Some Hollywood producers, such as Tim Burton, Ang Lee, and Martin Scorsese, are constantly praised for being easy to work with, while others, including Michael Bay and Oliver Stone, have reputations for being a tad bit difficult. Still, there are others, who aren’t necessarily hard to work with, but have weird quirks. For most of them, these quirks revolve around what can and cannot be on the set. Here are five directors and the weird stuff they don’t allow on set.
Darren Aronofsky – No plastic bottles
Darren Aronofsky not only directed the 2014 hit, Noah, but also co-wrote the movie based on the story of Noah Ark’s from the Book of Genesis. The film also touched on environmental concerns, which is why Darren decided to ban plastic bottles, including water, from the set. Unfortunately, star Emma Watson was left “tired and delirious” and dehydrated. In fact, during one early morning scene, Emma accidentally picked up a mug of stagnant water that she later realized had been sitting there for three months. When she got really sick, the director told her, “Use it for the scene.”
A. R. Murugadoss – No popular soft drinks
The Indian director, who is best known for Ghajini (2008) and Thuppakki (2012), stopped drinking any Coke or Pepsi products back in 2014 while writing Kathtki. He reportedly did this because of the devastating effects Coke and Pepsi plants in Tamil Nadu were having on local farmers. Apparently, this is a change he plans to stick with as he has decided to ban both of the popular soft drinks from the set of his future movies. This includes the movie he is currently filming, tentatively named Thalapathy 62.
Matt Ross – No processed foods
While filming Captain Fantastic in 2016, director, Matt Ross, decided to bring the movie’s lesson to live. The movie tells the story of parents raising their six children in the Pacific Northwest forests, where they have no access to technology and convenience foods. This is why Ross opted to ban electronic items and processed foods from the set, while also ensuring the children in the cast kept their sugar intake to a minimum. He was so dedicated to the cause, that he had the children sign a contract.
In a 2016 interview, he said, “If they broke [the contract terms], the idea was they would have to beg for my forgiveness, you know, ‘please forgive me for my trespasses’ — that kind of thing. I don’t think I actually enforced any of that… the intention was more to say ‘take this seriously for the brief time we are shooting’.”
Quentin Tarantino – No cellphones
There is one strict rule the legendary director enforces on all his movie sets. No cellphones! In fact, people are required to sign a paper agreeing to these terms and anytime they enter the soundstage age, they must hand their mobile device over to an assistant. Tarantino’s reason is completely understandable.
In an interview with Jay Leno, he said, “Nobody can be anywhere around my camera with a cell phone. We actually have a Checkpoint Charlie (phone check point)… I’ve done scenes in movies and all of the sudden somebody’s cell phone on the crew goes off and ruins the scene. That can’t happen. We’re here to do something, we’re really conjuring up something, and I can’t have my actors’ acting, or anything that we’re trying to do, be messed up by a cell phone. People can say, “Oh, well I’ll remember to put it on silent.” “I’m not here to test your memory. We’re here to do this. You will screw up everything we’re doing.
Christopher Nolan – No sitting down
Christopher Nolan takes directing very seriously and makes every effort to ban any potential distractions from his movie sets. While filming the recently released Dunkirk, water bottles and chairs weren’t allowed. According to insiders, he views water bottles “like toys almost” that people play around with, making noise. As far as chairs, he believes that not allowing them keeps everyone “on your toes, literally.”
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