During the making of Kramer vs. Kramer, Dustin Hoffman reportedly smacked Meryl Streep and mocked her with the name of her recently deceased partner, according to a new biography.

In his upcoming book about the actress, Her Again: Becoming Meryl Streep, author Michael Schulman describes Hoffman’s shocking behavior on the set of the 1979 film.

Streep, then a promising up-and-coming actress, was not originally considered for the role of Joanna, the film’s female heroine who is embroiled in a brutal divorce and custody struggle with her husband Ted (Hoffman). But Hoffman, now 78, persuaded director Robert Benton that she was the right person for the job. The explanation for his decision: Hoffman was aware that Streep had recently lost her two-year partner, John Cazale, to lung cancer. The Graduate star believed she could add depth to the character by drawing on her own agony and grief. (Streep, on the other hand, has a completely different story, telling Ms. magazine that she wowed the filmmakers by telling them exactly how to modify the script.)

According to the book, on the second day of filming the film’s opening scene, when Ted chases a tearful Joanna into the hallway, Hoffman “shocked” everyone on set when he “slapped [Streep] hard across the cheek, leaving a red mark.”

Mr Shulman claims that Streep charged into the corridor and continued to act out the scene.

In a later sequence, Hoffman stood off camera and “started taunting” Streep about her late boyfriend, John Cazale.

“He was goading and provoking her,” recalled film executive Richard Fischoff, “using stuff he knew about her personal life and about John to get the response that he thought she should be giving in the performance.”

Fischoff claims that Streep became “absolutely white” when this happened, and that she “left the studio in a rage” after they concluded that day.

In a courtroom scenario, Hoffman brought up Cazale’s death again, and as he whispered her late boyfriend’s name in her ear, Streep’s tears welled up. The pair’s relationship was so strained that executives assumed the picture would be a flop, yet it grossed more than $106 million at the box office, even outperforming Star Trek. At the 52nd Academy Awards, Kramer vs. Kramer received nine nominations and went on to win Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, best actor for Hoffman, and best supporting actress for Streep.

According to the book, a number of other high-profile actresses were considered for the role of Joanna Kramer before Meryl Streep. According to Schulman, the character was initially given to Kate Jackson from Charlie’s Angels, but when she was unable to accept it, Jane Fonda, Faye Dunaway, and Katherine Ross, Hoffman’s co-star in The Graduate, were considered.

Meryl Streep on the cover of ‘Vanity Fair.’