When Joel Schumacher called Tommy Lee Jones an asshole: “He was not kind”
Sometimes film sets can get a little messy. We can never really know what exactly goes on when the camera stops rolling, but in many instances, it’s disastrous planning, feuds between stars, and perhaps even clashes between directors and actors which cause plenty of rumours to emerge.
In the end, all that matters is whether the film turns out successfully, but sadly, it’s often the case that friendships get destroyed and egos get bruised in the process. Not every actor is easy to work with – you have to have a certain level of confidence to go into the business after all – and in some cases, they turn filming into a living hell.
Tommy Lee Jones has always been a bit polarising, often described as intimidating and a bit difficult, yet his talents are indisputable. Appearing in everything from The Fugitive to Men in Black and No Country for Old Men, the actor has given some great performances over the years that have seen him nominated for four Oscars – winning one – but he has certainly pissed some people off in his time, too.
In an interview with Vulture, director Joel Schumacher called him an “asshole,” admitting, “He was fabulous on The Client. But he was not kind to Jim Carrey when we were making Batman Forever.” Jones was cast in The Client as Reverend Roy in 1994, which led Schumacher to bring him back for his next movie, but clearly, he wasn’t a fan of Carrey.
“Tommy is, and I say this with great respect, a scene stealer. Well, you can’t steal the scene from Jim Carrey. It’s impossible. And, I think it irked Tommy. In 2017, Carrey related that shortly before filming their big, climactic scene together, he approached Jones in a restaurant, and a quaking Jones told him, ‘I hate you. I really don’t like you… I cannot sanction your buffoonery,’” Schumacher revealed.
It’s pretty brutal to be so callous with your co-star, and whether Carrey truly deserved to be spoken to like that remains open to speculation. It seems that he was being rather unnecessary, though, acting out when he should’ve just held it together and got the job done. That’s what he was paid to do, anyway.
Schumacher continued, “No, he wasn’t kind to Jim. He did not act towards Jim the way an Oscar winner with a star on Hollywood Boulevard, being the oldest member of the cast, and having such a distinguished career and the accolades to go with it, should have acted towards Jim. But what happens on the set stays on the set.”
Just because you don’t like an actor’s approach to performance doesn’t mean you have to tell them. Jones might have been the oldest member of the cast, but he certainly wasn’t acting like it. In the end, Batman Forever wasn’t a bit of a mess, and it put Schumacher off Jones for good.
“Jim Carrey was a gentleman, and Tommy Lee was threatened by him. I’m tired of defending overpaid, overprivileged actors. I pray I don’t work with them again,” he told Entertainment Weekly. He has stuck to his word, refusing to collaborate with Jones ever since.
