She is one of the most talented actresses in Hollywood – but has long been rumored to be one of the most temperamental.
And newly-unearthed footage of Faye Dunaway filming a 1996 commercial shows the Oscar-winning actress’ famously demanding side, as she snaps and snipes at crew.
Dunaway, now 83, can be seen ordering a crew member off set merely because she could see him.
Having lost her concentration while promoting her live stage show Master Class, a played based on the life of opera singer Maria Callas, Dunaway glares at an unseen crew member behind the camera lens and says: ‘Could you leave please, you’re right in my eyeline.’
The star, who made her name as Bonnie Parker in the 1967 movie Bonnie and Clyde, then glares, turns sharply on her heel and walks away to begin another take.
Earlier in the same clip, Dunaway can be heard upbraiding crew members over a cue, when a crew member is heard shouting ‘Action.’
Clearly irritated, she said: ‘Mo you cant do that, we have to get set, you have to wait and let me give you a sign.’
Moments later, Dunaway shares her irritation once more, saying: ‘What’s going on, I’m not ready?’
The behind-the-scenes clips have delighted fans of the star – who is also known for her ferocious turn as Joan Crawford in Mommie Dearest.
They come as HBO prepares to release a documentary about her life, titled Faye, whose premiere she will attend at the Cannes Film Festival in France next month.
The documentary, which runs for one hour and 31 minutes, will walk through the highlights of Dunaway’s career including her landmark roles in Bonnie and Clyde, Chinatown and Network.
The production will feature discussions with Dunaway’s son,Liam, and several colleagues and friends like Sharon Stone, Mickey Rourke and James Gray.
It is unclear whether the actress will address her lengthy string of controversies in the film.
In 2019, Dunaway’s return to stage acting was cut short when she was fired for slapping a crew member and lambasting staff.
The actress was set to play Katharine Hepburn in ‘Tea at Five,’ a Boston-based production that was headed to Broadway in 2020.
Sources close to the production claimed Dunaway was ‘verbally abusing’ the crew, leaving them ‘fearful for their safety’.
A scheduled performance for July 10 was canceled just before curtain when Dunaway slapped and hurled objects at staffers who were trying to help her into her wig.
Shortly after the ‘Tea at Five’ fiasco, former assistant Michael Rocha filed a lawsuit alleging the actress harassed him by referring to him as a ‘little hom*osexual boy’.
According to court documents, Dunaway ‘regularly and relentlessly subjected the plaintiff to abusive demeaning tirades’ and used his sexual orientation to ‘demean and humiliate him at work’.
Perhaps most infamous was the rambling voicemail she once left a biographer who apparently asked too many questions about Mommie Dearest instead of other films.
In the nearly two-minute-long rant, Dunaway said she was not interested in ‘dilly-dallying and tarrying over Mommie Dearest’ and didn’t even ‘want to discuss it’.
She redirected her rage at her then-husband, Terry O’Neill, calling him a ‘big, big liar’.
An Instagram post from the Oscars only seemed to play into Dunaway’s insecurities about the 1981 flick, which is often blamed for derailing her otherwise illustrious career.
It was based on a 1978 book by Joan Crawford’s adopted daughter Christina about abuse she claims she endured. Touted as a potential Oscar contender, the movie’s turbocharged scenes instead made it a camp classic, leaving audiences howling with laughter at scenes intended to be deeply moving or upsetting.
The account released an 83rd birthday tribute using only clips from Mommie Dearest, includingDunaway screeching ‘No wire hangers!’ before beating adopted daughter Christina, played by Mara Hobel, after finding the offending items in a closet.
Despite Dunaway winning an Oscar in 1977 for her role as a ratings-obsessed TV executive in Network, no clips from that movie made an appearance.
Mommie Dearest, on the contrary, received no nods from the Academy after its release. It swept the boards at the Golden Raspberry Awards for the worst movies, with Dunaway named worst actress.
Fans even accused the Academy of taunting Dunaway with its choice of the over-the-top Joan Crawford biopic.
”She will hate this so much, thank you,’ one netizen remarked under the post.
‘So epic that the academy post this on her birthday… best present ever,’ another proclaimed.
Yet another user said, ‘This movie ruined her career and she haaaaaaaaaates the movie so much lol.’
Dunaway began her career in the early 1960s as a Broadway actress, appearing in Robert Bolt’s A Man for All Seasons and Arthur Miller’s After the Fall.
She was taught by method acting pioneer Elia Kazan at his Lincoln Center Repertory Company and is regarded as one of the finest actresses of her generation.
In 1967, she landed her breakthrough role as Bonnie Parker in Arthur Penn’s biographical crime drama, Bonnie and Clyde.
While the film was controversial upon its release due to its portrayal of intense violence, Dunaway was nonetheless propelled to stardom.
She followed it up with a role in Norman Jewison’s The Thomas Crown Affair in 1968, for which she was once again praised.
Problems began to present themselves in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when Dunaway starred in a series of unsuccessful filmsincluding A Place for Lovers, The Extraordinary Seamen and The Arrangement.
Her performance in Roman Polanski’s Chinatown thrust her back into the spotlight in 1974, garnering critical praise includingan Oscar nomination for best actress.
Dunaway landed the award just a few years later, after delivering a much-lauded performance in Network.
