The One Co-Star Sean Connery Couldn't Stand

Few actors embody the word legendary, but Sean Connery's movie catalog more than proves he's worthy of the title. How can anyone contest this with iconic roles in franchises like "James Bond," "Indiana Jones," and "Highlander"? With such a pedigree and reputation, one would imagine other performers would have been on their best behavior around him. However, F. Murray Abraham turned out to be the one co-star who successfully got under Connery's skin.

Connery and Abraham starred in 1986's "The Name of the Rose." In this mystery-tinged film (based on the bestselling novel by Umberto Eco), Connery plays Friar William of Baskerville, who is summoned to an abbey after disturbing events. Abraham portrays William's rival, the inquisitor known as Bernardo Gui. The movie also features Christian Slater, Valentina Vargas, Michael Lonsdale, and Ron Perlman.

Speaking at the Lumière Film Festival (via Deadline) in 2023, director Jean-Jacques Annaud discussed how Connery and Abraham had clashed throughout the production — and not just as characters on screen. According to the filmmaker, the tension between Connery and Abraham was so bad that the former reportedly tried to get the latter removed from the Screen Actors Guild. "[Abraham] was terrible, not so much with me, but rather with Sean," Annaud said. "He would say, 'I've got the Oscar, and he's an old idiot.' They would both arrive late because Sean didn't want to wait for F. Murray, and F. Murray didn't want to wait for Sean ... it was like the school playground."

It wasn't only Sean Connery who clashed with F. Murray Abraham, whom MCU fans might know as Khonshu from "Moon Knight." As a matter of fact, the award-winning actor developed a reputation of being difficult to work with over the years. According to Abraham, this was all a result of him buying into his own hype when he started to achieve success as an actor. "It was just hubris," he told the Independent in 2021. "That's all. I started to really believe some of the reviews I was getting. I really thought I knew what I was doing."

Abraham added that he was a changed man and "absolutely wonderful now." He also claimed that he had reached out to the people from his past whom he might have offended and extended olive branches.

However, controversy followed him again in 2023 after he was fired from Apple TV's highly underrated feel-good show "Mythic Quest" for reported misconduct. Abraham issued an apology (via Deadline), stating that he "told jokes, nothing more."