Quentin Tarantino seems unable to hold back from saying unkind things to people. Bruce Dern has revealed the director’s remarks about Brad Pitt on the set of Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood.
Among all we know about Quentin Tarantino, there are several things to note about his filmography, his love of cinema, and his life, largely thanks to his book Cinema and Speculations. There is also another aspect about him that no one can ignore: his bluntness. Lately, we’ve heard his rather not-so-bright response to Rosanna Arquette’s criticisms, but also his unflattering comments about Paul Dano’s performance, which the actor handled with a great deal of class.
With the latest announcements about the sequel to Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, some actors are invited to share their on-set anecdotes from the first film. This includes actor Bruce Dern, who portrayed George Spahn, an aging rancher whose stunt double was Cliff Booth, played by Brad Pitt. According to him, even Leonardo DiCaprio’s co-star didn’t escape Tarantino’s supposed “kind words” during the shoot.
Once Upon a Time… Tarantino énervé
The “drama” between the director and the actor occurred during the filming of a scene that is actually quite gentle, where Cliff Booth comes to wake George Spahn to warn him of the danger looming. The old man is nearly senile and doesn’t fully grasp what the stuntman is asking of him. While the exchange is very touching, Bruce Dern told the media People that the scene had been a source of tension between Brad Pitt and Tarantino:
“When [Brad Pitt’s character] wakes me up in Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, I’m in bed, I wake up a bit groggy, and I say: ‘I don’t really know what’s going on.’ I look at him and he [Pitt] asks to cut the camera. That look on Quentin’s face… He was terribly serious and said: ‘Brad, what did you just do?’”, [Pitt] said: ‘Well, I cut the camera.’“
According to Bruce Dern, things didn’t stop there and Tarantino’s line left a particularly sharp impression:
“[Tarantino] answered: ‘Never again in your life will you cut a camera, or you’ll be dead in this business. This is my domain. Don’t stop the scene.’ So we kept filming the scene and Brad simply said: ‘Well, what he said wasn’t in the script.’”
Ironically, despite Tarantino’s biting retort, Brad Pitt nonetheless earned the first Oscar of his career for acting in Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood (he had previously won and shared the Best Picture prize in 2014 for 12 Years a Slave). And his career obviously hasn’t “died” since: the actor has appeared in eight films, including several that have won or at least been nominated for Oscars, such as Ad Astra, Babylon and F1.
Water under the bridge seems to have flowed since then, as the two men have teamed up again for the sequel to Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, titled The Adventures of Cliff Booth. Indeed, even though David Fincher (no less) is handling direction this time, it’s Tarantino who is spearheading the screenplay. This highly anticipated sequel is set to land on Netflix on December 23 in France.
