Still Banned Today
There have been many chaotic guests in the history of Saturday Night Live. However, none have been as universally disliked as Steven Seagal. The action star hosted the comedy show in April of 1991, and the experience, according to some of the cast and crew that had the displeasure of working with him, was nothing short of horrific.
Seagal would frequently insult the staff, telling writers their jokes were “not funny.” He would also propose his own jokes and sketches – most of them designed to make him look cooler.
The actor never played along with the show’s comedians and frequently clashed with the show’s creator, Lorne Michaels. Most of Seagal’s “inappropriate” jokes were dismissed, and, per Mental Floss, he’s been banned from SNL to this day.
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