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Movie directors are often the unseen heroes of cinema, as their films rarely feature them outside of their names in the credits. Still, directors are incredibly important to filmmaking as they direct all of the action that ultimately winds up on screen. They’re in charge of everything from the production budget to assigning various tasks and telling the talent what to do in a given scene.

A truly hands-on director can be a good thing, but it can also drive actors nuts trying to fulfill the wishes of a micromanaging boss. Indeed, some of the greatest directors to ever yell “action” were difficult to work for, and some were effectively impossible. These are the directors whose fastidiousness requires perfection that’s largely unachievable outside of whatever they’re imagining at the time. The directors who require a scene to be shot dozens of times — one take after the other — because a hair was out of place make the list.

To be fair, there are dozens of directors who actors have worked with and expressed no desire to do so again. But of those directors, only a handful of names — whether intentionally or not — have made actors’ lives truly miserable enough to find themselves mentioned in this article. These specific filmmakers are all excellent at their craft, but they pushed their talent to the breaking point, ensuring they earned a reputation for being someone actors hate working with.

Since he began directing music videos in the 1980s, David Fincher has been known as a perfectionist. You can see this in the meticulous manner in which scenes are constructed in films like “Seven,” “The Game,” and “Fight Club.” His directing style has been described as “Kubrickian,” as he tends to get bogged down in the details, just like legendary director Stanley Kubrick.

Fincher has made plenty of excellent movies, but one was particularly hard on Jake Gyllenhaal: “Zodiac.” The two famously feuded on set, and a lot of the problems centered around Fincher’s perfectionist style. In some scenes, he made Gyllenhaal perform up to 70 takes, and this happened throughout the shoot. Fincher addressed the animosity during an interview with The New York Times in 2020, where the director blamed Gyllenhaal’s age at the time and the number of people vying for the movie star’s attention — he feels Gyllenhaal was too distracted.

Conversely, Gyllenhaal spoke with the Times in 2007, and he said that Fincher “paints with people,” adding that “it’s tough to be a color.” Gyllenhaal is hardly the only actor to find working with Fincher difficult. Some others are Michael Douglas, R. Lee Ermey, Edward Norton, and Robert Downey Jr., who described his time with him on “Zodiac,” telling the Times, “I think I’m the perfect person to work for him because I understand gulags.”

John Carney has directed a handful of films since getting started in 1996. In 2013, he released “Begin Again,” starring Keira Knightley as a co-lead. Knightley has always been a low-key celebrity, and nobody would label her a “diva.” She’s never said or done anything that made her tabloid fodder, and she hasn’t been inappropriate on set. That’s why it was strange when Carney fired shots at her over her acting ability.

Carney spoke with The Independent in 2016 and addressed his actors, focusing much of his criticism on one person in particular. “I’ll never make a film with supermodels again,” he said, referring to Knightley. He added, “Keira’s thing is to hide who you are, and I don’t think you can be an actor and do that. … It requires a certain level of honesty and self-analysis that I don’t think she’s ready for yet.”

Carney’s comments didn’t go unnoticed, and several directors came out of the woodwork to defend Knightley. Some of the directors who defended the actor’s talents included Lynn Shelton and Mark Romanek, both of whom worked with her previously. Other actors also came to her aid, and in 2016, Carney posted an apology on X, formerly known as Twitter, adding, “From a director who feels like a complete idiot.” For her part, Knightley accepted Carney’s apology and was actually thrilled to be called a supermodel.

The number of popular films in Herbert Ross’ filmography is impressive, though “Steel Magnolias” stands out. The film boasts an amazing cast that includes some of the most popular female stars of the late 1980s, such as Dolly Parton, Sally Field, Julia Roberts, and Shirley MacLaine. What’s interesting about “Steel Magnolias” isn’t necessarily the story or themes — it’s the cast’s universal dislike of the director.

The entire group of accomplished actors, many of whom received numerous awards, had a hard time working with Ross. Roberts received her first Academy Award nomination for “Steel Magnolias,” and she likely had it worse than the rest. This is because Ross made the set a toxic workplace, and he treated his cast terribly. MacLaine told Us Weekly that the mutual distaste for the director actually drew the cast closer.

“My deepest memories of the film were how we bonded together after he told one of us or all of us we couldn’t act,” Field told Vulture, “He was very, very, very hard on Julia,” and Roberts told Premiere in 1993 that he was “mean and out of line” in how he spoke to her. Parton also took offense when Ross told her she needed acting lessons. According to her autobiography, “Dolly: My Life and Other Unfinished Business,” she retorted, “I’m not an actress; I’m Dolly Parton. I’m a personality who has been hired to do this movie. You’re the director. It’s your job to make me look like I’m acting.”

Wes Anderson has a uniquely eccentric style of filmmaking that makes any movie he’s directed look like a Wes Anderson film. His style is partly what draws in the crowds, and many of Anderson’s movies are beloved. That said, there’s one actor who absolutely loathed Anderson despite winning multiple awards for his performance: Gene Hackman. The two famously feuded on the set of “The Royal Tenenbaums” and never spoke again after the premiere.

After Hackman’s death in early 2025, Anderson spoke with The Times about how difficult it was working with the actor. “Gene was very annoyed about the money,” Anderson said. “He was furious. Also, he didn’t want to do the film anyway. I talked him into it — I just didn’t go away.” The director added that Hackman didn’t enjoy the experience, and they had friction, likely due to Anderson’s age and comparatively less experience as a filmmaker at the time.

The dislike appears to have been largely one-sided, as Hackman had more of a problem with Anderson than the other way around. Stories from the set of “The Royal Tenenbaums” reveal that Hackman referred to Anderson as the c-word and reportedly told him to “pull up [his] pants and act like a man.” Despite their continuous conflict while working on the film, Anderson enjoyed working with Hackman, even if the feeling wasn’t mutual.

Joss Whedon has created and directed numerous pop culture hits over the years, including “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Firefly,” and “The Avengers.” Unfortunately, Whedon is involved in an abuse controversy, and his directing style and the manner in which he treats his employees are at the center of it all. Much of the situation came to light via the production of “Justice League,” where Whedon reportedly mistreated Gal Gadot and Ray Fisher.

Gadot claims that Whedon threatened her career, which he’s denied in as offensive a manner as possible. He explained to Vulture, “English is not her first language, and I tend to be annoyingly flowery in my speech.” Gadot responded to his comments, saying she understood his words perfectly. The issue with Fisher was more volatile, and it came to light in a tweet calling Whedon “gross, abusive, unprofessional, and completely unacceptable.”

Whedon didn’t handle either actor’s comments well and lashed out in his own defense, which soured his reputation with the public and in Hollywood. Warner Bros. investigated Fisher’s claims and applied an unspecified remedial action to the situation. It’s unclear what happened, but Whedon pulled himself out of HBO’s “The Nevers” as executive producer, and he hasn’t worked on anything since 2021. Whedon isn’t involved in the “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” reboot despite creating the original series, so his star has fallen considerably.

Directors are, in a word, leaders, and that comes with some responsibilities that don’t typically include screaming at one’s employees. Evidently, not only did David O. Russell not get that memo, but he’s gone out of his way on numerous movie sets to become an expert. 

Russell’s films are often award-winning cinematic masterpieces like “The Fighter,” “Silver Linings Playbook,” and “American Hustle,” and he drives his actors hard. While it’s rarely bad to star in an award-winning movie, several actors who’ve worked with Russell have said they’ll never do so again. George Clooney starred in Russell’s “Three Kings,” and he’s called the director “a miserable f***” who made his life hell in an interview with GQ. Amy Adams has also said she’d never work with Russell again despite receiving an Academy Award nomination for “American Hustle.”

Adams told GQ, “I was really just devastated on set. … I mean, not every day, but most.” This was due to the director’s penchant for making her cry, leading Christian Bale to take on the role of conflict mediator between the two. Lily Tomlin worked with Russell on “I Heart Huckabees,” and she fought with him throughout the shoot as he berated her performance. She’s since lauded Russell’s talent and expressed a desire to work with him again, as has he, making Tomlin something of an outlier among her peers.

Kevin Smith isn’t the kind of director who comes off as a brutal taskmaster who puts his actors through the wringer, and that’s largely been true throughout his career. Numerous actors appear in several of his films, suggesting they don’t mind working for Smith, but Bruce Willis isn’t among them. The two worked together as fellow actors first in “Live Free or Die Hard” before Smith cast Willis in “Cop Out.”

Unfortunately, while they got on well as actors, a feud developed between Smith and Willis that never properly went away. Smith took an 84% pay cut so he could afford Willis, so he was all-in on the film. The problem between the two arose because of Smith’s reverence for Willis, and he treated him unlike anyone else on set. On the other side, Willis wouldn’t step out of his comfort zone, causing problems for Smith.

Some of the issues centered around Willis’ refusal to sit for a poster shoot, which caused a great deal of problems. The issues seemed to go both ways between the two, and while their beef hasn’t exactly been quashed, after Willis’ diagnosis of aphasia and his retirement from acting, Smith posted a lovely tribute on X, formerly known as Twitter. He wrote that he had always been a fan of Willis before explaining, “I feel like an a****** for my petty complaints from 2010.”

Few directors are as celebrated as Paul Thomas Anderson, who boasts nearly a dozen Academy Award nominations. He’s directed many notable films, but one of his best-known works is 1998’s “Boogie Nights.” In the movie, Burt Reynolds plays an adult film director, and he wasn’t an easy get for Anderson. Reynolds told Conan O’Brien that he turned down the role seven times before finally, and regretfully, accepting.

Still, he eventually came on board and didn’t have what you’d call a fun time on set. Reynolds fired his agent for recommending the role in the first place, and he had thoughts of violence directed at Anderson throughout the shoot. He told O’Brien, “I didn’t want to hit him in the face. I just wanted to hit him; I don’t think he liked me.” He had difficulty working with Anderson, and their age difference was an apparent issue.

Reynolds described Anderson in his memoir, writing, “I wasn’t crazy about being [directed] by a guy who’s younger than some sandwiches I’ve had.” Despite hating the project and its director, Reynolds has been lauded for his performance. He received an Academy Award nomination and took home a Golden Globe for his work in “Boogie Nights,” but according to the actor, he never saw the film, and that likely remained true right up to his death in September 2018.

Alfred Hitchcock is one of the greatest directors of his generation and perhaps all time. He’s been called “The Master of Suspense” and had many hits. Like other prolific directors, Hitchcock enjoyed working with actors on multiple pictures, including Tippi Hedren, who starred in “The Birds” and “Marnie.” Unfortunately, Hitchcock was the kind of director who crossed the line to film a scene, and this happened to Hedren while shooting the climax of “The Birds.”

The film was Hedren’s first leading role, so she had no experience working with the director. It seems that Hitchcock took advantage of this during the infamous attic scene, where Hedren’s character, Melanie, is accosted by several birds that slash at her face and arms. In her memoir, “Tippi,” Hedren explained that Hitchcock outlined the scene and that she’d be terrorized by mechanical birds. Instead, the director had live birds thrown at Hedren, and it took five days before Hitchcock had his desired shot.

Hedren continued working for Hitchcock in “Marnie,” but that was the last film she did with him. In “Tippi,” she accused him of stalking and sexually harassing her on set. He also threw himself atop her in a limo and tried to forcibly kiss her in what she described as “an awful, awful moment.” Hedren never complained while Hitchcock was alive, but it explains why she stopped working with him.

If you know anything about Roman Polanski, there’s a good chance you know he’s not on the right side of the law in the U.S. While his crimes are unforgivable, his talent as a director is undeniable, with films like “Rosemary’s Baby,” “Chinatown,” and “The Pianist” on his resume. It’s likely that many actors wouldn’t work for him on moral grounds, but Faye Dunaway’s dislike of Polanski centers around how he treated her.

Dunaway worked with Polanski on “Chinatown,” and they feuded constantly during the shoot. In one instance, a single hair on Dunaway’s face was ruining the take, and after several attempts, Polanski simply walked up to her and yanked the offending hair from her head. She responded as you might think and stormed off, screaming obscenities at the director.

Dunaway described the director’s abuse towards her in her autobiography “Looking for Gatsby” as “the incessant cruelty that I felt, the constant sarcasm, the never-ending need to humiliate me. I felt the time had come to draw a line that Roman would never dare cross again.” Polanski felt Dunaway’s reaction to the hair incident was insane, and there’s a story that she threw a cup of urine in his face for not letting her pee during a take. In the HBO documentary “Faye,” Dunaway calls Polanski a terror but admits he probably feels the same about her.

Stanley Kubrick is regarded as one of the greatest directors of all time, and he was a well-known perfectionist. Kubrick was famous for putting his actors through more than they likely signed up for, often going through a take dozens of times before he was satisfied. Kubrick’s final film, “Eyes Wide Shut,” was a particularly difficult filming experience, as the movie took 294 days to shoot, earning a Guinness World Record.

That’s incredibly long for any movie, but Kubrick had an exacting style that demanded perfection in his eyes, which was difficult to achieve. One actor who couldn’t deal with Kubrick’s directing style was Harvey Keitel, who was originally cast to play Victor Ziegler, a role that ultimately went to Sydney Pollack. Keitel spoke about working with Kubrick, calling him a genius while also pointing out how much he felt Kubrick was disrespectful to him and others.

Gary Oldman later gave his accounting of the story while appearing on “The Opie & Anthony Show,” saying, “He was doing the scene, and they were just walking through a door, and after the 68th take of this, walking through a door, Harvey Keitel just said, ‘I’m out of here, you’re f****** crazy,’ and he left.” Another actor who had an unbearable time working with Kubrick was Shelley Duvall, whom Kubrick terrorized through isolation and mistreatment during the filming of “The Shining.”

While some directors are known for being difficult, few have achieved the level of infamy of Werner Herzog. While there are numerous stories of his being hard to work for on a variety of films, it’s “Fitzcarraldo” that takes the prize of being one of the worst film shoots of all time. The movie was difficult to make thanks to Herzog’s insistence on recreating the event it’s based on — moving a steamship over the Andes mountains.

Herzog insisted it be done practically, so a German madman moved a 320-ton ship over a mountain in a story about a German madman doing precisely that. Throughout the shoot, the director ran afoul of his lead actor, Klaus Kinski (who fought with everyone). Herzog briefly entertained the notion of having his lead actor killed, but he didn’t accept the offer from the chief of the local native tribe. While the director didn’t kill him, Kinski wasn’t afraid to lash out and scream at Herzog and others on set.

There’s no denying that the director had problems with him, and he later released unflattering outtakes as vengeance on Kinski. Issues with the talent are bad enough, as are injuries and illness, but several extras and crewmembers died making “Fitzcarraldo.” A snakebite forced a man to amputate his own foot with a chainsaw as the remote location made medical treatment unlikely. Herzog noted this and other casualties in his filming diary, and while he wasn’t directly responsible, Herzog was in charge of the shoot, which was a chaotic disaster.