Brad Pitt was accused of hot-headed and “volatile” behavior on the set of Legends of the Fall, the 1994 movie he starred in alongside Anthony Hopkins, Julia Ormond, and Aidan Quinn.
The accusations are found in director Ed Zwick’s new memoir Hits, Flops, and Other Illusions: My Fortysomething Years in Hollywood, which sees him open up about what it was like working with the actor 30 years ago.
'Legends Of The Fall' Director Says Brad Pitt 'Can Be Volatile When Riled'
Zwick recalled the moment Pitt threatened to quit when they were doing the table read before filming had actually started. "Days before shooting, we held a table read," Zwick began. "Given the script's dependence on narration and visuals, it didn't play very well in the sterile conference room. I could see Brad's growing discomfort as it went on. Hours afterward, his agent called the studio to say Brad wanted to quit."
"It was never mentioned again, but it was the first augury of the deeper springs of emotion roiling inside Brad," he continued, adding: "He seems easy-going at first, but he can be volatile when riled, as I was to be reminded more than once as shooting began and we took each other's measure."
Brad Pitt And Ed Zwick Reportedly Clashed On Set
Zwick went on to talk about how he and Pitt clashed on the set, including when he tried to get a rise out of him for the sake of the character. He also recalled how Brad would often struggle with scenes that required a little more emotion. "Brad would get edgy whenever he was about to shoot a scene that required him to display deep emotion. It was here that his ideas about Tristan differed from mine," Zwick wrote, in reference to Brad's character Tristan Ludlow.
"Brad had grown up with men who held their emotions in check; I believed the point of the novel was that a man's life was the sum of his griefs," he continued, before saying that he tried very hard to get the best out of Pitt for the sake of the movie. "Yet the more I pushed Brad to reveal himself, the more he resisted. There's a bright line between strong direction and dominance, especially when a male director is directing a male star."
"A strong director working with a strong actor can be like two dancers who are both trying to lead," Zwick explained. "But such tension can also yield very good work. George Clooney and David O. Russell got into an intense altercation on Three Kings. Each claims the other started it. Was it worth it? It was a great movie."
Zwick then recalled a particularly heated moment on the set. "One afternoon I started giving him direction out loud in front of the crew – a stupid, shaming provocation – and Brad came back at me, also out loud, telling me to back off. The considered move would have been to tell the crew to take five and for the two of us to talk it out. But I was feeling bloody-minded, and not about to relent."
"I was angry at Brad for not trusting me to influence his performance. Also for the reluctance he'd shown after the first table read," he continued. "Who knows, I might even have been acting out my own inability to be vulnerable. But Brad wasn't about to give in without a fight. In his defense, I was pushing him to do something he felt was either wrong for the character, or more 'emo' than he wanted to appear on-screen."
Zwick recalled: "I don't know who yelled first, who swore, or who threw the first chair. Me, maybe? But when we looked up, the crew had disappeared. And this wasn't the last time it happened. Eventually the crew grew accustomed to our dustups and would walk away and let us have it out. 'We hate it when the parents fight,' said one."
Zwick finished off by saying their disagreements were "never personal," and he described the actor as a "forthright, straightforward person." He wrote: "He was never anything less than fully committed to doing his best. I, on the other hand, am a movie director masquerading as a rational human being."
We also have to take into consideration that Zwick's recollection of something that happened three decades ago may not be completely accurate, which an insider who reportedly worked on the film told People.
The insider said: "They had disagreements. But Brad was not volatile. It's sort of sad that [Ed]‘s so desperate for attention that he would talk trash about people like Julia Roberts and Brad Pitt and others, when he's the one whose behavior, kicking over chairs and throwing things, got so bad that it upset the cast and crew." And according to Vanity Fair, a spokesperson for Pitt has denied Zwick's claims.
Angelina Jolie Fans Say Zwick's Book Validates The Abuse Allegations
Angelina Jolie's fans have taken to social media to say that they believe Zwick's version of events, with one writing on a Just Jared Instagram post: "So looks like the kids weren't lying. Yet many choose to accuse Angelina Jolie for turning them against their father." "So, is the son's story now validated?" asked another fan, in reference to Maddox Jolie-Pitt, who accused his father of abuse. "He's also been accused of volatile behavior from most of his kids who refuse to have a relationship with him of any kind," recalled another fan. "He was abusive then and now," wrote another.
"Their kids are old enough now to know what's going on. None of them seem to want him in their lives. That's pretty telling," wrote another fan, adding: "If you want to know who the better parent is look who the kids prefer. You'll say it's manipulation from Angie but nah kids know." Another replied, in agreement: "Not really just the son at this point. The three older kids who aren't minors anymore have said or distanced themselves too."
Some Brad Pitt fans did also have their say in the same comments section. "The man quit drinking – has taken ownership of his behavior – time to give it up," wrote one fan, in his defense. "This means nothing. 30 years ago and you can't be volatile at times and still be a good person? What a judgmental and sick culture we live in," commented another, as someone else said: "Lots of you didn't actually read the article! It was on purpose to hype him up for his part! It's normal in acting business!"
Another agreed, writing: "Huh. Could his behavior on set have had anything to do with the troubled, despondent, and volatile character, Tristan Ludlow, who he played in Legends of the Fall. Nah, probably not. That would be such a weird coincidence."
