Dustin Hoffman refused to speak with Steve McQueen on “Papillon” set, went ‘crazy’ during screaming match
Dustin Hoffman refused to speak with Steve McQueen on “Papillon” set, went ‘crazy’ during screaming match
Shelby StivaleSat, November 14, 2026 at 1:30 PM UTC
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Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman in ‘Papillon’Credit: Moviestore/ShutterstockKey Points -
Dustin Hoffman wrote about his tumultuous relationship with Steve McQueen in his Look at Me memoir.
The actors starred alongside each other in the 1973 movie Papillon.
“I told the director, I refuse to speak to him,” Hoffman wrote.
Dustin Hoffman and the late Steve McQueen had quite the tumultuous relationship while shooting 1973’s Papillon.
When filming, Hoffman befriended former Philadelphia 76ers coach Gene Shue, the actor wrote in his Look at Me memoir, published earlier this month. Hoffman invited Shue to the set, but McQueen allegedly intervened.
“When we broke for lunch, I couldn’t find him; I was looking everywhere. Eventually, someone told me that Gene had come and been asked to leave,” Hoffman claimed. “McQueen, who was very paranoid (stoned), could see out of the sides of his eyes, and when he noticed my new friend, he’d told a member of the crew to get rid of him.”
Dustin Hoffman and Steve McQueen in ‘Papillon’Credit: Anwar Hussein/Getty
Hoffman recalled being “furious” and confronting McQueen. “I said, ‘F--- you.’ And McQueen said, ‘Well, f--- you too.’ Then I stopped speaking to him,” the Rain Man star continued. “I told the director, I refuse to speak to him; I won’t look at him when we’re not shooting. The whole crew knew about our fight.”
The actors were stuck together on a raft filming one scene when things came to a head. “We went back and forth a bit,” Hoffman wrote. “It escalated, and then I went crazy. I’m basically a coward, but if I get past a certain point of indignation, I stop caring about consequences.”
Hoffman referred to McQueen as a “motherf---er,” asking, “Who the f--- do you think you are?” As tensions peaked, Hoffman claimed it was “pathetic” the way that McQueen treated people. (McQueen died of a heart attack at age 50 in 1980.)
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“I went on and on. But McQueen didn’t get angry. He just kind of sat there while I sounded off,” the book reads. “And somewhere in the back of my mind I was thinking, any minute now he’s going to come over here and kill me. But he didn’t.”
‘Look at Me’ by Dustin HoffmanCredit: Simon Six
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Hoffman’s tirade came to an end so they could film the scene. After wrapping for the day, some crew members started “patting me on the back, one after the next, out of McQueen’s sight line,” the Hook star remembered. “I couldn’t figure out why.”
It turned out, both actors were mic’d during the fight and everyone had heard the “rant.” Hoffman speculated: “Maybe McQueen remembered the microphones were on and that’s why he stayed so quiet and didn’t kill me. Or maybe he was just astonished that I had the audacity to yell at him. When I think about it, I’m a little astonished myself.”
Look at Me is out now.
on Entertainment Weekly
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
