David O. Russell is a talented director, however, there are several allegations regarding his conduct on-set. That started way back in the late '90s, when George Clooney got physical with the director over his treatment of others on-set.Despite all the backlash, O.Russell has maintained a close relationship with some of Hollywood's finest, including Christian Bale. As we'll reveal in the following, his relationship with George Clooney is beyond the point of fixing, as the actor revealed he'd never work with O.Russell again, despite his obvious talent. We'll take a look back at their involvement together in the film, Three Kings. Both sides completely snapped on each other during a certain scene and were triggered by events that took place on and off camera. Ultimately, Clooney and O.Russell had different sides of the story to exactly what transpired on-set. Let's take a look at all the drama to unfold between the actor and director.
George Clooney Called His Role In Three Kings The Worst Experience Of His Career
George Clooney did have some praise for David O. Russell and his talent... However, when it came to everything else, it was a forgettable experience for the actor, who did not appreciate the ways of his director, and how he conducted himself with the others during the 1999 film, Three Kings.
“We were trying to get a shot, and then he went berserk. He went nuts on an extra,” Clooney recalls with Far Out Magazine.
He continued, “I would not stand for him humiliating and yelling and screaming at crew members, who weren’t allowed to defend themselves. I don’t believe in it, and it makes me crazy. So my job was then to humiliate the people who were doing the humiliating”.
It might've have also been a buildup of things for George Clooney as behind the scenes, other things weren't running smoothly either.
Clooney saw several production delays and schedule conflicts. In addition, the actor also took a pay cut during the film. All of this must've made the actor quite sour and during a certain scene in the film, he clearly had enough.
George Clooney Had Enough When He Saw David O. Russell Yell At A Crew Member And The Director Fired Back By Telling Clooney To Remember His Lines
The tipping point for Clooney took place during the most stressful scene in the entire film, which featured explosions, gunfire, and everything in-between.
According to producer Charles Roven, things would escalate when Clooney saw O. Russell yell at an assistant.
"George sees David talking to the extras' [assistant director], and it looks like he's yelling at him. But he's yelling to be heard. And George comes running over and goes, 'I told you, mother------, if you're going to pick on somebody, pick on me."
Things would then reach a boiling point, when O. Russell would tell Clooney to focus on remembering his lines.
"And David goes, 'Why don't you just fucking remember your lines for once?' And boom! They grab each other, and they're tussling. And so I pulled George away. That was it."
Quite the intense moment and looking back, Clooney wasn't happy with the way things went down. As for O.Russell, he was a little more diplomatic with his answer about working alongside Clooney.
George Clooney Won't Ever Work With David O. Russell Again
George Clooney agreed that his former director is very talented, however, there is no plan to ever work alongside David O. Russell again.
He said, “Will I work with David ever again? Absolutely not. Never. Do I think he’s tremendously talented, and do I think he should be nominated for Oscars? Yeah,” Clooney concluded.
As for Russell, he took a different approach. He said, “We’re both passionate guys who are the two biggest authorities on the set," refusing to speak any further about the situation.
As for the film itself, off a budget of $48 million, it managed to turn a profit of $107 million. The O.Russell and Clooney film also received stellar reviews, getting a 94% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Clearly, despite the battles between the two, there was obvious chemistry between the director and star in the film.