Tom Cruise is another that people love to work with. If anything he treats the crew better than the high paid talent. He’s very professional and knows who makes him look good.
If you are a character actor you better be easy to work with. The talent of a character actor is important but nobody is paying to see a movie because of the 5th guy in the credits. And there is always someone who can take your place.
The British gossip board Popbitch had a post or two* from a regular who was on the set of Edge of Tomorrow, stating that Cruise was an absolute gent to work with, a total pleasure. Popbitch is as cynical a place as any online, so that struck me as particularly glowing praise.
*the board isn’t persistent so no link.
Depends. Who have you pissed off who had the capability to destroy your career?
It also depends who you are “difficult” with. Your underlings, equals or bosses. I think bosses are forgiving of “difficult” if results are good. Underlings and equal OTH can really break you. I think people like Tom Cruise and Ford have figured out that these are the people you ahould be nice too.
In what way(s) can underlings and equals break you?
That’s probably true. Lillian Gish had a reputation for being very professional and kind to people, taking direction well, and when she was older, not lording her experience over newer performers.
She had a career that lasted almost 90 years, if you count the stage work she did as a child.
I was in Bloomington, Indiana for a good deal of Bobby Knight’s career. He won games, so students bought tickets, and he could recruit new players, but he was not popular with people in town, or the long-time faculty. The school was always doing damage control around his exploits. I think if he wasn’t dealing with a population that had a high turnover (the students), he wouldn’t have lasted as long as he did. But he had a fresh batch of people to piss off every year.
OTOH, it’s true that had he been less talented, he wouldn’t have been able to get away with any of the crap he did. It was having seen him in action that made the character Dr. House believable to me.
The same way they can in any other pursuit. They can do everything from spread nasty rumors to subtle forms of production sabotage that may not even be fully intentional. A drop in morale among the rank and file can cause serious problems for any organization whether it is a corproration or a movie production. Toxic personalities are bad news in any such organization. It may not be a big deal if the prima donna is mainly just brutal to people that have the stature and experience to deal with it behind closed doors but it is very different if they are actively pissing off hundreds of underlings that may choose to fight back in their own way.
“Be nice to people on your way up because you’ll meet the same people on your way down”
Annabella Sciorra comes to mind for me. Everyone agrees she’s talented but no one wants to spend all day arguing with her about her character’s influences.
Wrestler/actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson gets parts because he is very willing to promote a film where other actors shy away from it and lose out.
Wasn’t the kid who played Jimmy in Boardwalk Empire written out of the script because he was such a special snowflake?
I’m guessing you get or don’t get work based on your talent to asshole ratio, and the people you’re going to be working with.
The classic example, from Tootsie:
Michael Dorsey: Are you saying that nobody in New York will work with me?
George Fields: No, no, that’s too limited… nobody in Hollywood wants to work with you either.
My parents were extras in the Katie Holmes movie The Romantics. One day Cruise showed up on set and was very charming even to the extras, letting them photograph him and eating lunch with them.
George Fields: You played a tomato for thirty seconds - they went a half day over schedule because you wouldn’t sit down.
Michael Dorsey: It wasn’t logical.
George Fields: YOU WERE A TOMATO! A TOMATO DOESN"T HAVE LOGIC - A TOMATO CAN"T MOVE!
Michael Dorsey: If it can’t move, how can I sit down?
Regards,
Shodan
Sometimes being difficult has no effect.
Take Marlon Brando. (please!)
Notorious for basically doing what he wanted in Apocalypse Now and The Island of Dr. Moreau, rather than actually follow the script and make the movie that was intended. But everyone still lists him as the greatest actor evah. And is he were alive, he’d still get work.
Yeah, it’s the old “three choices, pick two” sort of thing. As long as you’re at least two of the following three, you will get along fine:
You’re easy to work with
You’re on time
You’re very skilled
The combination of “easy to work with” and “on time” results in a lot of mediocre artists becoming quite successful. Someone who arrives on time with a smile keeps the money flowing smoothly. When you’re a bitch to work with you better get it done 100% no matter what and you better be so good they can’t afford to replace you. This formula works in every single artistic medium and I see it quoted most often by comic book artists (though they are the people I read about most).
Of course, break enough rules or big enough rules and eventually you’ll get fired no matter what.
If you’re all three then theoretically you should never be out of a job.