I remember reading a story that nobody was supposed to make eye contact with Val Kilmer, but he never actually demanded that.

http://www.contactmusic.com/new/xmlfeed.nsf/story/kilmer-lies-gave-me-a-terrible-reputation

Having said that I don't know about the arrogant or obnoxiousness but I'm suspicious of any kind of blanket statement like that.

RJSchwarz

Rarely. Of course the abortions are the ones you will hear about.

For every bad experience you hear about there are 1,000 good, respectful
encounters with a "star" that you don't hear about. In all my years of working
on sets, in theater and on TV shows I have had, maybe three or four encounters
with an arrogant and obnoxious "star". I've had hundreds of encounters with
genuine working professionals who treat everyone with respect.

quote:

---

Originally posted by certified instigator

Rarely. Of course the abortions are the ones you will hear about.

For every bad experience you hear about there are 1,000 good, respectful
encounters with a "star" that you don't hear about. In all my years of working
on sets, in theater and on TV shows I have had, maybe three or four encounters
with an arrogant and obnoxious "star". I've had hundreds of encounters with
genuine working professionals who treat everyone with respect.

---

Ditto.

There are a couple bad apples and some very bad apples, but for the most part, we're all there to do our specific jobs and so long as everyone does what they are expected to do, we all get through the day and we all go home happy and wait for the check to arrive. 🙂

Now, that said, the heart of the question deserves acknowledgement. The fact is the most on-screen actors ARE "different" from the majority of people out there in the world. They have to be to WANT TO go on stage or in front of cameras to be the center of attention while pretending to be someone else. That desire isn't necessarily common.

In my experience, many actors are basically "normal" people, more or less. While a few are indeed bat-shit crazy (borderline bi-polar or psychotic), more than a handful are actually shy. It seems counter-intuitive to think that someone who voluntarily performs in front of a lot of people would be inherently shy, but it's true. Many of these types have low self-esteem and (it seems) REQUIRE the kind of validation that can come with a good performance. Toss in financial rewards along with ass-kissing from studios and the entourage in addition to fans and magazines, and that shy person with low self-esteem can (at least temporarily) feel better about him/herself.

Weird, I know, but that's what I've observed over the past twentyish years. There are a few relatively "normal" actors who you could just sit and talk with and hang out with as if they were one of your normal friends, but honestly, even those you'll find you won't have a lot in common with. It's not like most working actors go home and eat turkey pot pies while watching sit-coms before going to bed at 10pm after helping the kids with their homework. Ya know? Actors ARE cut from a different cloth and that's what makes the really good ones so special. 🙂

Brian Dzyak
Cameraman/Author
IATSE Local 600, SOC
http://www.whatireallywanttodo.com
http://www.realfilmcareer.com

I met a well-known TV news anchor, and, yes, he was actually very mild-mannered. I was quite surprised, actually.

But I also met a documentary producer who was not arrogant, but he was very confident about himself. I never met an arrogant SOB of an actor, though, of course, they must exist.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Aspiring mogul
I never met an arrogant SOB of an actor, though, of course, they must exist.

---

Yes they do.

Generally it's the mid-level talent who have something to prove who can be "difficult." The younger newer ones are still in the mode where they like and appreciate attention and others. The older experienced ones tend to just want to do their jobs and they know that everyone else has a job to do as well.

But, there are a couple specific "personalities" out there (who I won't name here) who are notoriously difficult a-holes to work around who should know better.

Brian Dzyak
Cameraman/Author
IATSE Local 600, SOC
http://www.whatireallywanttodo.com
http://www.realfilmcareer.com

Most outsiders have heard the famous Christian Bale rant on the set of a Terminator picture. While out of his character, it has solidified the image of star arrogance and obnoxiousness.

I haven't worked with major stars in the US, but have worked with 'major' local stars in my home country. Over there, the percentage of the arrogant ones was fairly low (most certainly lower single digits), and Brian's assessment applies there as well (mid-level talent usually had the highest percentage of a-holes).

This being a filmmaking forum, I'm going to try to give this discussion a bit of a direction:

Sooner or later, we all hope to get a chance to work with real actors in our filmmaking pursuit. And when that happens, inevitably, we'll encounter one such obnoxious, arrogant prick. So, how do you get such a person to do what you want and not be disruptive?

I'm a trained professional, and, in my line of work, whenever I deal with such fellow professionals, my job is to warn them not to go over the line. Most of the time, they'll take the hint. When dealing with those who are not licensed professionals, the best way is to avoid them altogether - IOW, find a market niche where you don't have to deal with them too much.

But, if the star of the show is a must-have star, and he's obnoxious, then I don't have an answer to that. I'd like to know how others do it, though.

I've seen Producers and Directors have to deal with difficult Actors. For the most part, the difficult Actor is left alone to do whatever they want because of a fear of upsetting that Actor and disrupting their performance.

There is a lot of nodding and pretending to care about the difficult Actor's concerns/issues in an effort to just do whatever it takes to get them back on their marks to say their lines so that the work can get done. The a**-kissing happens more when an Actor (or Director) is a proven money-maker. For the most part, Studio Execs and some Producers aren't "strong personalities" so they're not likely to stand up to an EMPLOYEE!!! (actors) because they see that employee as an ATM that is too potentially valuable to upset.

I did hear one story from some time back that should happen more often. It was on the set of a very popular television drama in the 1980s. One Actress came to work and irrationally decided that she didn't want to wear the wardrobe she was told to wear by the Costume Designer. It wasn't anything skimpy or bad... this Actress just decided on a whim that she didn't want to wear it that morning and it was too late to do anything about it. The Costume Designer called the Producer of the show who came down to the trailer a few minutes later. In his hands, he had two scripts that he showed the Actress. He told her that one script had her character living and continuing on the show. The other had her dead.

The Actress put the wardrobe on.

Some Actors ARE big coddled babies and need to be put in their place. But because too many of them mean too much money for others, they typically get their a**es kissed beyond reason.

Crew are expendable. But Actors are less so and they know it. So some use that to try to get whatever they want.

Brian Dzyak
Cameraman/Author
IATSE Local 600, SOC
http://www.whatireallywanttodo.com
http://www.realfilmcareer.com

The Bale story is the perfect example.

That was a; what?, 60 day shoot. 12 or so weeks. He had one bad day.
One really bad day. and that's all we, the public heard about. The audio
recordist didn't release audio from the other 59 days.

I have stories I could tell about Schwarzenegger and Ford and Willis
and Cage and two dozen others that show their professionalism. But
TMZ isn't going to pick those up and no one chatting on an elevator
is going to repeat those stories.

=============================================
The aim of an argument or discussion should not be victory, but progress.
Joseph Joubert, essayist (1754-1824)

Well, if the actor was the big money draw, then his rear end should be kissed - I hate to say it, but that's life. That said, Captain Kirk was never the big draw on Star Trek, so he should've been canned after the first season.

I am NOT a weak personality, by any stretch of the imagination. My method is to chop off any actor who went childish on me, but, if we're in the middle of the movie, and he knows he can't be replaced ...

I haven't worked with big talent in film but I did in the music industry. It's much the same. Some folks put junk in their contract that we had to provide that was total nonsense and they did it just for kicks. They would get really picky about every part of everything they touched and get mad when something didn't go just right. Other acts were super cool and very flexible. One time, on a really hot day, some of the tech crew were cooling off in the hospitality tent and the members of a well known band made glasses of lemonade and brought them around, it was really cool.

quote:

---

Originally posted by certified instigator

The Bale story is the perfect example.

That was a; what?, 60 day shoot. 12 or so weeks. He had one bad day.
One really bad day. and that's all we, the public heard about. The audio
recordist didn't release audio from the other 59 days.

---

For the record, the Production Sound Mixer didn't release the audio. For him to do so would be career suicide.

Nobody is officially owning up to how the audio got out into the world, but the rumor is that it was the insurance company for some unknown reason.

I know the DP who Bale was yelling at and, unfortunately, he does have a tendency to kind of do things that could result in a reaction like that. That one "bad day" was the culmination of other "things" that had happened up til then. I'm not defending Bale's reaction at all. There are far more diplomatic and professional ways to handle issues that crop up on set. I'm merely suggesting that Bale's response in that specific instance wasn't entirely unjustified based on eyeswitness reports I've gotten from those on set. But that said, Bale isn't known for his congenial attitude either. So there are arguments for both sides in that specific instance. 🙂

Brian Dzyak
Cameraman/Author
IATSE Local 600, SOC
http://www.whatireallywanttodo.com
http://www.realfilmcareer.com

quote:

---

Originally posted by Coltimar

I haven't worked with big talent in film but I did in the music industry. It's much the same. Some folks put junk in their contract that we had to provide that was total nonsense and they did it just for kicks. They would get really picky about every part of everything they touched and get mad when something didn't go just right. Other acts were super cool and very flexible. One time, on a really hot day, some of the tech crew were cooling off in the hospitality tent and the members of a well known band made glasses of lemonade and brought them around, it was really cool.

---

I personally avoid doing anything involving the music industry whenever possible. As bad as any Actor gets, in my experience, musicians tend to be far worse in their arrogance. Not all of them, mind you. Country talent, for instance, tends to be quite genuine. But rock and pop "stars" tend to get attitude from day one. Toss in some record label execs and agents and it's a recipe for some ridiculous nonsense. I'd rather stay home and enjoy the peace and quiet than have to deal with music industry bullsh**.

Brian Dzyak
Cameraman/Author
IATSE Local 600, SOC
http://www.whatireallywanttodo.com
http://www.realfilmcareer.com