Thanks to her appearances in films such as Network and Chinatown, Faye Dunaway is inarguably
a Hollywood icon to be reckoned with.
However, it seems that the actress’s reputation amongst her peers in the entertainment industry
leaves quite a bit to be desired.
There was one notable Golden Age star, in particular, that claimed via late-night television
that Faye was the worst person in the entirety of show business.
Join Facts Verse as we confirm that Faye Dunaway is the worst person to work with in Hollywood.
Faye Dunaway Is the Epitome of a Hollywood Diva
When one’s tasked with thinking of Hollywood divas, one of the first people that might
pop up in their heads is Faye Dunaway.
The actress has achieved rare superstar status in the entertainment industry thanks to her
iconic appearances in classic films, and she still continues to work today!
The actress’s continued work in the industry comes in spite of her decidedly negative reputation,
and that negative reputation has come about from the actress’s diva behavior.
One of the most classic of the many films that Faye Dunaway has appeared in over the
course of her career is 1974’s Chinatown, which was directed by Roman Polanski and starred
Jack Nicholson in the lead role.
Faye played the main female character in the film, and she was already considered a pretty
big deal in Hollywood by that point in time.
In fact, it seems that the production of Chinatown represented a point where Faye’s diva behavior
had reached a point that none of her peers had hitherto seen.
According to legend, Faye Dunaway began acting so diva-like on the set of Chinatown that
she refused to flush her own toilet!
Instead, the actress would call in teamsters to do the job for her, which prompted many
members of the film’s crew to turn their backs and leave without saying goodbye.
When Faye was later prompted by an interviewer to answer for these tales, she coyly replied
that she had no idea.
Faye Poured Urine on Roman Polanski’s Head While tales of Faye Dunaway making teamsters
flush the toilet for her on the set of Chinatown may seem to indicate pretty excessive diva
behavior, that’s far from the worst thing that the actress has ever done on the set
of one of her films.
In fact, it’s not even the worst thing that the actress did on the set of Chinatown!
Legend has it that there was another incident on the set of Chinatown involving Faye Dunaway
and her bodily fluids, and this incident also happened to involve the film’s controversial
director.
Those that aren’t fans of Roman Polanski will be pleased to hear that Faye apparently
dumped a glass of urine on the director’s head after he refused to let her take a break
to relieve herself.
Despite the fact that Faye Dunaway seems to have pissed off a lot of her coworkers on
the set of Chinatown, the film was an immense success and the actress was praised for her
work in it.
Another big role for the actress came in the 1980s, when she was cast in the film Mommie
Dearest.
This is another film where there are some horror stories from its production involving
the iconic Hollywood actress.
Of course, Faye was cast as Golden Age luminary Joan Crawford in the film.
Arguably, Joan was the same kind of insane Hollywood diva that Faye has always strived
to be, so the role proved perfect for her!
However, accounts from the actor that played Joan Crawford’s assistant in the film suggest
that Faye took the role a little bit too seriously.
According to actress Rutanya Alda, who starred alongside Faye Dunaway in 1981’s Mommie
Dearest, she was supposed to receive a stage slap from Faye during the filming of a certain
scene, but Faye ended up slapping the actress for real.
Rutanya was taken aback, but she had already heard rumors of Faye’s strange behavior
on the set of her films.
It’s uncertain if Faye just wanted to make the slap look as real as possible, or if she
had some kind of a grudge against the woman playing her on-screen assistant.
Faye Likes to Slap Her Coworkers Another instance where Faye Dunaway reportedly
got hands-on with a coworker who definitely didn’t consent was during a 1996 Broadway
production of a play by the name of Master Class.
A wig designer by the name of Paul Huntley alleged that he saw Faye slap his assistant
on the hand after the actress didn’t like the style of hairpins that were presented
to her.
According to Paul, this incident really messed his assistant up!
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Faye Dunaway Is Sometimes Called “Hurricane Faye”
LeeAnne Locken will be most recognizable to audiences thanks to her time on the reality-television
series The Real Housewives of Dallas.
However, before becoming known to television audiences thanks to that hit show, she had
made a few attempts to become a serious actress.
One of these attempts came via a role as Faye Dunaway’s on-screen daughter in a made-for-television
feature by the name of Rain.
The movie came out in 2006, and it seems that the nearly three decades that passed in between
this picture and the filming of Mommie Dearest did absolutely nothing to soften Faye’s
worst qualities.
In fact, it appears that Faye was just as obnoxious to her peers on the set as ever!
Faye Dunaway was reportedly so cumbersome to deal with on the set of the made-for-television
feature Rain that the cast and crew of the production began referring to the actress
as “Hurricane Faye”.
Some of the actress’s diva-like behavior on the set of the film included her insistence
that no one within a ten-foot radius of her trailer be allowed to make any noise whatsoever,
which she strictly enforced.
Another disastrous moment on the set of Rain came when LeeAnne had the gall to try and
coach Faye Dunaway on a line.
According to LeeAnne, Faye was having a very difficult time remembering her lines during
a scene and was holding up filming.
LeeAnne gave the iconic actress some advice on how to get the scene done, and Faye did
not take it well.
Faye reportedly began to freak out on her costar before a wardrobe person came in to
break things up between them.
Faye’s Career May Not Recover from Her Recent Firing
More recently, Faye Dunaway seems to have had a heap of trouble with her coworkers while
trying to make a Broadway comeback via a show called Tea at Five in 2019.
It seems that, after all these years, the actress is still finding ways to take her
diva behavior to new extremes.
The actress ended up being fired from the production, with numerous reasons being cited
for her removal.
Firstly, it seems that Faye straight up refused to learn her lines for the show.
Either that or the 81-year-old actress’s memory had gotten so bad by that point that
she was unable to.
Secondly, there was an instance during the press for the show that saw Faye make a big
scene about how much she didn’t like a salad that she had been given, with her eventually
throwing the salad on the floor of the event in front of everyone.
It certainly seemed that Faye wasn’t taking her role in Tea at Five very seriously upon
the production’s start, but the producers had hopes that things would get better with
the actress once the show was up and running.
Sadly, things only got worse.
It seems that Faye got back to her old habit of slapping her coworkers before being fired
from the play, though the specific incident that was credited with her being let go involved
her calling her assistant a “little homosexual boy”, which is apparently a direct quote.
Some say that Faye Dunaway’s career in the entertainment industry is done for good following
her firing from Tea at Five in 2019.
A few years prior, the actress had an embarrassing incident at the 89th Academy Awards that wasn’t
her fault.
At the 2017 ceremony, the actress was tasked with presenting the winner for Best Picture
alongside her former Bonnie and Clyde costar, Warren Beatty.
She and Warren ended up reading the wrong film’s name from the card, and many audience
members blamed the embarrassing mix-up on Faye specifically!
Some claimed at the time that Faye was losing her memory, and this memory loss caused her
to mix up the names of the films.
However, it has since become apparent that it was an honest mistake behind the scenes.
Faye Even Got on Bette Davis’ Bad Side Besides Chinatown, another 1970s production
that Faye was reportedly incredibly hard to deal with during the filming of the 1976 made-for-television
feature The Disappearance of Aimee.
In addition to Faye, the picture also starred James Woods and Bette Davis, the former of
whom was a burgeoning star and the latter of whom was one of the biggest stars of Hollywood's
Golden Age!
James Woods has shared that he was incredibly star-struck upon meeting Bette and that the
actress couldn't have been more gracious towards him.
However, he also claimed that Faye was a boon to everybody on the production set.
According to James, there was no reason that a star like Bette Davis could be humble to
everyone she encountered while a comparatively lesser star like Faye Dunaway acted like a
diva and abused her power constantly.
It seems that Faye’s behavior on the set of the made-for-television production was
enough to rub the humble Bette Davis herself the wrong way, with Bette going on to claim
via an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson that Bette Davis was the worst
person to work with in all of Hollywood.
Sadly, this didn’t inspire Faye to change.
While Faye Dunaway has continued to get work for decades despite her diva-like behavior,
some think that the 81-year-old actress’s 2019 firing from the Broadway production Tea
at Five may have truly sounded the death knell for her career.
Now it’s time to hear from you: did you know that Faye Dunaway likes to slap people
on the set of her films and that the actress was fired from a Broadway production in 2019
for calling her assistant homophobic names?
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