20 Most Awkward Movie Sets
Oh the glamour…
Faye Dunaway vs. Roman Polanski
The Movie Set: Polanski’s 1974 masterpiece Chinatown , in which Faye Dunaway gave great smoulder opposite Jack Nicholson’s busted-nose investigator.
The Awkward: It started with Dunaway attempting to understand the motivations of her character. When she asked her director for, uh, direction, he reportedly merely yelled: “Say the fucking words. Your salary is your motivation!”
Worse still, when one of the actress’ stray hairs threatened to ruin a shot, Polanski plucked the offending strand from Dunaway’s head without even considering calling in make-up.
Dunaway got her own back when, after her director refused to let her take a loo break, she threw a coffee cup full of urine in his face. Polanski’s later description of his lead actress as “a gigantic pain in the ass” seems fitting.