Movie producer Will Packer made an appearance on Sunday night’s episode of Watch What Happens Live and shared a memorable moment from his time working with the late Paul Walker.
According to Packer, the 2010 heist movie Takers “almost didn’t happen” because of Walker’s beef with the studio.
Packer recounted a situation where Walker clashed with the studio on the first day of production due to his wardrobe preferences. While the studio envisioned the male characters in suits and ties, Walker desired a more casual, hippie-inspired look featuring ripped jeans. This disagreement led to a confrontation, requiring Packer to step in and mediate the situation.
Packer described his approach to diffusing conflicts as “taking the thunder out,” emphasizing the importance of acknowledging one’s role in a disagreement. By apologizing and assuming responsibility, Packer demonstrated his commitment to maintaining harmony on set.
He explained, “I said, ‘Paul, it’s your first day on a Will Packer set. I apologize. However we got here doesn’t matter. Every day from now forward is gonna be better.’ He said, ‘You know what? I get it. He’s a bad cop, he’s the good cop. I’m gonna do your movie, Will.’”
The film also starred Idris Elba, Matt Dillon, Hayden Christensen, and Zoe Saldana.
During his chat with host Andy Cohen, Packer also recalled working with Beyoncé in Obsessed — and how he had to rework the script multiple times before she agreed to star in the movie.
“B taught me a lot about getting rejected because she told me no over and over again,” he said. “When I wanted her to be in that movie, she told me no but she was gracious enough to tell me why. So I kept going back and asking again and again and changing the movie in order to make it something that she could do.”
“I called it a fortuitous no,” he added. “And, ultimately, on the sixth time, Beyoncé said yes and that movie opened at No. 1.”
Watch What Happens Live airs Sunday through Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET on Bravo. New episodes are available to stream the next day on Peacock.
(function(d, s, id) {
var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];
if (d.getElementById(id)) return;
js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;
js.src = “//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&appId=823934954307605&version=v2.8”;
fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);
}(document, ‘script’, ‘facebook-jssdk’));
