50 Demands These Celebrities Had While On Set
When people see an amazing movie all they walk away with is the perception that everything went right while filming. Most people don't stop and think about all the hard work that went into making that movie a reality. On top of all the hard work, there is almost the most crucial part of keeping your stars happy, which in some cases is easy enough but in others, studios must go above and beyond to keep their talent giving it their all. Scroll through this gallery and check out some crazy demands celebrities had while on set, and you tell us if you think these demands were reasonable.
Ben Affleck
David Fincher’s adaptation of Gone Girl stars Ben Affleck as the leading male actor but a fat paycheck wasn’t the only cost of his services in the movie. At one point during filming, Affleck flat out refused to wear a Yankees cap, a decision that caused the movie’s production to be shut down for a while.
Eventually, a compromise was reached and Ben agreed to wear a Mets cap instead; his reason for refusing the Yankees cap is he has been a Red Sox fan all his life so he didn’t want to be seen adorning their biggest rivals’ cap in a major production.
Johnny Depp
Getting Johnny Depp to deliver those iconic performances as Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean movie series certainly didn’t come cheap. Depp was paid $20 million for Dead Men Tell No Tales alone and given a cut of the profits from the project as well.
Unfortunately, the monetary inducements and being the star of the project weren’t enough to get Depp to be a true professional on set; he would often have difficulty memorizing his lines or even turning up on set. He demanded to be allowed to drink wine while filming to get into character so he sometimes had to have his lines delivered to him through an earpiece after drinking too much.
Prince
Prince is remembered more for his music than his acting, even though he has a couple of memorable performances to his name. He once guest-starred on an episode of New Girl as himself; he delivered an eventful cameo on the show to the delight of fans.
Unfortunately, it was his first and only TV sitcom appearance so things weren’t exactly as flawless on set. Prince said he would only guest star on the sitcom if the show's creators agreed to cancel a planned cameo by the Kardashians; wonder what the back story to that was.
George Clooney
Gravity is a highly-rated film by Alfonso Cuarón that features George Clooney as Matt Kowalski, the unfortunate astronaut, and commander of a space shuttle mission.
Kowalski’s shuttle had Sandra Bullock on board, and they were to convey her to repair the Hubble telescope even though she was terrified of space. Clooney had a short time in the movie as his character, Kowalski died early on, but that didn’t stop him from asking for a full garden, basketball court, and beach hut on set while he was there.
Jim Carrey
Jim Carey was featured on Man On the Moon as Andy Kaufman, and he delivered a performance for the ages as the comedian. His performance was worthy of an Academy Award nomination but behind the scenes, Carrey was focused on making the film set as uncomfortable as possible for the crew and cast.
He wanted everyone to call him "Andy" whenever he was doing scenes as the legendary comedian, or Tony Clifton when he did the comedian’s alter ego. Carrey also refused to deliver messages between these personas.
Will Smith
The third Men in Black movie featured Will Smith as the undisputed star but that came at a steep cost to the movie producers. Smith wanted to deliver a remarkable performance, the kind audiences expect from him, but to do so, he wanted a kind of luxury on set that was unusual at the time.
The legendary actor asked for a $2 million double-decker trailer while filming only some blocks from his apartment. The trailer he wanted had to have several bedrooms, bathrooms, and a movie theater as well.
Steve McQueen
Back in the 1970s, disaster movies were hugely popular so The Towering Inferno was made with a huge budget, and Steve McQueen was brought in as the movie star in 1974. Being the star was not enough for McQueen, who demanded to have the same amount of lines as Paul Newman, his co-star.
As a result, the additional dialogue was written into the script for Steve to meet that demand. He also asked for the fireman’s helmet brim to be made shorter so his face wouldn’t be concealed, but the implication was every other helmet had to be modified as well, which cost the team more time and money.
Lea Michele
Lea Michele became famous after her performance on Glee but unfortunately, with the success and recognition, came pride. She wasn’t the most interesting character on the show, but she allowed it to get to her head, so when she was offered the role of Hester on Scream Queens, she had an intriguing request.
Lea would only appear in the movie if she was only required to scream twice, and every other time her character would have to scream, a recording must be used in post-production. Not much of a scream queen if you ask us.
Paris Hilton
Adam McKay’s The Other Guys is a hilarious buddy cop flick that stars the likes of Mark Wahlberg, Eva Mendes, and Will Ferrell. The movie earned more than $170 million and was highly rated by fans and critics alike but there were still some tough times on set.
Paris Hilton was offered a small role as herself in the movie but her conduct and unusual requests led to her part being canceled altogether. She reportedly had a three-page list of demands for the producers that included live lobsters whenever she got hungry on set on top of outlandish wardrobes brought to set.
Shia LaBeouf
Shia LaBeouf's preference for method acting has led to some remarkable performances and memorable character portrayals, but on the flip side, it has also been quite challenging for certain producers.
While filming Fury, David Ayer’s hyper-realistic war movie, LaBeouf's character was portrayed with face wounds but the most unusual thing about these wounds is Shia wasn’t content with makeup, and he demanded to cut his own face with a knife, and would often open them up to slow down the healing process.
Daniel Day-Lewis
Daniel Day-Lewis is another method actor that is known to go to extreme lengths to deliver remarkable performances. He was featured in the historical drama movie, Lincoln, where he had a couple of unusual demands for director Steven Spielberg.
Day-Lewis wanted only the kind of electricity that was available to Abraham Lincoln during his era, and because he wanted to get into the character completely, everyone on set had to call him Mr. President. He also refused to speak to his British co-stars and crew, since he believed it could impair his performance.
Will Ferrell
Will Ferrell is known for his incredibly hilarious portrayal of comedic personalities in movies so you’d expect a lot of fun times on the sets he’s on. He was featured in Semi-Pro along with the likes of Andre 3000, and Woody Harrelson in 2008, and even though the movie didn’t do well with critics, he still had some hilarious demands on set.
Ferrell has been known to make unusual demands on movie sets over the years, but few come close to what he wanted on Semi-Pro. He wanted a Janet-Jackson-Esque headset microphone, a rainbow on wheels, and a mobility scooter, stating this would help him get into character more.
Dolph Lundgren
While working on Gary Goddard’s Masters of the Universe, Dolph Lundgren only had an unimpressive grasp of English so his part had to be dubbed to his displeasure. Dolph didn’t want his lines to be dubbed so he had it written into his contract that he could have three takes to get his lines right.
Only after not getting it right the third time could his lines be dubbed. This was quite unusual indeed but in the end, it didn’t work very well as Masters of the Universe wasn’t a very successful project, and his demands made the filming take longer than expected.
Nicolas Cage
The 1988 movie, Vampire’s Kiss features Nicolas Cage as Peter Loew and tells the story of how his character thought he was becoming a vampire because he got bitten by a bat. There were some interesting moments on the set of this project as well because Cage insisted that a live bat be used in the scene where his character got bitten, but the director, Robert Bierman, had other ideas.
Unfortunately, their failure to come to an agreement caused production to be ceased for some days and they eventually settled on an animatronic bat. After the 2020 Coronavirus scare, we bet Cage was happy they talked him out of it.
Sir Paul McCartney
Sir Paul McCartney has enjoyed a successful career in music; he found success both as a member of the Beatles and as a solo artist. He’s also featured in a couple of TV shows over the years, as his feature is coveted by producers but they also have to prepare for his appearance.
Paul McCartney asks that producers discard any product made of animal print or leather in his room; he also asks that halogen floor lamps with dimmer switches be provided along with a dry cleaner and 20 dozen clean towels.
Uma Thurman
Kay Thompson’s Eloise book was remarkable enough to get a movie adaptation that featured Uma Thurman. The movie was filmed in Paris and even though it was never finished, it had Uma as its star.
She had delivered memorable performances in the likes of the Kill Bill series and Pulp Fiction so for Eloise, Thurman had a special clause written into her contract for her to be given three cell phones. She also wanted to be able to buy any wig or costume from the movie at highly-discounted prices.
Sharon Stone
Sharon Stone was featured on Pupi Avati’s A Golden Boy but things got dramatic on set as she became uncomfortable with a kissing scene. The discomfort caused her to depart the set and she was unwilling to return after to most people's surprise.
She eventually returned but with the unusual demand that all the cameramen and photographers must leave the set since she was uncomfortable with the paparazzi that would crowd her when she would arrive on set. Her manager phoned in from LA stating that Stone wouldn’t be returning unless the cameramen left; the producers who had been looking for her unsuccessfully had to oblige her unusual request.
Eddie Murphy
Eddie Murphy’s excellent portrayal of different roles in movies like Coming to America and Beverly Hills Cop made the actor and comedian pretty famous, but some of that fame might have gotten to his head. People who worked with him at the time painted a picture of an individual that had obscene requests.
He wouldn’t wear anything unless it was brand new, and would throw out anything given to him that wasn’t as opposed to returning it to the designers. He would also refuse to wear the same pair of underwear or socks twice, and would only wear clothing with its tags on.
Orson Welles
Orson Welles was a talented actor that got more and more eccentric as the years passed. His unusual behavior was amplified on the set of The Black Rose, a 1952 adventure movie in which he starred as Bayan.
Welles wanted his character to wear a mink fur-lined coat; this was unusual because the mink lining wasn’t featured on screen but Orson got the producers to buy him a new coat anyway, which somehow disappeared when production ended and was seen on the actor in Othello.
Jack Nicholson
Martin Scorsese's The Departed is a memorable award-winning movie but it wouldn’t have been the same without Jack Nicholson’s portrayal of Franck Costello. According to reports, Nicholson did plenty to fully get into the character, and he had a couple of unusual demands for the producers as well.
Jack was not interested in things like better pay or food as he was more concerned about his Boston mob boss character. He wanted the character to be portrayed as a sexual deviant, so he requested sexual toys and drugs be brought on set so he could get into character.
Bruce Willis
What makes The Expendables great is the fact that it is a project that features several action stars from the 70s, 80s, and 90s hanging out together in a way that’s simply remarkable. It gives older fans some nostalgia while still delivering an impressive movie by today's standards.
Sylvester Stallone and the other stars came together to make The Expendables 3 great, but they had to do it without Bruce Willis. Willis was slated to play a small role in the project and was offered $3 million for it but he wanted $1 million for every day of filming, an outlandish demand that made producers skip on including him.
Quvenzhane Wallis
Quvenzhane Wallis earned a place in the Hollywood history books by becoming the youngest actor to be nominated for a Best Actress award at the Oscars but unfortunately, the fame got to her head somewhat. She was to star as the titular character in the 2014 remake of Annie shortly after her Oscar nomination.
Wallis was paid $1.5 million for the role but then it was written into her contract that her name would appear second in the credits. Her contract also stipulated that she’d have unlimited wifi in her trailer, and veto power over any errors.
Marlon Brando
The production of The Island of Doctor Moreau was troubled to say the least; the first director of the project, Richard Stanley, was fired only three days after production commenced. Then a number of the cast, including James Woods and Bruce Willis departed.
The producers also had to deal with Marlon Brando’s ridiculous demands on the set as well. Brando refused to take off an ice bucket he found on set and placed on his head even though filming was underway and then he wouldn’t perform if a midget didn’t accompany him during the scenes.
Kanye West
Kanye West is a successful rapper and businessman whose friendship with Jay-Z and previous marriage to Kim Kardashian made him even more famous. He is, however, known for his gigantic ego, and has been known to go on self-praising rants during interviews and performances.
Kanye is also quite demanding when his services are required during interviews and performances, as he expects a long list of things to be done prior to showing up. He expects things like toothpicks, a barber’s chair, shower shoes, some drinks, and snacks all laid out for him by the time he gets to set.
Mike Myers
Mike Myers’ contributions to the original Shrek movie can’t be denied but the producers also had to do plenty to accommodate Myers’ endless demands. Myers’ friend, Chris Farley, was slated to co-star in the movie with Myers before his death.
Mike then wanted the movie script to be re-written with a different comedic approach for him. The requests didn’t end there either; after all his dialogue had been recorded, he thought a Scottish accent would work better than his Canadian accent so he asked for it to be changed, costing DreamWorks an estimated $4 million.
Lindsay Lohan
Lindsay Lohan’s performance in Mean Girls remains one of the highlights of her career, and her role in the 2013 erotic movie, The Canyons, is just as memorable. However, to get her to deliver, the producers had to meet one unusual demand.
The script demanded that her character be nude in a particular scene but Lohan stated she would only do so if every other actor in the scene was nude as well. In the end, her co-star, Schrader, agreed to go nude with her so no one else would have to.
Jamie Foxx
Jamie Foxx shuffles between acting and singing remarkably, and he became a lot more famous after winning an Oscar for his performance in Ray. Unfortunately, the Oscar got to his head a bit, and it had an effect during his appearance in the 2006 Miami Vice movie.
Foxx asked to be paid more than Colin Farrell, and he also wanted a private jet and his own entourage in town. With all his increased star power, Foxx declared he wouldn’t perform close to a boat or a plane.
Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood has become a terrific director over the years, and he has become known for it as much as his acting. However, he wasn’t yet a star in the mid-70s when he was featured in the western movie, The Outlaw Josey Wales.
For this project, he was featured as an actor at first but he ended up directing as well when Phillip Kaufman was dismissed. What fans don’t know is Kaufman was fired because Eastwood demanded he be fired, so Bob Daley fired him.
Katy Perry
From a glance, Katy Perry appears to be pretty chill but some producers would describe how different from laid-back she tends to be on set. A lot of times, she would table pages of requests to producers that must be met before she’d arrive on set.
These are typically requests that demand a lot of stress to be met. For example, she once wanted someone on standby to prepare her favorite vegetables and fruits, she has also demanded two cream-colored egg chairs with one having a matching ottoman and has requested two rooms filled with white, purple, and pink flowers.
Mary J. Blige
On stage, Mary J. Blige delivers memorable and powerful performances that fans have come to adore, but off stage, having her around can be a chore. Regardless of the circumstances, Mary J. Blige would only perform if the venue included a brand new, never before used toilet seat for her.
The seat must also be fitted for her before she graces the venue so that she fits perfectly on it. She has requested this everywhere she’s performed across the world but the good thing is she doesn’t have a list of demands besides the toilet seat.
Madonna
Madonna rose to fame courtesy of her music, but she also doubled as a producer and actress. Wherever her services were required though, she delivered as a professional and one of the world’s biggest stars as long as her long list of demands were met.
Madonna typically moves around with an entourage of hundreds of people, and her room must have phone lines to facilitate international calls. She must also be provided vegan food, and an assortment of white roses cut to six inches exactly, not a single one can be more or less than that.
Beyoncé
Beyoncé’s mesmerizing combination of talent and beauty propelled her to become one of the world’s premier performers and is the reason she remains one of the world’s biggest stars to date. However, Queen B, like many others, often has incredible demands before she performs.
First, she must be provided with a dressing room big enough to fit a sports team; she needs all that space because she typically has a large group of people around her wherever she goes. Beyoncé also requests baked chicken, with a special request for the breasts, wings, and legs to be well-spiced.
Adele
Adele found fame and a couple of Grammy awards early in her career. It is therefore not exactly surprising that she typically has a list of demands before performing. These demands must be met before she arrives and unfortunately, not all her demands are ideal.
The singer sometimes wants unhealthy things like Marlboro Light packs, a lighter, a bottle of really good red wine, and some chewing gum. She also wants several metal teaspoons, an electric kettle, and brand-new mugs.
Rihanna
Rihanna is one of the most famous singers in the world today because she’s immensely talented, and she’s been churning out hit records for a while. However, she requires certain things to be in place before she performs, as you'd expect from a talent this great.
First, an interior designer must be provided, there must be five AC power outlets at least in her room, and sufficient lighting for the perfect environment. Rihanna also typically asks for dark blue drapes and icy blue chiffon and white drapes for bricks and lockers.
Cher
Cher became famous for her music before she began to feature on TV as an actress. She soon began to shuffle between singing and acting commendably, and her time on various movie sets has gotten mixed reactions from other stars; some have described her as a pleasurable person to work with while others have other ideas.
Cher makes a statement with her hair and outfits so it's not surprising that these have to be catered for to get her to perform. She also demands black cups, which are the only kind she uses, and that aloe vera tissues are on set at all times.
Lady Gaga
Many people don’t know that Lady Gaga acts just as well as she sings; her performance in House of Gucci is one for the ages. She’s one of the most remarkable personalities in the music industry, and she goes for remarkable looks so there’s always a list of requests for her performances.
One of the things that must be provided for Lady Gaga is a smoothie station in her dressing room; other things like a rolling clothes racks, a DVD player, a cool mist humidifier, several fans, and scented candles must as well be provided for her as well.
Jonathan Cheban
Jonathan Cheban’s appearance on reality TV shows made him a new kind of celebrity, aided in no small measure by his friendship with the Queen of reality TV, Kim Kardashian. His ascension to fame is an unusual one but that hasn’t stopped him from being a diva.
During his appearance on Celebrity Big Brother, he made a couple of unusual demands that included wanting to fly in on a private jet and drive around in a Rolls Royce. He also wanted to be allowed to order gourmet food at a moment’s notice.
Jay-Z
Jay-Z and his wife Beyoncé make up one of the world’s most powerful and successful celebrity couples but like Beyoncé, getting Jay-Z to perform means a long list of demands has been met. Jay-Z must be provided seven dressing rooms, each of which must be set to 72 degrees.
There must be the main dressing room that contains a big couch, a love seat, and two matching tables. The right food and drink items like Red Bull, peanuts, hot tea, and Coca-Cola must also be provided.
Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lopez’s incredible dancing and acting skills sometimes overshadow her singing but make no mistake, she’s an established and highly-successful actress and singer. Unfortunately, she also has a bad reputation that stemmed from a music video for a charity song.
Even though everyone else involved in the project did it for free, Lopez wanted a 45-foot trailer, a white room with white drapes, white tables, and white flowers. She also wanted fruit punch in her trailer, but she agreed to compromise on some of these demands because the shoot was for charity.
Gary Busey
Busey’s unique dentition and infectious smile have enabled him to land a couple of memorable roles in movies like Predator 2, Lethal Weapon, and Point Break. He was, however, involved in a near-fatal accident in the 80s, which altered his personality significantly afterward.
He was featured in Quigley, which tells the story of a dead man that came back to life as a dog. When Busey arrived on the set of this project, he demanded that the heaven set be destroyed because he’d seen heaven and the set looked nothing like it.
Queen Latifah
Queen Latifah rose to prominence as a talented rapper and was one of the leading female rappers in the 80s and 90s before she took to acting. She had successful roles in projects like the Ice Age movies and The Secret Life of Bees, but getting her to feature in a movie sometimes means certain demands must be met.
Queen Latifah’s contract includes a clause that forbids producers from killing off her characters, which is a smart move that was inspired by her role in Sphere. That demand also put a pause on Queen Latifah's career since not many producers are willing to re-write a character on her behalf.
Alec Baldwin
Alec Baldwin is best known for portraying dysfunctional father characters, and he’s also known for his temperament both online and offline. All these things came to play when he was featured as TV exec, Jack Donaghy on 30 Rock. While he delivered a remarkable performance filled with charm on camera, things were different off camera.
The show’s cast and crew had to cope with his bad moods and shouting; he also asked to be provided a humidifier at all times whenever he was on set, so someone was always standing by with one. Apparently, he was having some issues with his daughter that spilled over to the show's set.
Jennifer Lawrence
Jennifer Lawrence has appeared in a lot of great movies and has therefore been nominated for multiple Academy Awards over the years. Her talent on camera is undeniable, as is the power she wields on movie sets.
That power is the reason she could make unusual demands while filming Mother. Jennifer asked the movie producer, Darren Aronofsky, to provide a "Kardashian Tent" so she could see Keeping Up With the Kardashians and cool her head; the tent she got was laden with photos of the Kardashians and gumballs.
Katherine Heigl
Katherine Heigl is best known for her portrayal of Izzie on the medical drama series, Grey’s Anatomy, which was her breakout role. She has since earned a reputation of being a difficult individual to work with; it all started in 2009 when she asked for total control over her on-screen character and she was refused.
We understand demanding valuable things be brought on set, but total takeover is a crazy demand. That same year, she got an Emmy nomination for the character, but she opted to withdraw and didn’t participate in the ceremony either. Her move effectively stopped Grey’s Anatomy from winning any Emmys.
Julia Roberts
Julia Roberts is one of the world’s biggest movie stars, and for good reason as she’s been doing it for a long time now. With all that fame and star power comes an uncanny ability to get what you want, and Roberts wields that at will.
To get her to film any movie, series, or commercial anywhere on planet Earth, 4 gallons of filtered water must be provided for her every day. Not getting her the required amount of water is an expensive mistake as a fine must be paid by erring producers/creators in addition to her paycheck.
Sarah Jessica Parker
Sarah Jessica Parker was the star of HBO’s hit show, Sex and the City, and that allowed her to bend HBO’s will whenever she liked. So in order to get her to feature as Frances Dusfrense on Divorce, HBO had to put up with a particularly difficult contract she curated.
The said contract granted the actress the power to stop or start filming at will as only she could call cut or action. Then for whatever reason, she also decided that she wouldn’t be filmed whenever she was eating.
Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey’s powerful voice aided her ascension to fame, and she’s also acted for a bit. Unfortunately, being one of the biggest divas means she typically has ridiculous demands, including a separate dressing room and living room, and an entrance that provides access to the living room, but not the dressing room.
Like Rihanna, she’s also fond of white drapes, and she must be provided with two vases of white roses, four Joe Malone vanilla candles, six red and six white bottles of wine, and some other items like Fiji water, whole lemons, protein drinks, honey, and more.
Kirk Cameron
You probably know Kirk Cameron from series like Left Behind and Fireproof where he plays good characters with good intentions. Although Kirk doesn't have the star power of some of the other celebrities we mentioned today, he still has one golden demand all studios must follow.
Kirk demands that he kiss no other woman on set who isn't his wife. This means that when his character has a kissing scene, his wife must be present that day and perform the kiss with Kirk, then later the crew can CGI the actual actress's face onto Kirk's wife's body.
Lena Headey
Lena Headey is best known for playing the role of Cersei Lannister on Game of Thrones, and for her role as Gerald Butler’s on-screen spouse on 300. HBO’s Game of Thrones is all about scheming and lifelong enemies fighting for power.
Off camera, Lena Headey and Jerome Flynn refused to communicate with each other and even avoided each other on set because they had been lovers in the past and it didn’t end very well. Lena Headey then demanded that she not do any scenes with Jerome Flynn, or be in the same studio while filming. The two practically had to shoot on different dates.