David O. Russell is directing a movie about John Madden staring Nic Cage and Christian Bale (Cage plays John Madden, Christian Bale plays Raiders owner Al Davis, the photos of them in costume/makeup for these roles at the link is worth the price of admission). Apparently a supporting actor (not Bale or Cage) walked off the set last week after a couple incidents:
- One involves alleged use of the n-word while Russell was working with the actor on a monologue. There are conflicting accounts on this. One account is that Russell used the n-word and it upset both the actor and others on set. The other account (from the studio) is that it was the actor's idea to use the n-word in the scene and that Russell never actually said it.
- The other incident involves a locker room scene featuring actors in the nude. The actor in question did not want to appear nude. The studio says the nudity was written into the script and the actors had notice, and that an intimacy coordinator was on set and suggested ways to ensure the actor was not exposed, but he was unhappy and walked off.
All of this seemed interesting in light of bigger conversations Hollywood is having about intimacy coordinators, on screen nudity, interactions between directors and actors, etc.
Here's the story:
https://www.tmz.com/2025/05/21/madden-movie-actor-quits-racist-allegations/