Russell Crowe put it best: “‘You know, the other day you were a f---ing d---, mate. Do your best not to be a f---ing d--- like that again.‘“

10 actors who have admitted to being difficult on set

Russell Crowe put it best: "‘You know, the other day you were a f---ing d---, mate. Do your best not to be a f---ing d--- like that again.'"

By Brianna Zigler

June 3, 2026 6:15 p.m. ET

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Sean Penn; Edward Norton; Christian Bale. Credit:

Acting is serious business, and no one knows that better than actors themselves.

Despite what some might say, acting can be a grueling exercise where tensions run high — especially with so many creatives in close quarters. But some actors are known to take things to the extreme.

Recently, the late Val Kilmer made headlines when his *Conspiracy* director, Adam Marcus, called him the “worst human being I’ve ever known” in a social media post.

Kilmer himself has owned up to being difficult. In the 2021 documentary *Val**,* which explored the *Top Gun* actor’s life and career, Kilmer admitted: “I have behaved poorly. I have behaved bravely. I have behaved bizarrely to some. I deny none of this and have no regrets because I have lost and found parts of myself that I never knew existed.”

Beyond Kilmer, there are a number of “difficult” actors who are more than aware of their behavior. Below are 10 stars who have admitted that they can be... a bit much.

Bill Murray at the New York Hilton in 1991.

Ron Galella/Getty

Though Bill Murray is known for playing a lovable jerk onscreen, he's nevertheless gained a reputation for being tricky to work with. Case in point: The *Ghostbusters* actor once got into a fistfight with Chevy Chase on *Saturday Night Live*.

Murray's behavior has led to a number of well-documented incidents. For example, he clashed with director Harold Ramis while making *Groundhog Day* (1993), leading to a fallout in their friendship. Complaints were also raised about his behavior on the set of Aziz Ansari's film *Being Mortal,* resulting in production being suspended.

Murray addressed the latter incident with a level of contrition. Speaking with CNBC, Murray explained, “The world is different than it was when I was a little kid. You know, what I always thought was funny as a little kid isn't necessarily the same as what's funny now.”

He continued: “Things change, and the times change, so it’s important for me to figure it out. And I think the most important thing is that it’s best for the other person. I thought about it, and if it’s not best for the other person, doesn’t matter what happens for me.”

Christian Bale

Christian Bale at the 10th Annual Costume Designers Guild Awards in 2008.

Kevin Winter/Getty

In 2008, Christian Bale went viral for all the wrong reasons when audio of an on-set tirade was released to the public.

During the filming of *Terminator Salvation*, Bale let loose on the film’s cinematographer, Shane Hurlbut, after he walked into the actor's sightline. What ensued was a profanity-laden rant in which Bale lashed out, threatening to get Hurlbut fired if he did it again.

A year later, Bale publicly apologized. Speaking to Los Angeles radio station KROQ, the *Vice* actor called his behavior “inexcusable.”

"There is nobody who has heard that tape who has been hit harder than me. The one thing that disturbs me so much is that I've heard a lot of people saying that I seem to think that I'm better than anybody else,” he said. "Nothing could be farther from the truth. I am a lucky man, I never forget that and that is why I put so much into what I do, and why I care so much about it and why sometimes that enthusiasm just goes awry."

Bale chalked up the outburst to having a particularly bad week, and also getting too deep into character. The result was a mixture of exhaustion and John Connor angst.

Edward Norton

Edward Norton at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2002.

Evan Agostini/Getty

*Fight Club* star Edward Norton has gained a reputation in the film industry for being something of a perfectionist — and perhaps that's why he gets along so well with Wes Anderson.

After clashing with his *American History X* director Tony Kaye about the film's creative direction and allegedly pushing for more control over Marvel's *The Incredible Hulk* (2008), Norton is aware that Hollywood and the public see him a certain way.

However, he doesn’t think it’s a bad thing. When asked about his reputation in a 2019 interview with *The New York Times Magazine**,* Norton said, “People take things that happen between fervent people who care about the work and who end up shaking hands with each other and they make it into drama.”

At least he seems to have a sense of humor about his pedigree — in *Birdman* (2014)*,* he plays a caricature of his celebrity persona, a pretentious and controlling actor who is so difficult that no one wants to work with him.

Sean Penn at the Hammond Cinema Vanguard Award ceremony in 2026.

Rebecca Sapp/Getty

While receiving his Best Actor Oscar for his performance in *Milk* (2008),* *Sean Penn gestured to his a long-standing reputation. "I did not expect this… and I want it to be very clear that I do know how hard I make it to appreciate me, often,” he said in his acceptance speech.

Penn spoke further about his notoriety in an interview with Howard Stern in 2020, acknowledging himself as a person who is “difficult to like” and “not too good with humans.”

“There've been several times I've worked with directors who I felt might have found a different job description, and perhaps weren't the storytellers that their initial meetings with each of us actors might have indicated," he explained.

He continued, “Actors are kind of canaries in the coal mine emotionally, and you have to go to whatever place is necessary inside yourself. If you don't have somebody there who at least respects that — most of what I was referring to is that the arrogance goes further than charm.”

Edward Norton wants to make films that matter

Nicolas Cage explains why he legally changed his name

Val Kilmer at the DGA Theatre in West Hollywood in 1995.

Ron Galella/Getty

Kilmer, who passed away from pneumonia at the age of 65 in 2025, had a number of former collaborators speak out about working with him.

Oliver Stone, who directed the actor in the Jim Morrison biopic *The Doors* (1991), said that “[Kilmer's] personality was not easy to get along with,” in a 2025 interview for RogerEbert.com. His *Batman Forever* director Joel Schumacher did not enjoy working with him either, calling him “childish and impossible” in an interview with ** in 1996.

Kilmer acknowledged his reputation in a 2017 Reddit AMA, expressing contrition for his past behavior and calling it “foolish.”

“I understand that now,” he wrote. “And sometimes when you are the head of a project and the lead actor is usually the reason a film is being made, unless it’s a superstar director, then it’s only fair to make people feel good and happy they are at work. I was often unhappy trying to make pictures better.”

Russell Crowe

Russell Crowe at the 2026 French Open.

Russell Crowe can be a prickly guy sometimes. That was evident during a recent autograph signing. His intensity is part and parcel of his work ethic. However, many of his directors will come to his defense.

Speaking with *Variety* in 2010, Curtis Hanson, who directed the actor in *L.A. Confidential* (1997)*,* addressed his perceived attitude and refuted it: “Russell has a reputation of being difficult, and what I speculate is that he’s difficult when he’s not trusting.”

In a 2002 interview with EW, Crowe said his reputation was “built mainly by people who are not confident, who find my questions threatening.”

Years later, in an incredibly candid interview with *GQ*, Crowe admitted that he’s been, in his own words, “a d---.”

“I’ve got a sh-- ton of regrets,” he said plainly. “An angry word, an overreaction, a missed opportunity for friendship — lots of things like that. But all of those things are in perspective, because I’ve done lots of really cool sh-- too. My regrets are, in a way, badges of honor. Having the ability to have that introspection and go, ‘You know, the other day you were a f---ing d---, mate. Do your best not to be a f---ing d--- like that again.'”

Nicolas Cage

Nicolas Cage in 1984.

Even a celebrity as well-liked as Nicolas Cage can look back on his long career and acknowledge some missteps.

In a 1999 *Rolling Stone** *profile, Cage conceded that on the set of his uncle Francis Ford Coppola’s film *The Cotton Club* (1984)*,* he was kind of a nightmare. Playing a deranged killer, Cage fully got into the character and, impatient between takes, “talked trash and, one frenzied day, tore up his trailer."

After this incident, Cage said, “My name in Manhattan was really worth mud. I really made quite a little reputation for myself on that set, trying to live the part. It took me years to get to a point where New Yorkers in the film industry would want to work with me again. I have to say, both my uncle and my father seemed amazingly patient with my shenanigans, so to speak, as an actor.”

However, the antics continued on Coppola's film *Peggy Sue Got Married *(1986)*,* in which he costarred with Kathleen Turner. Speaking with *The Guardian* in 2018, he admitted, “I was lucky my uncle was directing it.”

And though Cage looked back fondly on his time working with Turner, she had a much different recollection of their relationship. “He was very difficult on set. The way I saw it, yeah, he was that asshole,” she told *Vanity Fair* the same year.

Dustin Hoffman

Dustin Hoffman at a Paris photocall in 1995.

Pascal Guyot/AFP/Getty

Across his decades-long career, Dustin Hoffman has become known as a finicky presence on film sets. Details are very important to him, leading to an obsessive work ethic. Still, he’s owned up to it dating as far back as the ‘70s.

In a 1979 profile for the *New York Times*, Hoffman spoke about the “difficult” label. “If that means I don't go along, then I've been difficult ever since I started,” he stated plainly.

“I got kicked out of acting class when I was 20 years old because I screamed at the teacher when she started talking to me in the middle of a scene,” he continued. “I had a big fight with Lee Strasberg in my first class with him. I got fired Off Broadway and I quit shows. I have never felt unbrave. I always felt I knew what I was doing. If *Kramer* had not worked, they would have said, ‘Well he's impossible to work with.’ If the picture is a success, they'll say, ‘If that's what they call difficult, I'll take it anytime."

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Mandy Patinkin

Mandy Patinkin speaking at the SAG-AFTRA Foundation Conversations in 2025.

Dia Dipasupil/Getty

Mandy Patinkin, perhaps best known as Inigo Montoya in Rob Reiner’s *The Princess Bride *(1987)*,* has a storied career across film, TV, and theater. “However, he has acknowledged that he hasn’t always been the easiest to work with.

Halfway through the second season of the Emmy-winning series *Chicago Hope*, Patinkin abruptly left the show, later admitting to *The* *New York Times Magazine* that he behaved “abominably.” On *Criminal Minds*, he broke his contract and left early in season 3. He later revealed in a 2012 interview that the violent content was "destructive to [his] soul and personality.”

In 2020, when CBS News brought up his reputation for being difficult to work with, he replied, “I'm not anymore! But I was!"

Chevy Chase at Radio City Music Hall in 2025.

Jamie McCarthy/Getty

Chevy Chase's difficulties on set have been widely documented. From sparring with *SNL* colleagues to his infamous exit from *Community*, one could argue Chase has made something of a career out of being a jerk. But he’s aware of his reputation.

In a 2022 interview on CBS’ *This Morning**,* Chase didn’t mince words when asked by correspondent Jim Axelrod how he feels when former costars and collaborators say negative things about him.

"I don't give a crap! I am who I am,” he said. “And I like... who I am. I don't care. And it's part of me that I don't care. And I've thought about that a lot. And I don't know what to tell you, man. I just don't care."

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