Actors Who Have Great Chemistry On Screen But Allegedly Didn’t Get Along In Real Life

With HBO’s “Euphoria” finally coming back to screens, reports of Zendaya and Sydney Sweeney’s on-set feud continue to spread online. According to the British news outlet The Mirror, insider sources said their beef stemmed from Sweeney allegedly having a crush on Zendaya’s hubby, Tom Holland, and flirting with him when he visited Zendaya on set, turning the relationship between the “Euphoria” stars from sweet to sour.

However, while fans online are devouring the rumors and analyzing the actresses’ behavior toward each other on red carpets, on-set feuds are much more common than you might realize. We have a whole list of many more actors who had great on-screen chemistry but allegedly did not get along in real life.

Janet Hubert and Will Smith

Perhaps one of the most infamous on-set beefs, Will Smith and Janet Hubert did not get along while on the set of “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” so much so that it led to Hubert’s replacement by Daphne Maxwell Reid in season four of the series.

According to CNN, the pair had creative differences, and Smith was quoted as saying Hubert wanted the sitcom to be the “The Aunt Viv of Bel-Air” show. However, the tension between the two has since thawed, and the actors publicly made up during the 2020 reunion of the hit show, which aired on HBO Max.

Tisha Campbell and Martin Lawrence

Tisha Campbell and Martin Lawrence may be pals now, but that wasn’t the case back when they were the stars of Lawrence’s sitcom, “Martin.” According to People, Campbell filed a lawsuit against Lawrence in 1997, accusing him of sexual harassment, which was one of the reasons the show came to an end.

However, in a 2022 interview with People, amid the show’s reunion, Lawrence said, “it’s nothing but love” between him and Campbell. On a similar note, Campbell also told the publication they’ve healed from the situation and are “not even gonna talk about it.”

Tyrese Gibson and James Franco

Tyrese Gibson and James Franco didn’t just have on-screen tension for the 2006 film “Annapolis”; they also had real issues behind the scenes. According to the pop culture publication LADbible, Tyrese said he would never work with Franco again because of the actor’s intense method acting practices.

Furthermore, in a 2007 interview with Elle, Gibson admitted that Franco would full-on hit him during their boxing scenes. “Whenever we’d have to get in the ring for boxing scenes, and even during practice, the dude was full-on hitting me. I was always like, ‘James, lighten up, man. We’re just practicing.’ He never lightened up.”

Isaiah Washington and Patrick Dempsey

The beef between Isaiah Washington and Patrick Dempsey on the set of “Grey’s Anatomy” was so bad that the two got into a physical altercation behind the scenes, leading to Washington’s dismissal from the show.

Per People, one of the show’s writers, Mark Wilding, recalled their fight in the 2021 book “How to Save a Life: The Inside Story of Grey’s Anatomy.” He said, “They got into an arguing match, and then before you know it, they were physically fighting. I was standing there in Video Village. I’m, like, 6 feet 4 inches. I’m bigger than both of them. But I didn’t really jump in right away because I’m like, I don’t know if I want to get involved.”

The fight reportedly ended with Washington shouting a homophobic slur at Dempsey, which was why he was fired from the show.

Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson

In 2015, word on the street was that the toxic relationship between Cookie and Lucious Lyon spilled into real life between Taraji P. Henson and Terrence Howard, with TMZ reporting that they had some big creative differences over whether to use the n-word on the show.

However, this is one rumor that has been squashed by the pair, with Henson going on to ask why she would “fight to work with someone she does not get along with” in an Instagram post, according to E! News.

Jamie Foxx and LL Cool J

They may have buried the hatchet now, but Jamie Foxx and LL Cool J were not cool on the set of the 1999 film “Any Given Sunday.”

In a 2017 interview on “The Howard Stern Show,” Foxx recalled that even though he was a big fan of LL Cool J, pressure had built between them while filming before it eventually exploded. “It got kind of crazy. We was clocking each other. I didn’t pass out, but I mean, you know, that’s a big motherfucker though,” he said. “But at the end of it, I said, no matter what, man, you’re still my hero, I don’t give a fuck and we gon’ get through this fucking film.”

Bill Cosby and Lisa Bonet

They might have shared a sweet father-daughter bond on-screen, but off-camera, Bill Cosby and Lisa Bonet did not get along. According to Page Six, Bonet was booted from her spinoff show “A Different World” after she told Cosby she was pregnant with her daughter, Zoe Kravitz, which made their relationship on “The Cosby Show” tense, leading to Bonet leaving in 1991 and not returning for the finale.

According to Deadline, following the news of Cosby’s pretrial hearings for sexual abuse allegations in 2018, Bonet said the comedian always had a “sinister, shadow energy [that] cannot be concealed.”

Damon Wayans and Clayne Crawford

Back in 2016, things got heated between Damon Wayans and Clayne Crawford on the set of the police drama “Lethal Weapon.” According to Variety, the onset environment was so toxic that security guards had to be placed on set at all times to ensure the actors didn’t get into a physical fight.

The tension came after Wayans was hit on the back of the head by a piece of shrapnel from an explosion that Crawford was directing. While he didn’t argue with Crawford immediately, Wayans expressed his anger the following day, and Crawford called him a “pussy” for not being able to handle the hit. As a result, Wayans refused to do any more stunts directed by Crawford, per Variety.

By the end of the second season of “Lethal Weapon,” Warner Bros., the production company for the drama, decided to resolve the issue by replacing Crawford with Seann William Scott for the third season.

Wesley Snipes and Ryan Reynolds 

Similar to James Franco and Tyrese Gibson, Wesley Snipes and Ryan Reynolds’ relationship was soured thanks to method acting. According to film publication Screen Rant, the pair didn’t get along on the set of the 2004 Marvel film “Blade: Trinity” because Snipes stayed in character throughout shooting, making him difficult to work with.

Per Screen Rant, the actor refused to speak to crew members, communicating solely through sticky notes, even with the film’s director, David S. Goyer. His behavior meant Reynolds would often have to improvise in scenes when Snipes was being uncooperative, driving a wedge between the two.

At the same time, Snipes admitted in a 2024 interview with Entertainment Weekly that he found Reynolds’ comedic personality to be over the top. “Some of the things he did back in those days, that’s not really my humor,” he said. “I’m not tuned in that way.” However, the two have since made up and starred alongside each other in the 2024 Marvel film “Deadpool & Wolverine.”

Mo’Nique and Lee Daniels

Before they joined each other on screen for the Netflix film “The Deliverance,” Mo’Nique and Lee Daniels were in a decade-long feud. According to The Root, they butted heads after Mo’Nique wasn’t going to be paid for the promotion of the 2009 drama film “Precious,” which Daniels directed.

Naya Rivera and Lea Michele

According to the Independent, the late Naya Rivera and Lea Michele once went a whole season without speaking while on the set of “Glee” because of the competitive energy between them. In her 2016 book, “Sorry Not Sorry: Dreams, Mistakes and Growing Up,” Rivera wrote, “I think Rachel (Michele’s character) — erm, I mean Lea — didn’t like sharing the spotlight” and that they were both strong-willed on set, which wasn’t a good mixture.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Tyrese Gibson

It’s common for families to argue, and there were definitely arguments in the “Fast & Furious” family. According to Page Six, in 2017, Gibson wasn’t pleased that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s and Jason Statham’s characters, Luke Hobbs (Johnson) and Deckard Shaw (Statham), would be getting the 2019 spinoff film, “Hobbs & Shaw,” and took to X, formerly Twitter, to express his annoyance.

“Congratulations to The Rock and your brother-in-law, aka 7 Bucks producing partner, for making The Fast and the Furious franchise about YOU,” he wrote.

But, in a 2020 interview on the Comedy Central show “Stir Crazy with Josh Horowitz,” Gibson revealed that he and The Rock had made amends. “Me and The Rock are peaced up. We talked for like four hours about three weeks ago. It was great,” he said.

Nia Long and Taraji P. Henson

Nia Long and Taraji P. Henson were fierce rivals during the third season of “Empire,” and apparently in real life, too. According to E! News, the stars were often fighting for the spotlight during filming. One insider told the publication that producers tried to find ways to film their joint scenes separately due to the hostility between them.

However, responding to the insider’s claims, a rep for Long told E! News that the rumors were false. Henson, on the other hand, did not comment on the situation.