As huge as Cher is behind the mic, she also had one hell of a movie career, even earning two Oscar nominations and a win. Cher was surprisingly talented on the screen but she also had several big-time directors supporting her like Robert Altman, Mike Nichols and George Miller. Of course, as with any actress, Cher ran into some real jerks on the set…and she’s not afraid to name names.
As far as who made Cher want to turn back time and reconsider which contracts she signed, she cited two in particular: “There are only two directors I didn’t like: Peter Bogdanovich and the guy from The Muppets,” referring to Frank Oz. “I actually got the guy from The Muppets fired. I said, ‘Either you’re going or I’m going,’ which is a shame because he’s a really good director, but he had a thing about me. He would go, ‘At least my wife loves me!’” As such, Oz would end up being fired from 1990’s Mermaids, being replaced by Richard Benjamin.
As for the late Peter Bogdanovich, who directed Cher in 1985’s Mask, the actress stated bluntly, “He was an asshole. He was not nice to the girls in the film and he was so f*cking arrogant. I really, really disliked him.” She cited one particular run-in that she feels Bogdanovich purposely devised to make her look bad. “He comes in and says, ‘Cher, where do you think we should film this scene?’ And I say, well, the kitchen is working pretty well, why don’t we do that again? The next morning he arrives on set, eating an egg sandwich,and starts screaming that he’s not going to let me direct this film; I’m a nobody; he can cut me out at any moment. Oh yeah, he was a pig.” And so, too, was Frank Oz, having voiced Miss Piggy for more than 25 years…
Cher has never really been one to hold back, but now that she’s nearing 80, she really has nothing to lose: alive or dead, if you wronged her, you’re going to get slapped and told to “snap out of it!” That goes for the music scene as well, having recently called out the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for snubbing her induction for so long. She has subsequently been inducted, but maybe try not to get on her bad side?
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