Egos and insults: Famous actors like Julia Roberts and Nicolas Cage who will never work with these directors again

A great Hollywood partnership can make movie magic, but sometimes directors and their stars simply do not get along.With ego, processes and stressful filming situations to contend with, it's no wonder some stars walk away with horror stories or feuds.In May 2026, Nicolas Cage namedropped not one, not even two, but three directors he doubted he'd ever work with after he (accidentally) hurt their feelings.After that juicy morsel, we've done a deep dive into other movie stars and directors who are not big fans of each other.From on-set altercations to feeling betrayed in the media, there is a lot to unpack.Nicolas Cage and Christopher Nolan, Woody Allen and Paul Thomas AndersonNicolas Cage has an Oscar and well over 100 film credits to his name, but there are a few high-profile directors the acting legend doubts he will ever work with – because he has told them no.Cage, 62, said a group of fellow Oscar winners, including The Odyssey director Christopher Nolan, will not "call [him] back" after he turned down roles in their films.READ MORE: Condition Anne Hathaway secretly battled for a decadeREAD MORE: People can't finish this history-making movieREAD MORE: Kylie Minogue reveals secret second cancer diagnosis"David O. Russell offered me a movie a million years ago," Cage told The New York Times."It was a good movie, and he offered it and I said no, and he's the only director that I ever said no to who actually came back and offered me another movie."Most of them, they get their feelings hurt and don't call you back. It's happened a million times to me. It's happened with Christopher Nolan, it's happened with Woody Allen, it's happened with Paul Thomas Anderson. They don't call me back."Julia Roberts and Steven SpielbergBoth among the most famous and revered people in their careers, it came as a shock to audiences to learn Julia Roberts and Steven Spielberg clashed on the set of 1991's Hook.Production was not at a great time for Roberts, whose engagement to Kiefer Sutherland ended during it and led to plenty of added scrutiny.It was also her first experience with CGI and, as Tinkerbell, she spent a lot of time acting alone and waiting for shots to be set up.She made her frustrations about this known, leading to the nickname "Tinkerhell" in the press.Afterwards, Spielberg acknowledged her "unfortunate time" and said he would not work with her again – which Roberts said hurt her feelings."People disappoint me. It's too bad. We did have an enjoyable time, we did actually have moments of great humour on that set," she told Vanity Fair.George Clooney and David O. RussellWhile Cage was happy to receive a phone call from Silver Linings Playbook director David O. Russell, George Clooney would never say the same.Clooney, 65, famously hated working with Russell, with the pair's bitter feud beginning on the set of their 1999 film Three Kings.In one infamous on-set moment, Clooney even stepped in to defend an extra and ended up in a physical fight with the director.The black comedy was critically acclaimed, but it came at a cost that Clooney would not want to pay again."The older you get, time allotment is very different. Five months out of your life is a lot," he said 25 years later in a 2024 GQ interview."And so it's not just like, 'Oh, I'm going to go do a really good film, like Three Kings, and I'm going to have a miserable f--- like David O. Russell making my life hell. Making every person in the crew's life hell.' It's not worth it. Not at this point in my life," Clooney said.Florence Pugh and Olivia WildeThe Don't Worry Darling mess was the gift that kept on giving in 2022, with what felt like an endless stream of news surrounding an alleged on-set conflict between director Olivia Wilde and star Florence Pugh.