History Main / WagTheDirector

** Brando showed up for the filming of ''Film/ApocalypseNow'' drunk and fat, though Coppola had been specified a wiry, muscular character. He hadn't read [[Literature/HeartOfDarkness the book upon which it was based]], instead insisting that Creator/FrancisFordCoppola ''read it to him'' on the set. He demanded changes to the script (most infamously, he demanded his character's name be changed from Kurtz to Leighley since he thought Kurtz wasn't an appropriate name for an American Colonel, and later demanded it be changed ''back'' to Kurtz when he finally read the book) only allowed himself to be filmed in shadows, and ultimately improvised most of his own rambling lines. All this '''after''' receiving his $1 million advance.

** Kevin Nash was named head booker of WCW at some point in 1999, exactly ''when'' he took over the booking committee depends on who you ask, Nash himself has given contradictory interviews on whether or not he booked the FingerpokeOfDoom angle. His tenure with the pencil was not well received, to put it mildly.

* This happens in ProfessionalWrestling. When a wrestler (or a group of wrestlers) becomes very successful, they gain influence over their bookings. Examples include Wrestling/HulkHogan, Wrestling/RicFlair (less and less as time went on though), Wrestling/TheKliq (especially Wrestling/ShawnMichaels, Wrestling/KevinNash, and Wrestling/TripleH), and Wrestling/KurtAngle.\\\

* A particularly extreme case was the 2005 film ''Submerged''. The original script was written as a horror science-fiction story about a submarine captain dealing with invading alien crab-like monsters. Lead actor Creator/StevenSeagal originally purported to like the script, but decided at the last minute he didn't like starring in a movie with monster and aliens, so he had the entire story thrown-out and rewritten into a plot about a team of mercenaries hunting down the inventor of a mind-control device, and threw in other demands like including an opera scene. The only thing preventing the movie's name from being an EarlyDraftTieIn is a short sequence where the characters hijack a submarine.

* One episode of ''Series/DadsArmy'' called for Captain Mainwaring to have a grenade dropped down his trousers, prompting him to hastily remove them. However, Arthur Lowe refused to do it, citing a clause in his contract that he not be filmed without his trousers on, so it went to Corporal Jones.

* Once he became a national superstar, French comedy actor Creator/LouisDeFunes often decided himself who to cast (often his own posse, primarily his friends Creator/MichelGalabru and Creator/ClaudeGensac) in the films with the directors (often Edouard Molinaro and Jean Girault) having no say in the matter, as well as writing or improvising many gags not in the script or reshooting scenes many times till he felt the scenes were perfect. One director who refused him much of this luxury was Creator/GerardOury (de Funès actually didn't mind, and wanted to collaborate further with Oury until his health prevented further collaborations from materializing). Whether this ended up the reason the Oury films are often considered de Funès' very best is up for debate.

* French comedy actor Creator/LouisDeFunes very often worked out the writing and comedic tempo of his scenes himself, at least with directors who didn't have the stature of Creator/GerardOury. Sometimes he wouldn't be satisfied of his supporting cast and phone his good friend Creator/MichelGalabru to come in while he wasn't originally part of the production at all.

* The ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'' short [[http://www.homestarrunner.com/ccdo6.html "The Next Epi-Snowed!"]] parodies this phenomenon. Crack Stuntman, the voice actor for Gunhaver from the ''Cheat Commandos'' ShowWithinAShow, disrupts recording by making a series of increasingly ridiculous demands. In the end though, after producer A. Chimendez writes himself into the plot to stop the demands...

* The ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'' short [[http://www.homestarrunner.com/ccdo6.html "The Next Epi-Snowed!"]] parodies this phenomenon. Crack Stuntman, the voice actor for Gunhaver from the ''Cheat Commandos'' ShowWithinAShow, disrupts recording by making a series of increasingly ridiculous demands. In the end though...

* Mike Myers had already recorded some of his lines for ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'' when he decided that his character should have a Scottish accent. This meant not only going back and rerecording all of the lines, but also reanimating significant portions of the film which had already been completed at the time. The latter added millions of dollars to the films budget, but Myers insisted, and the studio complied.

* French comedic actor Creator/LouisDeFunes very often worked out the writing and comedic tempo of his scenes himself, at least with directors who didn't have the stature of Gérard Oury. Sometimes he wouldn't be satisfied of his supporting cast and phone his good friend Creator/MichelGalabru to come in while he wasn't originally part of the production.

** Due to his exhaustion with ''Star Wars'' (going far back as 1980), Ford only agreed to play him again in ''Film/TheForceAwakens'' on the condition that he was killed.

** Meanwhile, Woll encouraged Oleson to make Karen's past something difficult for her to endure and avoid the misogynistic and sexualized violence that Karen was subjected to in the two comics storylines that most prominently feature her (becoming a drug-addicted porn star who indirectly gives up Matt's identity to Fisk in a moment of weakness in ''ComicBook/DaredevilBornAgain'', and her fridging at the hands of Bullseye in ''Guardian Devil''). During production of ''Daredevil'' Season 3, she worked very closely with showrunner Erik Oleson to ensure Karen's backstory steered towards something that made her more heroic. In one interview prior to Season 3, she said, "If we ever do delve into Karen's past, please don't make it that she shot someone while saving a busload of children. You know? I wanted to encourage him to make this difficult, make it something hard for her to get over, and so we can hopefully pull off something pretty interesting. I like the idea of compromising the character in some way, but I just don't know that it has to be sexual, or that it has to be in a way that causes her to lose her strength." The end result is that Karen is a ''former'' drug user, who was in a toxic relationship with a drug dealer, and she kicked the habit after she got her brother killed while driving under the influence. She never gives Matt's identity up to Fisk due to Fisk figuring it out all by himself. And her death in ''Guardian Devil'' ends up being subverted at the last second by having Dex kill [[spoiler:Father Lantom]] instead.

* Creator/DonnyYen's character Caine in ''Film/JohnWickChapter4'' was almost entirely developed by Yen and the director after he was cast, as he believed that the character he would have played according to the script was an offensive Chinese stereotype and ill-suited to his acting style.

* In ''Videogame/Fallout76'', Shannon Rivers was the pre-war actress for radio serial heroine the Mistress of Mysteries. It was stated that Rivers was very protective of the character, going out of her way to make sure that the character did not become a mere damsel or got shoehorned into romantic plotlines.

* Creator/JamesWoods was able to use his clout to have the original screenwriter of ''Rudy: The Rudy Giuliani Story'' fired because he, a supporter of the Republican Party and a staunch defender of Giuliani, hated the script's percieved "liberal bias" and hired a conservative screenwriter to make the former New York mayor (and future Trump ally) more sympathetic.

* Creator/CrispinGlover tried to do this in ''Film/BackToTheFuture'', but didn't have enough sway to get away with it. His "unreasonable demands" for the sequels may have been creative control, but this cannot be proven. Just as likely would be a paycheck equal to Creator/MichaelJFox's, despite being a tertiary character.

** Due to his own hatred of the character Han Solo, Ford only agreed to play him again in ''Film/TheForceAwakens'' on the condition that he was killed.

** During the filming of ''Film/XMen1'', she refused to wear white contacts that covered her eyes (like in the comics) and wanted more lines/scenes. By shooting time for ''Film/X2XMenUnited'', she [[UsefulNotes/AcademyAward had more clout]], and used it to give herself a bigger part (and more money) in the movie, and lo, here comes her conversations with Nightcrawler and strange use of powers against the missiles. And, ''again'', she demanded even more for ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'', with rumors flying that she wouldn't even cameo in the film without a huge paycheck. However, her final paycheck (after she begged for her part back) was said to be a lot [[LaserGuidedKarma smaller than demanded]].

** In ''Film/TheIslandOfDrMoreau1996'', Brando shot a scene while wearing a champagne bucket as a hat. Everyone was too afraid to tell him to take it off. This is what is rumored to have inspired the scene where Creator/ValKilmer wears one and does a not-at-all AffectionateParody of Brando after his character has gone insane. It was a TakeThat by the rest of the cast and crew.[[note]]Ironic, since by most accounts, Kilmer was just as bad on set, if not worse.[[/note]] He also arrived to the set with Nelson de la Rosa, a minor dwarf celebrity from the Dominican Republic he'd recently befriended, and demanded he also receive a part, forcing them to include de la Rosa as Moreau's assistant Majai.

* Wrestling/EveTorres was originally going to drop the Divas' Championship to Kaitlyn at the 2013 ''Royal Rumble'', but she pushed for it to happen earlier at the 15th anniversary of Raw -- which was in Kaitlyn's hometown of Houston. She also claims that the creative team just wanted to [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome remove her without explanation]] (as she'd be retiring once she dropped the title), but she insisted on having a segment where she quits in kayfabe.