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14 on-screen couples who reportedly hated each other in real life

Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze.
Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze.Jim Smeal/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images
  • It's been said there's a thin line between love and hate.

  • Maybe that's why these on-screen couples have chemistry: They apparently hated each other in real life.

  • Jennifer Grey said she "begged" the studio not to cast Patrick Swayze in "Dirty Dancing."

Red-hot chemistry can come from two actors who get along in real life — or even two actors who are dating in real life — but, as any enemy-to-lovers fan knows, it can also come from actors who simply cannot stand each other.

There are plenty of instances in Hollywood where two stars who did not get along created iconic screen couples. Jennifer Grey even wrote in her memoir that she had begged the studio not to cast her eventual "Dirty Dancing" costar Patrick Swayze. However, Baby and Johnny remain a beloved '80s couple.

Keep scrolling for more on-screen couples who couldn't have been further from lovers in real life.

Initially, Patrick Swayze thought his "Dirty Dancing" costar Jennifer Grey was immature, and Grey had begged the studio not to cast him.

Dirty Dancing
"Dirty Dancing."Lionsgate

The 1987 film is a classic romance film, and Johnny (Swayze) and Baby (Grey) are one of the most beloved on-screen couples. And while their on-screen chemistry was undeniable, their real relationship was a bit rocky.

"She'd slip into silly moods, forcing us to do scenes over and over," Swayze wrote in his 2010 memoir, "The Time of My Life." He added, "She seemed particularly emotional, sometimes bursting into tears if someone criticized her."

In her 2022 memoir, "Out of the Corner," Grey confirmed their turbulent relationship, which had begun before "Dirty Dancing" started shooting. She said she wasn't impressed by his behavior when they filmed the 1984 action film "Red Dawn."

"'Please, no. Not him. Anybody else. Please!' I begged," Grey wrote when she heard of Swayze's casting.

But in an interview on "The View" in May 2022, she said during the screen test, he convinced her to change her mind about him, Insider previously reported.

"He pulled me down the hall and said to me, 'I love you, I love you and I'm so sorry. I know you don't want me to do the movie,'" Grey said.

Still, filming together turned out to be a challenge.

"The sexual chemistry between Baby and Johnny was everything, and I was not feeling it. How was I supposed to trust this guy?" she wrote in her memoir. "I couldn't help but sense Patrick's impatience with me in rehearsals. It freaked me out to feel I'd finally gotten it with Kenny [Ortega, the film's choreographer] and was ready to go, only to find out that with Patrick, I didn't have it at all."

"The tension between us fed a certain real-life struggle and energy into the movie," she added.

In an April 2022 interview with People magazine, she shared her regrets about the relationship with Swayze, who died in 2009.

"I feel like if I could say anything to him now I would say, 'I'm so sorry that I couldn't just appreciate and luxuriate in who you were, instead of me wishing you were more like what I wanted you to be,'" Grey said.

Nina Dobrev shocked fans of "The Vampire Diaries" when she admitted she and costar Paul Wesley "despised each other" at the beginning of the show.

the vampire diaries elena stefan 101 1
"The Vampire Diaries."The CW

Thankfully, the two are confirmed besties now, but according to Dobrev the on-screen lovers couldn't stand each other for the first five months of filming their show, while their characters were falling madly in love.

"I respected Paul Wesley, I didn't like Paul Wesley," Dobrev revealed on the "Directionally Challenged" podcast in June 2019. Cue the sounds of "Stelena" fans' hearts breaking all over the world.

"But, of everyone [from the 'Vampire Diaries' cast], I think I probably see him the most and hang out with him the most … We are probably the closest. We hang out a lot. We're really good friends. And I love his wife. It's so funny how time changes everything because I never thought that he would be one of my best friends," she continued.

Their characters had a similar up-and-down dynamic — the two dated for three and a half seasons of the show before breaking up for good in season four.

Julia Roberts and Nick Nolte acted alongside each other in "I Love Trouble," and there was apparently some trouble on set.

"I Love Trouble."
"I Love Trouble."Touchstone Pictures/Getty Images

The two played dueling reporters looking for a scoop on the same story before falling in love, but the title seemed to mirror their off-screen dynamic a bit too well.

Trouble brewing on set led to a piece in the Los Angeles Times in 1994. Sources told the paper the two actors didn't get along and bickered incessantly.

Journalist Judy Brennan wrote, "Roberts reportedly wasn't thrilled with Nolte's machismo, so she would deride and insult her co-star. Some on the set claim that he became so annoyed with her attitude that he would do things to agitate her even more. The discord was so intense, the sources say, the two played more to stand-ins than to each other."

In a 1993 interview with The New York Times that took place during filming, Roberts described her relationship with Nolte, saying: "From the moment I met him we sort of gave each other a hard time, and naturally we get on each other's nerves."

She added that while he can be "completely charming and very nice, he's also completely disgusting. He's going to hate me for saying this, but he seems go out of his way to repel people."

Nolte responded, "It's not nice to call someone 'disgusting.' But she's not a nice person. Everyone knows that."

Sophia Bush and Chad Michael Murray got married — and then divorced — on the set of "One Tree Hill," all while playing on-again/off-again couple Brooke and Lucas.

one tree hill
"One Tree Hill"The CW

Murray and Bush met on the set of the teen drama and were married shortly after in 2005. Five months later, the two separated, and they were divorced in 2006. Despite that, the two continued working together, and their characters even hooked up a few more times before Murray left the show after season six in 2009.

While on "Watch What Happens Live" in 2014, Bush was asked when she last spoke to Murray and said, "My mother once said to me that if you don't have anything nice to say, not to say anything at all."

Bush was asked about the relationship again during a 2018 appearance on the show, and she said that getting married "was not a thing I actually really wanted to do," implying the producers had a role in it. She later claimed on Twitter she had been making fun of herself during the interview.

For his part, Murray issued a statement through his rep, stating, "Chad conducts himself in a completely professional manner and would never marry for any reason but love. Thirteen years since his divorce from Sophia, he has a very happy family life with his wife and children. He has completely moved on and doesn't feel the need to engage in this type of behavior."

Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams originally did not get along while filming "The Notebook" ... but they went on to date for roughly three years.

the notebook ryan gosling rachel mcadams
"The Notebook."New Line via Movie Clips

Director Nick Cassavetes revealed that the two struggled to get along when they first started filming the 2004 movie.

"Maybe I'm not supposed to tell this story, but they were really not getting along one day on set. Really not," Cassavetes told VH1 in 2014. Gosling even asked to replace McAdams.

"Ryan came to me, and there's 150 people standing in this big scene, and he says, 'Nick come here,'" the director said. "And he's doing a scene with Rachel and he says, 'Would you take her out of here and bring in another actress to read off camera with me?' I said, 'What?' He says, 'I can't. I can't do it with her. I'm just not getting anything from this.'"

"We went into a room with a producer; they started screaming and yelling at each other. I walked out," Cassavetes added.

After allowing them to let off some steam, the movie was able to continue, and their chemistry was a huge hit. Noah and Allie remain one of the most iconic couples in recent movie history.

They'd even go on to date in real life, from 2005 to 2007. They briefly reunited in 2008 before calling it quits for good.

Charlie Sheen reportedly got Selma Blair fired from "Anger Management," in which the two played friends with benefits.

anger management charlie sheen selma blair
"Anger Management."FX

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Blair took issue with Sheen's work ethic and voiced her concerns, so Sheen fired Blair in 2013 via a nasty text in which he called her a vulgar name.

During a segment on "Watch What Happens Live" in January 2017, Sheen commented on his former costar Blair and his former "Two and a Half Men" costar Jenny McCarthy.

"I'd like to mash those two together and then kick them to the curb," he said. "They deserve each other."

Anthony Hopkins and Shirley MacLaine costarred in "A Change of Seasons" as a feuding married couple — in real life, they also feuded.

a change of seasons movie
"A Change of Seasons"20th Century Fox

In the 1980 film, MacLaine plays a woman who finds out her husband (Hopkins) is cheating on her — and then decides that she's going to cheat on him too, much to his chagrin.

Off-screen, things weren't any more amicable. Hopkins later called MacLaine "the most obnoxious actress I have ever worked with."

In 2014, when asked if she'd work with Hopkins again by the New York Post, she didn't answer and instead replied that she "didn't like him either," though she did add that "he was on the wagon at that time and it was hard on him."

There was no love lost between Lauren Graham and Scott Patterson, who played Lorelai Gilmore and Luke Danes on "Gilmore Girls."

gilmore girls luke lorelai
"Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life."Netflix

For seven seasons of "Gilmore Girls," fans watched as these two soulmates danced around each other, briefly dating for a season only to break up. They didn't even get back together until the series finale.

Their prickly dynamic, which made them so compelling to watch, might have been inspired by their off-screen relationship — or lack thereof. Rumors always swirled that Graham and Patterson didn't exactly like each other, and Graham confirmed they weren't the best of friends during a TV Guide interview in 2005.

"It's fine," she said of their relationship. "I think these characters have a great chemistry and that does mirror our chemistry as people. We're not intimates," Graham added. When asked if they were best friends, she responded with a simple "No."

It wasn't always fine between "X-Files" costars and iconic fictional will-they-or-won't-they couple Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny.

the x files mulder scully
"The X-Files."Fox Broadcasting Company

The two may have enjoyed working together since, but in the early seasons, they did butt heads on set.

Duchovny first mentioned their off-screen relationship was less-than-perfect in a 2008 interview with Metro: "We used to argue about nothing. We couldn't stand the sight of each other," he said.

In a 2015 interview with The Guardian, this time Anderson opened up about how the two sometimes wouldn't talk.

"I mean, yes, there were definitely periods when we hated each other," she said. "Hate is too strong a word. We didn't talk for long periods of time. It was intense."

But she did add that the two "are closer ... than we ever have been."

Armie Hammer implied he was written off "Gossip Girl" at the request of a cast member — he seemed to suggest it was on-screen love interest Blake Lively.

armie hammer gossip girl blake lively
"Gossip Girl."The CW

Hammer played Gabriel, a love interest for Lively's character Serena — the two even got married in Spain. It seemed like he'd be around for a while ... until his character was unceremoniously written off at the end of the season in 2009.

In 2017, Hammer spoke about his short stint on the show during an appearance on "Watch What Happens Live."

When asked by an audience member to name the biggest diva on set, Hammer hesitated to name names. What he did say though, was that it "was a tough show to film and I didn't end up actually filming all of the episodes I was supposed to because it was such a tough filming."

When host Andy Cohen asked if Hammer had asked to be written off, he replied, "It was also like, 'Get him out of here,'" implying someone else asked for him to be written off.

Fellow guest Cheslea Handler then implied that it sounded like Lively was the problem.

"No, no, that's not what I'm saying," Hammer said ... through a grin and while raising his eyebrows at Handler.

However, with all the controversies Hammer has been at the center of, perhaps Lively wasn't entirely at fault for tension on set.

Tony Curtis compared kissing Marilyn Monroe in "Some Like It Hot" to kissing Hitler.

tony curtis marilyn monroe some like it hot
"Some Like It Hot."United Artists

Curtis and Monroe, who had actually dated before either became famous, played lovers in "Some Like It Hot" around a decade later in 1958. Somewhere in those 10 years, their relationship soured.

Famously, he was asked what it was like to kiss Monroe, to which he replied, "It was like kissing Hitler."

In later interviews, he claimed he never said it or that he was joking. He did tell The Daily Mail in 2008 that kissing her "was awful," and added, "She nearly choked me to death by deliberately sticking her tongue down my throat into my windpipe."

In 2001, he told Entertainment Weekly the star had "difficulties."

"There was nothing laid back or amusing about Marilyn on that movie. She was drinking a lot on the set," he added.

Jennifer Aniston was reportedly upset that Jay Mohr scored a role in the film "Picture Perfect" instead of her then-boyfriend Tate Donovan.

jay mohr jennifer aniston in picture perfect
"Picture Perfect."20th Century Fox

In the 1997 rom-com "Picture Perfect," Aniston and Mohr play a fake engaged couple, only to actually fall in love.

During a 2010 interview with Elle, Mohr was asked what his most awkward interaction was with a female celebrity. He responded, "Being on the set of a movie where the leading woman was unhappy with my presence and made it clear from day one."

He continued, "I hadn't done many movies, and even though they screen-tested some pretty famous guys, I somehow snaked into the leading role. The actress said, 'No way! You've got to be kidding me!' Loudly. Between takes. To other actors on set. I would literally go to my mom's house and cry."

At the time, he refused to confirm whether it was Aniston or not. However, in 2012, during an episode of his podcast "Mohr Stories," he said Aniston had been extremely angry he had been cast. He said she told him the studio had screen-tested six guys, and they picked the one (Mohr) she had hated, over her own boyfriend at the time, Donovan.

If, as "An Officer and a Gentleman" says, that love lifts us up where we belong, its two stars Richard Gere and Debra Winger were decidedly on the ground.

an officer and a gentleman
"An Officer and a Gentleman."Paramount Pictures

In the 1982 film, Gere plays an Aviation Officer Candidate named Zack, who falls in love with Winger's Paula, a factory worker. She was later nominated for an Oscar for the film.

In real life, though, Winger wasn't fond of her costar. In fact, she called him "a brick wall" and called director Taylor Hackford "an animal."

There wasn't really any permanent hate, though. In 2002, Winger told The Guardian, "I run in to Richard Gere quite a lot and he half jokes: 'Are you still saying terrible things about me?' We had a moment in our life which was not good, but everyone has to get it into perspective."

Meryl Streep and Dustin Hoffman play feuding exes in "Kramer vs. Kramer," which seemed similar to their off-screen dynamic.

kramer vs kramer
"Kramer vs. Kramer."Columbia

When Streep first heard about what would become the Oscar-winning 1979 film, she was mourning the death of her boyfriend, fellow actor John Cazale, who died in 1978.

According to a 2016 book about Streep's life, "Her Again: Becoming Meryl Streep," Hoffman slapped Streep across the face, taunted her about the recent death of Cazale, and even shattered a wine glass next to her without telling her.

"He was goading her and provoking her," said producer Richard Fischoff, "using stuff that he knew about her personal life and about John to get the response that he thought she should be giving in the performance."

Read the original article on Insider