This Co-Star Called Shirley MacLaine the "Most Obnoxious Actor"
MacLaine and co-star Anthony Hopkins clashed during A Change of Seasons.
There are often rumors about co-stars not getting along on set, but the actors involved don't always admit to them. That wasn't the case with these two celebrities. When it comes to the Hollywood feud between Shirley MacLaine and Anthony Hopkins, they've both shared what they thought about each other in a very blunt way.
MacLaine and Hopkins starred opposite one another in the 1980 film A Change of Seasons. The movie is considered a failure both financially and critically, so perhaps that colored their feelings about the experience, too. Either way, neither enjoyed working together. Read on to find out what MacLaine and Hopkins have said about each other over the years.
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Their movie was a flop.
In A Change of Seasons, MacLaine and Hopkins play a married couple who both begin affairs, and then all four people involved spend a weekend together on a ski trip. The movie received three nominations for the very first Razzie Awards (or, Golden Raspberry Awards), "honoring" the worst films of the year: Worst Actor for Hopkins, Worst Song, and Worst Screenplay.
Hopkins called MacLaine "obnoxious."
So many years later, it's unclear when and to whom Hopkins gave this quote, but it's been widely reported that he said of MacLaine, "She was the most obnoxious actress I have ever worked with." He didn't elaborate on what bothered him so much about his co-star.
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MacLaine confirmed that she disliked him, too.
In a 2014 interview with the New York Post, MacLaine was asked about Hopkins' comment. "I didn't like him either, but he was on the wagon at that time and it was hard on him," she responded.
MacLaine is referring to Hopkins' struggles with alcohol. He became sober five years prior to the release of A Change of Seasons. "I haven't [drunk since] and nor have I felt the urge to," he told The Sunday Times Magazine (via the Mirror). "When I asked for help help and I realized I wasn't alone, that there were thousands of people like me, all my fears began to dissolve."
Both actors have strong personalities.
It could have been their different personalities that led MacLaine and Hopkins to clash at the time. Hopkins has spoken out about having an innate anger. "The anger, you begin to channel it," he told The Guardian in 2018. "I'm very happy I'm an alcoholic—it's a great gift, because wherever I go, the abyss follows me. It's a volcanic anger you have, and it's fuel. Rocket fuel. But of course it can rip you to pieces and kill you. So, gradually, over the years, I have learned not to be a people-pleaser. I don't have a temper any more. I get impatient, but I try not to judge. I try to live and let live. I don't get into arguments, I don't offer opinions, and I think if you do that, then the anger finally begins to transform into drive."
Meanwhile, MacLaine is known to be blunt and to stand up for what she believes in. "Even though I tell people the truth, I'm not a diva," she told Variety in 2020.
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