Brad Pitt describes the “worst direction” he’s ever received on a movie set
Even the best actors in the world need great direction, with Robert De Niro’s performance in Taxi Driver being nothing without Martin Scorsese and Marlon Brando’s role in Apocalypse Now being rather aimless without the guidance of Francis Ford Coppola. The quality of such direction can vary greatly, however, with Brad Pitt revealing a particularly awful piece of guidance he received from one unnamed filmmaker.
Although Pitt is known as one of Hollywood’s most fashionable and stylish actors, starring in some of the highest-grossing movies of all time, he is also well-known for his collaborations with esteemed creatives. In fact, ever since he entered the industry in the late 1980s, Pitt has had the opportunity to work with some of the greatest filmmakers of all time, including Ridley Scott, Quentin Tarantino, David Fincher, Terry Gilliam, Steven Soderbergh and Terrence Malick.
Still, not every single one of Pitt’s films has been a bonafide hit, with the actor having featured in a fair number of critical and commercial failures, including War Machine, The Counsellor, Full Frontal and more.
It was during the publicity of one of his most recent movies, 2022’s Bullet Train, however, that Pitt revealed all regarding the worst piece of direction he ever got. Refusing to outright name the individual, when pushed for a response, Pitt stated: “I actually have an answer for this…I worked with this director, who may remain nameless, and he goes, ‘You know when a serial killer has a victim around the throat and chokes him till he passes out and then revives him so he can do it again? Do that!’”
The story produced a room full of laughter, with Pitt’s Bullet Train co-stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Brian Tyree Henry finding it hilarious that the star behind such films as Seven and Fight Club received such a specific slice of advice. “That director was Ted Bundy,” Henry responded to Pitt, with Taylor-Johnson making a similar comment to the filmmaker in question reminding him of Jeffrey Dahmer.
The 2022 movie Bullet Train was seen as something of a missed opportunity for Pitt, with the Sony-released flick never really living up to the potential of the source material of the same name by Japanese author Kōtarō Isaka. With an all-star cast that included Michael Shannon, Logan Lerman, Sandra Bullock, Hiroyuki Sanada and Zazie Beetz, as well as Taylor-Johnson, Henry and Pitt, the film that resulted was curiously muted in creativity.
Take a look at the interview with Brad Pitt, where he discusses the “worst direction” he ever received, below.
