Photo by Brent N. Clarke/FilmMagic
Gary Busey
When trying to get into character, many actors are known for making crazy demands. They want, for instance, to align as best they can with the person they’re attempting to portray, so this often entails trying to conform the set to that specific character.
Gary Busey did exactly this on the set of Quigley. Here, he demanded that the set lose all the mirrors nearby. Given that he was portraying somebody who “went to heaven” — a place where there are presumably no mirrors — he wanted them all off the set.
Will Ferrell
While not during one of his movies per se, the actor/comedian Will Ferrell has had his fair share of crazy demands. During one comedy tour in particular, for instance, this became especially clear.
While on tour for one year, Will Ferrell made commands to staff to bring an electric mobility scooter on set. The reason? So that he could motor himself onto the stage. Yes, of course. As a man with mobility, this makes much sense.
Jack Nicholson
It should be no secret to anyone that Jack Nicholson is a critically acclaimed and serious actor. So normally, when he makes his demands workers of the set feel obligated to listen. So when he made this staggering demand, they were at a loss.
For the film The Departed, for instance, he demanded that all Boston Celtics memorabilia be removed from the set. The bizarre demand was born of his affiliation to the Los Angeles Lakers, a rival to the Celtics. The demand was ceded and Nicholson won.
George Clooney
George Clooney isn’t really of those actors who we’d assume had crazy actor demands. This assumption, however, would be wrong. One of the crazier demands he had was on the set of Gravity.
For the movie, Clooney felt it was necessary to have a custom made beach hut for him outside of his trailer. Somehow he felt this was necessary for him to keep in character as an astronaut. Hmm.
Barbara Streisand
While famed for her vocals almost as much as her acting career, Barbara Steisand is known to have made more bizarre demands while on set. Generally, however, she makes one demand that has received a fair amount of attention.
The demands that Steisand makes happen to surround her bathroom arrangements. So what, exactly, does she demand? Well, rose petals in her toilet of course! While you likely didn’t guess this, you probably should have.
Will Smith
Will Smith, having gained extreme popularity throughout his career, might be somebody you expect of having crazy actor demands. This by no means is far from the truth. For the movie Men in Black 3, this became abundantly clear.
For the movie, Smith decided that he needed two trailers instead of one. Why the doubling? Well, because the actor needed another trailer for his ego! Just kidding: Smith thought it necessary to have another trailer with a gym in it. Physical health is important.
Ben Affleck
Another largely popular actor we might expect to make some crazy demands is Ben Affleck. Having been a star since a decently young age, the fame may have definitely gone to his head. And this is actually where we find one of his crazier demands.
For the movie Gone Girl, Affleck had refused to wear a Yankees hat in the movie. Rather, he requested — nay, demanded — that he wear a Mets hat instead. After three days of back and forth, Affleck was eventually allowed the Mets hat. Crazy indeed.
Jennifer Lopez
Unlike a few of the other artists and actors on this list, Jennifer Lopez has taste. And because of this, she, of course, has certain demands for when she plays shows. And what, exactly, are these demands?
When Lopez plays a show, she demands that her dressing room be entirely white. Something about the blank palate helps to stoke her creative juices. And so anytime she has to perform she demands her dressing rooms be white. Very strange indeed.
Daniel Day-Lewis
Daniel Day-Lewis is easily considered one of the greatest method actors of our current era. He’s been in so many staggeringly successful films that this is impossible to deny. Because of this success, however, he has some crazy actor demands.
For the film Lincoln, for instance, Day-Lewis had demanded that no one on set with a British accent talk to him. The reasoning? That Lincoln himself would have rarely encountered such folk. He did, after all, have to get into character.
Nicolas Cage
If we were to mention a highly eccentric actor who we’d expect to have some interesting actor demands, Nicolas Cage would easily top that list. And while this particular demand doesn’t necessarily put him at number one, it does put him up top.
For the set of Vampire’s Kiss, for instance, one of Cage’s more uncaged films, the actor demanded a live bat. He needed to get bit by one for the film, and Cage wanted the experience to be real. Thankfully, the director said “no” and used a fake.
Uma Thurman
Uma Thurman is not necessarily an actor we would think would have crazy demands. This isn’t, however, always the case. For the movie Kill Bill, she demanded an interesting set of materials. And even more than that.
For the film, Thurman has requested three cell phones. The reasons for this are interesting to ponder. Perhaps she really wanted to inhabit the “paid killer” mindset. Who knows? But other than that, she demanded that she get a discount on the clothes she wore while filming.
Paris Hilton
Paris Hilton is not really known to the acting scene. She has, however, on occasion acted. And when she has, she has typically implemented demands that most of us would find a little excessive and bizarre.
One of the tamer of these demands was for the set The Other Guys (where her scene was eventually cut). Here, she had demanded that a live lobster be on set at all times. The logic was so that it would be ready whenever she wanted to eat. Very odd indeed.
Orson Wells
Of all things, Orson Wells has had some demands that don’t necessarily strike us as odd. For the filming of his movie The Black Rose, however, this would all change. For movie sets, demands like this don’t really make sense.
For this movie, he had demanded that his coat be lined with the finest of mink. He was trying to inhabit the mind of the Ghengis Khan, so the mentality kind of made sense. Still, the demand still makes this list.
Brittany Murphy
Britney Murphy is one of those actors that we all miss. Her loving personality and infectious smile made her a compelling actor. When she was performing in movies, however, she had some interesting actor demands.
For many of her movie sets, for instance, the actor would demand peanut butter sandwiches. You might expect her to have demanded a healthier food item, given her status. But no, she liked herself some PB&Js.
Justin Timberlake
Justin Timberlake is no stranger to fame. Ever since his earlier years as a popstar in the band NSYNC, he has accumulated quite the attitude. And so, he has begun to acquire an interesting taste in the form of actor demands.
When he performs, he asks that he gets the entire hotel floor to himself. But more than that, he demands that the rooms in which he stays are filled with videogames that he can play in his pastime. Considering his fame, we shouldn’t find these so odd.
Shia LaBeouf
Shia LaBeouf is one of those actors who you might expect to have crazy demands. Not only is he extremely eccentric, but he is also one of Hollywood’s most notorious. And this was especially true on his filming of Fury.
During one scene, the character LaBeouf plays is supposed to suffer from an injury. And to make this injury appear real, he wanted to actually get injured. Demands for self-injury give LaBeouf one of the more bizarre actor demands.
Lindsay Lohan
Lindsay Lohan has had a rollercoaster of a career. Her ups and downs include roles in blockbuster and cult films like Mean Girls, but also a thriving tenure as a child star. This colored history has made her she can make some crazy demands.
For the movie The Canyons, Lohan was set to film a sex scene. Yet, the scene made her slightly uncomfortable. Because of this, she demanded that the rest of the crew strip down as well — the collective engagement made it easier for her to do her job.
Eddie Murphy
Many of us know Eddie Murphy as the comedian and actor who played as none other than the Beverly Hills Cop. But with all of this success has come an interesting set of demands. Some might say they’re crazy.
One of the more salient of Murphy’s demands has been to have new items at every turn — in essence, he refuses to use anything more than once. Because of this, crew and staff have to constantly shuffle to get Murphy new combs, toothbrushes, and just about all else.
Teri Hatcher
Teri Hatcher is perhaps one of the most famous personalities to come from the show the Desperate Housewives. And because of this, she has come up with some crazy actor demands. Some might say the fame got to her head.
On the set of the show, for instance, Hatcher would always demand that the cast and crew come up to her. So, rather than part ways to the makeup trailer, Hatcher would have them come to her. Quite demanding, we might say.
Johnny Depp
In the wildly successful film franchise Pirates of the Caribbean, Johnny Depp made some crazy demands. Among these was something that you wouldn’t expect that common among those in the actor world.
For the movies, Depp would have a sound engineer speak his lines to him as he was filming. This way, Depp would not have to memorize any of his lines. While the tactic might have freed him up to act even weirder, it was definitely a crazy demand.
Robert Downey Jr.
Robert Downey Jr. has had an interesting acting career. Having starred in commercials and then TV shows, the man acquired an interesting set of idiosyncrasies. Yet, in all of this filming, his demands for Iron Man stand out.
While not the craziest, you would think the actor would try and wear the superhero suit they were supposed to be acting in. Not with Downey. Rather, he opted to have the special effects crew make it look as if he was wearing his suit. The suit must have been quite cumbersome.
Lena Heady
Lena Heady perhaps gained her greatest notoriety from the hit HBO series Game of Thrones. And prior to filming, she made a set of demands that put some interesting constraints on the producers of the show.
The most prominent of these was that she refused to be on set with another Game of Thrones actor, Jerome Flynn. The story goes that the two of them had a nasty breakup some time ago, so the presence of the other might hurt the acting.
Samuel L. Jackson
Samuel L. Jackson has had such a strong career that it’d be difficult to capture in a handful of paragraphs. However, in his sizable career, he has developed an equally large ego. And with this came one of his craziest demands.
For the Star Wars prequels, for instance, Jackson had demanded that his lightsaber not be the traditional green or blue — indicative of the positive side of the Force — but, rather, purple. Yes, purple. Definitely a crazy demand.
Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford has won our hearts through many endearing roles. He’s played as the leading protagonist is the very popular Indiana Jones series, as well as Han Solo in the also extremely popular Star Wars originals.
It’s in the Star Wars movies, however, where Harrison made his perhaps crazy demands. Here, for instance, he made consistent pleas that director George Lucas kill him off. His reasoning was likely that he didn’t want to have to keep doing the movies.
Jennifer Lawrence
Jennifer Lawrence has slowly made herself a top star in the acting world. Perhaps most famous for her role in The Hunger Games series, her ascendency has put her in quite the place to make some crazy demands.
One of her most notable demands, while not exactly crazy, was made on the set of X-Men. For the first few movies, she had to sit for eight hours a day to get her makeup done as Mystique. She got so tired of it that for the following movies she demands she get a bodysuit instead.
Bill Murray
To many of us, Bill Murray is known as sort of the king of cool. Besides starring in a number of interesting films, the man just has a demeanor that we can’t ignore. But with these demeanor comes a set of demands his cast and crew can’t ignore either.
For the hit classic Ghostbusters, for instance, Murray had only agreed to sign onto the film if the studio would pay for another of his movies — The Razor’s Edge. The studio must haven’t considered the enterprise worth it, because they did in fact pay.
Mike Meyers
Mike Meyers has starred in a handful of interesting films. Among these have been oddities like Austin Powers. However, it was in the wildly successful Shrek movies that Meyers made some of his more interesting demands.
In the first movie, for instance, Meyers ultimately ended up not liking the first go at his accent for the character. Because of this, he opted to re-record the entire performance. While costly at first, the success of the films likely greatly surpassed what was lost.
Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando is an actor many of us know to have interesting demands when it comes to movies. One of these demands, however, was particularly weird. For the filming of the movie The Island of Dr. Moreau, this was especially true.
For the movie, Brando had decided that he wanted a dwarf on set to mimic nearly everything the actor did. Definitely strange, definitely odd. It’s hard to deny that this is one of the weirder demands we’ve seen.
Sharron Stone
Actors often are forced to perform scenes that might take them a bit out of their comfort zone. However, because they’re actors, they know to expect this. So when Sharron Stone made this demand, people were a bit confused.
For the movie A Golden Boy, Stone was required to perform a kissing scene. Yet, because the set was riddled with paparazzi and cameramen, she didn’t want to do it. So, she refused to perform the scene until she demanded they leave her presence.