It may make you tons of money, but it's hard to deny that being an actor is sometimes rough. Grueling shoots, long hours and huge stints of time away from home can really take its toll on our favorite stars. Add in one co-star or crew member who just rubs them up the wrong way, and it can be a recipe for total disaster.
We recently looked at stars who got into fist fights on the sets of movies. Although Lucy Liu appears on that list (trying to beat the crap out of Bill Murray!), it was decidedly light on female celebrities. Are the ladies just better-behaved than their male co-stars? As it turns out, absolutely not. They may be less inclined to knock out their co-stars, but they can be just as insane about exacting their revenge on their on-set nemeses. From man-stealing to literally farting in a co-star's face, the ladies below got pretty inventive during their onset feuds. Vegetarians might want to back away now, because there's major beef ahead!
1. Beverly Hills, 90210: Jennie Garth vs Shannen Doherty
They may have provided us with some of the best TV of the '90s, but there was no love lost Charmed star Shannen Doherty and Jennie Garth on set. Although the two ladies have long since buried the hatchet, in her autobiography, Garth admitted that she and Doherty "wanted to claw each other's eyes out" when they were younger. Fellow co-star Tori Spelling alleges the pair once got into a good old-fashioned brawl, but Garth tells a different — and much more unusual — story. According to Garth, the two got into an argument during a scene, which resulting in Doherty pulling up Garth's skirt, revealing "my bare ass for everyone to see." She continues:
"I yelled at her, something to the effect of, 'Come on, b---- — we're taking this outside.' [...] We were throwing F-bombs and insults at each other like it was World War III. Before we could kill each other, Luke and Jason dived into the middle of it and pulled us apart. It was ridiculous."
Moral of the story, kids? Don't go commando to a cat fight.
2. Glee: Naya Rivera vs Mark Salling
As everyone's favorite lesbian cheerleader Santana, Naya Rivera delivered some of the most cutting remarks in Glee history. If you need a refresher on just how hard she brings the sass, check out this clip of her utterly destroying Kurt "mouth like a cat's ass" Hummel:
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It turns out that playing Glee's baddest bitch wasn't much a stretch for Rivera. Just ask her ex Mark Salling, who played Puck on the show. Although Salling maintains they were in an open relationship, Rivera was devastated when pictures of him canoodling with other women surfaced online. Her revenge? Simple. She rounded up her girl gang, a couple of boxes of eggs (and apparently, some dog food too), and went to town on Salling's brand new Lexus. Not content with making a dog food omelet on his bonnet, she also keyed the Lexus for good measure.
Cast members have been probed about the notorious incident ever since it occurred. whilst Salling called it 'silly', the cast refused to directly confirm or deny the sticky situation. Hopefully Naya's upcoming autobiography will let us know exactly what went down — and maybe also shed some light on her thoughts about Salling's upcoming trial.
3. Chinatown: Faye Dunaway vs Roman Polanski
In the grand tradition of director-savants such as Hitchcock and Kubrick, Polanski has been known to put his actors through the wringer on set. Many actors have looked past his personal issues and relish working Polanski; Kate Winslet said she felt 'extremely fortunate' getting to work with him. However, Faye Dunaway didn't click so well with the notorious filmmaker.
Whilst filming the critically-acclaimed Chinatown, relations became strained between Dunaway and Polanski. Cultural critic Peter Biskind recalls that the set was plagued with strict conditions and high tensions between the cast and crew. These tensions came to boil when Polanski refused to let Dunaway take bathroom breaks whilst filming. Wanting to both urinate and enact her revenge, Dunaway killed two birds with one stone.
She pissed in a coffee cup and threw it in Polanski's face.
It is important to note that Dunaway has fervently denied Biskind's version of events- but honestly Faye, if it were true, we wouldn't hold it against you!
See also:
11 Actors Who Almost Died On Set!
All Bette's Are Off In Ryan Murphy's Next FX Series: An Insane Look At Real Hollywood Feuds
10 Hollywood Actors That Have Mastered The Directing Game
4. Literally Their Entire Lives and Careers: Joan Crawford vs Bette Davis
The Crawford-Midler catfight is the stuff of Hollywood legend; so much so, that Ryan Murphy is currently making an entire TV show about it. To recount the whole saga would take a post — nay, a whole novel — but here are the highlights of this infamous grudge match.
Davis fell in love with movie star Franchot Tone on the set of 1935's Dangerous- right around the same time Crawford seduced Tone by inviting him over to her place and greeting him naked in her solarium.
Crawford tried to win over Davis by sending gifts to Davis's dressing room. Davis repaid her by calling her a 'mannequin' with eyebrows like 'African caterpillars', and suggesting Crawford's gifting spree had 'lesbian overtures' (no laughing matter in the '40s, lemme tell you).
Crawford responded by saying Davis "looks like she’s never had a happy day, or night, in her life.”
They starred together in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, where they took their shenanigans to the next level. In one scene where Davis had to drag Crawford across the floor, Crawford deliberately filled her pockets with rocks.
As Crawford was married to the CEO of Pepsi at the time, Davis had an entire Coca Cola vending machine installed in her dressing room. Of the shoot, Davis said: '“The best time I ever had with Joan was when I pushed her down some stairs in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane.”
Davis was nominated for an Oscar for her Baby Jane performance; Crawford was not so lucky. She did, however, manage to convince all of the other nominees to let her accept the award on their behalf. When Anne Bancroft eventually won the Oscar, Crawford got to saunter past her upstaged rival and collect the award.
Even Joan Crawford's death in 1977 didn't end the feud. Of her passing, Davis remarked: “You should never say bad things about the dead, only good…Joan Crawford is dead... Good.” Ouch. We're sure there's ample storylines here for Ryan Murphy, Jessica Lange and Susan Sarandon to sink their teeth in to!
5. Terms of Endearment: Debra Winger v Shirley McLaine
Debra Winger & Shirley MacLaine played a loving mother-daughter duo in Terms of Endearment. Their critically-acclaimed performances are even more remarkable when you consider that the pair couldn't stand each other. As recently as 2008, Winger was still hurt by the feud, remarking: "time heals all wounds? Let's just say that it's not applicable in this case". The pair's fights were as imaginative as they were intense, with one fight culminating in Winger allegedly pulling up her skirt and farting in MacLaine's face.
MacLaine got the last laugh, though- both of the talented ladies were nominated for Oscars for their sterling performances, but MacLaine bagged the coveted statuette. Upon beating out her younger co-star, MacLaine shouted 'I deserve this!' It just goes to show, sometimes the best revenge is getting the job done.
So, if you thought a good old-fashioned fist fight was the worst thing that happened on set, think again. From Oscar snubs to vehicular damage and urinary overtones, these women took revenge to a whole new level. We at Movie Pilot in no way condone revenge in any form — but if you're going to do it, you might as well get creative.
What is the craziest on-set story you've heard? Let us know in the comments below!