Christopher Nolan is a legendary director in the present day, but it’s needless to say that he had to go through a lot to reach where he is. And one of the craziest incidents he was involved in occurred with director David O. Russell. He was working on his popular comedy movie, I Heart Huckabees, meanwhile Nolan was working on Memento. Both directors wanted Jude Law to star in their movie. But apparently, O. Russell physically attacked Nolan to make him release Law from Memento.
Jude Law’s Demand!
Multiple reports suggested that Nolan had offered a substantial part to Law in his reverse speed movie. But he had to leave the actor out of the project because of what David O. Russell did to him. New York Times revealed that when Nolan and Russell ran into each other at a Hollywood party, the latter humiliated and embarrassed the former by physically assaulting him.
David O. Russell Literally Fought for Jude Law
O. Russell was hellbent on having Jude Law in his movie. But when Nolan offered the actor a part in Memento, the I Heart Huckabees director started looking at Jim Carrey to replace Law. And yet, he literally pressurized The Dark Knight director by putting him in a chokehold headlock in front of all guests. He asked Nolan to let Jude Law go as a gesture of “artistic solidarity.” And guess what, Law rejoined the cast of I Heart Huckabees the very next day as O. Russell literally used the power of seniority. Crazy huh!?
This public display was completely juvenile, to say the least, but O. Russell ultimately got what he wanted. There’s no excuse for what he did, but after a few years, he revealed the kind of pressure he was under while making I Heart Huckabees and even called it his worst work. He said that it was his “mid-life crisis movie,” and added:
“I was exploring these ideas of hiring someone to spy on you and then tell you about your life if you were in a crisis, like I was. ‘What do I do about my marriage? What do I do about my bipolar kid?’ But in retrospect I overthought it too much. There was too much worrying around it, and I checked out of it a little bit. If I could do the film again, as proud as I am of many parts of it, I would make it sweaty and intimate.”
Well, it is apparent that his stress got the better of him when he lost his cool against Nolan. But ultimately, the movies that those two directors ended up making movies that became cult classics with the cast they ultimately had. So, all’s well that ends well? You guys decide!
Source: New York Times
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