1. Lily Tomlin Vs. David O. Russell (I Heart Huckabees)
As far as onset meltdowns go, only one likely surpasses the Christian Bale rant in terms of infamy, and that distinct honor goes to veteran character actress Lily Tomlin and notorious hothead David O. Russell for their truly excessive tantrum on the set of I Heart Huckabees. Luckily for all of us, the mutual freak-out occurred during the middle of filming, and the "outtake" was forever preserved and began circulating around the internet shortly after the film's release (check it out). The huff begins innocently enough, with the actress and director arguing over how best to pick a prop off the desk. But then Tomlin goes off about the constant barrage of changes he's thrown at her, to which he responds (off camera) with gritted patience. Aaaand smash-cut to Russell throwing things, kicking other things, and foaming at the mouth with obscenity-laced insults, calling Tomlin a "bitch," a "c*nt," a "f*cking one-woman show," and a "bitch" one more time (because he's not very creative when he's angry"). But the absolute best part of the whole tirade is that Russell storms off the set, still yelling in the distance behind the camera, with Tomlin retorting "we better get some insurance against the director." The dust seems to have settled for a few brief moments when Russell suddenly stormsback in through the prop door, continuing his screed right where he left off. Oh, and Jason Schwartzman just sits there the whole time, taking it all in with the effortless cool of a nerdy Dirty Harry. It's incredible. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SG43wa7Alo Like this article? What other intense on-set fights did we miss? Shout out any more down in the comments.
