Brad Pitt is one of the biggest celebrities in Hollywood. Going down in history as one of the legends, he has worn many different faces, starring in Fight Club, Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Many different experiences have brought the actor to how talented he is today, and one of the most formative for anyone in this profession is the advice they receive from directors.
On this note, Pitt was asked about the worst direction a filmmaker has ever given him. The answer that he gave was more than a little interesting, with him being told to act as though he was a serial killer.
What Was The Worst Advice A Director Gave Brad Pitt?
Brad Pitt has had a very diverse and lengthy career which has helped him work with some of the most successful directors of all time. From working with David Fincher to Quentin Tarantino, and even Damien Chazelle, it is safe to say that he understands what it is like to work with legends. The direction actors get from their directors is one of the most important parts of their jobs.
It helps them understand the filmmaker’s perception of the characters that they are playing and try their level best to translate it through their acting.
Pitt spoke on exactly this during an interview with BBC Radio for the promotion of his film, Bullet Train, being asked what the most memorable direction he had ever been given by a director.
“I worked with this director. May remain nameless. And he goes, ‘You know when a serial killer has a victim around the throat and chokes him till he pass out and then revives him so he can do it again? Do that.'”
The actor mentioned that had one specific instance in mind of the worst advice a director gave him, however, he would not mention any names. A filmmaker told Pitt to imagine a serial killer who was strangling his victim, bringing him back to life, only to get the satisfaction of strangling him again. He was then told to embody this feeling and act accordingly.
David Leitch Was A Much Better Director On Bullet Train
During this interview, Brad Pitt’s co-stars in his 2022 film, Bullet Train, Brian Tyree Henry, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson, also spoke about the directions they were given by David Leitch in this film. These were much better than Pitt’s story. Henry started by saying that the director was very involved in the stuntwork of this, making sure that the entire cast was doing them to the best of their capabilities and ‘selling it’ to the audience.
“David let us play quite a bit, but because he has done this so long, and understands the choreography of it all, he gets in there man. He really wants to make sure that you sell it and there is nothing greater than when you see him behind the camera like jumping from joy. This was also during COVID so he wears masks. So if you see then you know you’ve got the seal of approval.”
Since the movie was made during COVID, there were quite a few restrictions that stopped the director from communicating properly. However, there was another way the cast knew that they were doing a good job. Henry also revealed that when Leitch was happy with the stunt choreography, he would end up jumping up and down in excitement of the shoot being successful.
