Over the years, certain actors have garnered reputations so negative that their co-stars refuse to work with them again. From simple personality clashes to heated name-calling, let's explore some of the most infamous co-star conflicts and their origins. These are instances where actors flat-out rejected the idea of working together.
Jim Carrey and Tommy Lee Jones
Warner Bros
When Jim Carrey starred as the Riddler in "Batman Forever," he was at the height of his comedy career on the big screen. His co-star Tommy Lee Jones — who played Harvey "Two-Face" Dent — was definitely not a fan of Carrey's slapstick style. Director Joel Schumacher confirmed that Jones had an attitude on the set, telling Entertainment Weekly in 1996, "Jim Carrey was a gentleman, and Tommy Lee was threatened by him. I'm tired of defending overpaid, over-privileged actors."
The night before filming a scene together, Carrey and Jones ran into each other at a restaurant. When Carrey approached Jones' table to say hello, he didn't get quite the greeting he expected. "He got up, kind of shaking, and hugged me and said, 'I hate you. I really don't like you,'" Carrey told Howard Stern. "And I was like, 'Wow. What's going on man?' And he said, 'I cannot sanction your buffoonery.'" We're going to save that line for the next time we need to tell some kids to get off our lawn.
Julia Roberts and Nick Nolte
Touchstone Pictures
In 1994, Nick Nolte and Julia Roberts starred together in the romantic comedy "I Love Trouble." Despite the considerable screen presence wielded by both, the two didn't mesh well on the set, and their lack of chemistry definitely shows onscreen. Reportedly, the constant quarreling got so bad that director Charles Shyer resorted to filming some of their scenes separately to keep them apart as much as possible.
While filming "I Love Trouble," Roberts told the New York Times that Nolte was "completely disgusting," and that he "seems go out of his way to repel people." Nolte later shot back, "It's not nice to call someone 'disgusting.' But she's not a nice person. Everyone knows that." The off-screen feud wasn't forgotten in 2009, when Roberts appeared on "The Late Show" and gave a profanity-laden impression of a former co-star — which turned out to be Nolte.
James Franco and Tyrese Gibson
Touchstone Pictures
Much of the 2006 military drama "Annapolis," directed by Justin Lin, centers around a planned boxing tournament for the recruits and officers of the U.S. Naval Academy. But when star James Franco took method acting a bit too far, things soon turned ugly between him and co-star Tyrese Gibson. According to Gibson, Franco would actually land his punches as they rehearsed the boxing scenes. "The dude was full-on hitting me," Gibson told Elle. "I was always like, 'James, lighten up, man. We're just practicing.' He never lightened up."
For his part, Franco denies ever hitting Gibson, but admitted to GQ that at the time, "I was probably a jerk." The admission wasn't good enough for Gibson, who told Playboy in 2007, "I never want to work with him again, and I'm sure he feels the same way. It felt very personal. It was f***ed up."
Will Smith and Janet Hubert
NBC
If you're a dedicated "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" fan, you're probably aware that the actress who played Aunt Vivian was replaced halfway through the series, but you might not know why. Janet Hubert portrayed Aunt Viv on the show until 1993, when she was replaced with Daphne Reid, who continued in the role until "Fresh Prince" ended its run in 1996.
According to accounts from show insiders and even Hubert herself, Will Smith and his other younger co-stars were needlessly cruel to her on the set. "Smith did some heinous, horrible things to me — they were like bad kids, Will and Alfonso Ribeiro." For his part, Smith knocked down Hubert's allegations in a 1993 interview with an Atlanta radio station, claiming she had a bad attitude while filming and adding, "No matter what, to her I'm just the Antichrist."
In 2011, Hubert fired back, even going so far as to tell TMZ that she'd never work with Smith again. "There will never be a reunion ... as I will never do anything with an a**hole like Will Smith," she ranted. "He is still an egomaniac and has not grown up."
Shannen Doherty and everyone
The WB
Shannen Doherty has something of a history when it comes to on-set feuds with her female co-stars. She reportedly nearly came to blows with her "Beverly Hills 90210" castmate Jennie Garth. Fellow "90210" vet Tori Spelling revealed in a 2015 Lifetime special that she got her father Aaron Spelling (who produced the show) to fire Doherty from the teen drama.
Four years later, Doherty and castmate Alyssa Milano developed a real beef on the set of another Aaron Spelling production, "Charmed." According to Milano, "there were definitely some rough days," and "it was very much sort of like high school." A source inside the show told TV Guide in 2001, "It eventually became clear that either Doherty or Milano had to go." Over a decade has passed since Doherty's departure from "Charmed," and it seems she and Milano have finally buried the hatchet: Milano reached out to Doherty in 2016 after her former co-star was diagnosed with breast cancer, and the two are now friendly again.
Wesley Snipes and Ryan Reynolds
New Line Cinema
Reading Patton Oswalt's account of his time on the set of 2004's "Blade: Trinity" is far more interesting than watching the movie itself. Unlike the first two films in the trilogy, "Trinity" was a critical and commercial letdown. According to Oswalt, director David S. Goyer shouldn't be blamed for the way the movie turned out, as he spent half his time dealing with the erratic behavior of leading man Wesley Snipes.
"Wesley was just f***ing crazy in a hilarious way," the actor-comedian told A.V. Club. "He wouldn't come out of his trailer, and he would smoke weed all day." Oswalt claimed Snipes "tried to strangle the director" at one point, which led to Goyer hiring a bunch of bikers as bodyguards. "That freaked Wesley out so much that, for the rest of the production, he would only communicate with the director through Post-It notes. And he would sign each Post-It note 'From Blade.'"
It wasn't just Goyer that Snipes clashed with, however. The mercurial action star also didn't get along with co-star Ryan Reynolds, apparently refusing to even call him by his name. "He refers to Ryan Reynolds as 'that cracker,'" one executive crew member told writer Chris Parry on condition of anonymity. "'Tell that cracker to get out of my eyeline,' and 'tell that cracker to get his lines right.'" Reynolds laughed when he was asked if he would ever consider reuniting with Snipes for a fourth "Blade" movie, answering with an emphatic "no."
Tom Sizemore and Val Kilmer
Warner Bros
Throughout the '90s, Tom Sizemore's star was on a meteoric rise in Hollywood, particularly due to his roles in great dramatic films like 1995's "Heat," alongside Val Kilmer. But when Kilmer and Sizemore reunited five years later on the set of "Red Planet," things weren't so rosy. Reportedly, Kilmer was upset when he learned that the production had paid to ship Sizemore's exercise equipment to Australia, where filming was taking place.
According to Sizemore's memoir, "By Some Miracle I Made It Out of There," a shouting match erupted which escalated into Sizemore throwing a 50-pound weight at Kilmer (he missed). Later, a producer asked Sizemore to avoid hitting Kilmer in the face when they got into their next knock-down drag-out fight. Tom complied, dutifully slugging Kilmer in the chest and telling him, "I'm never going to another planet with you again." Time heals all wounds, however: the two former co-stars had finally buried the hatchet as of 2014.
Julianna Margulies and Archie Panjabi
CBS
On the set of the long-running CBS legal drama "The Good Wife," an ongoing feud between stars Julianna Margulies and Archie Panjabi caused tension for years before Panjabi left the show. While the characters the two women played were once very good friends, the actresses notoriously were not. The pair actually were never filmed together for a whopping 51 episodes, and most on-screen communication between their characters took place over the phone.
When Panjabi left the show, she and Margulies finally had a scene together — one where the two actresses filmed their parts of the scene separately and then were stitched together using the power of green screen and CGI. If you can't even stand to be in the same room as a coworker, and your characters can only coexist in the digital realm, it may be time to follow Panjabi's lead and find a new job.
Tony Curtis and Marilyn Monroe
United Artists
While today it's considered to be one of the greatest comedies of all time, the filming of "Some Like it Hot" was not a barrel of laughs for the cast, particularly for Marilyn Monroe and Tony Curtis. Reportedly, Monroe was notorious for causing issues on the set, costing the production time and fistfuls of money because of her erratic behavior, her lateness on arriving to the shoot every day, and her reported addiction to pills at the time.
With Monroe allegedly needing anywhere from 35 to 40 takes just to get her lines right (Curtis and co-star Jack Lemmon used to take bets on just how many), Curtis apparently reached his limit after having to re-film a kissing scene. When early cuts of the film were screened for the cast and crew, someone asked Curtis what it was like to kiss Monroe, to which Curtis glibly replied, "it was like kissing Hitler!"
Bette Davis and Joan Crawford
Warner Bros
It was one of the most famous Hollywood rivalries of all time — so much so that FX even developed a series centered on the feud, with Jessica Lange as Joan Crawford and Susan Sarandon playing Bette Davis. These two queens of the silver screen had it in for each other as early as the 1930s, when Davis starred in the film "Dangerous" alongside Franchot Tone. Davis was soon smitten with the handsome actor, but Crawford won that round, marrying Tone soon after the movie wrapped production. Later, Davis famously remarked, "[Crawford] slept with every male star at MGM except Lassie."
The rivalry came to a fever pitch in the 1960s, when Davis and Crawford co-starred in "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?," a psychological thriller about two aging antagonistic sisters — a perfect backdrop for their real-life hatred. When only Davis was nominated for an Oscar for her role in the film, Crawford was livid. She campaigned against Davis and managed to steal the limelight for herself when she accepted the Oscar on behalf of eventual winner Anne Bancroft, who was unable to attend the ceremony.
Producer William Frye recalled Davis' reaction at an Oscars after-party. Davis filled a glass with Scotch all the way to the rim, telling Frye it was for Crawford. When Frye told her that Crawford drank vodka, and not Scotch, Davis replied, "I don't care what she drinks. This is going into her f***ing face."
Robert De Niro and Mickey Rourke
Tri-Star
Martin Scorsese's crime epic "The Irishman" was a grand reunion of Hollywood legends, but Mickey Rourke wasn't invited. According to the actor, he was in line for a part in the film until one of the stars stepped in and put the blocks on it. "Marty Scorsese, great director, he wanted to meet me for a movie with Al Pacino, Joe Pesci, Chris Walken and Robert De Niro," Rourke told Italian TV show "Live РNon ̬ la D'Urso" (via PageSix). "The casting person told my manager that Robert De Niro said he refused to work with me in a movie." Rourke added that he was "broke" at the time, which made the rejection sting all the more.
The "Sin City" star claims that his problems with De Niro began in 1987 when they appeared opposite one another in the psychological horror movie "Angel Heart." Rourke grew up idolizing De Niro, but his opinion changed drastically after he introduced himself on set. "About five minutes later, [De Niro] comes over," Rourke recalled. "He said, 'I think it's better if we don't talk because of [our] characters in the movie. It's better if we don't say hello, talk or anything.' It hurt my feelings a little bit, 'cause I looked up to him." Producers denied his claims in a statement, saying: "Mickey Rourke was never asked to be in 'The Irishman' nor was he ever even thought of, discussed or considered to be in the movie."
Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Wahlberg
Getty Images
Long before they appeared alongside each other in Martin Scorsese's Best Picture winner "The Departed," Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Wahlberg were castmates on a controversial high school drama named "The Basketball Diaries." At the time, Wahlberg was better known as Marky Mark, Calvin Klein-modeling rapper and frontman of Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. Nobody really took him seriously in Hollywood, and when DiCaprio discovered that Marky Mark was being considered for one of his associates in "The Basketball Diaries," he apparently freaked out.
"Leonardo was like, 'Over my dead f***ing body, Marky Mark's not going to be in this f***ing movie,'" Wahlberg said during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, revealing that their one-time beef was entirely his doing. "I was a bit of a d*** to him at a charity basketball game. So he was like, 'This f***ing a*****e is not going to be in this movie.'" According to Wahlberg, he and DiCaprio both had "a specific opinion about each other" prior to meeting, but that all went out of the window as soon as they got to work. "Once I finally got to the point where I was able to audition and read with him, then we just both kinda looked at each other, we were like, 'Wow!'" Wahlberg told Extra. "We were literally out that night and we became fast friends."
Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams
Warner Bros
Many critics found 2004's The Notebook a little too clumsy and cliché-ridden, but audiences fell hard for Nick Cassavetes' romantic drama. According to the director, the drama sometimes continued after he yelled cut, with co-stars Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling clashing in front of the crew. "Maybe I'm not supposed to tell this story, but they were really not getting along one day on set — really not," Cassavetes told VH1 (via Entertainment Weekly). "And Ryan came to me, and there's 150 people standing in this big scene, and he says, 'Nick, come here.' And he's doing a scene with Rachel and he says, 'Would you take her out of here and bring in another actress to read off camera with me?' I said, 'What?' He says, 'I can't. I can't do it with her. I'm just not getting anything from this.'"
Producers called a clear-the-air meeting after Gosling refused to shoot the big scene with McAdams, and it got off to a rocky start. "They started screaming and yelling at each other," said Cassavetes, who "walked out" of the room. "They had it out," the director said. "I think Ryan respected her for standing up for her character and Rachel was happy to get that out in the open. The rest of the film wasn't smooth sailing, but it was smoother sailing." The two actors dated for a couple of years after wrapping "The Notebook," but their highly-shipped romance didn't stand the test of time.
Dwayne Johnson and Vin Diesel
Getty Images
There were rumors that the beef between Vin Diesel and "The Fate of the Furious" co-star Dwayne Johnson was a promotional ploy when they first started feuding in 2016, but it turned out to be 100 percent genuine. It all kicked off when Johnson took to social media to slam an anonymous co-star during the last week of filming, bemoaning the fact that some "candyass" actors don't know how to "conduct themselves as stand-up men and true professionals" and were "too chickens*** to do anything about it." Johnson later confirmed that he was indeed talking about Diesel. The latter was reportedly late to set on a regular basis, which clearly didn't sit well with The Rock.
"Vin and I had a few discussions, including an important face-to-face in my trailer," Johnson later revealed to Rolling Stone. "We have a fundamental difference in philosophies on how we approach moviemaking and collaborating." When the film came out, some suggested the pair's scenes were shot to hide the fact that they weren't even together on the set. "That is correct," Johnson confirmed to the music mag. "We were not in any scenes together." But even this clash of the titans came to an end, with Johnson showing up at the end of 2023's "Fast X" and slated to return for the franchise's next installment.
Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise
Warner Bros
As two of the most recognizable actors in the world, you'd expect that there would be a little healthy competition between Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise over who is the bigger movie star. Even so, they combined their powers to make 1994's Oscar-nominated "Interview with the Vampire," which is generally considered one of the best vampire films of all time and a showcase of both actors at their peak. Yet, while Pitt's Louis and Cruise's Lestat were blood brothers on screen, it doesn't appear like the same sentiment was shared when the cameras stopped rolling.
Pitt has gone on record to discuss how generally unhappy he was during the shoot for the movie, but it also wasn't helped by his co-star. "He bugged me," Pitt is quoted as saying (via Radar Online). "There came a point during filming when I started really resenting him. He's North Pole, I'm South. He's always coming at you with a handshake, whereas I may bump into you. There was this underlying competition that got in the way of any real conversation."
Before Pitt and Cruise wrapped up "Interview with the Vampire," there was a point when Pitt tried to depart the project before finding out the financial impact it would have. In the end, he stayed on, but he and Cruise have largely stayed out of each other's orbit since then.
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