The biggest disputes between film directors and stars

Creating movie magic on the big screen often requires a lot of blood, sweat, and tears behind the scenes to tie all the threads together.

While the ideal end result for a movie is entertainment that comes to life smoothly (which also makes the people involved make a lot of money in the process), sometimes things can get a little complicated between the people making it in the process. path.

From big fights to lawsuits to wars of words, continue to dive into some of the most notorious feuds between movie directors and stars, and discover how their relationships became less than harmonious.

Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively

Rumors spread that the director/actor Justin Baldoni and actress animated blake They didn’t get along during the promotional tour for Finish with uswhich was launched in August 2024.

The animosity between the couple was confirmed when Lively, 37, sued Baldoni, 40, in December 2024 for sexual harassment and accused the director of trying to tarnish her reputation with a smear campaign, a claim Baldoni’s lawyers They vehemently denied.

Olivia Wilde and Florence Pugh

In the case of the 2022 launch, Don’t worry, darling, Many viewers were more interested in the behind-the-scenes drama than the film itself. The film was directed by Olivia Wilde and starred Florence Pugh – and speculation was rife that there was tension between the couple.

In the period prior to Don’t worry, darlingUpon release, Pugh did limited promotion of the film, avoided being photographed alongside Wilde, and skipped or arrived late to his press engagements. While neither of them confirmed the truth behind their relationship, there were rumors that Pugh might have been unhappy with Wilde’s relationship. harry styles.

Megan Fox and Michael Bay

during it Transformer days, megan fox rocked the boat with the director miguel bay when she publicly compared him to “Hitler”, which ultimately led to her being fired from the franchise and replaced by Rosie Huntington-Whiteley.

“He is like Napoleon and wants to create this infamous reputation for being crazy. “He wants to be like Hitler on his sets, and he is,” Fox, 38, said. wonderland magazine in 2009. “So he’s a nightmare to work for, but when you take him off the set and he’s not in director mode, I really enjoy his personality because he’s so awkward, hopelessly awkward.”

Although he ended up cutting her from his films, Bay said. GQ Magazine in 2011 that he was not particularly offended.

“I didn’t get hurt because I know it’s just Megan. “Megan loves getting a response,” Bay, 59, said. “She does it the wrong way. I’m sorry, Megan. I’m sorry I made you work 12 hours. I’m sorry I made you arrive on time. “Movies aren’t always warm and fuzzy.”

Jake Gyllenhaal and David Fincher

Jake Gyllenhaal and David Fincher They didn’t mince words when it came to talking about their experiences working together on the 2007 film. Zodiac.

“Fincher paints with people,” Gyllenhaal, 44, said of the director in 2007, complaining that “it’s hard to be colored.”

Later, Fincher had his own vision of what it was like to work with Gyllenhaal, and he didn’t hold back.

“Jake was in the unenviable position of being very young and having a lot of people competing for his attention, while working for someone who doesn’t let you take a day off,” Fincher, 62, said. The New York Times in 2020. “I think Jake’s philosophy was based on: Look, he had made a lot of movies, even as a kid, but I don’t think he was ever asked to focus on minutiae, and I think he was very distracted.”

Katherine Heigl and Judd Apatow

Another infamous case where the star of a movie went toe-to-toe with its director was when Katherine Heigl came out swinging against the film he starred in, from 2007 Pregnant.

Your director Judd Apatow was less than impressed when she slammed Pregnant during an interview with vanity fair in 2008.

“It portrays women as shrews, humorless and uptight,” said Heigl, 46. “It portrays men as lovable, goofy, fun-loving guys. I exaggerated the characters and some days it was difficult for me. I’m playing a bitch; Why are you being such a party pooper? Why is this how you portray women? Ninety-eight percent of the time it was an incredible experience, but it was hard for me to love the movie.”

For his part, Apatow told the radio host Howard Stern in 2009 he expected an apology from Heigl after the derogatory comments, but never received one.

“(You’d think) at some point I’ll get a call saying ‘Sorry, I was tired…’ and then the call never comes,” Apatow, 57, said.