Welcome to Bradfans.net, a fan site for the work of the talented actor and producer, Brad Pitt. Mr. Pitt's most recent on-screen project was Ocean's Thirteen, and his upcoming projects include The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

An Interview with Brad Pitt
Achilles discusses making Troy.
(Film Force, May 10, 2004)

Last week in New York we talked with Brad Pitt about – what else? – movies, and he noticed a DVD near the table. "That's a great movie," he said, "The Lion in Winter" The film stars Pitt's co-star in Troy, the magnificent Peter O'Toole. "The Lion in Winter, with Hepburn, its a great movie. They are phenomenal. And it's hard to find these rhythms with actors and scripts, and there's some great writing and some amazing deliveries in that movie... The Lion in Winter guys."

I saw The Lion in Winter in the theater when it was first released, and if epics had one thing in common twenty years ago, beyond the grandness of the production, it was an intermission – an audience's automatic trip to the snack counter and a theater owner's dream come true. The Lion in Winter is the last time I remember seeing a film at the theater with an intermission. These days I suppose they would have split the film up, like Kill Bill, and released it in two parts.

Troy, which opens May 14th, clocks in at 165 minutes and it certainly qualified for an intermission. But, as some directors argued, it would have killed the pace of the film. And in tackling Homer's Iliad, I suppose four hours is the hyperspeed version. And Achilles (played by Brad Pitt) is the character upon which the movie Troy lives and dies. He keeps things intense. So we talked with Mr. Pitt about that, and a few other things...

Q: If you could have a superpower, what would it be?
BRAD PITT: I would turn back time if I could.

Q: Really? Why?
PITT: Oh, just to redo a couple things. (Laughs)

Q: Brad, you chose to play the character Achilles, who is arrogant and seemingly invincible.
PITT: Fortunately there is so much research that's been done on The Iliad – so many people had written throughout the ages that I had a well, a great well of information to kind of glean from. And I culled the things that meant the most to me. It really wasn't that difficult. We're dealing with a real isolated character who was in search of self.

Q: Did you read the whole thing, or did you have to rely primarily on Cliff Notes?
PITT: I actually read the whole thing, because I knew this question was coming (Laughs) – no, that's not true. When I started it, though, I really got into it. I mean there's a reason why it's still around.

Q: What essentially was it that got you into it?
PITT: It's one of the great stories in probably a handful of stories. And you see how many films and stores are derivative of it.

Q: I read somewhere that you said that this was the role of your career.
PITT: Hmm, I don't think I said that.

Q: But how important it was to play this character, because this is very different from what you've done before.
PITT: Actually it was... when I first read the thing it seemed too obvious, in a way, in my addled brain. But then I quickly got into it.

Q: What did you think was obvious?
PITT: I don't know. I'm not sure what it is. Courage and glory or something?

Q: What did you actually feel about Achilles? What is your take on him?
PITT: Well, I mean this may take us a while. (Laughs) There's a real telling line when he says, 'I want what all men want. I just wanted more.' There's a real restlessness, and as I say, an isolation in the guy. Whether he's running from death, or trying to find himself in a personal glory, he's at a point where he's had that glory and that... that hasn't done it for him.

And the Achilles heel, to me, is representative of his heart, because it wasn't until he opened up in way, it wasn't until Priam knocked some sense into him, with words instead of might, that he was then able to ride out the rest of his life with a personal understand of the greater humanity and, in all, his own inner peace in a way.

Q: Can you made a connection between his glory and your own glory?
PITT: I don't know. I could make parallels to fame, but it's not near to the extent of the Achilles character. But I could certainly draw on that, and the choice that he's offered in the beginning – and always wrestling with this kind of crisis of conscience with the choice that he's made.

Q: Is this the closest you think you will come in your career to a real action film?
PITT: Actually, no, I'm just kind of finishing-up a real action film. I mean a more, like, contemporary action film.

Q: And what film is this?
PITT: Mr. and Mrs. Smith. It's kind of a more of a comedic-actiony film. And then we just started Ocean's [12] Monday. Or I did anyways.

Q: Now Mr. and Mrs. Smith has nothing to do with the Hitchcock film, right?
PITT: No, it didn't. In fact I wasn't even aware of [that movie]. I've gotta look it up.

Q: It was essentially the one comedy that he made.
PITT: Yeah, that's what I'm told. And I was not even aware of that all. I want to see it.

Q: You've got some massive battle sequences in Troy and Achilles battles a lot of people in close combat, or one-on-one combat. How difficult was the choreography of these sequences?
PITT: The chirography was fantastic, and it was very important that we find a distinct fighting style. And this was due to Simon Crane, who was our second unit [director] responsible for all of the strategies and the choreography and the dramas of the fights. He comes from Saving Private Ryan, he comes from Braveheart, and he's really... he's top-notch. But in [Troy] it was really important to develop a distinct style. And we've seen so many fight nowadays that he very smartly too it another way. Meaning: in this time where things are faster – harder cuts and slashes – he took [Troy] back and made it more balletic, took a more balletic approach, and made sure – and was really adamant about it – that we do it ourselves and we learn it. There's not a lot of [edits], and you see it's more full figured, and you see the death blows. And you see the chess... you understand the chess of the fight. I was really proud of him.

Q: Did you come up with that distinct power move, the one that Achilles sometimes goes to for a quick, extreme deathstrike?
PITT: No, that was all Simon Crane and his [crew] – a whole bevy of people.

Q: Were any wires involved?
PITT: No, no wires.

Q: What about your own physicality? You're in incredibly good shape for this movie. How did you get it together?
PITT: Well, it's amazing what an impending midlife crisis will do? Really. (Laughs) It got me motivated.

Q: How old are you?
PITT: I just turned forty in December.

Q: You're not scared though of turning forty, were you?
PITT: No, actually I see it as a real badge of honor. Really, I enjoyed it. No more excuses, you know? ... I'm responsible... I can't blame anything on my parents... I'm responsible for my mistakes and my choices.

Q: Tell us about your training regimen.
PITT: It was... it sucked. (Laughs) It was brutal. I started out about six months ahead going in, and I got a [trainer] who knew what he was talking about. And it was four meals a day of protein and low carb. And it was quitting smoking, and it was two, three hours in the gym, getting to a point of absolute discomfort. And after three months I finally started to enjoy it. And on top of that we'd have sword rehearsals.

Q: And you've still quit smoking right, you haven't gone back?
PITT: No, I picked it up. (Laughs) I've actually picked it up, and then quit, and then picked it up again.

Q: Brad, did you have much concern about the film's dialogue and your presentation with that, the accent?
PITT: I was. The classical dialects are based more... we accept more an English base to them, an English dialect. And it's more difficult, I found out, for people from the South or the Midwest or the hills, to adopt an English accent. When America was formed, most English ended up in New York or the East Coast, and the Irish and Scottish went down the coast, or had to go out to the peripheries and spread out into the country – they went down into the country and then South and West. So it's very easy for us to do Irish accents, and it's very easy for New Yorkers or the Upper East coast to do English accents, and vice versa. And it's very difficult for us to cross over for some reason. So, because it's so accepted and everyone's got an ear for it, I definitely had to put a lot of work into it. And I didn't really find it until the second week of filming; I had to loop some [dialogue].

Q: What about your own physicality? You're in incredibly good shape for this movie. How did you get it together?
PITT: Well, it's amazing what an impending midlife crisis will do? Really. (Laughs) It got me motivated.

Q: How old are you?
PITT: I just turned forty in December.

Q: You're not scared though of turning forty, were you?
PITT: No, actually I see it as a real badge of honor. Really, I enjoyed it. No more excuses, you know? ... I'm responsible... I can't blame anything on my parents... I'm responsible for my mistakes and my choices.

Q: Tell us about your training regimen.
PITT: It was... it sucked. (Laughs) It was brutal. I started out about six months ahead going in, and I got a [trainer] who knew what he was talking about. And it was four meals a day of protein and low carb. And it was quitting smoking, and it was two, three hours in the gym, getting to a point of absolute discomfort. And after three months I finally started to enjoy it. And on top of that we'd have sword rehearsals.

Q: And you've still quit smoking right, you haven't gone back?
PITT: No, I picked it up. (Laughs) I've actually picked it up, and then quit, and then picked it up again.

Q: Brad, did you have much concern about the film's dialogue and your presentation with that, the accent?
PITT: I was. The classical dialects are based more... we accept more an English base to them, an English dialect. And it's more difficult, I found out, for people from the South or the Midwest or the hills, to adopt an English accent. When America was formed, most English ended up in New York or the East Coast, and the Irish and Scottish went down the coast, or had to go out to the peripheries and spread out into the country – they went down into the country and then South and West. So it's very easy for us to do Irish accents, and it's very easy for New Yorkers or the Upper East coast to do English accents, and vice versa. And it's very difficult for us to cross over for some reason. So, because it's so accepted and everyone's got an ear for it, I definitely had to put a lot of work into it. And I didn't really find it until the second week of filming; I had to loop some [dialogue].

Q: Was it a big disappointment not getting to work with Darren Aronofsky?
PITT: It was. It was a big disappointment. I think Darren is really on to something special. I think he's a unique visionary. And that one... actually in that two-year period of my hiatus I spent over a year working on that with Darren. And the piece was so ambitious and 'out there' that it needed more time to incubate. It still needed to answer some more issues; there were too many holes in it. And at that time this juggernaut was moving forward and money was being spent when it really needed to be done right, because it was so ambitious. And I've read it since. Darren has now has this time and he's going to be shooting it in the fall, I believe. And I was pained and pleased to see that it's there. He's got it.

Q: Are you and David Fincher planning on doing anything again?
PITT: Oh yeah! Yeah, we've been talking about a couple of things.

Q: Like what?
PITT: It's just too early to comment on, but we're always talking about a couple things. We'll definitely do something.

Q: Did you have anything planned for the Friends finale?
PITT: Unfortunately I'll be shooting Ocean's 12.

Q: Are you going over to Amsterdam for Ocean's 12?
PITT: Yes. We do.

Q: Can you tell us about the direction the sequel is going to take?
PITT: It's really well done. Soderbergh... he's just as bright as they come, and it's really well done. It starts out where we left off, and then we are now on the run. Benedict's on to us. So, we're on the run and we can't get work anywhere because we're too hot. So we go to Europe.

Q: Will you work with Jen again as you did on the show?
PITT: Well, we say, 'As you look through history at couples who've worked together'... the odds aren't with us. (Laughs) So, it would have to be really hand-picked.

Q: Have you ever spent so much time in a skirt?
PITT: I have never spent this much time in a skirt, and if I had I certainly wouldn't say it here. But, they're not bad. They're not bad. (Laughs).

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