12 Directors Everyone Hates Working With (But Get Awesome Results)

5. Tony Kaye

His Reputation: Tony Kaye filmed over 200 hours of footage for his movie American History X, which he made into his own cut before New Line asked him to make a second, significantly shorter cut. Though Kaye's second cut differed majorly, likely in an effort to force New Line to use the original cut, they had none of it and edited a third version with the help of lead Edward Norton, who Kaye didn't even want for the role in the first place, and dismissed as €œa narcissistic dilettante€ who €œraped€ his film. Kaye attempted to disown the film, but was not allowed to. Then when Bryan Cranston was being interviewed about Kaye's most recent film Detachment, the actor tactfully said that the director had failed to honour what he thought was a "beautiful" script, adding, "Tony Kaye is a very complicated€ interesting fellow...I don't believe that I'll be working with him again...And I'm not the only actor on that film to feel that way." Why He's Worth Working With: Eccentric and antagonistic though he is, the third cut of American History X did net Edward Norton an Oscar nomination, while Kaye's 2006 abortion documentary Lake of Fire earned rave reviews and ended up on a number of "Best Of" lists, while the little-seen drama Detachment starred an insane cast, including Adrien Brody, Marcia Gay Harden, James Caan, Christina Hendricks, Lucy Liu, Blythe Danner, William Petersen and of course, Cranston, despite more muted reviews. Kaye hasn't made a feature film since, though if he does, you can bet there will be a line of actors happy to work with him given the brilliance of his debut feature above all else.