Actors often go to great extremes for a role, but the following actors’ crazy on-set behavior gives new meaning to the term ‘too far.’From on-set meltdowns to physical altercations, you won’t believe some of the lines they crossed. Well, except for maybe Shia LaBeouf—when it comes to that guy, anything is possible.
Gene Hackman
Rumors have persisted for years that Gene Hackman was a nightmare to work with on the set of Wes Anderson’s The Royal Tenenbaums. 
Those stories were finally confirmed by Anderson and Tenenbaum stars Gwyneth Paltrow and Anjelica Huston during a 10th anniversary screening of the film at the New York Film Festival in 2011. In fact, all three of them admitted to being scared to work with Hackman in the first place. “I was a lot scared but I was more concerned with protecting Wes,” Huston said during a Q&A panel, adding there was a moment when Hackman told Anderson to “pull up your pants and act like a man.” “[None of us have] heard or seen of Gene since this movie,” she said.
Later in the Q&A, Anderson vaguely confirmed a longstanding rumor that, yes, Hackman really did call him the C-word. Still, he did his best to downplay the whole situation. “He’s a huge force and I really enjoyed working with him. Even though he was very challenging with me, it was very exciting seeing him launch into these scenes,” Anderson said, according to IndieWire. If it’s any consolation, at least their experiences weren’t as painful as Hackman’s final film to date, Welcome to Mooseport.
Katherine Heigl
Katherine Heigl is one of those actresses who’s reportedly so difficult to work with, entire lists are made about her alleged on-set behavior.
Just how bad can things get? In the case of the 2010 movie Life as We Know It, it depends who you believe. While the film’s director and executive producer praised Heigl’s work on the movie to The Hollywood Reporter, some insiders claimed they witnessed “desperately difficult situations” involving the Emmy-winning star. “She can cost you time every single day of shooting,” the insider revealed. “Wardrobe issues, not getting out of the trailer, questioning the script every single day. Even getting her deal closed at Warners was hard. She hit that point of ‘no.’” When you start to remember that Heigl reportedly made $12 million for the movie, you can’t help but roll your eyes.
Mike Myers
He may be funny while the cameras are rolling, but in between takes, Mike Myers is reportedly incredibly difficult to work with. His ridiculous antics on the set of Wayne’s World have been agonizingly detailed by the film’s director, Penelope Spheeris, who later told Entertainment Weekly (via Gawker) that she “hated that bastard for years.” “You should have heard him bitching when I was trying to do that ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ scene,” she vented. “’I can’t move my neck like that! Why do we have to do this so many times? No one is going to laugh at that!’”
Even worse, Spheeris recalled a moment (via ABC News) when Myers spent hours on the phone with his manager threatening to quit because the set didn’t provide margarine. A meltdown over margarine? That’s not funny—that’s just sad.
Of all the film set freak-outs in Hollywood history, none will ever equal the expletive-filled rant Christian Bale fired off at cinematographer Shane Hurl but during the making of Terminator: Salvation in 2009.
While the outburst led to some pretty hilarious internet parodies, including this now-infamous remix, it painted a horrible picture of Bale, who came off looking like a rage-filled blowhard. “Am I going to walk around and rip your f****** lights down, in the middle of a scene? … “ Bale shouted at Hurlbut, who apparently distracted Bale by walking through his line of sight. “What the f*** is it with you?”
Listening to Bale’s tantrum years after it leaked, it’s easy to understand why he was quick to apologize. “There is nobody that has heard that tape that is hit harder by it than me,” he told KROQ-FM’s “Kevin and Bean” show (via CNN). “I make no excuses for it. It is inexcusable.” Bale went on to say that he and Hurlbut made up very shortly after, although—shocker!—they haven’t worked together since.
We understand how important it can be for an actor to stay in character on set, but every story we’ve heard about Jared Leto’s method of acting while filming his scenes as the Joker for Suicide Squad has sounded less awe-inspiring than, well, simply gross.
Case in point: He sent various cast members used condoms and anal beads. “I did a lot of things to create a dynamic to create an element of surprise, spontaneity and to really break down any kind of walls that may be there,” Leto said. “The Joker is somebody who doesn’t really respect things like personal space or boundaries.” Seriously, dude.
Fortunately for Leto, he didn’t mess with Viola Davis, whose reaction to his on-set antics perfectly summed up our own. “I did not receive any personally or else I would have got my husband, who was called the Headache Ball back in the day when he played football,” she said. “I would have said, ‘Take care of the Joker.’”