With long, gruelling days and intense working hours, film sets can easily become locations rife with friction, even between some of the most accomplished stars.
And across the years, pop culture has supplied us with many instances of celebrity clashes, from small instances of disagreement to full-on fallouts.
Including instances of method acting egotists going over the top and volatile personalities violently clashing, there’s no shortage of reasons that some actors came to loggerheads.
Below, we’ve highlighted some of the most notable acting feuds of all time.
1. Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy – Mad Max: Fury Road
Tensions ran high on set between Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron, who starred opposite each other in 2015’s acclaimed action film Mad Max: Fury Road. Reportedly, the duo’s feud initially stemmed from Hardy’s lack of time management on set. The film’s lead, Hardy, known for having a quite specific immersive approach to acting, regularly turned up late to set, which led to several clashes with Theron, who played Furiosa.
When, one day, he was over three hours late to filming, despite a “special request” being made for him to be on time, Theron suggested fining him for wasting the time of the cast and crew, which led to a heated confrontation between the two.
According to reports published by Vanity Fair, members of the production team claimed Theron later asked for “protection” against Hardy on set, following their argument. “She then had a producer that was assigned to be with her all the time,” recalled camera operator Mark Goellnicht.
In 2020, in an interview with the New York Times, both Theron and Hardy opened up about their fallout. Theron explained: “In retrospect, I didn’t have enough empathy to really, truly understand what he must have felt like to step into Mel Gibson’s shoes. That is frightening!”
She continued: “And I think because of my own fear, we were putting up walls to protect ourselves instead of saying to each other, ‘This is scary for you, and it’s scary for me, too. Let’s be nice to each other.’ In a weird way, we were functioning like our characters: Everything was about survival.”
Meanwhile, Hardy added: “I would agree. I think in hindsight, I was in over my head in many ways. The pressure on both of us was overwhelming at times.
“What she needed was a better, perhaps more experienced, partner in me. That’s something that can’t be faked. I’d like to think that now that I’m older and uglier, I could rise to that occasion.”
Such chaos hardly hindered the success of the film itself, however, which went on to be nominated for a whopping 10 awards at the 88th Oscars and has been regarded as one of the best action films of all time.
2. Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling – The Notebook
Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling had something of an enemies-to-lovers arc during the production of romance film The Notebook in 2004.
According to director Nick Cassavetes, the pair really did not get on while filming and frequently clashed on set. Speaking in an interview with VH1, Cassavetes said: “Maybe I’m not supposed to tell this story, but they were really not getting along one day on set. Really not.”
According to Cassavetes, Gosling and McAdams found it so hard to get along that Gosling eventually asked for another actress to read his lines with him, a request that culminated in a confrontation between him and McAdams, during which the two began yelling at each other.
It was only after Cassavetes reportedly walked out of the room that the pair began to cool down, and slowly started to get along. “I walked out… And it got better after that, you know? They had it out… I think Ryan respected her for standing up for her character and Rachel was happy to get that out in the open,” Cassavetes explained. “The rest of the film wasn’t smooth sailing, but it was smoother sailing.”
In a twist that few saw coming, Gosling and McAdams later went on to become a real-life couple, dating for several years between 2005 and 2007.
A decade after the film’s release, Cassavetes revealed that he regretted sharing what happened between McAdams and Gosling on set. In an interview with EW, he formally apologised for “spilling the beans”, saying “I regretted it. Everyone’s like, why are you telling that?
“I’m like, I don’t know. It caught me on a bad day, but if [McAdams and Gosling] are around, I apologise to you guys.”
3. Joan Crawford and Bette Davis – Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?
The feud between iconic Golden Age stars Joan Crawford and Bette Davis may be most remembered for the events that took place on the set of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, but their rivalry actually began decades before that. The first incident reportedly came in 1935, when both actresses apparently developed a crush on the same actor, Franchot Tone, who married Crawford later that year.
By the time 1962 came around, both Crawford and Davis were facing something of a career drought, and both were in need of a hit film. Not long after filming commenced on Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, rumours about the pair’s on-set antics were running wild, with both actresses reportedly repeatedly calling director Robert Aldrich to complain about the other. On one occasion while filming, Davis reportedly kicked Crawford, while on another, Crawford allegedly put rocks in her pockets during a scene where Davis had to drag her across the floor to make herself heavier.
Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, became a critical and commercial success, earning five Oscar nominations. However, Crawford and Davis’s rivalry didn’t end there. When Davis received a best actress nomination and Crawford did not, Crawford reportedly launched a campaign against Davis, offering to accept the award on behalf of any nominee that won instead of Davis.
When actress Anne Bancroft ultimately took home the Oscar, Crawford made good on her promise and indeed took to the stage to accept the award in Bancroft’s place, creating one of the most famous Oscar moments of all time.
Remarkably, the duo actually agreed to work with each other one more time, for Hush… Hush Sweet Charlotte in 1964. However, after just a few days of filming, shooting was postponed and ultimately Crawford was replaced with Olivia de Havilland.
In 2017, Ryan Murphy adapted the events that took place before, during and after the production of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? in the first season of anthology drama Feud – so it’s safe to say it’s a rivalry that has certainly gone down in history.
4. Vin Diesel and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson – Fast & Furious
Reports of bad blood between Vin Diesel and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson on the set of the Fast & Furious films have become a hot topic among fans of the franchise over the years.
Their feud first came to light during the production of the eighth instalment of the series, The Fate of the Furious, when, in a now deleted Instagram post, Johnson referred to members of the cast as “candy asses”. Although he never mentioned who he was speaking about specifically, fans quickly came to suspect the words were about Diesel.
Some time later, during an interview with Rolling Stone, Johnson suggested that he and Diesel approached filmmaking in different ways, saying they have “a fundamental difference in philosophies on how we approach moviemaking and collaborating”. Diesel, meanwhile, claimed he used “tough love” on set, adding that critique of his on-set behaviour stemmed from his role as a producer on the film.
In 2021, Johnson confirmed he would no longer be returning to the Fast and Furious franchise, saying: “I wish them well on Fast 9. And I wish them the best of luck on Fast 10 and Fast 11 and the rest of the Fast & Furious movies they do that will be without me.”
Later that year, Diesel posted a picture of himself and Johnson on Instagram, urging Johnson to return for the series’ tenth instalment. He wrote: “My little brother Dwayne… the time has come. The world awaits the finale of Fast 10. As you know, my children refer to you as Uncle Dwayne in my house. There is not a holiday that goes by that they and you don’t send well wishes… but the time has come.”
After some more back-and-forth between the two, Johnson eventually agreed and appeared in a post-credits cameo in Fast X, with rumours suggesting that director Louis Leterrier had helped to forge a reconciliation.
Following this, speaking of his relationship with Diesel, Johnson said: “Despite us having our differences, me and Vin, we’ve been like brothers for years, and despite our differences, when you lead with – number one, resolve – but also you think about the future and plans that are much bigger than ourselves.”
In 2025, Diesel posted a picture on Instagram of himself and Johnson with the caption “All love… Always…” suggesting that maybe their beef has been well and truly put to rest.
5. Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep – Kramer vs Kramer
Dustin Hoffman’s method acting approach appeared to be the reason for his tension with Meryl Streep on the set of 1979’s much-celebrated family drama Kramer vs Kramer. Specifically, on one occasion, during a scene where Hoffman’s character Ted hits Streep’s character Joanna, Streep said that Hoffman actually slapped her in the face.
Later speaking on the incident in an interview with the New York Times, Streep explained: “This is tricky because when you’re an actor, you’re in a scene, you have to feel free. I’m sure that I have inadvertently hurt people in physical scenes. But there’s a certain amount of forgiveness in that.
“But this was my first movie, and it was my first take in my first movie, and he just slapped me. And you see it in the movie. It was overstepping.
“But I think those things are being corrected in this moment. And they’re not politically corrected; they’re fixed. They will be fixed, because people won’t accept it anymore. So that’s a good thing.”
Hoffman has never publicly responded to Streep’s claims, though in 2017, Streep’s representative did confirm that they had come to some sort of reconciliation.
Kramer vs Kramer became a defining project in the careers of both actors and was the highest-grossing film of 1979. The film won best picture and both leads received Oscars for their performances at the 52nd Academy Awards. However, there’s no doubt that the behind-the-scenes drama does leave something of a sour taste in the mouth.
6. Jim Carrey and Tommy Lee Jones – Batman Forever
In Joel Schumacher’s 1995 DC adaptation Batman Forever, Jim Carrey and Tommy Lee Jones starred together as The Riddler and Two-Face. Despite the film’s charm, it wasn’t all smooth sailing for the pair, whose hugely differing personalities led to some behind-the-scenes tension.
At the time, Carrey was at the height of his slapstick recognition, having starred in the likes of Ace Ventura and Dumb and Dumber. Meanwhile, Jones was best known for more serious, dramatic performance in JFK and The Fugitive.
According to Carrey, tensions first surfaced when he encountered Jones at a restaurant and went to greet him. “I went over, and I said, ‘Hey Tommy, how are you doing?’ and the blood just drained from his face,” Carrey explained.
“He got up shaking — he must have been in mid-kill-me fantasy or something like that. And he went to hug me, and he said, ‘I hate you. I really don’t like you.’ And I said, ‘What’s the problem?’ and pulled up a chair, which probably wasn’t smart. And he said, ‘I cannot sanction your buffoonery.'”
Despite this encounter, there isn’t much to suggest that the animosity between the two significantly affected production, and Batman Forever went on to become a huge box-office success, earning the title of the sixth-highest-grossing film of 1995.
7. Isabelle Huppert and Isabelle Adjani – The Brontë Sisters
In something of a European parallel to Crawford and Davis, ‘The War of the Isabelles’ refers to the decade-long rivalry between Isabelle Adjani and Isabelle Huppert, and is one of the most famous feuds in all of film history.
Considered two of the best French actresses of all time, the Isabelles first met on the set of Faustine et le Bel Été in 1972, and became housemates the following year. It soon became apparent that the pair’s careers were positioned somewhat against each other, with Adjani taking on more classical, movie star roles while Huppert angled herself as something of an anti-film star figure, taking on more controversial, challenging roles.
In 1978, the two were cast in The Brontë Sisters, an adaptation of the lives of the beloved literary sisters, and it was on this set that their tension surfaced. The exact reason behind their feud remains unclear (with some rumours suggesting something of a love triangle between the Isabelles and cinematographer Bruno Nuytten, who later had a son with Adjani), but on-set reports of their friction include that of Adjani refusing to share a trailer with the other two leads (Huppert and Marie-France Pisier), and pricking Huppert’s head with hair-pins in between takes. As well as that, both actresses’ agents reportedly used stopwatches to ensure that the pair had exactly the same amount of screen time.
The film generally didn’t fare well upon its release, and was ill-received at Cannes the year it premiered. However, it has since gone on to receive more favourable reviews among fans of French cinema.
Adjani and Huppert’s rivalry apparently continued for decades, and in 2009, another flare up occurred during Cannes Film Festival, when Huppert served as the jury president for that year, and rumours began circling that she had banned Adjani from presenting an award at the ceremony.
Despite their dramas, both Adjani and Huppert undoubtedly enjoyed extraordinary careers – with Adjani becoming the most decorated actress at the César awards (with a record five wins), Huppert becoming the most nominated actress of all time at the same ceremony, with a record 17 nominations, and both having been nominated for Oscars.
8. Frank Sinatra and Marlon Brando – Guys and Dolls
Frank Sinatra and Marlon Brando are two of the biggest stars of all time, so it was hardly a surprise that the two had their fair share of drama behind the scenes.
Before filming even commenced on Joseph L Mankiewicz’s Guys and Dolls, tensions were running high between the two, as Brando was cast in the part of Sky Masterson, which Sinatra had desperately wanted.
With Sinatra already bitter about that decision, things only got worse from there, with Sinatra nicknaming Brando ‘Mumbles’ because of the fact he wasn’t a trained singer. Moreover, Brando reportedly pretended to forget his lines on set in order to anger Sinatra.
One famous on-set incident occurred when, during one scene when Sinatra had to eat a slice of cheesecake (which he apparently disliked), Brando purposefully messed up his line to force Sinatra to keep eating, which eventually led to Sinatra slamming his fork down on the table and shouting: “How much cheesecake do you think I can eat?” Things eventually got so intense between the two that they stopped talking to each other altogether and communicated entirely through other people while filming.
Despite their friction, Guys and Dolls went on to become a success, earning four Oscar nominations.
9. Laurence Olivier and Marilyn Monroe – The Prince and the Showgirl
Despite Laurence Olivier and Marilyn Monroe being two of the biggest stars of their time, the pair had very different approaches to acting, leading to some reported clashes on the set of The Prince and the Showgirl, Olivier’s own adaptation of Terence Rattigan’s stage play The Sleeping Prince.
Reports from set indicated that Monroe leaned into method acting during the film’s production, but Olivier was not particularly receptive to this way of working, and reportedly told Monroe: “All you have to do is be sexy, dear Marilyn.”
Not appreciating this unnecessary comment, Monroe understandably became rather uncooperative, and began turning up late to set, further angering Olivier.
Monroe allegedly also refused to work unless her acting coach Paula Strasberg was present, who Olivier also resented. According to actress Jean Kent, who played Maisie Springfield in the film, Olivier ordered Strasberg off the set at one point, but Monroe “refused to work until she was brought back again”.
The Prince and the Showgirl ultimately fared rather lacklustre in comparison to Monroe’s other projects, though both the leads’ performances were praised, especially Monroe’s, who went on to be nominated for multiple awards.
10. Bill Murray and Lucy Liu – Charlie’s Angels
It wasn’t until 21 years after filming Charlie’s Angels that the on-set tension between Bill Murray and Lucy Liu came to light. Speaking in an interview with Los Angeles Times, Liu opened up on her relationship with Murray, who played John Bosley in the action comedy film.
Liu recalled an incident where things allegedly erupted between her and Murray after he insulted her on set. “As we’re doing the scene, Bill starts to sort of hurl insults, and I won’t get into the specifics, but it kept going on and on,” she said.
Liu described the language used towards her as “inexcusable and unacceptable”, and explained that she “stood up for myself, and I don’t regret it.”
She did, however, add: “I have nothing against Bill Murray at all. I’ve seen him since then at a SNL reunion, and he came up to me and was perfectly nice. But I’m not going to sit there and be attacked.”
Murray himself has not publicly addressed the rumours.
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