Even stranger than the odd anti-heroes who tend to drive Werner Herzog's films is Werner Herzog himself. Christian Bale's take on starring in Herzog's latest: "I was expecting him to pull a gun on me at any second." Based on the Herzog stories out there, that wouldn't be an exaggeration.
The time he was shot on TV
During a 2006 BBC interview promoting Grizzly Man, his documentary about a man who lived among bears and was eventually mauled to death by one, Herzog was shot at with an air rifle. His response: "It's not an everyday thing, but it doesn't surprise me to get shot at." He continued the interview, and at the end, the journalist asked him if he was hurt. "It's not significant," Herzog said as he undid his pants to reveal a bleeding wound.
Saving Joaquin Phoenix
Last year in Hollywood, when actor Joaquin Phoenix overturned his car in a traffic accident, Herzog just happened to be living nearby. Herzog tapped on the windshield and told Phoenix that he was going to be all right. "There's something so calming and beautiful about Werner Herzog's voice," Phoenix later said. "I felt completely fine and safe. I climbed out. I got out of the car and I said, 'Thank you,' and he was gone."
Becoming a hypnotist
For his 1976 film Heart of Glass, Herzog hired a hypnotist to get his cast into character. When he wasn't satisfied with the results, he fired the professional and took over the job himself.
Jailed in Cameroon
In 1970, while making Fata Morgana, a film which Herzog described as "a documentary shot by extraterrestrials from the Andromeda Nebula, and left behind," the director visited Cameroon with a crew member who happened to have a similar name as a wanted criminal. They ended up in jail.