6 Directors Who Were Lumbered With Actors They Didn’t Even Want

1. Laurence Olivier Only Hired Marilyn Monroe Because She Owned The Movie Rights (The Prince & The Showgirl)

And finally, stage and screen icon Laurence Olivier decided to helm a film adaptation of Terence Rattigan's 1953 stage play The Sleeping Prince - which Olivier himself originally directed and starred in on the West End - though it came with the compromise of casting Marilyn Monroe in the lead role of Elsie Marina (played by Olivier's then-wife Vivien Leigh on stage).

You see, Monroe had purchased the film rights to the play, putting Olivier in something of an awkward position when it came to casting the attractive, blonde lead actress for the movie.

Monroe was reluctantly cast as Elsie, and the starlet reportedly clashed repeatedly with not only Olivier but also numerous other cast and crew members due to her unprofessional and difficult behaviour. According to supporting player Jean Kent, the difficult shoot caused Olivier "to age 15 years."

The final film received broadly positive reviews - with many praising Olivier for wringing a winsome performance out of Monroe - though considering the director-star's passion for the source material, it clearly didn't turn out quite how he hoped.

What do you make of these reluctant director-actor pairings? Shout it out in the comments!