Artistic obsession: The band Brad Pitt called the “Kafka of our generation”
Brad Pitt is one of the most respected actors in modern cinema, having graced the big screen for decades with performances that have earned him both substantial paycheques and top billing in the industry. Beyond his commercial success, Pitt has proven himself as one of the finest performers of his generation. Few Hollywood names can boast a career as illustrious as his.
However, in the world of music, there is one band who have had a career with interchangeable longevity, a similar ability to straddle the leftfield and the mainstream at one time and an almost unattainable universal appreciation, marking themselves out as a group who have earned an extraordinary place close to his heart; Radiohead.
The Oxfordshire group have cemented themselves in the pantheon of music greats, much like Pitt has done in the acting world. In fact, Pitt and Edward Norton once tried to collaborate with the band, attempting to recruit them to create the soundtrack for Fight Club. However, the timing wasn’t right for Radiohead, and they passed on the opportunity. Despite this, Norton later managed to secure Thom Yorke to compose the soundtrack for his 2019 film Motherless Brooklyn. Meanwhile, Pitt has yet to work on a project with the iconic band.
“Things sort of come into my office, but they haven’t really got to me,” Yorke told BBC 6 Music about past soundtrack offers. Unfortunately for the band, and most notably the actor, the opportunity to work together landed at just the wrong time. “The one I remember is one from years ago after we’d finished OK Computer, and I was completely gaga. They asked me to do Fight Club.”
When Hollywood comes calling, most bands would usually eagerly answer the door. However, Yorke and Radiohead have always operated differently, showing a clear understanding of their artistic boundaries and limitations at the time. Their decision to pass on the Fight Club soundtrack reflects the band’s commitment to maintaining creative control and staying true to their unique vision, even in the face of major opportunities. “They sent me the script,” Yorke continued, “And Ed and Brad Pitt wrote to me and said ‘We really think you should do this’. I went ‘Nah, I can’t’. I couldn’t. I wouldn’t have been able to do it then, but every time I see the film I go ‘Oh’,” he regretfully stated.
“Got the email. Got the script. And I was just too fucked up in the head to do it. I’d just come off tour. I was mentally incapable of even tying my shoes,” Yorke again recalled, this time to The Guardian in 2019, reflecting on the missed opportunity to be a part of one of the most lauded movies of the decade.
Discussing the failed collaboration, director Norton revealed why he and Brad Pitt initially reached out to Radiohead to lend a hand on the soundtrack in the same interview: “It was probably my fault. We were listening to The Bends and OK Computer constantly in the makeup trailer,” he said. “Brad and I were obsessed – we had those albums on all the time. Then we started leaning on David [Fincher] a little. ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if Radiohead could do the score?'”
In 1999, the same year Fight Club hit cinemas, Pitt sat down with Rolling Stone to promote the film. Despite Radiohead’s decision to pass on the soundtrack, Pitt’s admiration for the band remained undiminished. He nearly ran out of superlatives as he expressed his deep appreciation for their music during the interview, showing that their rejection hadn’t affected his love for them in the slightest. “What is so important about Radiohead is that they are the [Franz] Kafka and the [Samuel] Beckett of our generation,” he dotingly told the publication without a hint of irony.
Franz Kafka, a Bohemian novelist from Prague, played an immeasurable role in shaping 20th-century literature. Samuel Beckett, an equally influential Irish novelist, picked up where Kafka left off, further evolving modern literary thought. Both men had a profound impact on the literary world, and the influence of their work continues to resonate throughout culture today.
Pitt likening Radiohead to an amalgamation of Franz Kafka and Samuel Beckett is about as high praise as one can give. The band’s impact on music cannot be understated. Their unique contribution to rock, combined with their unwavering refusal to conform to convention or deliver anything other than the purest expression of their artistry, cements their status as iconic. Radiohead’s steadfast dedication to pushing boundaries has ensured their place in music history.
Pitt then added even more praise: “Thom Yorke and the rest of Radiohead are precisely that,” he said. “What comes out in them I don’t think is anything they could actually articulate, but I would certainly say that it’s that which we all know is true somewhere when we’re in our deepest sleep. That is their importance, and this movie hits on the same level.”
Although Radiohead had never worked with Brad Pitt, they did reciprocate the love when producing a bizarre webcast called Thumbs Down in 2007. The strange yet captivating film parodies a scene from the David Fincher film Se7en, in which Pitt starred alongside Morgan Freeman in 1995. While this is far from a collaboration, having Radiohead pay tribute to one of his finest films will likely at least make the actor raise a smile.
