11 Actors Who Are Allegedly Difficult To Work With, And 11 Actors Who Are An Absolute Delight
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1.REPORTEDLY RUDE: Mike Myers
The Austin Powers star apparently has a reputation for being difficult to work with. Fellow actor, Amy Hill, told the AV Club that working with Myers on The Cat in the Hat was a "horrible, nightmarish experience" and commented on his distant behavior on set: "I don’t think he got to know anybody. He’d just be with his people and walk away. People would come and then he’d stand there," she said. "There was a guy who held his chocolates in a little Tupperware. Whenever he needed chocolate, he’d come running over and give him a chocolate. That’s what divas are like, I guess. Or people who need therapy."
2.ACTUALLY NICE: Jim Parsons
The Big Bang Theory actor has gotten tons of praise for his professionalism and demeanor on set. While sharing what it's been like working with him on the show, showrunner Chuck Lorre called Parsons a "comic genius" and said, "It's just been one of the great gifts of my career to see a talent like that." In an interview with Parade, costar Mayim Bialik, who played Amy Farrah Fowler, said, "He's fantastic. He's very professional. He gives a lot of room for trying new things. He’s very meticulous, which I am as well, so that’s great." Also, in an interview with Variety, director Ryan Murphy shared his experience working with Parsons on The Normal Heart: "He's what you expect, what you want him to be. He's such a gentleman, so creative ... Jim as a person, an artist, and an actor has a really rare gift. He has a real purity and simplicity."
3.REPORTEDLY RUDE: Teri Hatcher
Hatcher apparently clashed with her fellow costars Eva Longoria, Felicity Huffman, Marcia Cross, and Nicollette Sheridan when it came to Desperate Housewives. And during a 2005 Vanity Fair photoshoot with the cast, Hatcher wanted to be in the center, which caused drama on the set — and Sheridan even called Hatcher "the meanest woman in the world." Plus, after the series wrapped in 2012, the actors apparently bought farewell gifts for the cast and crew — but left out Hatcher's name on the gifts.
4.ACTUALLY NICE: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson
Zac Efron told Entertainment Weekly about his experience working with The Rock on Baywatch: "He’s a funny dude. He’s always expanding, and he just gets better as he goes, like a flower that never stops blooming," he said. "But it was great, he was fantastic." Alvin Streeter, who has worked as Johnson's stand-in in multiple movies also praised his work ethic in an interview with CNBC: "He’s grinding every day," he said. "There’s an intensity when you’re working around him and you can see it and feel it in the air. He’s going 150 miles an hour every day."
5.REPORTEDLY RUDE: Christian Bale
An audio recording leaked in 2009 of Bale's infamous outburst toward cinematographer Shane Hurlbut on the set of Terminator Salvation. In the audio, Bale is heard yelling at Hurlbut, who supposedly distracted the actor during a scene: "You are trashing my scene. You do it one more f***ing time, and I ain't walking on this set if you're still hired. You're a nice guy, but that don't f***ing cut it," he says during part of the clip. Bale later apologized for the outburst during an interview on the Kevin and Bean radio show on KROQ: "I was out of order beyond belief," he said. "I was way out of order. I acted like a punk. I regret that."
6.ACTUALLY NICE: Meryl Streep
Meryl Streep has been praised by her costars — and she's ~blown them away~ by her talent. In 2014, Into the Woods costar Anna Kendrick told Good Morning America all about her experience working with the Devil Wears Prada star: "It feels silly to say she’s great to work with because of course," she said. "After the table read, everybody was just blown away, but no one wanted to be the first person to go, 'Meryl is so good.' It’s like, 'Oxygen is so great.'"
7.REPORTEDLY RUDE: Thomas Gibson
Gibson was suspended and later fired from Criminal Minds after kicking a writer in the shin after an argument over the show's creative direction. Deadline and TMZ also reported that Gibson had to attend anger management classes after shoving an assistant director back in 2010.
8.ACTUALLY NICE: Jennifer Lawrence
The actor might be known for her goofy personality, but those who've worked with her have also expressed just how much they've enjoy being around her. Hunger Games costar Willow Shields gushed to Entertainment Weekly about her experience with Lawrence on set, "Jen is incredible. I don’t think I’ll ever work with someone as fun and as great as her. I mean, I think that we’ve really become like sisters on set, and she’s so fun in every way."
9.REPORTEDLY RUDE: Chevy Chase
The comedian was as one of the original cast members of SNL, but he was notoriously difficult to work with. Chase was accused of abusive behavior towards cast members — which included an incident where he slapped the back of Cheri Oteri's head — and was apparently banned from hosting the show by SNL's creator and showrunner Lorne Michaels. In 2018, SNL's own Pete Davidson criticized Chase on Howard Stern's show: "He's a f---ing douchebag. F--- Chevy Chase. I hate that dude," he said. "He's just a genuinely bad, racist person, and I don't like him." Also, while filming the fourth season Community in 2012, Chevy reportedly used a racial slur while arguing with showrunner Dan Harmon, leading to the show pausing production. And in a 2018 interview with the New Yorker, former Community costar, Donald Glover, shared that Chase tried disrupting his scenes by making racial jokes between takes to "throw [him] off."
10.ACTUALLY NICE: Hugh Jackman
Jackman has received high remarks from those who've worked with him — including director Tom Hooper, who told The Hollywood Reporter about working with the star on Les Misérables: "He’s also so nice — it’s, like, unbelievable," he said. "However long hours he works, however much he has to sing, he’s always gracious with the crew. He’s always a wonderful leader. He’s kind of inspiring. And I don’t want to go too far with this, I’ll sound like I’m gushing — but he really is kind of a rather amazing person."
11.REPORTEDLY RUDE: Bruce Willis
Willis and his Moonlighting costar Cybill Shepherd clashed when they worked on show together in the late '80s. In an interview with Moonlighting Strangers Fanzine, the show's producer, Jay Daniel, spoke about the difficulty of working with Willis over time because of his growing fame. "In the beginning, Bruce was just a guy’s guy. Let's just say he evolved. Over the years, he went from being the crew's best friend and just being grateful for the work and all of that to realizing that he was going to be a movie star and wanting to move on. Part of that was because of his strained relationship with Cybill. That sometimes made the set a very unpleasant place to be," he said. Also, in an interview on the WTF Podcast, director Kevin Smith described working with Bruce in 2009 on the set of Cop Out as "soul-crushing." Kevin has since apologized to Bruce after Bruce announced that he's retiring from acting following a diagnosis of aphasia, a disorder that affects communication and comprehension skills.
12.ACTUALLY NICE: Drew Barrymore
Costar Bella Thorne had major compliments when it came to sharing what it was like working alongside Drew Barrymore — and Adam Sandler — in the movie Blended. "They [Barrymore and Sandler] are exactly how you think they would be onscreen as offscreen," she told Latin Post in 2014. "They have fun-loving personalities. They have such a great vibe when they walk on. Everybody is having a good time on our set."
13.REPORTEDLY RUDE: Lea Michele
Michele's costars famously came forward to share their experiences with the actor on set. In 2020, in response to a tweet Michele made about the death of George Floyd, former Glee costar Samantha Ware accused Michele of "traumatic microaggressions" that made her experience on the show a "living hell." Other cast and crew members also accused Lea of mistreatment and bullying while working with her. And in a statement on Twitter, costar Heather Morris said, "Was she unpleasant to work with? Very much so." After Samantha's claim, Michele shared a statement on Instagram, apologizing for "any pain" her behavior has caused.
14.ACTUALLY NICE: Adam Sandler
Bella Thorne wasn't the only person who had praise when it came to working with Adam Sandler. Longtime friend Kevin James told Access Hollywood why he loves working with the actor so much: "It’s always family, yeah absolutely. It’s the greatest. It’s literally like going back to summer camp with all your friends. It’s really a fun time, you know. You got all of ‘em there." Also, Lauren Lapkus, who starred in The Wrong Missy — a Netflix movie produced by Sandler's production company, Happy Madison Productions — shared with Los Angeles Daily News how positive her experience was and well Adam treats his crew, "One thing that’s really nice is that there is a feeling of family within the production because a lot of people are actually related. But even if they’re not related, they’ve worked together for like 20 years," she said. "He’s really loyal to his crew — people doing hair and makeup and every single department — so most of the people had worked on Happy Madison films for decades. It was nice to feel like I was immediately brought into the fold that way."
15.REPORTEDLY RUDE: Bill Murray
The comedian has a history of causing drama on set, and has clashed with Harold Ramis, Anjelica Huston, Lucy Liu, and others in different films. After working on the 1991 movie, What About Bob?, Dreyfuss even called him "an Irish drunken bully" due to his behavior.
16.ACTUALLY NICE: Tom Hanks
Hanks is one of the most loved actors in Hollywood, and those who've worked with him can confirm he's truly genuine IRL. After working with him on The Circle, Emma Watson had nothing but praise: "I'm like, ‘there's no way this guy is going to live up to his reputation,' right?" she told E! News. "There's no way he's going to be as nice as everyone says he is and whatever else. And then he was! He's so generous and funny and easy-going and he's all the things you would want him to be. So I'm very happy to be able to report that to you sincerely because it would have broken my heart, I think, if Tom wasn't Tom."
17.REPORTEDLY RUDE: Julia Roberts
Steven Spielberg worked with Roberts, who played Tinkerbell in his 1991 Peter Pan adaptation, Hook, and claimed she was difficult to work with. At the time of filming, Roberts was going through a breakup with then-fiancé Kiefer Sutherland, which supposedly impacted her behavior on set, and even garnered her the nickname "Tinkerhell" among the crew. When asked about working with Roberts for the movie, Spielberg told 60 Minutes, "It was an unfortunate time for us to work together. But I think Julia is a really, really good actress.”
18.ACTUALLY NICE: Sterling K. Brown
In a birthday post on Instagram to the beloved This Is Us actor, costar Mandy Moore shared just how much Sterling is loved on set by the cast and crew: "Happy Birthday to the guy we could (and do) gush about endlessly. You are a treasure, @sterlingkbrown." Ryan Murphy worked with Brown on American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson, and in an interview with IndieWire, he raved about his talent and character. "[Sterling] comes prepared to win. He has every line memorized ... He’s an incredible role model, and I think Sterling is also somebody who can do anything," he said. "I think that’s another thing that people sense about him, is he’s just grateful, and humble as a person, and incredibly fun to hang with as well."
19.REPORTEDLY RUDE: Edward Norton
The actor is notorious for taking his work seriously — to the point that he's apparently clashed with those he's worked with. Norton didn't reprise his role as the Hulk for future projects after the 2008 film, The Incredible Hulk, and was instead replaced by Mark Ruffalo. Following his departure, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige released a statement, hinting at a lack of "collaborative spirit" on Norton's part, saying, "We have made the decision to not bring Ed Norton back to portray the title role of Bruce Banner in the Avengers. Our decision is definitely not one based on monetary factors, but instead rooted in the need for an actor who embodies the creativity and collaborative spirit of our other talented cast members." He also added, "The Avengers demands players who thrive working as part of an ensemble, as evidenced by Robert, Chris H, Chris E, Sam, Scarlett, and all of our talented casts. We are looking to announce a name actor who fulfills these requirements, and is passionate about the iconic role in the coming weeks."
20.ACTUALLY NICE: Keanu Reeves
Many people loooove Keanu Reeves, and turns out, he's also super selfless. Reeves took a major pay cut just so The Replacements could cast Gene Hackman in the 2000s movie — and Reeves himself had lots of positive things to say about working together. "I love acting, and I love it more and more, so it’s great to have the opportunity to do it. And I got to have some really great acting experiences this past year, like working with Mr. Hackman," he said.
21.REPORTEDLY RUDE: Jennifer Lopez
The singer and actor has been accused of having a list of demands while working on set and at previous events. When she performed at the 2010 World Video Music Awards, she reportedly "insisted on a custom-fitted speed boat," requested a pair of diamond-encrusted headphones, and a helicopter on "stand-by." And in 2012, it was reported that J.Lo banned staff that were working on her new home from speaking to her or making eye contact with her.
And finally...
22.ACTUALLY NICE: Paul Rudd
The one-and-only Paul Rudd is not only loved by fans — but by his costars as well. After working with him on Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Mckenna Grace told Looper, "Mr. Paul was really funny. Mr. Paul ... he's great. I wish that there was a gag reel. I feel like there was so much funny stuff that we did that didn't make it in. There's always going to be gag reel stuff for Paul." She also added, "...I was chatting with him at the after-party last night, and he's just very kind. He does give me advice and talk to me about the film, and it's really kind."
