Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s relationship and subsequent breakup has been one of the most discussed events in Hollywood tabloids. Both actors were involved in multiple bitter legal battles involving their divorce and custody of their kids that stretched over many years, digging up ugly spats from their past. But the superstars were once Hollywood’s most popular couple who also shared a sizzling chemistry on screen.
Uncannily, like a premonition to how their marriage would turn out, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt encountered some rough times in their film Mr and Mrs Smith when an argument about marriage turned a little heated to the point where brief changes needed to be made while filming.
Angelina Jolie Clashed With Director During The Sets of Their Film
Mr and Mrs Smith featured Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie as a married couple who were also assassins working in rival organizations. The film succeeded at the box office not only for its intense action scenes but also for Pitt and Jolie’s raw and s*xy chemistry on screen at a time when both actors were a couple. But behind the scenes, all was not well between Angelina Jolie and director Doug Liman. While Jolie wanted to use her experience from her past relationships and marriages to relate to her character, Liman was opposed to the idea which led to clashes between the two.
“Oh, we had troubles! The movie is all about marriage, and Doug would be saying, ‘Well, in my relationship this would happen….’ And we’d all say, ‘F**k you!’ and I’d say, ‘Well, in my marriage I would never do that,’”
These differences of opinion led to Liman and Jolie not talking to each other many times on set which then forced Brad Pitt to step in and take over the reins in many of the scenes.
Angelina Jolie Almost Did Not Star In Mr And Mrs Smith
While it may be difficult to imagine anyone else other than Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie portraying a married couple trying to kill each other in Mr and Mrs Smith, director Doug Liman once flirted with the idea of casting one of Brad Pitt’s exes for Jolie’s role. Speaking of his original idea to cast Gwyneth Paltrow who was once Pitt’s girlfriend, Liman said,
“Think of the spectacle of that. Fireworks could really fly in that situation. Because I’m sure there’s some s**t one of them was mad at the other one for. You find out what that baggage is and bring it out at the right moment, with the camera rolling,”
Liman’s reasoning though did not sit well with the producers who felt that it would create an uncomfortable working environment for Brad Pitt. Other names that were floated around for the part of Mrs. Smith were Nicole Kidman, Cate Blanchett, and Catherine Zeta-Jones. But Jolie ultimately was the clear favorite to take on the role.
Source: Cheatsheet
