History Main / PrimaDonnaDirector

One wonders why he hasn't been fired yet, or at least why he isn't the one acting so that someone can fire him already.

* Prima donna directors wound up being the undoing of the NewHollywood era. After their early works got showered with heaps of praise, they were given ProtectionFromEditors and started to [[SmallNameBigEgo let their egos get the better of them]]. It culminated in disasters like ''[[HeavensGate Heaven's Gate]]'' and ''One From the Heart'', expensive box office bombs that cost their studios millions and, in the case of the former, [[CreatorKiller bankrupted United Artists]] and the other for bankrupting it's [[FrancisFordCoppola director]].

* StanleyKubrick, who was well known for his repeated takes. His reputation ranged from "gifted perfectionist" to "PrimaDonnaDirector" to "{{Jerkass}}" depending on who you asked and when you asked. For example, during the shooting of ''TheShining'', he verbally abused Shelley Duvall and made her do [[BeyondTheImpossible 127 takes]] of a single scene in order to get her performance right.

* JamesCameron. Some of his crew took to wearing T-shirts that read "You Can't Scare Me. I work for James Cameron." Several actors on ''TheAbyss'' had horror stories; Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio both refused to work with him again after that [[hottip:* :Mastrantonio because Cameron insisted on shooting retakes of a painful CPR scene until the crew "ran out of film stock (supposedly just as he was becoming satisfied), and Harris because Cameron literally almost ''drowned him'']], and the latter won't even talk about his experience. During the filming of ''TrueLies'', he apparently refused to allow any of the crew to take bathroom breaks until a shot was, ummm, [[IncrediblyLamePun in the can]]. During the filming of ''{{Titanic}}'', a crew member put PCP in the wrap party soup as revenge (this didn't work out so well, as dozens of crew members were hospitalized as a result). That said, plenty of actors and crew work with him time and again, so he can't be that bad ''all'' the time...either that or [[MoneyDearBoy the pay is just too good to pass up]], no matter how much of a JerkAss he may be.

* The infamous voice director Wally Burr, known for directing a number of cartoons in the '70s and '80s was an example of this. He would frequently have actors redo their lines several times over until they nailed it perfectly, and is cited by some as the reason for the 8-hour recording maximum being cut down to four hours. Veteran voice actor MichaelBell (whom Burr worked with often) has mentioned that after a session with Burr, the actors' voices would be sore for hours and maybe even a day, and joked that Burr's work with OrsonWelles on ''TransformersTheMovie'' was the cause of his death a month later. However, Burr himself stated that despite this hard reputation, he "got the job done successfully and received no complaints about the quality of the voice acting".

The worst nightmare a fictional actor can face is a director of this type. He's [[LargeHam hammier]] than [[BrianBlessed BRIAN BLESSED]] and has an ''extremely'' exacting interpretation of his own artistic vision. He believes himself to be lord of the studio and no one dares to correct him, including those higher up the executive ladder (i.e. ''his'' bosses). Often times he can act better (or at least more dramatically) than all of his actors put together, and he expects each and every one of his staff to be up to his standards. He will [[GloryHound take sole credit for the production and will shamelessly steal other people's brilliant ideas and pass them off as his own]].

He laughs and cries. He jokes and rages. He begs, he cajoles, he screams, he threatens suicide. He [[FeedMe eats so much of the background that it has to be replaced between takes]], and he'll eat your face too if you try to correct him.

The worst nightmare a fictional actor can face is a director of this type. He's [[LargeHam hammier]] than [[BrianBlessed BRIAN BLESSED]] and has an ''extremely'' exacting interpretation of his own artistic vision. He believes himself to be lord of the studio and no one dares to correct him, including those higher up the executive ladder (i.e. ''his'' bosses). Often times he can act better (or at least more dramatically) than all of his actors put together, and he expects each and every one of his staff to be up to his standards. He will take sole credit for the production and will shamelessly steal other people's brilliant ideas and pass them off as his own.

* The director in ''{{Bolt}}'', who would was dramatic enough that he could have starred in his own series. He even dared to do a TakeThat in the production ''immediately'' after a [[ExecutiveMeddling Network rep]] complained, and ''in her face'', no less.

* JohnKricfalusi is widely regarded as a brilliant animator and animation director, but, like Freleng, is so difficult to work with that it might not be worth the trouble. Billy West in particular has nothing nice to say about him, and refuses to work with him ever again.

* Prima donna directors wound up being the undoing of the NewHollywood era. After their early works got showered with heaps of praise, they were given ProtectionFromEditors and started to [[SmallNameBigEgo let their egos get the better of them]]. It culminated in disasters like ''[[HeavensGate Heaven's Gate]]'' and ''One From the Heart'', expensive box office bombs that cost their studios millions and, in the case of the former, [[CreatorKiller bankrupted United Artists]].

* WernerHerzog is a famous real life example. A popular story holds that the equally neurotic actor Klaus Kinski threatened to walk off the set of ''Aguirre: The Wrath of God'', so Herzog pulled out a gun and forced him to finish the scene at gunpoint. Herzog says that story's apocryphal -- really, he didn't have a gun on him, he just swore that he would murder Kinski and then kill himself if he dropped out of the movie.

* JamesCameron. Some of his crew took to wearing T-shirts that read "You Can't Scare Me. I work for James Cameron." Several actors on ''TheAbyss'' had horror stories; Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio both refused to work with him again after that [[hottip:* :Mastrantonio because Cameron insisted on shooting retakes of a painful CPR scene until the crew "ran out of film stock'' (supposedly just as he was becoming satisfied), and Harris because Cameron literally almost ''drowned him'']], and the latter won't even talk about his experience. During the filming of ''TrueLies'', he apparently refused to allow any of the crew to take bathroom breaks until a shot was, ummm, [[IncrediblyLamePun in the can]]. During the filming of ''{{Titanic}}'', a crew member put PCP in the wrap party soup as revenge (this didn't work out so well, as dozens of crew members were hospitalized as a result). That said, plenty of actors and crew work with him time and again, so he can't be that bad ''all'' the time...either that or [[MoneyDearBoy the pay is just too good to pass up]], no matter how much of a JerkAss he may be.

* JamesCameron. Some of his crew took to wearing T-shirts that read "You Can't Scare Me. I work for James Cameron." Several actors on ''TheAbyss'' had horror stories; Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio both refused to work with him again after that [[hottip:* :Mastrantonio because Cameron insisted on shooting retakes of a painful CPR scene despite ''having run out of film stock'', and Harris because Cameron literally almost ''drowned him'']], and the latter won't even talk about his experience. During the filming of ''TrueLies'', he apparently refused to allow any of the crew to take bathroom breaks until a shot was, ummm, [[IncrediblyLamePun in the can]]. During the filming of ''{{Titanic}}'', a crew member put PCP in the wrap party soup as revenge (this didn't work out so well, as dozens of crew members were hospitalized as a result). That said, plenty of actors and crew work with him time and again, so he can't be that bad ''all'' the time...either that or [[MoneyDearBoy the pay is just too good to pass up]], no matter how much of a JerkAss he may be.

* JamesCameron. Some of his crew took to wearing T-shirts that read "You Can't Scare Me. I work for James Cameron." Several actors on ''TheAbyss'' had horror stories; Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio both refused to work with him again after that [[hottip:* :Mastrantonio because Cameron insisted on shooting retakes of a painful CPR scene despite ''having run out of film stock'', and Harris because Cameron literally almost ''drowned him'']], and the former won't even talk about his experience. During the filming of ''TrueLies'', he apparently refused to allow any of the crew to take bathroom breaks until a shot was, ummm, [[IncrediblyLamePun in the can]]. During the filming of ''{{Titanic}}'', a crew member put PCP in his soup as revenge. That said, plenty of actors and crew work with him time and again, so he can't be that bad ''all'' the time...either that or [[MoneyDearBoy the pay is just too good to pass up]], no matter how much of a JerkAss he may be.

* JohnKricfalusi is widely regarded as a brilliant animator and animation director, but, like Freling, is so difficult to work with that it might not be worth the trouble. Billy West in particular has nothing nice to say about him, and refuses to work with him ever again.

* JamesCameron. Some of his crew took to wearing T-shirts that read "You Can't Scare Me. I work for James Cameron." Several actors on ''TheAbyss'' had horror stories; Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio both refused to work with him again after that [[hottip:* :Mastrantonio because Cameron insisted on shooting retakes of a painful CPR scene despite ''having run out of film stock'', and Harris because Cameron literally almost ''drowned him'']], and the former won't even talk about his experience. During the filming of ''TrueLies'', he apparently refused to allow any of the crew to take bathroom breaks until a shot was, ummm, [[IncrediblyLamePun in the can]]. During the filming of ''{{Titanic}}'', a crew member put PCP in his soup as revenge. That said, plenty of actors and crew work with him time and again, so he can't be that bad ''all'' the time...
** Oh, trust me. He can. Why do they keep coming back to him, though? MoneyDearBoy.

* Katharina Wagner.

* AlfredHitchcock had such a reputation for this that he was often quoted as having said "Actors are cattle". This led to a later incident on the set of ''Mr. and Ms. Smith'' in which Carol Lombard actually brought heifers onto the set with name tags of the lead actors. Hitchcock responded that he had been misquoted: "I said 'Actors should be treated like cattle.'"

Contrast WagTheDirector.

!!Examples:

[[AC: {{Film}}]]

** '''ROLL 'EM!!'''

* Marty Wolff in BigFatLiar.

[[AC: LiveActionTV]]

* The director of "Queen of the Zombies" in a JoanOfArcadia episode. Perhaps justified in that [[spoiler:he turned out to be God.]]

[[AC: RealLife]]
* WernerHerzog is a famous real life example. A popular story holds that the equally neurotic actor Klaus Kinski threatened to walk off the set of ''Aguirre: The Wrath of God'', so Herzog pulled out a gun and forced him to finish the scene at gunpoint. Herzog says that story's apocryphal-- really, he didn't have a gun on him, he just swore that he would murder Kinski and then kill himself if he dropped out of the movie.

[[AC: WesternAnimation]]
* Mr. Director, the Jerry Lewis {{Expy}} from a few ''{{Animaniacs}}'' shorts.
* Llewellyn Sinclair (Jon Lovitz), in the ''TheSimpsons''' episode "A Streetcar Named Marge". He actually winds up on stage when he takes over Otto's role right before the performance, having realized Otto wasn't good enough.


----

[[AC: Film]]

* WernerHerzog is a famous real life example. A popular story holds that the equally neurotic actor Klaus Kinski threatened to walk off the set of ''Aguirre: The Wrath of God'', so Herzog pulled out a gun and forced him to finish the scene at gunpoint. Herzog says that story's apocryphal-- really, he didn't have a gun on him, he just swore that he would murder Kinski and then kill himself if he dropped out of the movie.

* Talbot Marshall from ''{{Friends}}''. Alternates between LargeHam and DeadpanSnarker. As Joey so eloquently puts it, "He's like a cartoon!"
* Mr. Director, the Jerry Lewis {{Expy}} from a few ''{{Animaniacs}}'' shorts.
* Llewellyn Sinclair (Jon Lovitz), in the ''TheSimpsons''' episode "A Streetcar Named Marge". He actually winds up on stage when he takes over Otto's role right before the performance, having realized Otto wasn't good enough.

* Parodied with the ''WhoseLineIsItAnyway'' game "Hollywood Director".
--->'''Colin:''' I believe it was Shakespeare who said, "All the world's a stage, and you are CRAP!"

* TruthInTelevision:
** StanleyKubrick, who was well known for his repeated takes. His reputation ranged from "gifted perfectionist" to "PrimaDonnaDirector" to "{{Jerkass}}" depending on who you asked and when you asked. For example, during the shooting of ''TheShining'', he verbally abused Shelley Duvall and made her do [[BeyondTheImpossible 127 takes]] of a single scene in order to get her performance right.
** FritzLang. His retakes often included verbal abuse, beatings, and occasionally [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpXrIaEmOks being set on fire.]]
** JamesCameron. Some of his crew took to wearing T-shirts that read "You Can't Scare Me. I work for James Cameron." Several actors on ''TheAbyss'' had horror stories; Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio both refused to work with him again after that [[hottip:*:Mastrantonio because Cameron insisted on shooting retakes of a painful CPR scene despite ''having run out of film stock'', and Harris because Cameron literally almost ''drowned him'']], and the former won't even talk about his experience. During the filming of ''TrueLies'', he apparently refused to allow any of the crew to take bathroom breaks until a shot was, ummm, [[IncrediblyLamePun in the can]]. During the filming of ''{{Titanic}}'', a crew member put PCP in his soup as revenge. That said, plenty of actors and crew work with him time and again, so he can't be that bad ''all'' the time...
*** Oh, trust me. He can. Why do they keep coming back to him, though? MoneyDearBoy.
** AlfredHitchcock had such a reputation for this that he was often quoted as having said "Actors are cattle". This led to a later incident on the set of ''Mr. and Ms. Smith'' in which Carol Lombard actually brought heifers onto the set with name tags of the lead actors. Hitchcock responded that he had been misquoted: "I said 'Actors should be treated like cattle.'"
** The infamous voice director Wally Burr, known for directing a number of cartoons in the '70s and '80s was an example of this. He would frequently have actors redo their lines several times over until they nailed it perfectly, and is cited by some as the reason for the 8-hour recording maximum being cut down to four hours. Veteran voice actor MichaelBell (whom Burr worked with often) has mentioned that after a session with Burr, the actors' voices would be sore for hours and maybe even a day, and joked that Burr's work with OrsonWelles on ''TransformersTheMovie'' was the cause of his death a month later. However, Burr himself stated that despite this hard reputation, he "got the job done successfully and received no complaints about the quality of the voice acting".
** FrizFreleng, one of the main directors at ''LooneyTunes'', was apparently this. He often made his animators redo scenes over and over again. One of the animators (who worked for him for over a decade) later said in an interview that he grew to hate the man. Not surprising, since he's known for his bad temper (and was even the inspiration for Yosemite Sam).
** Prima donna directors wound up being the undoing of the NewHollywood era. After their early works got showered with heaps of praise, they were given ProtectionFromEditors and started to [[SmallNameBigEgo let their egos get the better of them]]. It culminated in disasters like ''[[HeavensGate Heaven's Gate]]'' and ''One From the Heart'', expensive box office bombs that cost their studios millions and, in the case of the former, [[CreatorKiller bankrupted United Artists]].
* The director of "Queen of the Zombies" in a JoanOfArcadia episode. Perhaps justified in that [[spoiler:he turned out to be God.]]

* JohnBarrowman plays one of these in an episode of ''HotelBabylon'', in which he [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLVRVjoa98w screams at his female lead for refusing to show her breasts in a sex scene.]]
*Marty Wolff in BigFatLiar

* Katharina Wagner. Also, German theatre/opera is full of them. Modernization is one thing, it can be really good and refreshing sometimes, but these guys just want to see pointless nudity, gore and aiming for a scandal. They don't give a damn about the plot or the music.