Some actors are/were not very nice people. Find out five egomaniacal actors right here.
Sometimes there are actors that are virtually impossible to
work with and create tension and drama on and off the set during production.
Yet the studio or financiers backing the production put up with their actions
because of their acting talents and name recognition. These are five deceased
actors that were considered to some of the most historically difficult to work
and deal with.
Klaus Kinski
Klaus Kinski was an amazing character actor with distinctive
facial features who was best known for taking on any role available regardless
of the quality, as well as his violent temper and behavior during productions
and his working relationship with director Werner Herzog. He would often take
on second-rate European films for the large paycheck, resulting in his
performances often upstaging what was a substandard production. His onset
outbursts and reputation were well known. In Herzog on Herzog, Werner Herzog said that “Kinski was probably the most difficult actor in the world to deal
with. Working with Marlon Brando must have been like kindergarten compared to
Kinski. During a play he hit someone so hard with a sword that the actor was in
hospital for three months; another time he threw a candelabra into the audience,
after having hurled various insults at them first”
Oliver Reed
Oliver Reed is best known for his distinctive macho looks,
often worn thick moustache, hellraiser lifestyle, intense alcoholism, and
penchant for taking roles in second rate movies that were considered below his
acting talent. Most of his role choices could be attributed to his outspoken
nature particularly against women, his binge drinking, and brawling. He was
reportedly up for big roles as the next James Bond after Sean Connery, The
Sting, Jaws, and collaboration with Steve McQueen. Others were selected for the
subsequent roles, with the main reason most likely being his out of control
lifestyle. This led to him famously appearing on television shows drunk, having
an argument with Shelly Winters on the Johnny Carson Show, and often being
drunk during film productions. Directors often said that they never knew what
they were going to get out of him each day, because it all depended on how much
he would drink the night before. His wild and erratic behavior during Hired to Kill included pulling out his
penis during a key large scale scene that involved a helicopter and a huge crew
of cast and extras. His drinking feats became something of a legend, with some
dispute over whether the extreme amounts were blown out of proportion. His
friend Christopher Lee did say that “when when he started [drinking], after
number eight, he became a complete monster. It was awful to see”
Marlon Brando
He
was controversial, highly respected for his memorable performances, considered
difficult to deal with at times, and is one of the greatest actors of the 20th
century. He pretty much refused to memorize his lines, believing that using cue
cards brought a sense of realism to the dialogue. Early in his career he was
viewed as a rock and roll bad boy because of his outrageous public behavior,
including punching a paparazzo and breaking his jaw. On the set antics and
weight issues began to really take shape during the filming of Mutiny on the Bounty (1962), leading to
production delays and an inflated budget that almost led to MGM going bankrupt.
The costume department had trouble keeping his clothes from ripping apart and
he would storm off the set frequently. The first director quit and veteran director
Lewis Milestone came on and considered quitting as well when Brando tried to
take over the direction of the scenes he appeared in
Errol Flynn
Errol
Flynn was one of the first Hollywood action heroes, an embodiment of the type
of male character prototype that was idealized by the American public. He was
known for his swashbuckling and sword fighting heroes such as Robin Hood and
seemed to be plagued in real life with trying to be the type of persona that he
portrayed on the screen. Because of that, his life was filled with drinking,
brawls, failed marriages, countless sexual encounters, two statutory rape
cases, wild orgies, and worldwide adventures. His drinking on the set during
his time at Warner Brothers led to studio head Jack Warner barring the serving
of alcohol on the set, because he would end up getting so drunk he couldn’t
perform. This only got worse during the 1950’s, when he was not only drinking
but also using morphine and heroin to combat a back injury. Most of the time he
would only make it through half a day’s shoot because he was too drunk to
continue. The final scene in Montana
was supposed to be a romantic kissing scene, but Flynn so intoxicated he
refused to kiss her and performed the scene lying on the ground. When he died
in 1959 at the age of 50, his organs where so damaged you would have thought he
was an 85 year old man. The coroner listed the cause of death as natural
causes. There are so many more tales about this man and multiple books
speculating events that it’s hard to separate what is truly fact and what is
fiction.
Richard Burton
Burton
was considered to be one of the great Shakespearean actors of the 1950’s and
was expected to be the successor to Lawrence Olivier, but become more known for
excessive drinking and tumultuous on and off screen relationship with Elizabeth
Taylor. They were married twice and made 11 movies together. He would end up
marrying three other women and have numerous other reported relationships with
women. His voracious alcoholism and various physical ailments is likely what
led to breakdown in all of his relationships. At its peak during the 70’s, he
was drinking three to four bottles of vodka a day
-Raul Vantassle
Works Cited
[1]
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P. a. H. W. Cronin,
Herzog on Herzog, London: Faber and Faber Ltd., 2002.
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[2]
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"pardolive,"
pardolive, 9 8 2016. [Online]. Available:
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[Accessed 9 8 2016].
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"IMDB,"
IMDB, 29 2 2016. [Online]. Available:
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2016].
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[4]
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D. H. W. B. a. J. N.
Hollywood Hellraisers: The Wild Lives and Fast Times of Marlon Brando,
Sellers, Robert, New York: Skyhorse Publishing, 2010.
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[5]
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"IMDB,"
IMDB, 10 8 2016. [Online]. Available: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000009/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm.
[Accessed 10 8 2016].
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