The truth behind the rumours about Faye Dunaway and her “difficult” on-set behaviour
At the height of her fame, Faye Dunaway was one of the most sought-after leading ladies in Hollywood, with the actor becoming inseparable from the tangled legacy of Evelyn Mulwray in Chinatown and the ruthless ambition of Diana Christensen in Network. Her canon of work is crucial within the New Hollywood movement, with Chinatown being recognised as one of the most influential films from the 1970s.
It marked a turn in cinematic history as directors began to shift towards more risky and subversive stories. The darkness of her character and the overall cynicism of the film challenged the climate of creativity that was clouding Hollywood, with the disturbing reality of the incest storyline and dramatic reading of “my sister, my daughter!” becoming one of the most controversial movie moments of all time. Whether it be her role in Network, Bonnie and Clyde or Three Days of Condor, no one can deny the impact that Dunaway had on this radical era, despite what her co-stars and collaborators might have said about her at the time.
She was famously described as a difficult presence on set, with Jack Nicholson nicknaming her “the dreaded Dunaway” or sometimes just “dread” and her strained relationship with Roman Polanski becoming one of the most infamous Hollywood feuds. Bette Davis described her as one of the “worst people” she had ever worked with, earning her a reputation for being an unpredictable and unpleasant force.
To unpack this, we have to look at how Dunaway has often highlighted Elia Kazan’s impact on her acting method. The director encouraged her to draw on her rawest and most potent feelings in her work and to not be ashamed of the emotional outbursts that fuelled her performances. Naturally, this explosive emotional quality became the source of her power and her biggest weakness, with her roles possessing a vulnerability that made her completely mesmerising onscreen, despite the problems this might have caused behind it.
But while Dunaway’s name has been dragged through the mud over the years, the actor has finally addressed the notorious stories from this period of her career, opening up about her personal struggles with mental illness and bipolar disorder that led to this damaging label.
When reflecting on these controversial incidents and moments that defined her legacy as a “difficult” woman, Dunaway has attributed these outbursts to her undiagnosed mental health issues. She recently released a documentary about her behind-the-scenes struggles titled Faye, in which she describes her battle with bipolar disorder and journey towards stabilising her extreme mood swings and finding the right medications.
The actor explained how this internal struggle often influenced the interiority of the characters she played onscreen, saying, “The mania we tap into, and the sadness, of course… I don’t know how all that works exactly, but I understand that I need all of that to use in my craft. It has been a difficulty, of course, as a person sometimes. It’s something I’ve had to deal with and overcome and understand. It is something that is part of who I am and that now I can understand and deal with much more.”
She disclosed being triggered by Polanski’s behaviour during the production of Chinatown, with the director making inappropriate comments about her appearance that induced some of her extreme mood swings. Alongside was the aggressive treatment from co-stars that often triggered her erratic behaviour. While the actor has taken responsibility for her past behaviour, she was certainly also a victim of the normalised misogyny in the business that labelled any unconventional or assertive woman difficult. Some of her colleagues have also spoken up about the double standards for men and women in the industry and how, if her male counterparts had displayed the same behaviour, their reputations would not have seen the same effects.
While we would like to imagine that the industry has moved ahead since then, there are still many instances that point towards the harsh truth that the times aren’t changing all that much, and more work is needed before Hollywood is an equally safe place for all those who work there.
