9 More Insane Demands That Famous Actors Made For Movies

Australian Cinephile

Transcript

00:00Though you don't tend to hear about the phenomenon quite as much these days,

00:04there was once a time when being a rock star or a diva pretty much required making ridiculous rider requests.

00:10But it's not just limited to musical acts, despite the stereotype.

00:14Actors also have it in them to make demands that normal people simply wouldn't dream of.

00:19So with that in mind then, I'm Ellie with WhatCulture here with 9 more insane demands that famous actors made for movies.

00:27Before we start our official countdown though, an honourable mention has to go to Robin Williams helping the homeless.

00:34As you might expect from someone as well-loved as Robin Williams,

00:37reports emerged after his death that he'd had a clause in his contracts intended to give something back.

00:43According to Brian Lord, when he attempted to hire Williams for an event, he learned of it.

00:47He stated,

00:48I never actually booked Robin Williams for an event, but I came close enough that his office sent over his rider.

00:54I was very surprised by what I found.

00:56He actually had a requirement that for every single event or film he did,

01:00the company hiring him also had to hire a certain number of homeless people and put them to work.

01:05It's not at all insane, but it's incredible that the actor would be that selfless.

01:10Number 9.

01:11Gary Busey demands an accurate heaven.

01:14It almost feels like everyone who's ever worked with Gary Busey has a Gary Busey story,

01:19but the best comes courtesy of actor Curtis Armstrong,

01:22who worked with him on Quigley, in which he dies and comes back as a dog, obviously.

01:27According to his co-star, Busey ground shooting to a halt over a scene set in heaven,

01:32because it wasn't accurate to his own experiences of actual heaven.

01:36It wasn't a contract demand per se, but it was a requirement for him to continue.

01:41Armstrong stated,

01:42And then, to top it off, he has a fistfight with another actor who was playing an angel,

02:10and had also been to heaven. Armstrong continued,

02:13But then, on top of it, one of the guys playing an angel had also died and come back,

02:17and this guy got into an argument with Busey about the way heaven looked.

02:21The two of them wound up coming to blows, and they had to send everyone home.

02:24So there you go. That's what we were working with.

02:27Number 8.

02:27Lundgren demanded a three-strike rule.

02:30There's nothing wrong with insisting on contract clauses that are designed to protect the star.

02:35So some actors will refuse to do nude scenes or particularly dangerous stunts,

02:39and you can absolutely understand that.

02:41You can even understand Dolph Lundgren's insistence on a clause in his movie contracts back in the 80s

02:46when he was just starting to get famous that helped him preserve his brand.

02:51While making Masters of the Universe in 1987,

02:54after only a couple of other roles,

02:55he was struggling with English to such an extent that director Gary Goddard wanted him dubbed.

03:00Cleverly, though, he had it written into his contract that he had exactly three chances to get his lines nailed,

03:07allowing him the wiggle room to really get those takes perfect.

03:10Because somehow someone clearly signed off on them,

03:13which might explain why the film bombed so comically.

03:16Number 7.

03:16Jackson demands golf.

03:18When you're a hard-working actor who grosses phenomenal amounts at the global box office,

03:23you deserve your downtime.

03:24Hell, if you're making everyone else that much money just by turning up,

03:27they should probably pay you for the privilege of you relaxing on set, to be perfectly honest.

03:32And that's exactly what Samuel L. Jackson insists on,

03:35apparently, as well as making it very clear that he's in charge when he's on a film set,

03:39like anyone is going to argue.

03:41He spoke to the New York Times to confirm that he's contractually obligated to play golf twice a week while filming,

03:47and that he just won't do extra takes.

03:50He stated,

03:50I can be a hard taskmaster for some directors.

03:53I'm at that point where I can say,

03:54you know, that's not going to be in the movie, right?

03:57We already got it.

03:57We got it when we did this, that, and that.

03:59I'm not going to do that.

04:01Nice work if you can get it.

04:03Number 6.

04:03Steve McQueen demands equality.

04:06It doesn't matter if you're the king of cool,

04:08if you have a complex about working with another legendary actor,

04:11which seems to have been the case for Steve McQueen

04:13when he worked with Paul Newman in The Towering Inferno in 1974.

04:17The story goes that the pair had issues, to say the least,

04:21and they manifested in a fight over top billing on the disaster epic,

04:25with McQueen insisting on top billing and the exact same pay and number of lines as Newman,

04:30which must have been a nightmare for the writers and editors.

04:34A compromise on their conflict was reached with the poster,

04:36on which McQueen's name is first, but Newman's is positioned slightly higher,

04:40the thing studios have to do for egos.

04:43Number 5.

04:44Roger Moore demanded unlimited cigars.

04:47If you're going to play a character like James Bond,

04:49you really ought to really live the part.

04:52That doesn't mean you should go around killing people with impunity

04:54and being a great big chauvinistic pig,

04:56but dipping your toes into the 007 mentality has got to help get into the right mindset.

05:02That is presumably why Roger Moore's first Bond contract

05:05notoriously stipulated that he had an endless supply of cigars.

05:09And because he was playing Bond,

05:11it had to be the finest hand-rolled Monte Cristo cigars,

05:14obviously leading to one bill on a single Bond movie coming to £3,176.50.

05:23Number 4.

05:23Queen Latifah demands to live forever.

05:26Some contract clauses are ostentatious and greedy,

05:29but others are just plain smart.

05:32That's definitely the case with the one inserted by Queen Latifah

05:35after she starred in 1996 heist flick Set It Off.

05:39In that film, according to Latifah herself, she died really good.

05:43I died my arse off.

05:45And elsewhere, she'd also got attacked by a squid underwater and died under there.

05:49With those already on her CV, she simply stopped wanting to die in movies.

05:53After 96, she insisted on a clause in her contracts that says she cannot be killed off

05:58and that it's partly just simple business sense.

06:00She's protecting her own interests, stating,

06:02I put a death clause in my contract right after that movie.

06:06I was like, wait a minute, I'm starting to die too good in these movies.

06:09And if I die, I can't be in the sequel.

06:11No more dying, that's it.

06:13At least she's got a good one in before she stopped.

06:16Number 3.

06:17Clint Eastwood demanded a romantic rival was fired.

06:21You know you've done something worthy of note

06:23when Hollywood literally invents a rule to stop your behaviour from happening again

06:27and then names it after you.

06:29That's how the Eastwood rule was born,

06:31off the back of the outlaw Josie Wales,

06:33which saw the Western star wrestling control from initial director Philip Kaufman.

06:38In a now notorious case,

06:40Eastwood hired Sondra Locke against the director's wishes

06:43as the pair clashed over shooting style and Kaufman's attention to detail.

06:47It also didn't help that both were romantically interested in Locke,

06:50who ended up in a long-term relationship with Eastwood,

06:53which Kaufman was allegedly jealous of.

06:55It all ended with Eastwood getting Kaufman fired

06:58and stepping into the director's chair himself,

07:00causing outrage amongst the director's guild of America

07:03and earning Warner Brothers a $60,000 fine.

07:07The director's guild then also passed new legislation called the Eastwood rule,

07:11stopping an actor or producer from firing the director and becoming the director himself.

07:17Number 2.

07:17Tom Cruise demanded a Scientology tent.

07:20Say what you want about Tom Cruise,

07:22but he's definitely not a shy Scientologist.

07:24He's pretty much the religion's most public spokesman,

07:27and he took that to a different level entirely on the set of War of the Worlds.

07:32As revealed by journalists who visited the set near Los Angeles,

07:35there was a fully-staffed tent of the Scientology organization

07:38right next to the food tents for the journalists and extras.

07:41Lee-Ann DeVette, Cruise's sister and spokeswoman,

07:45called it a gift to the crew.

07:47To Cruise's credit, he was quite open about why he wanted the tent there,

07:51stating,

07:51I believe in freedom of speech.

07:53I felt honoured to have volunteer Scientology ministers on the set.

07:56They were helping the crew.

07:57When I'm working on a movie,

07:58I do anything I can to help the people I'm spending time with.

08:01I believe in communication.

08:03The volunteer Scientology ministers were there to help the sick and injured.

08:07People on the set appreciated that.

08:08I have absolutely nothing against talking about my beliefs,

08:12but I do so much more.

08:13We live in a world where people are on drugs forever,

08:16where even children get drugged,

08:17where crimes against humanity are so extreme

08:20that most people turn away in horror and dismay.

08:22Those are the things that I care about.

08:24I don't care what someone believes.

08:25I don't care what nationality they are.

08:27But if someone wants to get off drugs, I can help them.

08:29If someone wants to learn how to read, I can help them.

08:32If someone doesn't want to be a criminal anymore,

08:34I can give them tools that can better their life.

08:36You have no idea how many people want to know what Scientology is.

08:411. Will Ferrell wants a rainbow on wheels

08:44And then, of course, there are some contract demands

08:47that are cut from an entirely different cloth,

08:49which Will Ferrell was obviously keen on proving

08:51on the press tour for Semi Pro.

08:53Clearly channeling his lead character, Jackie Moon,

08:56Ferrell made some outrageous demands,

08:58according to a rider revealed by the smoking gun.

09:00As part of his artist requirements,

09:03Ferrell demanded an electric three-wheel mobility scooter,

09:06one headset microphone, Janet Jackson style,

09:08one flight of stairs on wheels,

09:10a fake tree, also on wheels,

09:12and a rainbow can be painted on canvas on wheels.

09:15Because why wouldn't you ask for them?

09:17And that concludes our list.

09:19If you can think of any other outrageous demands made by actors,

09:22then do let us know in the comments below.

09:24And while you're there, don't forget to like and subscribe

09:26and tap that notification bell.

09:30And I'll see you next time.

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