Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston used to be one of the most loved and hyped-up power couples in Hollywood in the early 2000s. That is why fans from all around the world were left devastated as the Friends star decided to separate from her lover of seven years following cheating rumors with Angelina Jolie. This came after Jolie and Pitt were cast into Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005).
Surprisingly enough (or perhaps unsurprisingly), the Pitt-Aniston split almost affected the former’s career to a considerable extent. This comes after one intimate scene from Brad Pitt’s 2005 hit action/romance film with Jolie was nearly edited due to fear of losing Aniston’s fans.
How Jennifer Aniston’s Fans Affected One Scene From Mr. & Mrs. Smith
During an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Mr. & Mrs. Smith‘s director Doug Liman shared how one intimate scene between Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie in the film was affected because of Jennifer Aniston. Revealing how the problem initially started, he said:
“I did have a really frank conversation with Dave Matalon [who runs Regency], when we were mixing the movie, about what kind of music would be on the s-x scene. I wanted Joe Strummer singing ‘Mondo Bongo,’ which is a little tribal and for me very sexy.”
However, since Jennifer Aniston was incredibly famous during that time for her superhit sitcom Friends, Dave Matalon was worried about hurting the sentiments of the actress’ fans worldwide.
“Dave said, ‘Look, I’m honestly worried about the Jennifer Aniston fans out there. I don’t want to lose that little niche audience of people who are huge Jennifer Aniston fans who are going to hate Angelina Jolie if the s-x scene is too sexy. People will see the s-x scene and say, Oh, that’s how Angie did it. It’ll be like, She used her wiles to seduce him. I would rather you put something sweeter musically over the s-x scene. I’m not telling you it’s better, I’m…telling you where I’m coming from.’”
Despite that, Doug Liman was able to use the steamy music in the film. How?
“Luckily I had a bunch of women on my sound crew who came to my defense and helped win him over. I ultimately prevailed.”
Thus, the director’s choice of music was added and the intimate scene between Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt was shot without further hesitation.
Brad Pitt And Angelina Jolie Had Incredible Influence On Each Other During Shoot
In the same interview, Doug Liman then shared how much Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie influenced each other’s acting in Mr. & Mrs. Smith.
“[Angelina Jolie] in the movie is playing the way Brad [Pitt] is in real life, and vice versa. I mean, he really is a homemaker. He’s into fabrics and art and architecture and what color is on the wall, is it eggshell or ecru? But for Angie, bringing her into that suburban home and trying to sit [her] down at the dinner table? I might as well have asked her to simulate being on a spacecraft.”
Continuing, he added how different Jolie was from her on-screen character of Mrs. Smith.
“She had no point of reference at all, from her own life, of what a normal home would be like. And she’s much more into weapons, as a human being than Brad is. Any time my prop guy did show-and-tell of knives and guns, she’d be very, very knowledgeable. I’m looking at them wondering if they look cool, and she’s asking, Does this also come with a serrated blade? And which particular kind of hook, once you stick it into somebody, is good for ripping their flesh on the way out? Details I wouldn’t even know existed.”
Nonetheless, both Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt did an incredible job at shooting the film which is evident from the outstanding reviews that Mr. & Mrs. Smith received from fans worldwide.
