Celebrities are just human beings, which means they can and do make mistakes.
Accidents will happen, but most people go out of their way to make sure they don't make
mistakes at work, because those can get a person fired.
Apparently, this notion is unfamiliar to a handful of actors who did bad things during
the production of a movie or TV show - so bad that their bosses probably should've fired
them.
Christian Bale, Terminator: Salvation
One way to get yourself fired is to go off on a co-worker over some tiny slight, which
is what Christian Bale did in 2008 on the set of Terminator: Salvation.
Bale starred as John Connor, the man who will save humanity from the rise of the machines.
While Bale was trying to remain deep in character as that intense individual, the director of
photography was also trying to do his job and accidentally walked into Bale's eye line.
That set Bale off on a rage spiral of a monologue so incendiary and full of screaming and swearing
that it's a wonder nobody got punched.
A recording of the takedown went viral, and Bale eventually apologized for his behavior.
"I have never tried to make any excuses for it, it was unacceptable and I take it, it's
my fault, that's it."
Jared Leto, Suicide Squad
Most companies have a human resources department whose entire job is to make sure the rest
of the firm's employees don't act like monsters.
Evidently movie sets don't have an HR representative.
At least, that's what we're led to believe, because if Suicide Squad had one, we'd like
to think Jared Leto would have been forced to sit through a workplace behavior seminar
and some sensitivity training.
According to Entertainment Weekly, Leto stayed in character as The Joker throughout the filming
of Suicide Squad, which included sending really messed-up gifts to co-stars Will Smith, Margot
Robbie, and Viola Davis.
These included such items as pr0n, adult "toys," a box of bullets, used condoms,
and even a dead pig.
Edward Norton, Death to Smoochy
Most actors show up to set each day of a thrilled to be there and well prepared, knowing their
lines and having a lock on their approach to the role.
But at least once, Edward Norton reported to work far too prepared.
In this case, he seemingly overstepped his bounds as an actor when he tried to help out
with costumes - despite nobody asking for his help - and created a lot of extra work
for someone else.
In the 2002 dark comedy Death to Smoochy, Norton plays a guy who hosts a kiddie TV show
while dressed in a rhino costume.
For his off-stage scenes, Norton's character was a bit of a hippie, for which costume designer
Jane Ruhm put together an appropriate selection of garments.
However, Norton took it upon himself to commission Armani to design for him the ultimate hippie
outfit: a suit made of hemp.
Then he reportedly left Ruhm to go through what she told Premiere included "millions
of phone calls and negotiations" to get the suit to the set.
Lindsay Lohan, Georgia Rule
Lindsay Lohan's acting career and famously hard-partying extracurricular activities clashed
in a big way on the set of Georgia Rule.
The 2007 dramedy starred Lohan as a wild and crazy teen who gets sent to her grandma's
house to forcibly clean up her act.
While the movie had a great cast, it's probably most remembered for being the production that
nearly fired Lohan.
James G. Robinson, the CEO of Morgan Creek Productions, fired off an angry letter to
Lohan berating her work ethic, or lack thereof.
He noted her late arrivals and absences from the set, which she blamed on illness and "heat
exhaustion."
But he claimed to know that the real reason was her "ongoing all night heavy partying."
Lohan apparently got her ducks in a row, as she managed to finish filming the movie.
"I basically said, 'Let's knock it off.
Get to work, I'm not gonna put up with it.'
And she was fine, she came to work every day after that."
Bruce Willis, Cop Out
A lot of Hollywood big shots happily play "the game," keeping any on-set drama a secret
and insisting that rumors about a difficult star were blown out of proportion.
But Kevin Smith is not that kind of filmmaker.
He loves to publicly deliver brutally honest real talk about his life and work.
If we're to take him at his word, then Bruce Willis is so hard to work with it's a wonder
anyone is willing to keep him on set.
Smith directed Willis in the 2010 action comedy Cop Out, and he evidently had a hard time
doing his job, claiming Willis wouldn't and couldn't be directed.
Smith told WTF with Marc Maron that Willis wouldn't even sit for a photo shoot to serve
as the basis for the film's marketing.
Come on, Bruce, playing with others and promoting the movie are part of the job.