The “most irresponsible” movie Brad Pitt ever made: “I didn’t even think about it”
Brad Pitt‘s acting career is now in its fifth decade, and over that time, he’s cemented himself as one of the all-time greats. Still, even Pitt has made the occasional faux-pas, and there’s one “irresponsible” project he deeply regrets.
It’s quite strange to hear of an actor taking at least some responsibility for a movie they made. After all, they are just one cog in the machine behind making a project happen. But as the face of the production, Pitt thought it necessary to step out from under the parapet and make a statement.
In 1997, Pitt’s stock was sky-high, and he couldn’t do anything wrong at the box office. Everything the actor touched became a hit, and any director worth their salt wanted Pitt to be part of their project following the success of Interview with the Vampire, Legends of the Fall, and Seven.
However, given his success, there was no need for Pitt to rush into projects that he didn’t believe in. Instead, he discovered how filmmakers could sell him a dream that could often look unrecognisable in reality.
Pitt wasn’t used to his projects going anything other than swimmingly, and working on The Devil’s Own was a learning process for the Oscar-winning actor. He starred in the film alongside Harrison Ford, and from the moment he walked on set, Pitt realised something was amiss.
The picture was the final film directed by Alan J. Pakula before his death in 1998, and his methods didn’t sit right with Pitt. In fact, at one point, he even tried to leave the project, but after being told the compensation he’d have to pay, Pitt was left with no choice but to see it out. “We had no script. Well, we had a great script but it got tossed for various reasons,” Pitt told Newsweek in February 1997. “To have to make something up as you go along… what pressure!”
He continued: “It was ridiculous. It was the most irresponsible bit of filmmaking – if you can even call it that – that I’ve ever seen. I couldn’t believe it. I don’t know why anyone would want to continue making that movie. We had nothing. The movie was the complete victim of this drowning studio head … who said, ‘I don’t care. We’re making it. I don’t care what you have. Shoot something'”.
Pitt then revealed that when he told the studio head he “wanted out”, he was told it would cost $63million because they’d already sold it across the world on the provision that he’d be starring in the film.
The studio, understandably, was furious with Pitt for making negative remarks about The Devil’s Own before it had arrived in cinemas. Furthermore, the actor later revealed that they tried to get him to appear on Entertainment Tonight to clear up his comments.
“I didn’t even think about it,” Pitt told Rolling Stone. “This was old news. Then I get home [Los Angeles]… Boom! The calls start at seven in the morning. ‘Go on Entertainment Tonight,’ they begged. ‘Say you didn’t mean it.’ I was like, ‘I can’t do that. [He shakes his head] I said it. I said it.'”
The comments also saw him draw ire from his co-star, Harrison Ford. The Star Wars actor is far more attuned to the professionalism of being an actor and struggled to align with Pitt’s demands. The way he saw it, he needed to turn up and do his job, supporting everybody involved along the way. Pitt hadn’t done that, in fact, he had thrown a whole team under the bus publicly.
Although he refused to withdraw his comments, Pitt did write to Newsweek to explain he was referring to the filming process rather than the final product. Despite Pitt burying The Devil’s Own before its release, the film was somehow still a resounding success at the box office and raked in an impressive $140.8 million. A true testament to his pulling power.
