Radar Poll
Hollywood Confidential
Who is Hollywood's Biggest Hack? Most Wanted Actor? Most Deranged Director? More than 50 of the industry's top power brokers dish out the honors in an Exclusive Radar Poll
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| Mike Ovitz is history. Barry Diller is playing matchmaker. Tom Cruise is an unemployed stay-at-home dad. So who are Hollywood's new gods and monsters? To find out, we dispatched a dozen well-connected reporters to interview the industry's remaining heavy hitters. Our crack team spent weeks abusing their expense accounts on hundreds of surreptitious phone calls, closed-door conversations, and boozy lunches at the Ivy and the Palm. Eventually we convinced more than 50 top power players to participate in our survey: studio execs, high-level agents from every major firm, and dozens of A-list producers, directors, managers, screenwriters, and publicists. These are people who have run studios, released blockbusters, won Oscars—and for once, nobody wanted top billing. So to assure their cooperation we promised them full anonymity, stroked their assistants' egos, plied them with liquor, and spent countless hours on hold (they love that). Then we hit them with the questions even their personal trainers are too afraid to ask. Who is Hollywood's Most Demonic Actor? What director drives his casts to tears? Below, the results of our first annual Hollywood survey. |
 Crowe  Winner: Russell Crowe The winner in our first category is a no-brainer (in more ways than one). A vast majority of respondents instantly fingered the Aussie thug, who tackled a British TV producer in 2002, flipped off a camera-toting student on the Princeton set of A Beautiful Mind, and hurled a telephone at a defenseless hotel clerk during his Cinderella Man press tour. “Some incident can occur and he won’t show up on set for the next week—and you’re screwed,” says one producer with a sigh. “Russell is an unhappy guy,” adds an ex studio head. “His process is difficult. You have to talk him through everything, and he always has an opinion. He thinks he’s smarter than everybody else.” Honorable Mention: Lindsay Lohan While she got high marks for talent, the actress’s hard-partying ways raised eyebrows among many respondents, who noted her propensity to call in “sick” after a particularly long night. After she failed to show up on the set of her latest pic, an exec shot her a scathing memo in which he wrote, “We are well aware that your ongoing all-night heavy partying is the real reason for your so-called ‘exhaustion’.” Honorable Mention: Jim Carrey “Jim has been a nightmare on his last couple of pictures,” says a leading producer. “Not coming out of his trailer, wanting to control every element, rewriting the script.” This summer alone, two big-budget Carrey vehicles—Used Guys and Believe It or Not—were returned to development hell back-to-back, causing speculation that his oddball reputation could be endangering his career. “He’s depressed and weird,” says one former studio prez (in fact, Carrey told 60 Minutes in 2002, “I was on Prozac for a long time … it may have helped me out of a jam for a little bit”). A marketing exec who also cast a vote for Carrey explains: “Most comics are insecure people who aren’t funny in real life.” But judging from Fun With Dick and Jane, he’s also not always funny on-screen. |
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 Pitt  Winner: Brad Pitt Runner-up: Will Smith Despite his spotty box-office track record (see Troy, Fight Club, Meet Joe Black), Pitt scored the most votes. "He's charming, talented, handsome, and has international appeal," says one A-list producer. Coming in a very close second is Smith, whose ability to make rain under even the worst conditions didn't go unnoticed: "He crosses the color barrier, and audiences love him," says a former studio prez. "I mean, you couldn't get a movie much worse than I, Robot, and it did giant business." |
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 Roberts  Winner: Julia Roberts Runners-up: Angelina Jolie, Reese Witherspoon Given that 2000's Erin Brockovich was the last Roberts-driven vehicle to make bank, her triumph in this category is a sad commentary on the ability of leading women to open a picture. "Julia Roberts hasn't made a movie in a while, but she hasn't failed, either," explains one producer. Cameron Diaz lost her shot in this category after the dismal earnings of In Her Shoes. Same for Charlize Theron, who squeezed out two recent stinkers: North Country and Aeon Flux. Roberts's closest competitor, Jolie, received a smattering of votes, although many insiders expressed concern that Mr. & Mrs. Smith has been her only recent hit. Witherspoon benefited not only from a decent track record (Walk the Line, Sweet Home Alabama, both Legally Blondes) but also a sensible personality. "If there's a problem," says one ex studio president, "you can talk to her and not worry that she's going to melt down." |
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 Mann  Winner: Michael Mann Runner-up: Michael Bay Mann (Heat, Collateral) just barely edged out Bay (The Rock, Armageddon) in this contentious category—no doubt thanks to horror stories from the set of Miami Vice, where the high-strung director threw frequent tantrums and humiliated just about everyone. In addition, he reportedly forced the cast and crew to shoot Miami exteriors during a Hurricane Katrina warning, and caused a frightened Jamie Foxx to flee the Dominican Republic after a moonlighting local soldier he had hired for protection shot a police officer during filming. Disney chief Oren Aviv was so appalled by Mann's rudeness that he has refused to speak to the director since the release of The Insider in 1999. It's one thing to be an asshole when you're raking in Oscar nods, it's another if you're breaking the bank on a feature-film remake of a TV show. After Mann blew up Vice's budget to a rumored $150 million (the pic has grossed only $62 million to date domestically), many Hollywood power players began wondering whether his on-set antics were worth the trouble. As for Bay? "There's nonstop screaming, changing his mind, and blaming of everyone else for his mistakes," says the head of a film division, adding that these things are made worse by the fact that Bay is hardly as talented as Mann. "He's mean to everybody," says a marketing exec. "He always apologizes afterward, but it's still awful." A fellow director sums it up best: "I could be his brother-in-law and people wouldn't hesitate to overtly tell me, 'I hate that guy.'" Honorable Mention: James Cameron Though he hasn't helmed a feature in nine years, the Titanic director—renowned for subjecting his crew to long hours, dreadful working conditions, and his own unbridled arrogance—still pulled in enough votes to earn a spot on our 2006 list. You gotta admire someone with that kind of staying power. Honorable Mention: Doug Liman Despite the success of The Bourne Identity, Liman, the film's director, was passed over for the sequel because many of the movie's key players declined to work with him again. His behavior on Mr. & Mrs. Smith was reportedly so outrageous that producer Akiva Goldsman publicly labeled him "a madman." |
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 Russell  Winner: David O. Russell Runners-up: Michael Bay, Michael Mann It was no surprise to discover that Bay and Mann were also runners-up in this category—one respondent claims that he witnessed Kate Beckinsale actually sobbing after an encounter with the director on the set of Pearl Harbor. (Unlike the Pearl Harbor audience, she wasn't crying tears of boredom.) The shocker is that they were beaten by Russell, who has just a few movies under his belt. But the latter, in the words of one studio exec, epitomizes that oft-uttered Hollywood cliche, "Life's too short." Adds another suit, "Russell is incredibly talented, but it doesn't matter. He's mean and rude and alienates everyone on set. I mean, he got into a brawl with George Clooney on the set of Three Kings" (after Clooney came to the defense of a browbeaten crew member). And few have forgotten the outlandish report from the set of I Heart Huckabees, during which Russell reportedly groped Mark Wahlberg's johnson, drove a hysterical Lily Tomlin to seek comfort in Dustin Hoffman's arms, and—in an incident that was covertly taped and sent around to Hollywood's talent agencies—went nuclear on Tomlin before trashing the set, storming off, and locking himself in his office. |
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 Howard  Winner: Ron Howard Runners-up: Clint Eastwood, Steven Spielberg Is it any surprise Opie was deemed the ultimate nice guy? "Having been an actor, he always creates a calm environment," says a former studio head. Most gave Howard bonus points for surviving Russell Crowe—twice (A Beautiful Mind, Cinderella Man). Eastwood was praised for never agonizing over endless takes, and Spielberg was oft-cited for his laid-back sets. Although, as one source points out, it's as much due to "Steven's power to make the sun rise and set on command" as it is to his speed and decisiveness. |
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 Ratner  Winner: Brett Ratner Adored by Mariah Carey, Bob Evans, and Michael Jackson (who once sang the greeting on his answering machine), the Rush Hour director gets significantly less love from peers and studio brass, who are convinced that his transition from rap videos to feature films (like Red Dragon) reflects more on his ability to kiss ass than any actual talent. While some respondents were impressed with the box office returns for X-Men: The Last Stand, they were less impressed when the film flatlined in its second week and ticket sales dropped from $123 million to $7 million. But with a well-placed group of admirers in all the right places, Rat-boy needn't worry. We're sure 2007's Rush Hour 3 will do just fine. (And good luck on Rush Hour 4!) Honorable Mention: Joel Schumacher & Michael Bay (tie) |
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 Baumbach  Winners (three-way tie): Christopher Nolan (Memento, Batman Begins), Noah Baumbach (The Squid and the Whale), Bennett Miller (Capote). Alexander Payne came in one vote shy of these three, likely because Sideways has already launched him past the "promising" mark. |
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 Rudin  Winner: Scott Rudin Runner-up: Joel Silver Rudin's propensity for tormenting his assistants is legendary. The hot-tempered producer has fired over 119 of them in the past six years—notably including one legally blind minion whom Rudin dismissed but then rehired, according to a recent report, after seeing saw him standing helplessly at a bus stop. On occasion, the prolific producer has also been known to overturn tables in a blind rage, and he virtually invented the annoying Hollywood trick of returning calls at odd hours when no one is reachable. "He's so not worth it!" says an exec who still has nightmares about the brief time he worked with Rudin. Others argued that voting for Rudin (The Truman Show, The Hours) was unfair since, "he at least attempts to execute some idea of taste," in the words of one writer-producer. Not so for runner-up Joel Silver, whose assistants have famously survived flesh wounds (he stabbed one victim in the hand with a sharpened pencil) and 2am phone calls demanding that pastrami sandwiches be delivered right now. "Other than The Matrix and Lethal Weapon, Joel's choice of movies and huge budgets aren't worth the headache," says another writer-producer, probably referring to House of Wax and CW's Veronica Mars. |
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 Bruckheimer  Winner: Jerry Bruckheimer Runners-up (two-way tie): Brian Grazer, Scott Rudin Bruckheimer not only steamrolled the competition in this category, he garnered the single greatest number of votes in the entire poll. "He succeeds in both TV and film," gushes a fellow producer. "He's so proficient—a category killer." Pirates of the Caribbean, CSI, The Amazing Race—has one man ever produced more highly consumable schlock? Most respondents acknowledged that when working with Bruckheimer, there's no need to make room in the trophy case. But everyone was very willing to accept less prestige in exchange for assloads of cash. "We all worship money, and Jerry's popularity is proof," says one agent. Those who worship money but are also jonesing for a little gold guy voted for Grazer and Rudin, the general consensus being that both produce quality films, but are also giant pains in the rear. |
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 Grazer  Winner: Brian Grazer Runner-up: Walter Parkes "He's just such a publicity hound," complains a rival producer of Grazer (A Beautiful Mind, Cinderella Man), who, not coincidentally, also took high honors in the Most Effective Producer category. Rumor around town last year was that a grand and ultimately unsuccessful campaign to nominate Grazer for one of Hollywood's highest honors, the Academy's Thalberg Award for Lifetime Achievement, was secretly orchestrated by ... Grazer himself. But, according to one Oscar-winning producer, "When it comes to stealing credit, Brian Grazer is Mother Teresa next to Walter Parkes (Minority Report, Gladiator)." Says another statue winner, "If you have an idea and Walter's in the room, it's his." |
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 Berg  Winner: Jeff Berg, ICM His nicknames are "The Iceberg" and "The Alien." And that's from the people who like him. "There's not an ounce of empathy in him, which makes it really hard to get things done," says one studio exec, adding, "He hasn't built a great career in the last 15 years." But while Berg has seen numerous defections from the agency over his 26-year tenure, he still presides over an impressive stable of clients, including Jodie Foster and Denzel Washington, and recently upped his wattage with the acquisition of rival agency Broder Webb Chervin Silbermann. "He's kind of dull," admits one well-placed associate. "But to achieve that kind of longevity in this town, you must be doing something right." |
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 Huvane  Winner: Bryan Lourd, Richard Lovett, Kevin Huvane, CAA The no-longer-so-Young Turks who took over the agency from Michael Ovitz in 1995 have managed to maintain its dominance—Tom Hanks! Nicole Kidman! Jake Gyllenhaal!—by using some of their former overlord's tactics but with much greater subtlety and finesse. Lourd emerged as the first among equals because "he's good at getting people to do things without overtly bullying them," according to one studio head who adds, "He's smart and has good taste." Lovett, a close second, "sees the puzzle pieces of a career and how they fit together, whereas most agents can't see beyond each interaction." Huvane is direct and efficient, although also the scariest of the bunch: More than one poll respondent noted that while Lourd might stab you in the back, Huvane would be only too happy to do it in the front. |
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 Geffen  Tie: David Geffen, Harvey Weinstein, Steven Spielberg Surprisingly, there was no clear front-runner in this category. Ever since Geffen went into semi-retirement and Barry Diller abandoned old Hollywood for new media in the early '90s, says one source, industry players have breathed easier. Though he's said to have mellowed, Geffen—the Dreamworks tyrant whom Mike Ovitz once credited for sinking his career—received the most votes from our respondents. "If I were trying to get anything done in this business, Geffen is the person I would least want to get mad," says one former associate. "Because he will never stop. Never, never, never." It's kind of nice to know in today's corporate Hollywood that some execs are still hands-on kind of guys. Harvey Weinstein is said to have a similar M.O.: "He'll go after you," says a leading agent. "He'll call your clients and try to turn them against you if he doesn't get what he wants. He'll make the call that most people won't bother making." Running a close third was Spielberg, not necessarily because he has a reputation for cruelty, but because "he has so much power that people just quake in his presence," says one studio exec. A producer we polled who has tangled with Spielberg himself tells us, "He's the best at pretending to be a good guy." |
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 Meyer  Winner: Ron Meyer The votes were heartwarmingly scattered in this category: Who knew there were so many nice people in Hollywood? But Meyer, the president of Universal who formerly helmed CAA, rose to the top with his unassuming manner and disarming sweetness. If a favor can be done, he does it, according to many sources—and he has never been accused of grabbing credit. "He understands movies, talent, and how to manage," says a producer who has worked with him. "It's almost a shame that he wins Biggest Mensch, because he's so much more than that." |
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 Ovitz  Winner: Mike Ovitz Runner-up: Harvey Weinstein We tried to ban Ovitz in this category (it's been years, people—get over it), but CAA's now-disgraced dictator still won a majority of votes from panelists who've been permanently scarred by his gangster tactics and unbridled gay paranoia. Of course, everyone else voted for Harvey. Though Weinstein is said to be on his best behavior lately (he recently told a reporter that his infamous outbursts were caused by his adult-onset diabetes and eating too many M&Ms), his reputation for screaming, phone-throwing, and bodily threats was apparently too much for some to forgive. Still, even Harvey's biggest detractors couldn't help but admire the former Miramax honcho's ability to glide into last year's Oscar race (Transamerica, Mrs. Henderson Presents) so quickly after his ouster from Disney. Hollywood hates a bully, but it loves a winner more. |
09/05/06 6:00 AM
Related: Radar Poll
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