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 offered giant cue cards, leaving costar Gene Hackman fuming.
The gangster comedy, which followed a mobster-turned-movie producer, premiered in 1995 and quickly became a massive hit.
But fans of the beloved flick 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 he was with acting itself.
He claimed that the Grease alum failed to read the script before filming kicked off, showed up late to the set, and was oblivious to how his actions affected everyone else.
John Travolta (seen in the movie) was so confident that he showed up to the set of Get Shorty without learning his lines – which lead to him needing giant cue cards to complete his scenes
This resulted in him often ‘fumbling his lines’ or ‘forgetting them entirely,’ 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 would often take his frustrations out on Barry and erupt in fits of rage.
In the tome, Barry recalled 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 had been, to which a ‘very professional and intimidating’ Gene responded: ‘Well, with eight f**king pages of dialogue, I pretty much spent the whole weekend memorizing today’s work.’
John then told him: ‘That’s a waste of a weekend.’ When they started filming, his lack of preparations were immediately obvious.
‘Gene was a professional, memorizing his lines before showing up on the set,’ Barry wrote.
‘Gene was off-book knowing every line of dialogue. John, on the other hand, probably hadn’t read the script since his agent made his very lucrative deal.
‘Fumbling his lines, or forgetting them entirely, I could tell 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 he was with acting itself
He claimed that the Grease alum failed to read the script before filming kicked off, showed up late to the set, and was oblivious to how his actions affected everyone else (pictured on set)
Barry said Gene was ‘getting more and more frustrated with John’s delayed responses and lack of pace,’ as was he.
‘Playing a scene… requires both actors to know their lines,’ he continued. ‘Unfortunately, while Gene spent his weekend learning his, who knows what John was doing.’
When they took a quick break so the camera man could ‘reload,’ Barry chatted with his wife, Susan ‘Sweetie’ Ringo, about how great Gene was doing.
But when it came time for them to resume, Gene erupted into a fit of rage and started screaming at Barry.
‘You know what? Cut the f**king camera. You truly don’t have a f**king clue, do you? You’ll take advice from anyone,’ Barry recalled Gene yelling at him.
‘You’ll take direction from your own f**king wife. Don’t you have any goddamn opinions of your own?’
Barry said he decided to call for a lunch break, and as Gene was ‘fuming towards the door,’ he told the actor: ‘Hey Gene, if it helps to yell at me this entire movie, go ahead.
‘It doesn’t bother me at all, so keep screaming. I know you’re not angry at me. You’re angry at John for not knowing his lines.
‘But you can’t yell at him, since you’ve got to work with him for the next 10 weeks.
This resulted in him often ‘fumbling his lines’ or ‘forgetting them entirely,’ which angered his costar Gene Hackman (seen together in the flick)
‘You know my wife didn’t tell me how to direct, and I know you need to yell at someone, so yell at me. But please leave Sweetie out of it.’
The director and the star ultimately calmed down, and Barry ended up making ‘giant cue cards’ for John to read.
‘I had never done this before or since, but it helped,’ he explained.
Recalling a 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’ with John occurred after he turned up late because he had been trying on tuxedos for the upcoming Oscars in his trailer – which left Gene infuriated once more.
‘I have never worked with anyone who loved being a movie star as much as John Travolta,’ confessed Barry.
‘I’m not saying he didn’t also love acting, but he truly loved the fame and glamour and all the things that Gene Hackman hated.
‘I have never worked with anyone who loved being a movie star as much as John Travolta,’ confessed Barry. ‘I’m not saying he didn’t also love acting, but he truly loved the fame’
‘John is charming and not self-aware. He arrived on set with no sense that he had kept everyone waiting.’
Once again, Barry said Gene took out his fury on him, telling him: ‘In my entire f**king career, I have never worked with a more clueless, inept director.’
Thankfully, he said Gene ‘calmed down’ after he ‘vented’ 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 his failure to learn lines, John won the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy.
