'Legends of the Fall' director Ed Zwick wrote that Brad Pitt 'wasn't pleased' with the final version of the epic western when he finally saw it, and also recounted physical altercations with the actor in an excerpt from forthcoming memoir.
Legends of the Fall, said that Pitt’s first signs of discontent appeared during a table read. “Given the script’s dependence on narration and visuals, it didn’t play very well in the sterile conference room,” he wrote. “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 fell to Marshall to talk Brad off the ledge.
Zwick went on to explain how his creative vision conflicted with Pitt’s. “Brad would get edgy whenever he was about to shoot a scene that required him to display deep emotion,” he said. “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. Steve Rosenblum had been complaining in dailies that he was having trouble cutting scenes where Brad’s stoicism appeared more blank than internal. I agreed.
Zwick doesn’t hold any ill will toward the actor, though. “After each blowup, we’d make up, and mean it,” he wrote. “It was never personal. Brad is a forthright, straightforward person, fun to be with and capable of great joy. He was never anything less than fully committed to doing his best When all was said and done, the movie Brad and I made reflected the depth of our passion. Was it worth it? I’d have to say yes.
The filmmaker thinks that Pitt didn’t like the final movie because Zwick removed one of the actor’s favorite shots. “When I showed Brad the final film, he wasn’t pleased,” he said. “He felt I’d underplayed his character’s madness. I had in fact cut only a single shot from the scene where Tristan is raging with fever, screaming as the waves wash over him on the schooner. But it was a shot he dearly loved, and it would have been little enough to leave it in, and I should have. Apologies, Brad.
The studio later asked Pitt and Zwick to record a commentary for the film together, and they did — high. “We smoked a joint and talked for hours. We were so high we barely got to the recording session; if you listen closely, you can hear us giggling,” Zwick revealed. Later, walking to our cars, Brad sighed. ‘Man, I didn’t know what I was doing half the time on set.’ ‘Brad,’ I said, ‘I don’t know what I’m doing most of the time on set.
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