17 Directors Who Are Notoriously Difficult To Work With

David O. Russell is notorious for supposedly treating actors poorly. From George Clooney in Three Kings to Lily Tomlin in I Heart Huckabees (you've seen the video), his on-set tantrums with actors are the stuff of Hollywood legend. He also allegedly freaked out on Jennifer Lawrence while filming the 2015 movie Joy.

Amy Adams revealed that he made her cry almost every day of filming American Hustle. She said, “I was really just devastated on set. I mean, not every day, but most. Jennifer [Lawrence] doesn’t take any of it on. She’s Teflon. And I am not Teflon. But I also don’t like to see other people treated badly…It’s not OK with me. Life to me is more important than movies. It really taught me how to separate work and home. Because I was like, ‘I cannot bring this experience home with me to my daughter.’”

The Titanic director apparently earned the nickname "Iron Jim" while making films like Terminator and Titanic throughout his career. He reportedly despises the interruptions of cell phones so much, he actually nails them to the wall if they go off.

Cameron's ex-wife, Terminator star Linda Hamilton, told reporters that life with Cameron was "terrible on every level." It's even said that on the set of his film True Lies, he threatened to fire people who dared to take bathroom breaks.

According to Transformers star Josh Duhamel, director Michael Bay doesn't care about anything but making a good film — although many don't think his films are good — even if it includes hurting people's feelings. Megan Fox talked badly of Bay to the press, comparing his on-set nightmarish behavior to both Hitler and Napoleon. Even Bruce Willis said that while filming Armageddon, Bay screamed the whole time, which did not make for a "pleasant experience."

It all stems from Apocalypse Now. Coppola is known for allegedly having one of the biggest on-set tantrums of all time during the filming of the Heart of Darkness adaptation. Not only did he force Harvey Keitel to quit, but when his star Martin Sheen suffered a heart attack on set, Coppola told the studio it was just "heat exhaustion."  

He reportedly forced the prop department to use real cadavers in the film, and he was apparently so chaotic, he was near taking his own life during the shoot. 

The fact that von Trier said, "I'm a Nazi" at the Cannes Film Festival should be a hint at the type of fellow this director is. Though his films such as Dancer in the Dark and Melancholia are regarded as artistic classics, many of his actors can't stand him.  

Paul Bettany said von Trier wouldn't even speak to him while directing him in Dogville. During Dancer in the Dark, Björk and von Trier fought so much, the actor refused to come to set for three whole days. He then went on record saying his one regret of the film was that he "wasn't meaner" to her.

When Richard Dreyfuss calls you a "fascist," you know you've got some issues. Dreyfuss claimed that working with Stone on the George Bush biopic W was the worst experience of his career. Jamie Foxx admitted that while filming Any Given Sunday, Stone came up to him and allegedly told Foxx point blank, "You're just not good at all."

Not convinced yet? How about this: Blake Lively got the entire crew "I Survived Oliver Stone" T-shirts after finishing Savages.