10 Actors Who Were Almost Fired From Famous Roles

5. Harvey Weinstein Almost Fired Ellen Barkin From Into The West For Being "Too Difficult"

Ellen Barkin into the west
Miramax Films

If you happen to work in Hollywood, Harvey Weinstein is one of those mega-influential people who you really, really don't want to p*ss off. Unfortunately for actress Ellen Barkin, she made the mistake of getting Weinstein all riled up - to the point where he actually gave her an ultimatum: get your sh*t together, or get fired.

The film in question was family flick Into the West, in which Barkin played the female lead, Kathleen (for which she won much praise). According to Weinstein, though, Barkin was causing so much grief for the cast and crew that he, as producer, had no choice but to intervene on behalf of the film's director, Mike Newell.

Weinstein decided to replace Barkin with Catherine Zeta-Jones, but the actress - who really didn't want to be sacked - begged him for just one more day. When Weinstein came to check on her the next day, she'd completely changed her attitude and was permitted to keep her job - she even cooked dinner for the crew! Go Harvey.

Contributor

Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.