John Travolta was so confident that he showed up to the set of Get Shorty without learning his lines, and had no idea he was being mocked when he was offered giant cue cards, leaving his co-star Gene Hackman furious.
The gangster comedy, which followed a gangster turned movie producer, premiered in 1995 and quickly became a huge hit.
But fans of the beloved film may not know that there was as much drama off-screen as on, all thanks to John’s attitude.
Director Barry Sonnenfeld, 71, recently revealed in his memoir, Best Possible Place, Worst Possible Time, that John, 70, was more obsessed with “fame” and being a “movie star” than acting. per se.
He claimed the Grease alum didn’t read the script before filming began, arrived late to the set and didn’t realize how his actions affected others.
John Travolta (seen in the film) was so confident that he showed up to the set of Get Shorty without learning his lines, resulting in him needing giant cue cards to complete his scenes.
This caused him to often “mix up his lines” or “completely forget them”, which made directing the film extremely difficult for Barry.
And what made it even worse was how much John’s mistakes angered Gene, now 94, who often took out his frustrations on Barry and would explode into fits of rage.
In the volume, Barry recalls an awkward interaction that occurred between John and Gene on the first day of filming.
He said a “charming” John asked Gene how his weekend was, to which a “very professional and intimidating” Gene responded: “Well, with eight fucking pages of dialogue, I spent pretty much the entire weekend memorizing.” today’s work.” .’
Then John told him, “That’s a wasted weekend.” When they began filming, their lack of preparation was immediately evident.
“Gene was a professional and memorized his lines before appearing on set,” Barry wrote.
‘Gene was off the record knowing every line of dialogue. John, on the other hand, probably hadn’t read the script since his agent made a very lucrative deal.
‘By messing up the lines or forgetting them completely, I realized that John had no idea how angry Gene was getting. I knew we were in for a very, very long day.
Director Barry Sonnenfeld (seen recently) revealed in his memoir that John, now 70, was more obsessed with “fame” and being a “movie star” than with acting itself.
He claimed the Grease alum didn’t read the script before filming began, arrived late to set, and didn’t realize how his actions affected everyone else (pictured on set).
barry said Gene was “increasingly frustrated by John’s late responses and lack of rhythm,” as was he.
“To act out a scene… you need both actors to know their lines,” he continued. “Unfortunately, while Gene spent the weekend learning his, who knows what John was up to.”
When they took a short break so the cameraman could “reload,” Barry chatted with his wife, Susan ‘Sweetie’ Ringo, about how well Gene was doing.
But when it was time to continue, Gene burst into a fit of rage and began yelling at Barry.
‘Did you know? Cut the damn camera. You really have no idea, do you? You’ll take advice from anyone,” Barry recalled Gene yelling at him.
“You will follow your own damn wife’s instructions. Don’t you have any damn opinions of your own?
Barry said he decided to ask for a lunch break and, as Gene was “raging toward the door,” he told the actor, “Hey Gene, if it helps you yelling at me through this entire movie, go ahead.”
‘It doesn’t bother me at all, so keep shouting. I know you’re not mad at me. You’re mad at John for not knowing his lines.
“But you can’t yell at him, since you have to work with him for the next 10 weeks.”
This resulted in him often ‘mixing up his lines’ or ‘completely forgetting them’, which infuriated his co-star Gene Hackman (seen together in the film).
‘You know my wife didn’t tell me how to lead, and I know you need to yell at someone, so yell at me. But please leave Sweetie out of this.
The director and star eventually calmed down and Barry ended up making ‘giant cue cards’ for John to read.
“I’ve never done this before or since, but it helped,” he explained.
Recalling one scene, he said, “At one point, John asked me where we were starting from and before I could answer, Gene, pointing to the cue cards, said, “Right here, John. Right at the top of your cue card.” “.
“John didn’t realize Gene was making fun of him.”
Weeks later, another “incident” occurred with John after he arrived late because he had been trying on a tuxedo for the upcoming Oscars in his trailer, leaving Gene enraged once again.
“I’ve never worked with anyone who loved being a movie star as much as John Travolta,” Barry confessed.
“I’m not saying he didn’t love acting, but he really loved the fame, the glamor and all the things that Gene Hackman hated.
“I’ve never worked with anyone who loved being a movie star as much as John Travolta,” Barry confessed. “I’m not saying he didn’t love acting, but he really loved fame.”
‘John is charming and not self-conscious. “He came to set not feeling like he had kept everyone waiting.”
Once again, Barry said Gene took out his fury on him, saying, “In my entire damn career, I’ve never worked with a more clueless and inept director.”
Fortunately, he said Gene “calmed down” after “letting off some steam” and they were able to complete the film.
John played Miami-based loan shark Chili Palmer, who is tasked with collecting a large gambling debt from B-movie director Harry Zimm, played by Gene.
Despite not learning the lines, John won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy.
