Let’s just go back in time for a while and imagine the set of ‘Full Metal Jacket‘. It got pretty intense for the cast with all the military training scenes under Stanley Kubrick’s direction.
But in between shots, something unexpected happened, and in no time, a real argument broke out on the set. And, all of a sudden, a real argument happened, and Matthew Modine suddenly found himself so angry that he nearly did something that he still regrets.
Why Matthew Modine Wanted To Kill A ‘Full Metal Jacket’ Co-Star
As you already know, ‘Full Metal Jacket‘ was filmed in East London, and Kubrick, being a slave of his own perfectionism, didn’t want to compromise on anything. Each scene had to go through hundreds of takes until it fit the perfect mold. As expected, the pressure on the set became too much to handle, and the actors couldn’t really get out of their characters even after the cameras stopped rolling.
Amid all this, things between Matthew Modine, who played the role of a Private Joker, and his co-star, Vincent D’Onofrio, who played a recruit who slowly began to break under the pressure, got pretty heated. D’Onofrio got too deep into his role, so much so that he got into his character’s troubled mindset. In fact, according to Modine, his co-star “just got weirder and weirder as he went into the world his character was entering into.”
When The Violence Went Beyond Control On Set
Modine and D’Onofrio approached acting very differently. While Modine liked to stay relaxed between takes, D’Onofrio preferred to stay in character. And soon, that difference led to everything disastrous. Things on the set finally got out of hand during the marching scene. After Kubrick called “cut,” Modine began joking around with some of the cast members. But it got too much to handle for D’Onofrio.
As Modine never really believed in method acting, there was already a huge rift between them. As a result, D’Onofrio couldn’t take Modine’s actions lightly. So when D’Onofrio finally asked what D’Onofrio would do if he didn’t stop, D’Onofrio replied that he’d “kick his a–.” That’s when Modine, holding a 30-pound M14 rifle, lost his temper for a split second. He said he actually wanted to hit D’Onofrio with it.
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Extras nearby started teasing him, shouting things like “Go on, Matty!” But Modine caught himself before things went too far. The argument ended their friendship, and they barely spoke to each other for the rest of the shoot. Still, Modine later admitted that the tension helped make their scenes feel more real.
Ironically, Modine had been the one to recommend D’Onofrio for the role of Private Pyle in the first place. Despite the fallout, both actors went on to deliver powerful performances. Full Metal Jacket became one of Kubrick’s most acclaimed films, earning an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.
