8 Movie Set Tantrums That Put People's Lives In Danger

The screaming fits and violent threats behind some of cinema's greatest works.

Hollywood can be a forgiving place for those who treat it right. The lost souls who've escaped the misery of their former lives to seek the bright lights of Tinseltown can find solace in creating movies and memories with like-minded individuals who'll stand up for each other when the chips are down. However, if you're not humble, then people will find out. The same goes for those who are cruel, though there's a sliding scale for exactly what cruelties are acceptable in Hollywood. Film sets can be tense places due to the long hours of the people working on them and the creative differences and egos of those at the top of the pecking order, and this is where the cruelties can come out. On-set tantrums are well-known for establishing a famous actor or director as 'difficult to work with', and can seriously damage careers. But sometimes they can even threaten the lives of the people involved, turning a tense situation into an incredibly dangerous one, especially when half of the folks on set are coked-up egomaniacs. Here are eight of the most notorious and shocking instances of filmmakers going way too far in protecting their vision and, more importantly, their self-image...
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Film history obsessive, New Hollywood fetishist and comics evangelist.