4 Behind the Scenes Stories That Deserve Their Own Movie

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In 1971, when Herzog was writing the screenplay for Aguirre, the Wrath of God, he wrote the lead role with one actor in mind, Klaus Kinski, a man who had rented a room in his parents’ apartment when Herzog was 13. Kinski’s erratic, explosive behavior left an impression on the young Herzog, particularly the time Kinski had locked himself in the communal bathroom for two days and only emerged when there was nothing left in there to destroy.

Kinski was, without hyperbole, a psychopath. As a stage actor, he often performed in one-man shows because no other actors wanted to work with him. On film sets, having to do more than one or two takes would send him into a blind rage. After being sent the screenplay for Aguirre, Kinski called up Herzog at 3am, screaming incoherently for an hour before Herzog could decipher that he loved the script.

Werner Herzog Filmproduktion

He rambled so much, he should have been a screenwriter himself.

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Herzog frequently butted heads with Kinski over how the character of Aguirre should be played. Kinski, naturally, wanted to play him as a full-tilt maniac, while Herzog wanted something more quiet and menacing. Herzog got his way, but only by deliberately pissing off Kinski before each shot and filming after his hissy fit had worn him out.

The film was shot in chronological order, thinking that the cast’s progress through the jungles and rivers of Peru would enhance their characters’ weariness as the story advanced. Kinski’s behavior definitely accelerated that weariness. The native extras particularly despised him, with one of the native chiefs reportedly making Herzog a sincere offer to kill Kinski on his behalf. The offer was refused, mainly because getting another actor to replace him would be too much of a hassle.

Werner Herzog Filmproduktion

Plus, zombie Kinski would have totally changed the tone of the film. 

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One night after filming had wrapped for the day, some of the cast and crew were having themselves a party when Kinski, irritated by the noise, started firing a rifle at their hut. One of the bullets took off the tip of an extra’s finger, which thankfully was the only injury. Herzog took the rifle away from Kinski, and has kept it to this day.

After Herzog refused to fire a sound assistant that Kinski had a problem with, Kinski threatened to quit the project. Herzog countered by threatening to kill Kinski and turn the gun on himself if he tried to leave. Kinski got back in line real quick, because when an artist like Werner F—ing Herzog gives you a choice between finishing the movie or a murder-suicide, he’s not bluffing.

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Despite all this insanity, Herzog and Kinski worked together four more times after Aguirre, The Wrath of God, even returning to jungles of Peru for Fitzcarraldo. In 1999, Herzog released My Best Fiend, a documentary about their relationship. As he once said about Kinski, “People think we had a love-hate relationship. Well, I did not love him, nor did I hate him. We had mutual respect for each other, even as we both planned each other’s murder.”