10 Directors Who Drove Their Movie Stars To The Edge

Frequent collaborators Werner Herzog and Klaus Kinski had a chaotic and fiery relationship, from the days of Herzog as a young man and aspiring filmmaker boarding in Kinski's apartment while the actor held himself hostage and the world to ransom, through to their final scenes hatingly crafted together.

Their violent and virulent relationship came to a head during the tumultuous production of Fitzcarraldo. After his original lead dropped out, Herzog drafted in his old collaborator and the pair battled their way to the end of a film that resulted in the death and injury of many indigenous South Americans.

While Kinski was a rogue element from the start, few people did more to unhinge him further than Werner Herzog. Herzog's pervasive calm is usually interpreted as, at worst, creepy or, at best, benign, but for Kinski it was maddening. While the actor ranted and raved about everything from working conditions to the quality of the food, the director remained calm, sending him spiralling further into a series of blind rages. So vile was Kinski that, by the end of production, the Machiguenga tribe, who were used as extras on set, offered to kill him. Herzog considered it, but ultimately declined.