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Marlon Brando vs. Frank Sinatra
The movie set: The all-singing, all-dancing movie version of musical Guys and Dolls.
The awkward argument: It didn’t start out well – crooner Frank Sinatra wanted to play Sky Masterson, but to his chagrin it was Marlon Brando who landed the role.
That early admonition affected the entire Guys and Dolls shoot, with both men taking a dislike to one another. Showing he wasn't afraid of Brando, Sinatra dubbed him ‘Mumbles’ because he was barely ever coherent on set.
The kiss and make up? The two never recovered. “Frank's the kind of guy who, when he gets to Heaven, is going to give God a hard time for making him bald,” Brando later said.
Jake Gyllenhaal vs. David Fincher
The movie set: Mystery-with-no-conclusion thriller Zodiac, with Jake Gyllanhaal and Robert Downey Jr attempting to unmask a serial killer who’s menacing San Francisco in the ‘60s and ‘70s.
The awkward argument: “We’d do a lot of takes, and [Fincher would] turn, and he would say, ‘Delete the last 10 takes,’” mopes Gyllenhaal. “And as an actor, that's very hard to hear.”
Director Fincher apparently established a cruel technique for ridding Gyllenhaal of his “earnestness”, forcing him to endure take after take during a punishing shoot. “Usually by take 17 the earnestness is gone,” the director says. Ouch.
The kiss and make up? Neither actor nor director showed for Zodiac’s LA premiere, and there are no plans for them to work together again. Shame, Fincher’s technique seemed to work, with Gyllenhaal delivering a stunning performance in the film.
Rip Torn vs. Norman Mailer
The movie set: Maidstone, the third film from director Norman Mailer. He plays a man running for president. Rip Torn is his needy, sponging brother Raoul.
The awkward argument: Torn and Mailer improvised a fight scene that ended up turning into a real, bloody scuffle on the set of Maidstone.
First, Torn bashed Mailer over the head with a hammer, causing Mailer’s scalp to open. Instead of backing off, Mailer wrestled Torn to the floor and chewed off a chunk of the actor’s ear.
The fight only stopped when Mailer’s wife waded in (while their children cried in the background), and despite everybody involved using their real names, the scene still made it into the movie .
The kiss and make up? Torn was reportedly outraged at Mailer’s approach to directing, which would explain why they never worked together again.
Bill Murray vs. Lucy Liu
The movie set: A big screen reboot of beloved TV series Charlie’s Angels, directed by McG.
The awkward argument: Murray caused quite a scene during shooting of the TV update. At one point, he interrupted shooting in order to address the three leading ladies.
“I get why you're here,” he said to Drew Barrymore. “And you've got talent,” he commended Cameron Diaz. “But what in the hell are you doing here? You can't act.”
That last was aimed at Lucy Liu, who was none too pleased and showed her displeasure by aiming a few swift blows at the tactless comedian. They had to be separated by crew members.
The kiss and make up? Wonder why Murray wasn’t in the second Charlie’s Angels film…
LL Cool J vs. Jamie Foxx
The movie set: Al Pacino-led sports drama Any Given Sunday, about a team of American football players.
The awkward argument: There are plenty of actors who like to stay in character throughout filming (Tom Hardy gave journalists a scare when he stayed in character on the set of Bronson), but LL Cool J found it particularly difficult to separate reality from fiction while shooting Any Given Sunday.
While his character and Foxx’s get into a ruckus on-camera, Cool J failed to stop fighting after director Oliver Stone yelled cut. His temperamental behaviour prompted Foxx to call the police and file assault charges.
“It wasn't Jamie and I fighting," Mr Cool insists. "It was our characters.”
The kiss and make up? It took them seven years, but the duo are friends again, with Foxx providing vocals on Cool’s album Todd Smith.
Debra Winger vs. Shirley MacLaine
The movie set: Touchy-feely book adaptation Terms Of Endearment, about a mother and daughter who are as different as they are close.
The awkward argument: Winger certainly didn't do much to endear her co-star MacLaine to her during shooting of this domestic drama. She and MacLaine played a sparring mother and daughter in the film, a relationship that wasn't all that different from that of the actresses themselves.
MacLaine reportedly had no appetite for Winger’s flighty, erratic behaviour. With Winger reported to have once lifted her skirt and aimed a fart at her older co-star, it’s not hard to see why.
The kiss and make up? MacLaine beat Winger to an Oscar and celebrated by cheering “I deserve this!”
According to Winger, there were no hard feelings, though. “There was no blood drawn,” Winger told an interviewer later. “There might have been a scuffle. I don't remember. I mean, we were wild, you know.”
Sarah Jessica Parker vs. Kim Cattrall
The movie set: Controversy-heavy sequel Sex and the City 2, which saw the four Manhattan man-eaters jetting off to Abu Dhabi.
The awkward argument: Rumours of cat-fighting had plagued Sex and the City’s TV run for years, but things apparently finally bottomed out on the set of Sex and the City 2.
Behind the scenes reports held that instead of slinging barbed insults at one another, Cattrall and Parker barely spoke during filming, instead bitching behind each others’ backs. Meow.
The kiss and make up? Cattrall reportedly left the premiere screening of SATC2 after just the first few minutes. And no, there are no plans for a third Sex and the City.
David O. Russell vs. George Clooney
The movie set: War-themed gold heist drama Three Kings, starring George Clooney, Mark Wahblerg and Ice Cube.
The awkward argument: Clooney struggled from the off to keep both his burgeoning movie career and his TV commitments in check while shooting Three Kings. It soon turned into what Clooney calls “the worst experience of my life”.
During shooting in the Arizona desert, director Russell demonstrated how he wanted an extra to throw an actor to the ground. Feeling he’d gone too far, Clooney stepped in to help said actor.
In return, Russell snapped. “Why don't you just worry about your fucking acting?!" he screamed. "You want to hit me? Come on, hit me.” The director then seized his lead man by the throat, and Clooney “went nuts”. Take from that what you will.
The kiss and make up? Clooney’s said he’ll never work with Russell again, though he acknowledges that the director is “tremendously talented”. Perfect gent.
Edward Norton vs. Tony Kaye
The movie set: Black-and-white hard-hitter American History X, which follows a former neo-Nazi who tries to rescue his younger brother from the same fate.
The awkward argument: What began as a perfectly amicable relationship soon turned sour as Norton attempted to rescue what he felt was a disaster of a movie.
Norton gave the film’s script a polish (with Kaye’s blessing), but then rushed in to edit the movie himself when Kaye assembled a shocking 87 minute cut.
In response, Kaye demanded his name be removed from the credits, and called Norton a “narcissistic dilettante”, accusing him of “raping” his film.
“If Tony Kaye hadn't wanted to make the movie with me, the studio wouldn't have made the movie with Tony Kaye,” Norton said on the matter.
The kiss and make up? Norton got a second Oscar nomination for his performance, but also earned a reputation as being difficult to work with. Kaye, meanwhile, has only directed DTV garbage.
Dennis Hopper vs. Rip Torn
The movie set: Restless ‘60s road movie Easy Rider.
The awkward argument: Didn’t think Rip Torn was even in Easy Rider? Well, he’s not, and that’s because director Dennis Hopper gave him the boot.
Thirty years after the event, Hopper admitted to Jay Leno on The Tonight Show that he’d been forced to fire Torn from the movie when the latter pulled a knife on him during an on-set argument.
Jack Nicholson was brought in to replace him. And the rest is history.
The kiss and make up? No kissing and making up here. Rip Torn filed a defamation lawsuit against Hopper after he made the story public, alledging it was really Hopper waving a knife around.
