15 Most Insane Demands By Famous Actors

Fame and fortune can get inside the heads of successful actors and often notoriously drive them to take advantage of their star power. As the saying goes, there is no business like show business. Take a look at the 15 most insane demands by famous actors:

 

15. Jamie Foxx (Miami Vice)

Fresh off his Academy Award victory by portraying Ray Charles in his biopic Ray, Jamie Foxx showed his true colors. During the production of Miami Vice, the actor complained about his co-star Colin Farrell’s larger salary and had it cut to have his increase.

Furthermore, Foxx refused to arrive on sets on a commercial plane so Universal Studios had to provide him with a private jet. To add icing to the cake, the actor declined to shoot any scenes on boats or planes. The illogical demand begs to question of Foxx’s sanity as Miami Vice takes place in a coastal city.

To make matters worse, Foxx packed his bags and refused to return for filming after real-life gunfire in the Dominican Republic where the movie’s ending had to take place. Due to the actor’s absence, director Michael Mann was forced to rewrite the entire ending of the movie which turned out to be less epic than the original.

 

14. Bruce Willis (The Expendables 3)

There is a fascinating story behind the absence of Bruce Willis in The Expendables 3. The actor was offered $3 million for a total of four days of work in Bulgaria. Sweet deal, right? Not for Willis!

The actor demanded a $1 million salary for each day of shooting. Refusing to settle for anything less, the actor was not hired to reprise his role of Mr. Church for the movie whereas Sylvester Stallone tweeted about the Willis being “greedy and lazy.”

 

13. Orson Welles (The Black Rose)

While movie-goers are aware of Orson Welles being the star, writer, and director of the mystery drama movie Citizen Kane, it is often overlooked that the actor also had quite a reputation for making insane demands on movie sets.

During the shooting of The Black Rose, Welles demanded that his character’s coat be lined with mink fur even though the inner contents would not be visible to the audience. The motive behind the crazy demand was soon discovered as when the shooting commenced, Welles sneakily stole the expensive coat.

 

12. Will Smith (Men in Black 3)

As one of the biggest box office draws in Hollywood today, Will Smith is an absolute megastar and it is rather surprising the enormous lengths that Columbia Pictures were willing to cross to please him.

Amidst the shooting of Men in Black 3, Smith was provided a $2 million double-decker trailer that had two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a movie room with a 100-inch screen, a kitchen, a marble floor, and a huge office that could accommodate 30 people.

That is not all as Smith was also provided with a separate trailer that he exclusively used for his gym equipment. One might assume that the two mammoth trailers were necessary for the actor since he was shooting in a city far away from his residence but believe it or not, Smith was living in a rented apartment consisting of five bedrooms in the same neighborhood.

 

11. Shia LaBeouf (Fury)

To say that Shia LaBeouf is eccentric would be an understatement. While portraying tank gunner Boyd “Bible” Swan in the war movie Fury, the actor demanded that his facial wounds should be real.

Even though the studio insisted that the makeup artist could easily and safely pull off a convincing job, LaBeouf took matters into his own hands and cut his face with a knife. Still not satisfied with what he had done, the actor had one of his teeth pulled out by a dentist to get into character.

 

10. Paris Hilton (The Other Guys)

You might not even recall Paris Hilton in the comedy movie The Other Guys and there is a damn good reason behind it as well. The socialite was offered a minor role as herself for a brief appearance in the movie and she was more than eager to hop on for the project on the condition that her outrageous demands were accepted.

Hilton had provided the producers a three-page list of insane demands which consisted of live lobsters on set so she could have them cooked whenever she felt hungry and bottles of Grey Goose vodka. Not so surprisingly, the producers decided to drop Hilton from the project entirely.

 

9. Steve McQueen (The Towering Inferno)

The production of The Towering Inferno could have been a walk in the park had Steve McQueen not pestered about nearly everything about his involvement with the movie. The actor wanted top billing and demanded that he had the same amount of lines as his co-star Paul Newman.

His demands did not stop there as, during the designing of the movie’s promotional poster, McQueen demanded that his name and face be placed before Newman’s. Needless to say, the two actors did not work in the same movie ever again.

 

8. Ben Affleck (Gone Girl)

Unlike the rest of the entries in the list, Ben Affleck’s demand is a rather civilized yet intriguing one. While shooting Gone Girl, the script stated that his character should be wearing a New York Yankees hat.

As a huge fan of the Boston Red Sox, Affleck refused to wear the rival team’s cap but director David Fincher insisted that the actor wears a Yankees hat. Sticking to his guns, Affleck stopped the entire movie’s production and it took four days for the actor to agree to wear a Mets cap instead.

 

7. Mike Myers (Shrek)

The gigantic success of Shrek owes a great deal to comedy legend Mike Myers. However, he was not the original voice actor for the role. It was Chris Farley and he had even recorded several lines for the character but passed away due to a fatal heart attack before he could finish the job.

As a replacement, Myers was hired but the actor demanded that the script be rewritten according to his comedy persona. As the actor voiced Shrek with a Canadian accent, he decided that the character would be better off with a Scottish accent and demanded re-shoots.

The re-shoots cost DreamWorks Animations nearly $5 million as Shrek’s facial movements had to be reanimated per the actor’s Scottish accent. As a result, the movie’s budget had bloated to $60 million but it all paid off as Shrek became a critical and commercial success.

 

6. Uma Thurman (Eloise in Paris)

Stuck in development hell, Eloise in Paris has yet to reach production but it did not stop Uma Thurman from already making a few insane demands. The actress demanded that she should be provided with three cell phones.

Moreover, Thurman stated that she should be permitted to buy costumes and wigs from the movie set at a very reduced price and that no other cast or crew’s dressing room should be better than her own.

 

5. George Clooney (Gravity)

Hollywood A-listers are bound to pop up on such lists and George Clooney is not too far behind. During the production of the space movie Gravity, the actor kept himself quite busy between shots as his trailer was accompanied by a custom-made beach, a garden, a decking area, a basketball court, and a hot tub machine.

The extravagant scenery was not constructed in an outdoor area but within the confines of Shepperton Studios. Reported to cost more than £100,000, Clooney’s lavish chill-out zone was worth the hassle as Gravity bagged seven Academy Awards from its ten nominations and earned a whopping $723.2 million at the box office.

 

4. Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)

Being the method actor that he is, Daniel Day-Lewis burnt the midnight oil for his portrayal of Abraham Lincoln. When offered the role by critically acclaimed director Steven Spielberg, he requested an entire year for preparation. The actor utilized that amount of time to read more than 100 books on the late American President.

During the shooting, Day-Lewis demanded that every crew member and even director Spielberg should refer to him only as “Mr. President”. The actor also insisted that no one with a British accent should talk to him during production. His dedication paid off as the role won Day-Lewis his third Academy Award for Best Actor.

 

3. Gary Busey (Quigley)

American actor Gary Busey was immensely dissatisfied with the Heaven scene in the 2003 comedy movie Quigley. As shocking as it may sound, his unhappiness stemmed from the fact that the set designed for Heaven was not at all accurate.

So how come, Busey, claimed that the set was not similar to the real heaven? As he explained in an interview with Larry King, he had a near-death experience following a nasty motorcycle accident. With his life hanging in the balance during his neurosurgery, he claimed that he witnessed heaven and described angels as “balls of light.” Disgusted by how dissimilar the set was from what he had seen, Busey demanded to have it redesigned.

 

2. Nicolas Cage (Vampire’s Kiss)

Surely the list would have felt incomplete without the inclusion of Nicolas Cage. The Academy Award-winning actor is infamous for his bizarre tastes and extravagant lifestyle but his insane demand has nothing to do with money, unlike several other actors on the list.

Remember that bat scene in Vampire’s Kiss? Cage demanded to use a real live bat for the scene and he was completely willing to risk being bitten by it. Thankfully, director Robert Bierman managed to talk some sense into the actor and an animatronic bat was used instead.

 

1. Marlon Brando (The Island of Doctor Moreau)

With all honesty, Marlon Brando deserves an exclusive list of his own. The Hollywood icon simply could not care less when it came to the fulfillment of even the very basic requirements of a movie star. As one of the most notoriously difficult actors to work with, Brando would often refuse to memorize lines for his characters and relied on cue cards. The actor would even show up on set without wearing pants and demand to be shot above the waist.

The man even suggested that his character of Jor-El in Superman should be a suitcase or a green bagel while he merely provides the voice. Fortunately, his request was denied. Sudden script alterations as a result of Brando’s outlandish antics were quite common due to his status as one of Hollywood’s most bankable stars. Sometimes his outrageous demands were wisely declined and on multiple occasions, the studio had to cave in.

If you are wondering what would be the finished product if every single one of Brando’s insane demands is accepted, look no further than The Island of Doctor Moreau. The actor found an ice bucket as the production was about to begin and decided to wear it on his head for his scenes. Furthermore, he applied white makeup and wore a muumuu dress. Both were totally out of character yet no one stopped Brando.

While possibly attempting to find out what else he could get the studio to grant him, the actor refused to shoot any more scenes at a certain point and demanded that a two-foot-tall friend of his wear the same clothes and accompany him in future scenes. The senseless request was granted and no explanation of the miniature character’s sudden appearance was ever provided in the movie. To the surprise of precisely no one, The Island of Doctor Moreau crumbled at the box office and received humiliating reviews.

Hope you enjoyed reading our list of the most insane demands by famous actors. Feel free to share your views in the comments below!