Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor fly aboard the RAF at Abingdon, Oxfordshire, circa 1965. Photo: Getty
This is both a funny and sad story about modern filmmaking: it has been announced that some of the most famous British stars working today are supporting the green driver idea that is becoming commonplace in the film industry. For the uninitiated, “Riders” are clauses that famous actors have included in their contracts for decades and have gradually ceased to be fun (for example, requiring a certain number of close-ups per day or, in the case of Jack Nicholson during the filming of Batman, time to attend games Los Angeles Lakers, all paid for by the studio) for the deserving.
Today, you are unlikely to meet demands for ridiculous privileges and more insistent demands for diversity, inclusiveness, and non-nudity on set. Otherwise, no star.
However, the latest 'Green Racer', already signed by over 100 UK actors including Bill Nighy, Hayley Atwell and Mark Rylance, as well as some of the industry's most annoying band-jumpers, without naming names, will make the average star's life miles away from the amenities they are used to. “Examples of sustainable actions you can take” include traveling Europe by train rather than by plane, flying in economy class to reduce emissions and, where possible, using your own clothing and cosmetics, and bringing canteens with you. appliances and utensils for cooking. .
If that wasn't draconian enough, then one of the FAQs, perhaps anticipating resistance from actors, says, “I worry about signing up for Green Rider and being called a hypocrite when the actions I take in my life don't are always stable. “. Although the response given on the Equity website is quite reassuring: “Don't worry, no one expects you to be perfect! We all lead difficult lives and often don’t have affordable, sustainable options” – this seems to frustrate good intentions from the start.
But I, for one, will be a little disappointed if the next time I fly on an EasyJet I find myself crammed in next to my favorite star. After all, they must be glamorous figures of a different kind than we are.
Mark Ryans is one of the Green Rider supporters; Photo: Getty
Luckily, there are many other figures in the entertainment industry who have completely gone down the path of old-school excesses and lead a cartoonish lifestyle that evokes a mixture of admiration, envy and, in many cases, fun. Here is just a small selection of unreconstructed celebrities who have spent, spent, spent and have contributed enormously to the fun of nations with their profligacy and absurdity.
Endless vacation on the yacht of Leonardo DiCaprio
On paper, Leonardo DiCaprio is the kind of actor who wouldn't hesitate to sign up for The Green Rider; his social media biography describes him as “an actor and environmentalist”, and he is well known for his support of worthy environmental initiatives. Unfortunately, he is also known for traveling the world in the company of much younger women on superyachts.
Yacht Club: Tobey Maguire and Leonardo DiCaprio in Ibiza, August 2023 Photo: MEGA/GC Images < p>During a recent holiday in Italy, he chartered the $190 million 318-foot Vava II and also used helicopters to ferry him and his guests between Vava Vum (as it no doubt should be called) and the nearby port of Santorini. Rumor has it that the main reason DiCaprio didn't get a well-deserved Oscar for The Wolf of Wall Street was because many Academy voters thought he was just acting out a version of his real existence, and that's hard. think of the many other environmentalists who celebrate such lavish (and far from sustainable) holidays.
Brazilian psychic Kim Basinger
Today, Kim Basinger is considered the Oscar-winning stateswoman of cinema, but three decades ago her lavish demands on set were so infamous that one 1993 Washington Post article was titled “When Bad Things Happen to Bad Actresses.” She first became famous for spending $20 million to purchase the majority of an entire city—Brazelton, Georgia—in 1989, hilariously declaring that the city held a special place in her heart because it was here that her sexual awakening took place. Half a century later, she and her fellow investors were forced to sell it for just $1 million as she faced bankruptcy over her infamous decision to abandon the controversial movie Boxing Helena.
Kim Basinger in 1997 Photo: AFP
However, Basinger did not win over Hollywood with her antics in the romantic comedy The Marrying Man, in which she demanded Evian wash her hair, tried to shut down production to consult a psychic in Brazil, and memorably informed the film's screenwriter. Neil Simon – Legendary Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright – “Whoever wrote this doesn't understand comedy.” No wonder one of the studio executives hissed, “She's so hated, it's unbelievable.”
Jon Peters plane full of roses
Basinger also had a brief affair with superproducer Jon Peters on the set of Tim Burton's Batman, and joined a string of conquests, including Barbra Streisand (who was seduced by the then-star hairdresser by saying, “You have a great ass”). ”) and supermodel Wendela Kiersebom, whom Peters famously wooed by hiring a Sony corporate jet to deliver flowers to her.
John Peters and Barbra Streisand in 1975 Photo: Getty
Incredibly wealthy due to the occasional share he has in every Superman movie he's made (although Man of Steel producer Christopher Nolan hated him so much that he forbade him from the set), Peters is nonetheless annoyed by his derogatory nickname “Hairdresser”. John” and media admiration for his eventful romantic life; in one of the few interviews he gave in recent decades to The Hollywood Reporter, he was eventually forced to tell the interviewer, “You're going to have to do your research. I can't even remember anymore.”
Bono's Flying Hat
The U2 frontman has always found it difficult to combine his undeniable devotion to charitable causes with a prudishness that can escalate into absurdity. At one concert, Bono pointedly snapped his fingers several times between songs, saying, “Every time I snap my fingers, a child dies in Africa.” Inevitably, then some heckler shouted, “Well then, stop the hell doing it!” But the story, perhaps more than any other that has led to widespread ridicule of the man born Paul Hewson, is the story of how, before a concert he was about to give with Pavarotti in Italy, he realized he was missing his beloved person. black trilby.
Bono with one of his jeweled hats. Photo: Reuters
A visibly “panic-stricken” Bono then paid £1,000 to have it delivered to him (first class, naturally), but the item received some sort of upgrade when the flight crew, fearing it might be damaged, moved it to the cockpit. where he traveled with the captain. Upon arrival, a courier delivered it to the singer, who duly performed at the concert (a charity event for homeless Iraqis) wearing his cherished headdress.
Nicolas Cage's King Cobras
There are so many stories of Nicolas Cage's reassuringly insane extravagance that it would take a whole book to list them all. Some of the best include that he outbid Leonardo DiCaprio for a dinosaur skull but had to return it to the Mongolian authorities when he discovered it had been stolen; bought a New Orleans haunted house, the LaLaurie Mansion, and wistfully said in an interview, “I bought it in 2007, believing it would be a good place to write a great American horror novel. I haven't gotten very far with the novel”; and buying a range of rare and exotic items, including everything from the Shah of Iran's half-million dollar Lamborghini to two albino king cobras.
To the embarrassing and inevitable scale of his spending, it became public knowledge when the IRS investigated him for massive amounts of unpaid taxes, forcing him to take on every movie role possible to pay off his huge debts. No wonder the solvent Cage told GQ last year, “I'm just going to focus on being as selective as possible, as selective as possible. I would like to shoot every film as if it were my last.”
Elton John's Flower Habit
Tales of Elton John's drug-fueled absurdity in the seventies are many and often repeated, not least by the man himself; perhaps the biggest of these is when Elton, drugged up, calls his manager from the United States and demands that they do something about the bad weather outside his hotel room. However, even after he became sober, his extravagant tendencies remained intact, as evidenced by a 2000 court case over a contract dispute with his record company.
Under cross-examination, an incredulous lawyer asked him if it was possible that Sir Elton spent £293,000 in 20 months on flowers, the singer replied “Yes, I love flowers”, and when asked about the amount of money he spent on indulging to his whims, he said – a few days before he had small children – “I have no one to leave the money. I am a lonely man. I love spending money.”
Johnny Depp's Ashes
Today, Johnny Depp's reputation has taken a severe, if not entirely fatal, blow from the public breakup of his marriage to Amber Heard and the subsequent litigation, but back in his heyday, when he was king of Hollywood, he made a fortune from the Pirates of the Caribbean films. which he used individually. In addition to spending a hefty sum on private islands, yachts and wine (he disagreed with the court's assessment that his alcohol bill was $30,000 a month), he spent $3 million on a cannon to scatter his friend's ashes. , writer. Hunter S. Thompson of the Thompson Farm in Colorado.
Johnny Depp with Hunter S. Thompson Photo: Getty
When asked about the appropriateness of such spending at the time, Depp shrugged and said, “All I do is try to make sure his last wish comes true. I just want to send my buddy where he wants to be.” Had he known of the subsequent career downturn he was to face, perhaps he would have invested in cheaper ways to honor the memory of the man he so memorably played in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
George Lucas fire truck
The billionaire Star Wars creator may be one of the richest directors in Hollywood, but unlike many of the other figures on this list, George Lucas leads a relatively modest life in public; the clothing he is commonly associated with is a plaid flannel shirt and a pair of blue jeans. However, it also has its advantages, especially when it comes to its California headquarters at Skywalker Ranch; Perhaps most notably, his $100 million ranch has its own private fire department, manned by fire engines and 14 full-time firefighters on duty. It may sound arrogant, but not only were they invaluable when a fire broke out at Skywalker Ranch in 2013, Lucas is more than happy to lend his firefighters when needed to deal with natural disasters like wildfires.
George Lucas with Disney CEO Bob Iger in 2019 Photo: Getty Celine Dion Water Park
As befits a woman who has made almost $700 million from two Las Vegas residences, Celine Dion can spend a huge amount of money, and she happily does so; Some of her most over-the-top demands included providing a $2.5 million humidifier at her Las Vegas hotel “to keep her vocal cords warm and prevent the climate from drying her skin” and her owning literally thousands of pairs of shoes. , which she has to store in a warehouse in Vegas.
And yet, perhaps her most quirky and strangely endearing extravagance is the creation of a full-fledged water park at her Miami home, which boasts two pools, water slides, and water cannons; it required 500,000 gallons of water to operate, which eventually led to the state fining the diva for overusing resources. Yet she remained unrepentant. She once told an astounded Jonathan Ross that “Some people do drugs and go out every weekend. I built a water park.”
Elizabeth Taylor's Diamonds
When the iconic actress and her ever-changing husband, Richard Burton, were paid a million dollars each for Cleopatra, Burton joked that “food prices are going up.” Taylor, never accustomed to succinct remarks, added, “And diamonds too.”
Elizabeth Taylor with her best friend in 1968 Photo: Getty
The infamous spender who apparently spent “a thousand dollars a minute” became famous for her love of luxurious glamour: she bought 200 mink headphones from the Bergdorf Goodman store in Manhattan, rented a yacht just for her dogs with Burton, and owned a diamond ring for 1 .1 million dollars. . The ring, dubbed the “Taylor-Burton Diamond”, was once the most expensive diamond in the world and was so heavy that Taylor had to wear it as a necklace.
Beyonce & Barbie on Jay-Z's birthday
Jay-Z almost made this list in his own right, given his tendency to spend a lot of money on expensive alcohol – a tricky move in the long run, as his investment in Armand de Brignac champagne has greatly increased it and quite a fortune without that.
Jay-Z and Beyonce Photo: AP
However, the truly epic flippancy he and his wife Beyonce indulged in (especially given the huge success of the new film) was to spend $80,000 on a custom-made Barbie doll for their daughter Blue Ivy for her first birthday, which came with 160 sparkling diamonds in white gold. However, in the context of their spending, it was almost unremarkable; The Blue Ivy birthday party itself cost a fortune, with the birthday cake costing them roughly $2,000 and over $80,000 spent on pink and white roses to make the event memorable.
George Best's “Drinking, Birds and Fast Cars”
Among the deliberate and absurd frivolity of contemporary artists, there is something reassuringly old-fashioned about the antics of soccer player George Best, a celebrity who seemed genuinely enjoying what he did . In addition to buying nightclubs, restaurants, and boutiques on a seemingly whim, he had a particular affinity for the company of beautiful women, once remarking, “I used to go missing a lot. Miss Canada, Miss Great Britain, Miss World.
George Best in 1967 Photo: Daily Mirror
Although his excessive drinking contributed to an early death at that age At 59, he was able to make perhaps the definitive statement about the ups and downs of such a sybarite and self-indulgent lifestyle when he stated, “I spent a lot of money on booze and birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered.”
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