No one can deny that chemistry matters a great deal. Without chemistry, you’ve got actors that might as well be on different sets. Without chemistry, you can’t make an audience fall in love with your movie or tv show. Without chemistry, you won’t make it far in the box office.
And so, Hollywood often employs professionals who supposedly specialize in casting. Behind the scenes, casting is a tedious process. You need actors who can take a role and bring it to life. In some cases, you may want big-name A-list actors who can deliver critical acclaim to the project. But mostly, you want chemistry. You want actors that look great together and act well together.
There's a lot of great chemistry in Hollywood, but peeking behind the scenes may tell a different story. In fact, here are 20 screen couples who boast of chemistry but reportedly hated each other in real life:
20 David Duchovny And Gillian Anderson
David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson starred as the ultimate partners in crime and eventual lovers in the hit sci-fi tv show X-Files. According to the Daily Mail, Anderson once admitted that “there were periods when we hated each other.” She also explained, “David and I have always had chemistry - even at the height of our long non-speaking periods we still had the chemistry when we were on camera.” In recent years, however, the two have become good friends.
19 Stana Katic And Nathan Fillion
On the long-running comedy-drama series Castle, Stana Katic and Nathan Fillion eventually had their characters fall in love and marry each other. Behind the scenes, however, the co-stars reportedly had a feud. One insider even told Us Weekly, “Stana and Nathan completely despise each other. They will not speak when they are off set, and this has been going on for seasons now.” In 2015, Katic also made an abrupt exit from the show. Castle was subsequently canceled less than a month after the actress’ departure.
18 Naya Rivera And Mark Salling
Naya Rivera and the late Mark Salling were both cast members of the musical ensemble behind the hit tv show Glee. Their characters became more than just friends and the same thing happened behind the scenes. However, things never seemed smooth between the two. In fact, in her memoir, Nivera even admitted that she wasn’t exactly surprised to learn of Salling’s charges. She even wrote, “I can’t say I was totally shocked, but still – WTF?”
17 Nina Dobrev And Ian Somerhalder
At first, things seemed to be more than fine between Nina Dobrev and Ian Somerhalder on the set of Vampire Diaries. After all, the co-stars had been dating for three years throughout the show’s run. However, when the two broke up, there were rumors of awkward tension on the set. It also didn’t help that Somerhalder reportedly cheated on Dobrev with his now-wife Nikki Reed. At one point, Dobrev seemed to take a dig at Somerhalder, tweeting, “Quote of the day: Ask for forgiveness, not permission.”
16 Rachel McAdams And Ryan Gosling
Today, the 2004 film The Notebook is still hailed as a true romance classic. However, it turns out that co-stars Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling weren’t exactly feeling the love onset. Initially, the two reportedly didn’t get along. The film’s director, Nick Cassavetes, confirmed this much during an interview with VH1. In particular, he remarked, “Maybe I’m not supposed to tell this story, but they were really not getting along one day on set. Really not.”
15 Mila Kunis And Ashton Kutcher
Today, Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher are a happily married couple. However, during the time when they were starring together on the hit sitcom That 70’s Show, the two didn’t really get along well. A source told Radar Online, “Ashton and Mila were absolutely not friends during much of the making of That '70s Show. In fact, they couldn't stand working together... The two were never close on the set. Quite the opposite!”
14 Angelina Jolie And Johnny Depp
Actress, director, and humanitarian ambassador Angelina Jolie once starred with veteran actor Johnny Depp in the 2010 film, The Tourist. Behind the scenes, there was tension between the two. Apparently, Jolie didn’t appreciate Depp’s partying ways. An Insider told In Touch, “She’s getting fed up with Johnny. Their chemistry was supposed to fly off the charts, but in private, they’re not getting along.” Meanwhile, Depp reportedly thought that Jolie was “really full of herself.”
13 Kate Beckinsale And Luke Wilson
Kate Beckinsale starred alongside Luke Wilson in the 2007 thriller Vacancy. In the movie, the two played a couple. Behind the scenes, though, they were reportedly far from amicable. According to Page Six, Beckinsale didn’t appreciate her male co-star’s “diva behavior.” Meanwhile, the production also reportedly had to use stand-ins when the stars would read lines.
12 Jennifer Aniston And Jay Mohr
Jennifer Aniston starred opposite Jay Mohr in the film Picture Perfect. According to The Telegraph, Aniston wanted her then-boyfriend Tate Donovan to star alongside her. When 20th Century Fox cast Mohr instead, Aniston reportedly decided to take her anger out on her co-star. During a 2010 interview, Mohr remarked, “I hadn’t done many movies and even though they screen-tested some pretty famous guys, I somehow snaked into the leading role. The actress said, ‘No way! You’ve got to be kidding me!’ Loudly. Between takes. To other actors on set. I would literally go to my mom’s house and cry.”
11 Reese Witherspoon And Vince Vaughn
Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn starred in the 2008 holiday movie Four Christmases. According to reports, the two stars had clashed due to different working styles. A source told the New York Daily News, “Vince roll[ed] onto set in the morning looking like he just came in from a night out, while Reese arrive[ed] early looking camera-ready.” Meanwhile, the source also claimed that “sometimes Vince [would] be standing behind her and he [had] this look on his face that he just want[ed] to kill her!”
10 Dakota Johnson And Jamie Dornan
Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan starred together in the Fifty Shades film saga. Ever since Fifty Shades of Grey released in 2015, there have been widespread rumors that the co-stars didn’t really get along well. During an interview with “Today’s” Natalie Morales, the stars were asked if they had instant chemistry. In response, they both shook their heads no. And when Morales remarked, “You hate each other,” Dornan nodded yes, and Johnson studied the ceiling.
9 Sophia Loren And Marlon Brando
Sophia Loren and Marlon Brando shared the big screen in the 1967 film A Countess from Hong Kong. Behind the scenes, the Italian actress accused Brando of groping her according to The Telegraph. In her autobiography, Loren also wrote, “All of a sudden he put his hands on me. I turned in all tranquillity and blew his face, like a cat stroked the wrong way and said, ‘Don’t you ever dare to do that again. Never again!’ As I pulverized him with my eyes he seemed small, defenseless, almost a victim of his own notoriety.”
8 Meryl Streep And Dustin Hoffman
Veteran actress Meryl Streep and Dustin Hoffman starred as a divorcing couple in the 1979 film Kramer vs. Kramer. And when misconduct allegations were made against Hoffman in 2018, Streep recalled an incident with the actor during the film’s production. During an interview with The New York Times alongside Tom Hanks, Streep recalled, “When you’re an actor, you’re in a scene, you have to feel free… But this was my first movie, and it was my first take in my first movie, and he just slapped me. And you see it in the movie. It was overstepping.”
7 Patrick Swayze And Jennifer Grey
The late Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey worked together on both Red Dawn and Dirty Dancing. For years, rumors were swirling that there was tension between the two on set. And as Swayze himself had written in his autobiography, “We did have a few moments of friction when we were tired or after a long day of shooting. She seemed particularly emotional, sometimes bursting into tears if someone criticized her. Other times, she slipped into silly moods, forcing us to do scenes over and over again when she'd start laughing.”
6 Sharon Stone And William Baldwin
Sharon Stone and William Baldwin starred together in the 1993 thriller film Sliver. And according to several reports, the two actors didn’t like each other at all. According to Heart, the film’s director, Phil Noyce, even recalled to his biographer, “I ended up having to shoot many of their close-ups with only one of them in the room at a time because they didn’t want to look at each other.” There was also rumor that Stone bit Baldwin’s tongue during a kissing scene.
5 Julia Roberts And Nick Nolte
Julia Roberts and Nick Nolte once starred in the 1994 romantic comedy I Love Trouble together. Behind the scenes, tensions had gotten so bad that Roberts and Nolte would film their scenes separately, according to Us Weekly. Moreover, during an interview with The New York Times, Roberts referred to Nolte as “completely disgusting.” In response, Nolte remarked, “It’s not nice to call someone ‘disgusting.’ But she’s not a nice person. Everyone knows that.”
4 Shannen Doherty And Jason Lee
Jason Lee once played the role of Shannen Doherty’s love interest in the 1995 film Mallrats, and according to a report from The Telegraph, Lee found Doherty to be “rude, spoiled, and remarkably unpleasant to work with.” As you may have heard, similar complaints have also been lodged against the actress by other co-stars over the years. These include Jason Priestley and Alyssa Milano.
3 Claire Danes And Leonardo DiCaprio
In the 1996 film Romeo + Juliet, Claire Danes and Leonardo DiCaprio portrayed the role of the famous star-crossed lovers. For years, rumors have been swirling that the two didn’t get along, particularly because Danes reportedly found DiCaprio immature. Meanwhile, Danes recalled being awkward with her co-star onset. She told Glamour, “There was definitely a spark, but I don’t think either of us knew how to handle it. So we sometimes sort of ignored each other. It was too big for us to really accept.”
2 Pierce Brosnan And Teri Hatcher
The two starred in Tomorrow Never Dies and didn’t get along. According to the Irish Examiner, Brosnan recalled, “She was late to the set because she was newly pregnant. I did not know that until the end of the day. “He elaborated, “I was vexed because I had a call time of 6 or 7 am, and we didn't do any work until three or four in the afternoon. No one told me her situation until afterwards. By that time I'd already shot my mouth off and cussed and moaned and groaned. That's all it was, a storm in a teacup.”
1 Lauren Graham And Scott Patterson
On the hit tv series Gilmore Girls, Laurent Graham and Scott Patterson starred as Stars Hollow’s all-time favorite couple. Off-screen, however, the two don’t really have a close relationship. When TV Guide asked Graham if she and Patterson were best friends, Graham answered, “No.” Meanwhile, she also explained, “We're not intimate. We talk kind of how we talk [on the show]. We work well together.”
Sources: The Telegraph, The New York Times, Us Weekly, Irish Examiner, VH1, New York Daily News, Radar Online
