Director Nicolas Winding Refn has revealed that his 2011 film "Drive" was widely disliked by those involved in making it, with some crew members reportedly asking for their names to be removed before it premiered at Cannes. Speaking on the "It Happened in Hollywood" podcast, Refn said the film only turned a corner after its Cannes screening, where he won the best director award, setting it on the path to becoming one of the most acclaimed films of its era and a star-making vehicle for Ryan Gosling.

Refn also discussed his new film "Her Private Hell", his first feature in nearly a decade, made after a near-fatal medical emergency in which he says he was clinically dead for more than 20 minutes. He described the project, which received a divisive response at Cannes, as a deliberate reaction against algorithm-driven entertainment. On "Drive", he recounted how the project came together only after a planned Harrison Ford film collapsed, and detailed an awkward early meeting with Gosling that led to an emotional bonding moment in a car, aided by an REO Speedwagon song, before cast and crew went on to share a communal Hollywood house he claims was haunted.