10 Actors Who Went Too Far On Set

10. Dustin Hoffman - Kramer Vs. Kramer

Meryl Streep is a star of rare talent, the kind who can channel anguish and raw emotion on demand when a scene demands it, without being struck in the face beforehand. But just in case she was incapable that, her Kramer Vs. Kramer co-star Dustin Hoffman slapped her right before they were due to shoot a sequence together.

Hoffman has a reputation as an extreme method actor. When he was filming Marathon Man, he's said to have arrived on set off the back of four-mile jogs, and while shooting Rain Man he spent weeks studying developmental disorders, and walking and talking like his character. For Kramer vs Kramer, though, he decided physical assault was an effective way to draw a charged performance out of his colleague.

The Midnight Cowboy star is also alleged to have goaded Streep on set throughout production, in the hope that she would tap into her growing resentment for him and use it on screen. He'd probably argue it was mission accomplished since both he and his co-star won Oscars for the legal drama, but Streep fans will tell you she didn't need to be struck and insulted to deliver an award-winning performance.