12 Monkeys is one of the most impressive performances by Brad Pitt which also helped him earn his first Oscar nomination. The 1995 sci-fi movie is set in a dystopian future and directed by Terry Gilliam is deemed one of the best time travel movies ever made. Pitt’s critically appreciated performance in the film as Jeffrey Goines was also one of the main highlights.
Interestingly it was revealed later that there was a considerable amount of realism involved in the Fight Club actor’s performance. It is reported that Gilliam deliberately kept Brad Pitt deprived of cigarettes which helped him to pull off one of the most iconic scenes in 12 Monkeys.
What was the secret behind Brad Pitt’s performance in 12 Monkeys?
The 1995 Terry Gilliam blockbuster presents some of the biggest names in Hollywood such as Bruce Willis, Christopher Plummer, and Brad Pitt. The role of Jeffrey Goines as a psychotic mental patient skyrocketed Pitt’s popularity and established him as an amazing actor.
Soon after the movie was released and became a blockbuster, it was known that initially, Gilliam wasn’t sure of the Oscar-winning actor’s caliber. For a scene where Brad Pitt’s character delivers a series of rapid-fire dialogues nervously in the asylum, the director didn’t know if the actor could portray such a role. Reportedly he pulled off a trick and took away Brad Pitt’s cigarettes and Pitt delivered the role exactly as he wanted.
Although Brad Pitt was sent to a speech coach by The Zero Theorem director, the removal of the cigarettes helped him more. It led the actor to enter the mental situation of the character and deliver an amazing performance.
But unfortunately, Angelina Jolie’s ex doesn’t reflect the same thoughts of his admirers. The 59-year-old actor feels that he couldn’t perform in the second half of the film at all.
Brad Pitt’s thoughts on his 12 Monkeys performance
Despite earning an Oscar nomination as well as a Golden Globe win along with a significant amount of appreciation from everyone, Brad Pitt is not happy with his 12 Monkeys performance. The actor revealed in an interview with The New York Times that he was happy with his portrayal of the role but only in the first half of the movie.
“I nailed the first half of ’12 Monkeys.’ I got the second half all wrong. That performance bothered me because there was a trap in the writing. It’s not the writing’s fault, but it was something that I couldn’t figure out.”
He added:
“I knew in the second half of the film I was playing the gimmick of what was real in the first half — until the last scene — and it bugged the [expletive] out of me.”
Even though Brad Pitt isn’t a fan of his work in 12 Monkeys, the film by Terry Gilliam collected $168.8M at the box office. The mind-bending plot of the movie still raises many discussions across various platforms. The performance by the other cast was also widely appreciated by critics and audiences. The plot of the movie inspired by a French short film La Jetée follows a spread of a deadly virus and how Bruce Willis’ James Cole is sent into the past to find out its origin.
Terry Gilliam’s 12 Monkeys can be rented on Apple TV+.
Source: Screen Rant/The New York Post
