30 Costars Who Had Infamous Fights on Sets: From Bill Murray and Lucy Liu to Tom Cruise and Rob Lowe
May 11 2024, Published 5:00 a.m. ET
Bill Murray and Lucy Liu in 'Charlie's Angels'
Bill Murray joined Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu in the cast of Charlie's Angels. He was tapped to play the role of John Bosley, but he was later replaced after a fight with Liu.
Murray reportedly told Liu that she could not act. This led the actress to allegedly attack him, and the staff members needed to break up physically during the intense feud.
Speaking during her appearance on the Asian Enough podcast, Liu looked back at the time and detailed what happened.
"Some of the language was inexcusable and unacceptable, and I was not going to just sit there and take it," she said. "So, yes, I stood up for myself, and I don't regret it. Because no matter how low on the totem pole you may be or wherever you came from, there's no need to condescend or to put other people down. And I would not stand down, and nor should I have."
Barrymore supported Liu's statement, sharing on her talk show, "What really happened was Bill was just in a – you know, comedians can be a little dark sometimes – and he just came in in a bad mood. What you have to know is how much Lucy stood up for herself and that was the great thing that came out of an unfortunate circumstance. She literally said, 'I do not accept that kind of behavior from you.' And we all supported her and backed her up and we moved forward."
David O. Russell and George Clooney in 'Three Kings'
George Clooney led the 1999 film Three Kings, directed by David O. Russell. Before its release, the pair reportedly had a heated fight as Clooney was fed up with the filmmaker's attitude following an incident involving the film's extras.
Producer Charles Roven detailed in his interview with The Hollywood Reporter, "Now we're shooting the climax of the movie. Helicopters, explosions, gunfire. It's chaos, madness. And George sees David talking to the extras' [assistant director], and it looks like he's yelling at him. But he's yelling to be heard. And George comes running over and goes, 'I told you, m-----------, if you're going to pick on somebody, pick on me.' And David goes, 'Why don't you just f------ remember your lines for once?'"
"They grab each other, and they're tussling. And so I pulled George away. That was it," Roven continued.
Eric Braeden and Michael Muhney on 'The Young and the Restless'
The Young and the Restless saw the strained relationship between and Michael Muhney years before the latter was fired.
Braeden told RadarOnline.com they developed issues when they began shouting on set and Muhney trying to get him kicked off the show.
"During that shouting match, all kinds of things were said. I won't go into detail about it. I don't remember the specifics of who said what but what I do recall is that I was prompted to get into 'fisticuffs' with him because he wanted me off the show if you want to know the truth," he recalled.
Braeden added, "That is about as far as I will go. That is it. It was a campaign to get me off the show. It was Muhney who wanted to get me off the show and he expressed that to various people."
Jack O'Halloran and Christopher Reeve in 'Superman II'
Jack O'Halloran and Christopher Reeve's characters played the villain and main roles in the Superman franchise, but they also did not get along in real life.
While filming the end of Superman II, Reeve allegedly said unkind things about O'Halloran's family. While Reeve apologized to him during a private conversation, the talks reportedly continued behind his back.
"I threw Christopher against a wall, and I was ready to smack him right in the mouth," O'Halloran told Yahoo!.
O'Halloran shared a similar statement in his interview with TMZ, during which he also noted how arrogant Reeve was.
"He believed his own publicity a little bit too much. He was like a child. He was like a little kid. He wanted to be Superman and Clark Kent all the time. You know when he became a nice person is when he got hurt," O'Halloran told the outlet.
He added, "When he got hurt he became a really different person altogether. He became a lot humbler and he cared about people a lot more, you know? Prior to that he wouldn't show up for certain things with kids and stuff."
Jamie Foxx and LL Cool J in 'Any Given Sunday'
Jamie Foxx and LL Cool J were filming a scene for Any Given Sunday when a scripted argument became a real-life fight. At the time, Foxx slapped his co-star, leading Al Pacino to stop the pair and break up the fight.
"[LL Cool J threw a] f------ massive punch that hits Jamie in the face. Jamie goes back and hits the push bar on the techno-crane. I thought he snapped his neck. Jamie pops up, full-blown fight going on. Punches are flying everywhere," cinematographer Sal Totino told The Ringer.
Things got bad enough for Foxx to call the police, though no charges were pressed after the fight.
Jennie Garth and Shannen Doherty on 'Beverly Hills, 90210'
Jennie Garth admitted to E! there were times she and her Beverly Hills, 90210 co-star loved each other — and there were also instances they wanted "to claw each other's eyes out."
During an appearance on Watch What Happens Live, Garth told host Andy Cohen that Shannen Doherty once pulled up her skirt and they "took it outside."
Joel Edgerton and Tom Hardy in 'Warrior'
Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton had to perform MMA fights to play their roles in Warrior; however, the scenes became real — and they got themselves injured.
Edgerton told The Guardian he would be terrified to fight his co-star now.
"He's really kept up with the jiu-jitsu. I got quite messed up from the wrestling aspects of Warrior and still have some old neck injuries, so I do more training than fighting – a bit of boxing and kickboxing. Tom is an amazing dude. I think he's turned up three times now to enter random jiu-jitsu competitions," he shared.
Lea Michele and Naya Rivera on 'Glee'
Several reports claimed that Naya Rivera was fired from Glee due to her alleged bad behavior on set — and her feud with Lea Michele. Her representative as well as the show's creator, Ryan Murphy, both denied the allegations.
Still, Naya said they did not click because of their different personalities.
"One of the Glee writers once said that Lea and I were like two sides of the same battery and that about sums us up," Naya wrote in her tell-all book, Sorry Not Sorry: Dreams, Mistakes, and Growing Up. "We are both strong-willed and competitive — not just with each other but with everyone — and that's not a good mixture."
Shirley MacLaine and Debra Winger in 'Terms of Endearment'
In a 1984 interview with People, Shirley MacLaine said she did not know who Debra Winger was.
"To see how my character would feel I was wearing all my leftover movie star fur coats," MacLaine added. "There was Debra dressed in combat boots and a miniskirt… I thought, 'Oh my goodness.'"
Steven Seagal and John Leguizamo in 'Executive Decision'
According to John Leguizamo, Steven Seagal was rude whenever he was on the set of Executive Decisions. At one point, their feud turned physical.
"He came in and was like, [low, breathy voice] 'I'm in command. What I say is law.' So I started, like, [snorts]. I mean, who the f--- talks like that? Who comes into rehearsal and says that s---? So I started laughing and he slammed me with an aikido elbow against a brick wall and knocked all the air out of me," Leguizamo detailed.
Sylvester Stallone and Richard Gere in 'The Lords of Flatbush'
During a rehearsal for The Lords of Flatbush, a physical altercation happened when Richard Gere dropped a mustard-dripped chicken on Sylvester Stallone's thigh while the latter was enjoying his lunch in the back of his car. The incident reportedly turned physical and led to Gere's firing.
"The original part of Chico, which was played by Perry King, was originally supposed to be played by Richard Gere, but we never hit it off... I elbowed him in the side of the head and basically pushed him out of the car. The director had to make a choice: one of us had to go, and one of us had to stay. Richard was given his walking papers and to this day seriously dislikes me," said Stallone.
Tom Cruise and Rob Lowe in 'The Outsiders'
While rehearsing a fighting scene for The Outsiders, Tom Cruise and Rob Lowe turned their on-screen feud into a real-life fistfight.
According to Lowe, they "beat the living s---" out of one another.
"Tom is such a competitive lunatic — which is what I love about him — but the next thing you know he's ready to kill me! We were all competitive. It wasn't just Tom. We were hardcore. But Tom. Listen, he was up for my part and I thought he was going to get it. And Tom's Tom. He's a whole lot of guy," he said.
Lowe continued, "It's like the United States and China right now. If you treat China like a foe surely she will become one. It was all good. But he was the one I was worried about."
Tom Hardy and Shia LaBeouf in 'Lawless'
In an interview with Den Of Geek, Hardy claimed he was knocked out by Shia LaBeouf. Director John Hillcoat, on the other hand, shared a different statement.
"There was definitely a fight between them. It escalated to the point where they had to both be restrained. But I was very pleased to hear it didn't go that way because I would hate to see the outcome," Hillcoat said.
Tom Sizemore and Val Kilmer in 'Red Planet'
Tom Sizemore and Val Kilmer developed a nasty relationship on the set of Red Planet. The latter reportedly complained about the production paying for the shipment of Sizemore's exercise equipment and about their massive salary differences.
The two then found themselves brawling, with Sizemore punching Kilmer in the chest.
Tony Bellew and Michael B. Jordan in 'Creed'
Michael B. Jordan received a real punch from Tony Bellew while filming Creed — and he took it twice.
"In the Rocky films, it's like a badge of honor to take a real punch. And when you do slow-mo shots, you can't fake it because if you did a slow-mo shot and it was a miss, you'd see the space and it just wouldn't connect. So, you have to take a real punch," he explained.