It might appear to be of important significance that administrators and actors on the very least respect one another whereas they’re making a film, however Hollywood historical past is riddled with situations the place this merely did not happen. One of the vital well-known disagreements almost turned deadly when Werner Herzog threatened to shoot (with a gun) notoriously erratic star Klaus Kinski whereas filming “Aguirre, the Wrath of God.” No weapons had been brandished on the set of “Hook,” however Steven Spielberg famously didn’t get pleasure from his time collaborating with Julia Roberts (they have not labored collectively since). After which there’s David O. Russell, who’s fought with and/or terrorized stars like Amy Adams, Lily Tomlin, and George Clooney; if there’s any justice, O. Russell, a once-formidable expertise who hasn’t made a watchable film since 2010’s “The Fighter,” will not be allowed again behind the digicam till he learns the best way to behave like an honest human being.
One actor who had a repute for clashing together with his administrators is Bruce Willis. The sadly retired performer (who was identified with frontotemporal dementia in 2023) had a horrible time capturing the horrible “Cop Out” with Kevin Smith and was so displeased with Lee Grant’s route of “Broadway Brawler” that the studio, Disney, shut the whole manufacturing down (thus forcing Willis to make a film referred to as “The Sixth Sense”).
Willis additionally butted heads with director Antoine Fuqua whereas making the 2003 Nigeria-set struggle movie “Tears of the Solar.” This was Fuqua’s first movie for the reason that industrial and demanding triumph of “Coaching Day,” which earned Denzel Washington his first Oscar for Greatest Actor, so the timing of Willis’ discontent was a tad shocking. Fuqua was one of many hottest administrators on the town, and this was purported to be a status motion film. What may’ve probably gone unsuitable?
Bruce Willis was a ache in Antoine Fuqua’s posterior
Revolution Studios
In a 2004 interview with the BBC timed to the discharge of Fuqua’s “King Arthur” (to not be confused with Man Ritchie’s “Variety Arthur: Legend of the Sword”), the filmmaker unloaded about his contentious expertise with Willis on the set of “Tears of the Solar.” When requested which actor was the “greatest ache within the arse” he’d ever labored with, Fuqua responded:
“Bruce Willis. Ache in my ass, no downside about that. We simply did not get alongside. We acquired alongside off digicam, however capturing [‘Tears Of The Sun’] we simply did not get alongside. Some males do not gel in terms of work — you’ve gotten completely different work ethics, completely different opinions, completely different factors of views, completely different strategies of filmmaking — and we did not gel. Off digicam we had been mates — Bruce is nice — however we simply do not get alongside in terms of work, and that is just about it.”
For his half, Willis had a proper to be hostile. Whereas capturing the movie, he was knocked unconscious when a projectile from a staged explosion struck him within the head. He subsequently sued Revolution Studios for damages. Fuqua has continued to emphasize that his off-camera relationship with Willis was amicable, although he has hinted that he misplaced an influence wrestle with the star over the ultimate reduce of the film.
