EXCLUSIVE: Hollywood Directors Tell ALL — How Tinseltown's Biggest Movie Titans Have Battled the Monster Egos and Massive Demands of World's Most Bankable Stars
Some of Hollywood's biggest directors have had to deal with the huge egos of their lead stars while filming.
Feb. 10 2025, Published 8:00 p.m. ET
Not only do Hollywood directors spend months out of their lives working to put their passion project on the big screen, they also have to contend with A-list stars and all of their massive egos and wild demands.
Some of the industry's biggest names behind the camera have revealed just what it was like when their film's lead star became a huge obstacle, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Brad Pitt could be 'violate when riled,' director Ed Zwick said of his time with the A-lister.
Director Ed Zwick had a major headache while filming 1994's Legends of the Fall: and his name was Brad Pitt.
"He seems easygoing at first, but can be violate when riled," Zwick said of the A-lister. In fact, the two nearly exchange blows during a tense moment, after Zwick begged Pitt to be more emotional for a scene.
The director recalled: "I don't know who yelled first, who swore, who threw the first chair. Me, maybe?"
Zwick also worked with Tom Cruise, who he called 'intimidating.'
Meanwhile, Zwick has also had to deal with another heavyweight from the industry: Tom Cruise.
The duo teamed up for the 2003 film The Last Samurai, and Zwick claims Cruise's "energy was intimidating."
He writes in his book Hits, Flops, and Other Illusions: My Fortysomething Years in Hollywood: "(Cruise) is also legendarily, at times maddeningly, self-confident, no matter if it's about a dangerous stunt or a six-page dialogue in a single take."
Last year's Best Supporting Actor Oscar-winner Robert Downey Jr. had popular director Christopher Nolan "a little afraid" before they filmed 2023's Oppenheimer.
Downey Jr.'s past is well-known, including being arrested for drug possession.
"I had heard all kinds of stories about how you were crazy," Nolan told Downey Jr. during a New York Times interview.
Oscar-winning director Christopher Nolan admitted to being a 'little afraid' of Robert Downey Jr. due to his bad boy past.
Joel Schumacher didn't have the best time with Val Kilmer while filming 1995's Batman Forever, calling the actor "rude and inappropriate."
The director – who died in 2020 – recalled: "I was forced to tell him that this would not be tolerated for one more second. Then we had two weeks where he would not speak to me, but it was bliss."
Julia Roberts had issues with director Herbert Ross, who directed America's Sweetheart in 1989's Steel Magnolias. According to star Sally Field, Ross was "very, very, very hard" on Roberts.
The actress said: “We would all rally around Julia, because she was the baby. She was sort of the newcomer. And she was wonderful, and he just picked on her,” the Oscar winner continued. “It was awful.”
Field also joked Ross could be a "could be a real son of a b***h," and added: "Some people just need to have somebody they pick on."
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Julia Roberts was 'bullied' by 'Steel Magnolias' director Herbert Ross according to Sally Field.
However, Ross also targeted Dolly Parton while filming, telling her she couldn't act.
Parton defended herself and shot back: "I'm not an actress. I'm Dolly Parton. I'm a personality who has been hired to do this movie. You're the director. It's your job to make me look good."
Ross, who also directed The Secret to My Success and Footloose – the latter with Kevin Bacon – died in 2001.
