Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt starred in the 1994 gothic horror flick Interview with the Vampire. The film, which is based on Anne Rice’s 1976 novel of the same name, became a commercial success grossing $223 million against a production budget of $60 million. Since then, the two megastars have never worked together in a film again. This has led to people thinking that the two actors did not get along on set or they were not happy with the production process of the film. The two circumstances seemed true, at least for one of the stars.
Brad Pitt was Not Happy with Interview with the Vampire
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly (via Nola.com), Brad Pitt reflected on his experiences filming Interview with The Vampire. It seems he was not happy with the majority of the circumstances and elements of the film, including his role and the production schedule. Regarding his role as the vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac, he said,
“In the book, you have this guy asking, ‘Who am I?’ Which was probably applicable to me at that time: ‘Am I good? Am I of the angels? Am I bad? Am I of the devil?’ In the book it is a guy going on this search of discovery. And in the meantime, he has this Lestat character that he’s entranced by and abhors. In the movie, they took the sensational aspects of Lestat and made that the pulse of the film, and those things are very enjoyable and very good, but for me, there was just nothing to do — you just sit and watch.”
He came to realize that the richness and three dimensionality that his character had in the book was taken off and all the focus and attention was given to the character of Lestat de Lioncourt, played by Tom Cruise. He was also reportedly not happy with the night shoots in London which made him feel miserable and want to quit. He added,
“I’m telling you, one day it broke me. It was like, ‘Life’s too short for this quality of life.’ I called David Geffen, who was a good friend. He was a producer, and he’d just come to visit. I said, ‘David, I can’t do this anymore. I can’t do it. What will it cost me to get out?’ And he goes, very calmly, ‘Forty million dollars.’ And I go, ‘OK, thank you.’ It actually took the anxiety off of me. I was like, ‘I’ve got to man up and ride this through, and that’s what I’m going to”
He eventually did the role and the film became a success but Pitt does not remember the film fondly or with great nostalgic factor.
Brad Pitt also Felt an Underlying Competition with Tom Cruise
The fact that these two megastars have not worked together since that film seems to stem from the reality that the two actors did not get along on set. As reported at the time, Brad Pitt’s personality and approach strongly differed from Tom Cruise’s loud personality. He said,
“You gotta understand, Tom and I are…we walk in different directions, He’s North Pole, I’m South. He’s coming at you with a handshake where I may bump into you, I may not, you know. I always thought there was this underlying competition that got in the way of any real conversation,” says Pitt. “It wasn’t nasty by any means, not at all. But it was just there and it bugged me a bit. But I’ll tell you, he catches a lot of shit because he’s on top, but he’s a good actor and he advances in the film. He did it. I mean, you have to respect that.”
Even though there is no necessary bad blood between the two stars, they do not become close friends either. But each has respect and admiration for the other’s work and dedication and thus maintains mutual connections as actors in Hollywood.
Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt Came Very Close to Reuniting
Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt almost worked together again in Ford v Ferrari (2019). Director Joseph Kosinski was attached to direct the flick with the two stars in mind. They had already participated in a table read together where Cruise would play Carroll Shelby and Pitt would play Ken Miles. However, it did not materialize due to budgetary constraints. The directing duties switched to James Mangold and the roles would eventually go to Matt Damon and Christian Bale.
Fans may have to wait for these two megastars to reunite if that ever happens in the unforeseeable future.
