These Actors Totally Lost Their Temper On Set

While many actors thrive as a film comes together, it can be more of a struggle for others, some of whom have unfortunately taken out their frustrations on those around them.

Find out what went down on set with these stars…

1. Hugh Grant

While Hugh Grant was working on "Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves," he admits he overreacted when a local woman got into his line of sight during filming. It turns out that Hugh had thought she was a studio executive -- but she was actually acting as a child's chaperone. As soon as he found out, he says he profusely apologized.

"I lost my temper with a woman in my eyeline on day one. I assumed she was some executive from the studio who should have known better," Grant told Total Film magazine. "Then it turns out that she’s an extremely nice local woman who was the chaperone of the young girl. Terrible. A lot of groveling."

2. Christian Bale

In 2009, Christian Bale was working on "Terminator: Salvation" when he was caught on camera going on an offensive rant towards a crew member. He later explained that the film’s director of photography had accidentally gotten in his eyeline and he reacted in a way that was "inexcusable." In a lengthy apology, Christian explained that he was partially in character during the outburst but he was still "out of order beyond belief."

"When I say 'I'm not coming back on this set unless he's fired', it's hot air. I don't want anyone to misunderstand this: I've seen a rough cut of the movie and he has done a really wonderful, professional job on this," Christian told KROQ. "I know some people are thinking, 'I'm not going to see this movie' because they think I'm a prima donna. Everybody worked so hard on this movie. Please, don't allow my incredibly embarrassing meltdown to overshadow this movie and to have all of those people's hard work go to waste."

3. Tom Cruise

Early in the pandemic, Tom Cruise’s film "Mission: Impossible 7" was one of the first movies to get back to work. Since the film industry had been shut down for so long, there were intense protocols to keep everyone healthy and to prevent the production from being shut down once again. Tom took the measures seriously and when he caught crew members breaking COVID-19 set safety protocols by standing too close together, he went on an expletive-filled rant. In addition to threatening to fire crew members, he stressed the important role they were playing in getting other films back to work. While Tom may have lost his temper, it was for the sake of the film’s continuation and he says he stands by what he said.

"I said what I said," he told Empire magazine. "There was a lot at stake at that point ... But it wasn't my entire crew. I had the crew leave the set, and it was just select people."

4. Sean Penn

On the set of his film "Colors," Sean Penn found himself in a situation that got him sent to jail. After an extra named Jeffrey Klein photographed Sean with Robert Duvall, there was an altercation between Sean and Jeffrey. During the fight, Sean spat and swore at Jeffrey and had to be pulled away by the crew. Jeffrey ended up bruised up and testified in court about the incident. Sean, who was already on probation, was sentenced to 60 days in jail.

A statement from Sean’s attorney said: "He feels this is an unfortunate experience. He has to learn that people are going to attempt to goad him into situations where he may react inappropriately. He needs to and does understand that incidents like this are inescapable and he can control and will control them."

5. Lawrence Tierney

By the time Lawrence Tierney was cast in "Reservoir Dogs," he had a reputation for being difficult to work with and had been arrested on numerous occasions for assault. According to director Quentin Tarantino, Lawrence was a handful to deal with on set and often broke out into angry outbursts.

​​"Tierney was a complete lunatic by that time – he just needed to be sedated," Quentin said during a BAFTA Life in Pictures interview. "He was personally challenging to every aspect of filmmaking. By the end of the week everybody on set hated Tierney – it wasn't just me. And in the last 20 minutes of the first week we had a blow out and got into a fist fight. I fired him, and the whole crew burst into applause."

7. Steven Seagal

According to Steven Seagal’s "Executive Decision" co-star John Leguizamo, the actor had quite a temper on set. It all started on the first day of rehearsals when Steven allegedly declared that he was "in command." John says he began to laugh and in return, Steve threw him into a wall.

"Who comes into rehearsal and says that s--t?" he told AV Club. "So I started laughing and he slammed me with an aikido elbow against a brick wall and knocked all the air out of me. I dropped to the ground, and all I could say was, [gasping] 'Why? Why?' I really wanted to say that he runs like a b---h and has no hair, but I was afraid."