10 Movie Actors Who Refused To Talk To Directors On Set

Even the seemingly simplest movie production is an enormously complex tapestry of systems that need to work together in harmonious concert in order to deliver a quality motion picture.

But the high-stress, pressure-filled nature of a film shoot, where millions of dollars are on the line, means that flare-ups between members of the cast and crew are commonplace, typically due to disagreements about a film's given direction.

The most common and troubling disputes are between filmmakers and their primary cast members, which in a worst case scenario can lead to major stalls in production and perhaps even one of the parties walking away from the project entirely.

These 10 movies all hit screens after suffering through strained productions where relations between the director and an actor were worn enough that they even stopped talking to one another.

Clearly things need to get to a pretty ugly place that professional filmmakers and performers can't even stomach holding a basic dialogue with one another, but such is the outcome when passionate artists butt heads over their respective visions for a project.

In some cases you'd never have any idea there were creative frictions whatsoever, while in others that disarray is evident in basically every frame...

It's no secret whatsoever that Val Kilmer had a reputation for being a major pain in the ass to work with throughout the 1990s, frequently clashing with co-stars and directors alike.

This included Batman Forever, where Kilmer grew frustrated with the constrictive nature of the Batman suit and consequently lashed out at members of the crew.

Kilmer's altercations with the crew caused director Joel Schumacher to step up and have his own "physical pushing match" with the actor, in Schumacher's own words. This led to Kilmer refusing to speak to Schumacher for an entire two weeks of filming:

"He was badly behaved, he was rude and inappropriate. I was forced to tell him that this would not be tolerated for one more second. Then we had two weeks where he did not speak to me, but it was bliss."

In an interview shortly before his 2020 death, Schumacher reiterated that Kilmer was "psychotic" despite praising his performance.

Evidently it was probably best for everyone involved that Kilmer didn't return for the execrable follow-up Batman & Robin, where he was replaced by George Clooney.