From Breakout Star To Fighting For Her Reputation
In the 1980s, American actress Sean Young skyrocketed her way into major Hollywood productions, including Dune and Blade Runner. She could have been a major star but quickly developed a reputation as being “difficult”. In the end, audiences likely remember her most for her shameless self-promotion on late night talk shows. Or…her hairy armpits?
1. She Wanted To Be America’s Sweetheart
If it hadn’t been for her own bad luck—and strong personality—Sean Young could have been one of the biggest stars in Hollywood history. But she had a knack for being her own worst enemy and would later regret how her career ended. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, she said, “I'm not Julia Roberts. And I could have been”.
2. She Was Born To Be Famous
Mary Sean Young was born to be famous. Both of her parents worked in the entertainment industry. She dropped out of regular high school to attend an arts academy and even later attended the School of American Ballet in New York City. She even worked as a model and ballet dancer. So how did it all go so wrong?
3. She Made It Big In Hollywood
It’s not entirely clear how Young pirouetted her way from New York ballerina to Hollywood actress, but she did have connections, thank to her parents. One thing is clear: In 1980, Young made a successful debut with a starring role in Jane Austen in Manhattan.
It looked like she was going to take Hollywood by storm—but she soon found herself in the middle of a feud.
4. She Became Enemies With Bill Murray
Sean Young next appeared in 1981’s Stripes alongside Hollywood heavyweight Bill Murray. Apparently, the film’s director, Ivan Reitman, only hired Young because of her looks. Unfortunately for Young, her charms didn’t work on everyone. Young and Murray famously butted heads throughout filming with Murray vowing never to work with the up-and-coming Young again.
He wouldn’t be the last one to make that vow.
5. She Starred In A Classic
Just because one leading man refused to work with Young didn’t mean that her career was over. In fact, she was about to land the role that would define her (mostly unsuccessful) career. Largely due to her looks, Young landed the female lead in the 1982 cult classic Blade Runner alongside Harrison Ford. They weren’t exactly besties though.
6. She Was Pushed Around
With just two films under her belt, Sean Young had already developed a reputation as being difficult to work with. But, on the set of Blade Runner, Ford was the difficult one. Young became frightened and angry during a physical scene when Ford shoved her harder than he was meant to.
Regretting what he’d done, Ford jokingly mooned Young. Well, that’s one way to break the tension.
7. She Was Going To Be The Next Vivien Leigh
Young’s role as Rachael in Blade Runner basically defined her entire career. But she almost never landed her iconic role to begin with. Several of the film’s casting crew preferred the actress Nina Axelrod for the role. It was only because Ridley Scott thought that Young was going to be the next Vivien Leigh that she got the role.
Another actress who gained a reputation for being difficult after a breakout role—what a coincidence.
8. Her Lips Were Perfect
Throughout her career, Sean Young stunned audiences with her looks. In fact, based on her looks alone, she could have had a legendary career in Hollywood. While working on Blade Runner, famed make-up designer, Michael Westmore, said that Young had “the most perfect lips” he had ever seen.
It was what came out of them that became the issue.
9. She Missed Her Opportunity
Young’s next big role was as Chani in yet another sci-fi classic, Dune (1984). Similar to her role in Blade Runner, however, Young nearly never landed the part. And it wasn’t actually her fault. Young’s agent had arranged a screen test for her with the film’s producer and director. And then completely forgot to tell her about it.
It ended up basically being a miracle that she managed to land it.
10. She Had Luck On Her Side
Dune’s director David Lynch and producer Raffaella De Laurentiis were not impressed that Young had missed her screen test. They had, after all, flown all the way from Los Angeles to New York just for the meeting. And, worst of all, they had missed their flight back home waiting for Young. But Young was fated to have the role.
11. She Stood Out In A Crowd
While boarding their return flight, De Laurentiis spotted a woman on the plane who he thought would be perfect for the role of Chani. He said to Lynch, “I bet that girl’s an actress”. Funny enough, she was. And she was the very same actress that he had flown across the country to see. A flight attendant informed them that the woman’s name was Sean Young.
It seemed too good to be true—but it was.
12. She “Landed” A Role On A Plane
Flabbergasted at the turn of events, De Laurentiis and Lynch confronted Young about having stood them up. Going against her difficult reputation, Young turned on the charm and managed to smooth things over with the Hollywood bigwigs. Before take-off, they were best friends.
Young ended up toasting champagne with Lynch and De Laurentiis as they read over the script. Was this where everything turned around for her?
13. Her Role Was Reduced
Unfortunately, Young’s charms didn’t work on everyone. Her tenure on the set of 1987’s Wall Street, for example, was infamously conflict-ridden. Young clashed with most of the film’s cast and crew, including the film’s director, Oliver Stone, and co-star Charlie Sheen. Because of her combustible temperament on set, Stone drastically cut her role.
14. She Wanted Bigger Parts
It’s hard to blame Stone for reducing Young’s role in Wall Street to little more than a bit part. From the time she showed up on set, Young was a nightmare to work with. She complained that she wanted to play the female lead and openly advocated for Stone to fire her co-star, Daryl Hannah.
And one day, things came to an ugly head.
15. She Had A Chip On Her Back
The tension on the set of Wall Street was so intense that things turned ugly between the stars. Charlie Sheen got so fed up with Young’s attitude that he played a mean prank on her. Sheen stuck a piece of paper on Young’s back that had a vicious insult on it.
No one else on set bothered to tell her about it—and it’s not hard to understand why.
16. She Took What Was Hers
It’s not like Sean Young didn’t have some of the mean pranks played on her coming. In fact, she was practically asking for it. In protest of not getting the role she wanted, Young always showed up late to set and woefully unprepared for that day’s filming. After filming wrapped, she allegedly also walked off with all of her character’s costumes.
Well, Wall Street may have put her up against Sheen, a notorious bad boy—but when it comes to Hollywood stars with wild reputations, she was about to meet her match.
17. She Got Lost In The (James) Woods
Despite the intense hatred that most of her co-stars felt for her, Young did manage to make some friends on set. For example, Young met leading man James Woods on the set of 1988’s The Boost. Far from hatred, the two quickly developed romantic feelings for each other. Of course, Young could only hide being a diva for so long.
18. Her Fling Ended In Court
Whatever “romance” that Young and Woods had on the set of The Boost was short-lived. Less than a year later, their curious relationship began making headlines for all the wrong reasons. Woods took Young to court, suing her for $2 million.
The brief romance had a seriously shocking conclusion—but despite the fireworks, Young tried to play it off.
19. She Spurned James Woods
Sean Young claimed that her spat with James Woods was all about a spurned advance. While she confirmed that the two certainly had romantic chemistry while working together, they were both seeing other people at the time and Young pushed Woods away. “It was a crush being turned down,” she later alleged, “that's all…So sue me! And he did”.
20. She Had To Do Damage Control
Eventually, Young and Woods decided to settle the case out of court. In fact, Young even won the settlement and denied all of the crazy stories (more on those later). But the damage was done. The case had completely ruined Young’s already iffy reputation. And she would have to go to some extreme lengths to fix it.
21. She Blamed James Woods For Everything
Young blamed Woods for having cratered her reputation. And her career. In an interview, she claimed that Woods had “[destroyed her] studio career” out of vindictiveness. According to Young, it was because of her fallout with James Woods that she missed out on one of the biggest opportunities of her career.
22. She Fell Off Her High Horse
Following her dispute with James Woods, Sean Young tried to land back on her feet. But she fell flat on her face instead. Things were looking up for Young when she landed the role of Vicki Vale in Tim Burton’s Batman. During her rehearsals, however, she fell off a horse and broke her arm. The role ultimately went to Kim Basinger.
But Young had nine lives—or so she thought.
23. She Earned A Rare Distinction
Young next starred in a dual role in the flop of a film, A Kissing Before Dying (1991). If she thought that it was going to be her comeback, she was sorely mistaken. For her dual performance, Young earned the distinction of being the first actress to win two Razzies, one for both Worst Actress and Worst Supporting Actress.
Believe it or not, it wasn’t her worst performance.
24. She Thought She Had Nine Lives
Hollywood rarely gives second chances. But Sean Young was ready to claw her way back to the top (or, at least, not the bottom). In a desperate attempt to land the role of Catwoman in the Batman sequel, Young appeared on The Joan Rivers Show in a homemade catsuit. And she made sure to sharpen her claws before the cameras started rolling.
25. She Scratched Back At The Studios
By the time that Young appeared on The Joan Rivers Show, it was already too late. Tim Burton had given the role of Catwoman to Michelle Pfeiffer. But that didn’t stop Young from expressing her anger. While in character, Young berated Burton for not returning her phone calls and derisively referred to the powerhouse director as “Timmy”. But that wasn’t the most embarrassing part of the debacle.
26. She Made The Audience Uncomfortable
From there, Young’s appearance on The Joan Rivers Show only became even more awkward. Young blamed Burton and the rest of the Batman producers for making her get on a horse and breaking her arm. Joan Rivers even brought on a psychologist and Young pretended to cry in the woman’s lap, eliciting a cringe from the audience.
27. Her Cat-Act Backfired
Young’s appearance on The Joan Rivers Show backfired miserably. Not only did she fail to convince Tim Burton to give her the role of Catwoman, but the appearance only cemented her reputation as being “difficult to work with”. Funny enough, however, it wasn’t her most awkward talk show appearance of all time. Not by a long shot.
28. She Left Letterman Speechless
Sean Young found herself in a “hairy” situation when she appeared for the second time on The Late Show with David Letterman. In the 1988 talk show appearance, Young was supposed to promote her movie with future flame James Woods. Instead, however, the Dune actress veered off topic when Letterman gave her a sly look about her outfit.
29. She Wore Next To Nothing
Late night television viewers were no strangers to a little skin. But in her 1988 appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman, Sean Young was more au naturel than audiences expected. After Letterman introduced her, Young strutted onto the stage wearing a short dress with a completely open back. But no one was looking at her legs.
30. She Was In A “Hairy” Situation
After a little more than a minute into their interview, Young showed The Late Show audience something they would never forget. Seemingly out of the blue, the usually well-kept actress lifted her arms above her head, revealing her hairy armpits.
Both Letterman and his audience were left speechless, and it became one of Young’s most unforgettable late night moments…for a while, at least.
31. She Had No Way Out
Even though her co-stars complained that she was difficult to work with, Sean Young might have had good reason. Throughout her career, Young threw accusations of harassment at various directors and producers. For example, when talking about 1987’s No Way Out, she alleged that the film’s director forced her to lift her shirt during her audition.
Sadly, few believed her—and her career continued to suffer.
32. She Couldn’t Keep A Job
Despite her awkward talk show appearances and her growing reputation for diva-like behavior, Young still managed to find work. Kind of. In 1990, Young landed the starring role in Dick Tracy. But there’s a good reason why the film doesn’t appear in her credits. After only a few days, the film’s director, Warren Beatty, fired Young and replaced her with Glenne Headly.
33. She Was Not Matronly
The official reason for Young’s dismissal and ultimate replacement in Dick Tracy was that she wasn’t “maternal” enough for the role. However, it didn’t take long for the real reason to come out. Clearly, Young and Beatty did not get along—so the director fired her. The reason for their disagreement, however, is a matter of some dispute.
34. She Made Stunning Accusations
After her dismissal from set and yet another starring role, Sean Young leveled shocking allegations at Beatty. She claimed that the reason Beatty fired her was not, as he had claimed, because she lacked a “maternal” look. Rather, she accused the director of making unwanted advances on her. But Beatty denied the claims and fired back.
35. Her Reputation Preceded Her
For his part, Beatty accused Young of being too difficult to work with. The director claimed that, like many of Young’s previous co-workers, he wasn’t willing to put up with her antics and so that’s why he had to fire her. That said, Young never backed off of her allegations—so it’s a classic she-said, he-said.
However, some people could see Young’s good side.
36. Her Supporters Wanted More Of Her
As unbearable as most of her fellow Hollywood denizens found her, not everyone hated Young. In fact, some people couldn’t get enough of her. Her director on the set of the 1993 comedy Fatal Instinct, Carl Reiner, famously quipped “I’ll take 100 Sean Youngs”. According to him, there was nothing to the allegations that she was impossible to work with.
37. She Had Some Talent
Reiner completely dispelled the rumors that Young was a nightmare actress. “I was apprehensive when I first met her,” he said. “[...] I put it right to her: ‘You're perfect for the role, but are you going to drive me crazy?’ And then I found out it was all a fairy tale…She's a very gifted comedienne and actress”.
Reiner was definitely generous with his praise. Others were generous with…different opinions on her work.
38. She Earned Another Razzie
Following her dismissal from Dick Tracy, Sean Young struggled to find work. Well, more specifically, she struggled to find good work. Building on her 1991 Razzies, Young starred in the 1992 movie Love Crimes. John Wilson, founder of the Golden Raspberry Award, called Love Crimes one of the “amusingly bad” movies ever made.
39. She Met Hollywood’s Worst
The fact that Love Crimes was a bad movie wasn’t Young’s fault. In fault, in a cruel ironic twist, she claimed that she had been a victim of a crime herself. Years later, Young alleged that Harvey Weinstein, who produced Love Crimes, had exposed himself to her. But by that time, Young was no stranger to inappropriate behavior.
40. She Kept It Professional
Where most other actresses might have freaked out or panicked at Weinstein’s alleged misconduct, Young kept her cool. “You know, Harvey,” she recalled saying to the disgraced producer, “I don’t really think you should be pulling that thing out, it’s not very pretty”.
However, for Young, the writing was on the wall: Hollywood was not for her.
41. She Fled Hollywood
In 1990, Sean Young married fellow actor and music composer Robert Lujan. The couple moved to Sedona, Arizona to escape the predatory producers, directors, and actors who Young claimed were ruining her career.
But she ended up giving Hollywood one more chance with 1994’s Ace Ventura, alongside Jim Carrey.
42. She Was Just As Difficult A Wife As An Actress
If Lujan thought that the rumors about his wife being difficult were fabrications, he eventually learned that there was some truth to them. After 12 years of marriage and one child, Young and Lujan parted ways. Because they lived such private lives in Arizona, the details of their divorce are unclear.
But then one detail emerged that may have explained the problems in the marriage.
43. She Married The Same Man Twice
In 2008, Sean Young admitted herself to a rehabilitation facility. The actress said that she was suffering from substance use and addiction. Thankfully, she made a speedy recovery and mended her relationship with her ex Lujan, remarrying in 2011. Her career, however, would not recover as quickly as her marriage.
44. She Was A Strict Disciplinarian
Fully recovered, Sean Young was ready to make her comeback. So, once again, she appeared on an episode of The Late Show with David Letterman. And, once again, she managed to make things awkward. Young confessed that she had been busy parenting in the last decade and joked about using a horsewhip to discipline her children.
Then things really got awkward.
45. She Had Plotted Her Return
Letterman asked Young what she had been up to professionally. Coyly, Young said, “Nothing”. But that wasn’t exactly true. Young had provided Letterman with a home video of sorts that made reference to another one of her awkward talk show appearances. It was so cringe-worthy that audiences couldn’t look away. Even if they wanted to.
46. She Was In On The Joke
Young’s home video was something of an homage to her infamous appearance on The Joan Rivers Show. In the video, the then 52-year-old actress appeared in a skintight catsuit, standing on a street corner, waving around a sign and screaming at passing traffic, “I’m not crazy!”
To her credit, that kind of self-deprecating humor takes bravery.
47. She Wasn’t Invited To The Party
Despite her best efforts (and catsuits), Sean Young was never really on “The List,” as she called it. And in 2012, she really wasn’t on the list. A security guard placed the Blade Runner star under citizen’s arrest at an after party for the 84th Academy Awards. Apparently, she failed to produce a ticket and then slapped the guard when he asked her to leave.
The crazy part? She’d tried the same thing in 2006 at another Oscars after party, and had gone to rehab shortly after.
48. She Turned The Clock Back
In 2017, Sean Young finally got the comeback that she had always wanted. In fact, you might say that she successfully turned the clock back. With the help of a body double and a full year of CGI, Young managed to reprise her role as Rachael in the Blade Runner sequel, Blade Runner 2049. True to form, however, Young squandered her opportunity.
49. She Had No Direction
With a (somewhat) successful career behind her, Young was ready to try her hand behind the camera. In 2018, she was slated to direct the film Charlie Boy but the film’s co-writer ultimately decided that she was “out of her depth” and replaced her. Funny enough, working without Young was just as difficult as working with her. And equally expensive.
50. She “Borrowed” Some Equipment
After the Charlie Boy co-writer fired Young as director, $12,000 worth of production equipment mysteriously disappeared from the studio. But it wasn’t a mystery for long. Surveillance video captured Young and one of her sons walking off with the valuable equipment.
Young did eventually return the equipment—after New York authorities sought her for questioning.
51. She Deserves A Comeback
After decades full of mishaps, spats, rumors and feuds, Sean Young is still ready for the big screen. Even if the big screen isn’t ready for her. In an iconic interview with the Daily Beast, Young summed up her career when she said, “I'm a comeback waiting to happen. No one deserves it more than I do”.
52. She Mutilated A Doll
Remember James Woods’ court case against Sean Young after their relationship ended? Well, one detail that came out in court was unforgettable. Woods alleged that Young had harassed him and his fiancée. In the most unsettling incident, Young left a horribly disfigured doll on Woods’ doorstep as a symbol of how she felt.
Despite Woods’ testimony, the suit ended up being settled, and he ended up having to pay for Young’s court costs.
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Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18