Film sets are crazy places. Long hours, short tempers and momentous amount of pressure all add to a melting pot of tension that can easily reach boiling point. Much like a volcano, it is rare that we get the opportunity to see the explosion, but when we do, boy is it a tour de force. The director has a job; he must direct the film in the, urm, direction he wants it to go, but he must also keep his actors in check. He/she can push them to the edge but must know exactly when to pull them back again. They must be their best and worst friend, fraying the line between happiness and hatred. The problem is that everyone has a breaking point; sometimes the line gets blurred and the result is a confrontation that becomes bigger than the film itself. Join me as I look at the top 10 most infamous occasions where confrontations scaled dizzy heights that border on insanity...
10. Rip Torn vs Dennis Hopper
Dennis Hopper is partially responsible for bringing New Wave cinema to Hollywood. He is also responsible for creating a world of s**t around everyone he came across in the 1960's/1970's. Rip Torn was originally cast in Jack Nicholson's role in the 1969 film Easy Rider. According to Hopper (some 30 years later), Torn was fired from the film for pulling a knife on him in a restaurant in 1967, something Torn vigorously denied, claiming it was Hopper who pulled the knife on him. It would seem that Hopper was so out of it for a lot of his adult life, that he even forgets who he has threatened to kill him and visa versa.
Who Won? Hopper was sued by Torn for the statement and he successfully won $900,000 in libelous damages. Hopper hadn't even started the film, but he was already advocating mayhem. A knife being drawn by a director on one of his cast is just the tip of the iceberg for this list...