5 Film Directors Who 'Definitely Crossed the Line'

Listverse: They apparently got a little too ambitious on set while creating their art
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 22, 2018 9:40 AM CDT
5 Film Directors Who 'Definitely Crossed the Line'
Quentin Tarantino, writer/director of the upcoming film "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood," gestures to the audience during a presentation at CinemaCon 2018 at Caesars Palace on April 23, 2018, in Las Vegas.   (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

There's immersing yourself in your art, and then there's drowning yourself and the others who work for you. Listverse takes a look at famous movie directors who maybe got a little overzealous during film production, alleged to have caused emotional and physical damage and, in one case, deaths. Here, Listverse's compilation of those who "definitely crossed the line":

  • Director: Francis Ford Coppola, Dracula
    What he's accused of doing: Coppola is said to have, along with co-star Keanu Reeves, subjected Winona Ryder to verbal abuse (including calling her a whore) so that she'd have the equivalent of a nervous breakdown during her scenes.
  • Director: Alfred Hitchcock, The Birds, Marnie
    What he's accused of doing: Tippi Hedren has revealed some disturbing goings-on behind the scenes on these two films, alleging that the famed director hugged her too much, groped her, confessed his fantasy of running away with her, and even sent her bread with a card that said, "Eat me."

  • Director: Quentin Tarantino, Kill Bill: Volume 2
  • What he's accused of doing: Actress Uma Thurman revealed in a February New York Times interview that Tarantino had cajoled her into performing an unsafe car stunt for a now-famous scene in his movie; she ended up with knee damage and a concussion when the car crashed. Thurman also says Tarantino choked and spit on her during the filming of two other scenes together.
  • Director: John Landis, Twilight Zone: The Movie
    What he's accused of doing: For his directed section of the four-part film, Landis actually ended up getting hit with involuntary manslaughter charges. He was said to have "cut corners" during production, not obtaining proper permits and committing labor violations; a helicopter crash that took the lives of two child actors and the lead actor for his segment led to criminal charges against him and three other crew members. They were eventually acquitted.
  • Director: Vincent Gallo, The Brown Bunny
    What he's accused of doing: Gallo's antics are now infamous for the outrage they provoked, specifically for a scene in which he tried to extract as much intimacy as possible. His method: He had co-star Chloe Sevigny actually perform oral sex on him.
Read about more directors who went too far here. (This movie director moved to Vietnam for peace and was nearly killed.)

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