Faye Dunaway vs. Roman Polanski

The Movie Set: Polanski’s 1974 masterpiece Chinatown, in which Faye Dunaway gave great smoulder opposite Jack Nicholson’s busted-nose investigator.

The Awkward: It started with Dunaway attempting to understand the motivations of her character. When she asked her director for, uh, direction, he reportedly merely yelled: “Say the fucking words. Your salary is your motivation!”

Worse still, when one of the actress’ stray hairs threatened to ruin a shot, Polanski plucked the offending strand from Dunaway’s head without even considering calling in make-up.

Dunaway got her own back when, after her director refused to let her take a loo break, she threw a coffee cup full of urine in his face. Polanski’s later description of his lead actress as “a gigantic pain in the ass” seems fitting.

Kiss And Make Up? Dunaway refuses to address the stories about Chinatown’s troubled production. When one Guardian journalist dared ask her about it, she flew into a rage.

“I think you’ve brought up something that is so distasteful,” she told him. “You know very well, I am a lady and you were completely insulting.” Didn’t really help her case any, did it?