21 of the most notorious feuds between actors and directors

• These Hollywood feuds offer a glimpse into the sometimes-fraught world of entertainment.

• Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni's reported feud has already solidified its place in pop-culture history.

• Though some make up after spats, other celebs never quite get over their friction.

"It Ends With Us," the long-awaited film adaptation of the Colleen Hoover novel of the same name, has had no shortage of controversies, starting with its subject matter — some critics have claimed the story "romanticizes" domestic abuse.

But that's not the only reason you might have seen this movie in the headlines. Internet detectives have become convinced there's drama between Justin Baldoni, the director (who also stars in the film), and Blake Lively, who plays protagonist Lily Bloom.

While there's been no confirmation from either side, and Baldoni has had nothing but positive things to say about working with Lively, the rest of the cast has essentially ignored Baldoni throughout the entire press tour.

Baldoni and Lively aren't the only director/actor pairing to have reportedly dealt with some on-set friction, though. Throughout Hollywood history, this type of feud is a frequent one, going as far back as the 1960s.

Here are some of the most infamous feuds between actors and directors in movie history.

Melina Glusac contributed to a previous version of this story.

Social media is buzzing with rumors of a feud between Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively. Baldoni directed and costarred with Lively in the film adaptation of "It Ends With Us."

Whispers of a feud started on TikTok and X after it became clear that Baldoni, who both directed and starred in "It Ends With Us," wasn't doing any press with the rest of the cast. Then, internet sleuths discovered that while Baldoni follows the entire cast on Instagram, only Hasan Minhaj follows him back.

According to Baldoni, he's taking a step back since the film is about a relationship involving domestic violence. "This isn't my night — this is a night for all the women who we made this movie for," he told Entertainment Tonight. "This is a night for Blake, this is a night for Colleen. I'm just so grateful that we're here, five years in the making."

In another comment that some have interpreted as a bit of shade, Baldoni said he wouldn't want to direct an adaptation of the sequel, "It Starts With Us," because "I think that there are better people for that one. I think Blake Lively's ready to direct, that's what I think."

As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, there are reportedly two cuts of the movie: one approved by Baldoni and another done by editor Shane Reid, who has worked with Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, which Lively commissioned.

The rumored two cuts and Baldoni's comments have led fans to believe that the drama began because of the two's different visions for the film.

Amid all of this, Baldoni has hired Melissa Nathan, a seasoned crisis PR manager, per The Hollywood Reporter. Nathan is known for working with Johnny Depp during the Amber Heard trial. 

While neither party confirmed the drama, there was speculation about "Don't Worry Darling" director Olivia Wilde and star Florence Pugh's relationship.

Rumors about Wilde and Pugh not getting along began in July 2022, when Page Six reported that Pugh was "displeased" about Wilde's relationship with "Don't Worry Darling's" other costar (and pop music sensation) Harry Styles. Wilde and Styles have since broken up.

Eagle-eyed fans noticed that Pugh did little-to-no promotion of the film on social media. Pugh also was not involved in any of the film's events besides its premiere at the Venice Film Festival (notably missing the much-memed press conference) and declined to comment about Wilde in a profile on the director in Variety.

At the premiere itself, fans seemed convinced that Pugh refused to make eye contact with Wilde, didn't stand next to her in any photos, and generally seemed unbothered.

Add in the "Miss Flo" comments from a leaked video of Wilde sent to Shia LaBeouf, and we had all the makings of a feud.

"As for all the endless tabloid gossip and all the noise out there, the internet feeds itself. I don't feel the need to contribute; I think it's sufficiently well-nourished," said Wilde during the Venice press conference.

George Clooney and David O. Russell are said to have physically fought while filming "Three Kings."

Mounting tensions on the set of 1999's "Three Kings" reportedly led to a physical fight between the film's star, Clooney, and its director, Russell.

According to one of the film's producers, Charles Roven, Clooney was tired from working on both "ER" and "Three Kings" simultaneously, and Russell was experiencing budget pressure from the studio. Reportedly, when Clooney saw Russell yelling at a crew member, it was the final straw. The two engaged in a "tussle," per The Hollywood Reporter.

In a 2000 interview with Playboy, Clooney said Russell's aggression was a widespread problem on set, and that the director also made the script supervisor cry, physically pushed an extra, and embarrassed a camera-car driver.

After the reports about Harvey Weinstein came out in 2017, stories surfaced about Russell, with former co-workers accusing him of on-set abuse.

It's been 25 years since "Three Kings," but the bad feelings have not disappeared. In an August 2024 GQ profile, Clooney said it was "not worth it" to work with a "miserable" person like Russell, who made every person on set's life difficult.

David O. Russell also hollered obscenities at Lily Tomlin on the set of "I Heart Huckabees" in 2004.

A video leaked a few years ago shows Russell screaming at Tomlin while filming 2004's "I Heart Huckabees."

The video is profanity-laden: After Tomlin complains to Russell about his constant re-writing of lines and scenes, he has a complete meltdown. Russell shoves and knocks items over on the set as crew members flee.

But the episode did not harm Russell and Tomlin's relationship for more than a few hours. She told The Hollywood Reporter in 2015, "We've overcome it. It dissipates and it's gone." The two have stated they would gladly work together again.

Val Kilmer has had problems with many directors, including "Batman Forever" director Joel Schumacher.

Schumacher told Entertainment Weekly in 1996 that the two even "had a physical pushing match" on set.

"He was badly behaved, he was rude and inappropriate. I was forced to tell him that this would not be tolerated for one more second. Then we had two weeks where he did not speak to me, but it was bliss," he continued.

Kilmer was eventually replaced in the sequel by George Clooney.

Time did not heal this wound, though — in 2019, 24 years after the film, Schumacher doubled down on their beef. In an interview with Vulture, he called Kilmer "psychotic," though he did admit that he was a "fabulous Batman."

It's unknown if the two reconciled before Schumacher's death in June 2020.

After Danny Boyle cast Leonardo DiCaprio in "The Beach" instead of Ewan McGregor, the two didn't speak for years.

McGregor and Boyle were close friends due to Boyle casting McGregor in his directorial debut "Shallow Grave" and his follow-up, the critically acclaimed "Trainspotting" in 1996.

However, when it came time for Boyle to direct "The Beach" in 2000, he chose DiCaprio to be his leading man, instead of McGregor. According to a 2021 interview between McGregor and The Hollywood Reporter, this fractured their relationship for years.

McGregor said the two did not speak for "a long time" and even sat together in a first-class cabin on a transatlantic flight "without exchanging a single word."

"It wasn't handled very well. There was probably both sides to it," McGregor said. "I was upset. But at the same time, it's part of life, it's just part of growing up."

Boyle has said he felt "great shame" about what happened, even admitting that he had given McGregor the impression that the role in "The Beach" would be his.

"I handled it very, very badly, and I've apologized to you," Boyle told McGregor on "The Graham Norton Show" in 2017. "I felt a great shame about it. I was not proud of the way I handled it," Boyle added.

Eventually, the two reconciled and worked together again on the 2017 sequel "T2 Trainspotting."

Roman Polanski yanked a hair straight out of Faye Dunaway's head on the set of "Chinatown."

Dunaway and controversial director Polanski apparently clashed on the set of 1975's "Chinatown."

At one point during filming, Polanski was upset by a stray piece of Dunaway's hair that was ruining his shot, so he walked up to Dunaway and yanked it out of her head. One urban legend even said that Polanski's refusal to allow Dunaway bathroom breaks led to her throwing a cup of her own urine at the director.

Dunaway vehemently denied the urine incident to The Guardian but did tell the Sabotage Times that "the friction between Roman and me began from the start" of filming.

Director Henri-Georges Clouzot slipped Brigitte Bardot sleeping pills for a scene, and she had to get her stomach pumped.

French director Clouzot was well-known in the horror genre during the '50s and '60s. While filming "La Vérité" ("The Truth") in 1960, he wanted his lead actor, Bardot, to realistically fall asleep and drool for a scene.

So he apparently gave Bardot sleeping pills, claiming that they were painkillers, The Guardian reported. Bardot took too many and ended up having to get her stomach pumped as a result.

After the fact, Bardot called Clouzot "a negative being, forever at odds with himself and the world around him," according to the outlet.

This was just one of many incidents for Clouzot, however, as he reportedly slapped Suzy Delair while filming "Quai des Orfèvres" in 1947.

Stanley Kubrick reportedly terrorized Shelley Duvall in order to make "The Shining."

"The Shining" is one of the most iconic films in American history — and the reported feud between  Duvall and Kubrick is just as infamous.

Kubrick's masterpiece took 13 months to shoot, and every bit of it seems to have been torture for lead actor Shelley Duvall. A perfectionist, Kubrick apparently nitpicked her performance, re-shooting scenes and lines and reaming her in front of the crew for missing cues, reported Rolling Stone. To get real desperation out of Duvall, he apparently filmed one emotionally taxing scene 127 times.

After "The Shining" was released in 1980, Duvall said to critic Roger Ebert, "Going through day after day of excruciating work. Almost unbearable ... in my character I had to cry 12 hours a day, all day long, the last nine months straight, five or six days a week."

Later in her career, though, Duvall celebrated the director. In a video posted to X by the Shelley Duvall Archive, Duvall (who died in July 2024) said she "wouldn't trade the experience" of shooting the film "for anything" because of Kubrick. "It was a fascinating learning experience," she said.

Tony Kaye didn't want Edward Norton and the studio to edit "American History X."

"American History X" got off to a rough start: Controversial British director Kaye didn't even want to hire Norton to play the lead, but he told The Guardian in 2002 that he "couldn't find anyone better."

Norton and Kaye reportedly began to clash when the film was being edited. Kaye's 95-minute cut was not favorably received by New Line Cinema and Norton, who both began to offer Kaye some notes — and he did not take the suggestions well, reported Den of Geek.

Entertainment Weekly reported in 1998 that Kaye was so furious with Norton that he punched a wall and broke his hand. Kaye also threatened to replace his director's credit with the name Humpty Dumpty. Kaye even called Norton "a narcissistic dilettante" to the outlet.

Megan Fox compared "Transformers" director Michael Bay to Hitler.

Bay and Fox openly slammed each other in the press, and the animosity seems to have started on the set of "Transformers" in 2007.

In a 2009 interview with Wonderland magazine, Fox said of her director, "[Michael] wants to create this insane, infamous mad-man reputation. He wants to be like Hitler on his sets, and he is ... He has no social skills at all. It's endearing to watch him. He's so vulnerable and fragile in real life and then on set, he's a tyrant."

Members of Bay's "Transformers" crew retaliated by writing an open letter that year that called Fox "the queen of talking trailer trash and posing like a porn star," reported Deadline.

Fox was then fired from the "Transformers" franchise in 2011 and replaced with Rosie Huntington-Whiteley.

The two eventually buried the hatchet, and Fox starred in Bay's "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" film in 2014.

"I've always loved Michael," Fox told Entertainment Weekly that year. "We've had our battles in the past but even when I've been really outspoken about difficulties we've had, I've always followed up by saying that I have a particular affinity to him."

Alfred Hitchcock reportedly made unwanted sexual advances toward Tippi Hedren during the filming of "The Birds" and "Marnie."

Hedren ascended to stardom after scoring lead roles in Hitchcock's "The Birds" and "Marnie." But Hedren later told Variety that the director made unwanted sexual advances on her throughout the filming of "The Birds" in 1963 — and threatened her career if she didn't comply.

Hedren repeatedly rebuffed his advances. She said, "When he told me that he would ruin me, I just told him to do what he had to do. I went out of the door and slammed it so hard that I looked back to see if it was still on its hinges."

According to Hedren, the inappropriate behavior continued on the set of "Marnie." At one point, Hitchcock and Hedren were in the back of a limousine, and she said he lunged at her, begging her to kiss him.

"It was absolutely awful, and as soon as the movie 'Marnie' was over, I was out of there," Hedren said. "That was the end of the Hitchcock relationship."

Katherine Heigl offended "Knocked Up" director Judd Apatow when she called the film "sexist."

In a now-infamous Vanity Fair interview from 2008, Heigl insulted her "Knocked Up" director, Apatow, by calling the movie "a little sexist."

Heigl went on to express discontent with her character's personality in the film: "It paints the women as shrews, as humorless and uptight," she told the magazine. "It paints the men as lovable, goofy, fun-loving guys."

Both Apatow and Heigl's costar, Seth Rogen, did not take this critique well. Apatow commented on Heigl's lack of an apology on "The Howard Stern Show" in 2009, saying, "[You'd think] at some point I'll get a call saying, 'Sorry, I was tired ...' and then the call never comes."

The incident put a damper on Heigl's career, leading her to apologize (via the press) in 2016. In 2017, Apatow told Vulture he still hasn't spoken to Heigl since the Vanity Fair interview came out a decade ago.

In 2021, Heigl spoke to The Washington Post about being branded as "difficult" in Hollywood after her "Knocked Up" comments.

"I may have said a couple of things you didn't like, but then that escalated to 'she's ungrateful,' then that escalated to 'she's difficult,' and that escalated to 'she's unprofessional,'" she said. "What is your definition of difficult? Somebody with an opinion that you don't like?"

Director Kevin Smith described working with Bruce Willis on the film "Cop Out" as "soul-crushing."

Smith discussed the making of the 2010 film "Cop Out" on an episode of "WTF with Marc Maron" in 2011, almost a year after its release. He told the comedian that one of the stars of the film wouldn't sit for a poster photo shoot — and once Maron pressed the director for a name, he let loose.

The "Mallrats" director confirmed that it definitely wasn't Tracy Morgan," who he called "a dream" and said he would "lay down in traffic for."

"Were it not for Tracy, I might've killed myself or someone else in the making of that movie," Smith said. "It was difficult. I've never been involved in a situation like that where one component is not in the box at all." He added it was "soul-crushing."

Wills, for his part, kept it simple in his response. "Poor Kevin. He's just a whiner," he told Time Out in 2013.

However, the two seem to have squashed their beef. Almost a decade later, in 2019, Smith told a story on his podcast, "Fatman Beyond," about the action star texting him to ask for his address, as Willis had some pictures he wanted to send Smith.

"Reach out to an old friend or to someone you never thought would be a friend again. You never know what bridges you can mend," said Smith.

In 2022, Willis' family announced the actor was stepping back from acting after he was diagnosed with aphasia, and the director had some kind words to say on X. "Long before any of the Cop Out stuff, I was a big Bruce Willis fan - so this is really heartbreaking to read," he wrote. He also expressed regret for his previous comments.

Bill Murray and director Harold Ramis had beef that spanned decades, after years of frequently working together.

Murray and Ramis were longtime friends and "Ghostbusters" costars, but they had a bitter falling out on the set of Ramis' 1993 film "Groundhog Day."

Murray was the star of the film, and, according to Ramis' daughter Violet's book "Ghostbuster's Daughter: Life With My Dad, Harold Ramis," his behavior became increasingly erratic while shooting —  he was repeatedly late to set and threw many a tantrum. The issue came to a head when Ramis, at one point, is said to have grabbed Murray by the collar and shoved him against a wall.

Ramis' daughter also wrote that "Bill was going through a difficult time in his personal life, and he and my dad were not seeing eye to eye on the tone of the film."

She added, "Eventually, Bill just completely shut my dad out ... for the next 20-plus years."

Ramis became terminally ill in 2010, and it was then that Murray extended an olive branch, arriving at Ramis' house with a police escort and a dozen donuts. The two were friends until Ramis' death in 2014.

Klaus Kinski and Werner Herzog reportedly almost killed each other on the set of "Aguirre: The Wrath of God."

Kinski was known for being a difficult actor to work with, and this seemed to prove true for director Herzog on the set of "Aguirre: The Wrath of God" in 1972.

Kinski and Herzog began to disagree about how Kinski should play his character, and Kinski became defiant. He reportedly threw wild tantrums on set and constantly threatened to quit the production. In one of the latter instances, Herzog is said to have held Kinski at gunpoint in order to make him stay, reported Indiewire.

The two went on to work together four more times, and Herzog made a documentary about their mercurial, decadeslong friendship called "My Best Fiend" in 1999.

Bj?rk accused "Dancer in the Dark" director Lars von Trier of sexual harassment, though he denies the claims.

Both Bj?rk and Lars von Trier won many awards and accolades for their 2000 indie film "Dancer in the Dark." But in light of the #MeToo movement, Bj?rk claimed in 2017 that von Trier made unwanted sexual advances at her during filming.

In a series of Facebook posts, Bj?rk alleged that von Trier made "unwanted whispered sexual offers from him with graphic descriptions," and he threatened to "climb from his room's balcony in the middle of the night with a clear sexual intention."

Von Trier denied the claims, saying that sexual harassment was "not the case. But that we were definitely not friends, that's a fact," reported The Guardian.

After working with Keira Knightley on "Begin Again," director John Carney said he'd "never work with supermodels again."

Carney blasted Knightley in a 2016 interview with The Independent after "Begin Again" was released, calling her a "supermodel" who was unable to capture the essence of her musician character.

Carney said, "Keira's thing is to hide who you are and I don't think you can be an actor and do that ... being a film actor requires a certain level of honesty and self-analysis that I don't think she's ready for yet, and I certainly don't think she was ready for on that film."

Directors rallied to defend the Oscar-nominated actor on Twitter (now X), calling her "utterly spectacular" and "a joy" to work with. Carney then issued an apology on X in 2016, saying, "Keira was nothing but professional and dedicated during that film and she contributed hugely to its success."

In 2019, Knightley revealed in an interview with the Irish Times that Carney had privately apologized to her, and she had accepted it.

"It was a very difficult shoot. We didn't get on. It's just a thing that happens sometimes and I say that with no blame. It takes two to tango," she said. "I think we can both be very proud of ourselves for the film that we made because it's difficult when a lead actor and director don't get on. And I don't think you could tell that from watching the film."

The late Burt Reynolds thought Paul Thomas Anderson was "full of himself" and never worked with him again.

Anderson hit it big with his critically adored second film, "Boogie Nights," in 1997. But Reynolds, who won a Golden Globe for his performance, never saw the film.

Reynolds told GQ in 2015 that he and Anderson clashed on set, personality-wise. He found Anderson to be too pleased with his own ability, saying they butted heads "mostly because he was young and full of himself. Every shot we did, it was like the first time [that shot had ever been done]."

Anderson extended an olive branch by offering Reynolds a part in his next film, "Magnolia," but Reynolds told The Guardian he declined the offer, saying, "I'd done my picture with Paul Thomas Anderson; that was enough for me."

Adrian Lyne reportedly played mind games on the set of "9 1/2 Weeks" in order to get an "authentic" performance out of Kim Basinger.

Kim Basinger spoke to The New York Times in 1986 about what a grueling experience it was shooting the erotic drama "9 1/2 Weeks."

Basinger was reportedly bullied by director Adrian Lyne, who also convinced costar Mickey Rourke to completely ignore Basinger off-camera in order to add to the duo's intensity on-screen. Lyne said to The Times, "In order for her to be angry I would rage at her and she would rage back at me."

It wasn't until after "9 1/2 Weeks" was released that Basinger realized the level of manipulation that was happening on set. She reflected, "Mickey was egging me on — I hated him sometimes. I got confused. I didn't know who I was after a while. My husband [Ron Snyder] and I had a bad time during this movie."

Even though Basinger said there were times she was ready to quit the movie, she holds firm that the experience — and the final product — were worthwhile.

Director Bernardo Bertolucci is said to have demeaned Maria Schneider on the set of "Last Tango in Paris."

Though the scene depicting the rape of Schneider's character was in the script for "Last Tango in Paris," director Bertolucci created a disturbing last-minute addendum.

Bertolucci and actor Marlon Brando had the idea of using a stick of butter as a lubricant for the scene, but they apparently didn't warn Schneider beforehand because Bertolucci wanted "her reaction as a girl, not as an actress," he said in 2013.

In 2007, a few years before her death in 2011, Schneider told The Daily Mail that the scene felt real to her. "Marlon said to me: 'Maria, don't worry, it's just a movie,' but during the scene, even though what Marlon was doing wasn't real, I was crying real tears," she said.

Bertolucci said Schneider hated him for years after the film, and "Last Tango In Paris" received renewed media attention in 2016 before the #MeToo movement, as celebrities — both actors and actresses — rallied to defend Schneider on X.

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