Having worked together with David Leitch before, Brad Pitt had no difficulty saying yes to star in the 2022 action-comedy Bullet Train. The director featured as Brad Pitt’s stunt double in many of the actor’s well-acclaimed movies including Fight Club (1999), Ocean’s Eleven (2001), and many more.
Bullet Train is riddled with a star-studded cast including Joey King, Sandra Bullock, Hiroyuki Sanada, Michael Shannon, and many more. The film was adapted from the Japanese novel Maria Beetle written by Kōtarō Isaka
The action-comedy was ripe for improvisation
Originally intended to be an R-rated film, Antoine Fuqua wanted to make the movie as violent as John McTiernan’s Die Hard. But after the movie became more light-hearted, Brad Pitt was signed on as the lead. In an interview with Complex, he commented on the same:
“The first thing that was evident about this script and we read it right in the dankest, loneliest part of Covid, was that it was so damn funny and all these characters had their own thing going on so I knew we were going to draw an all-star cast—well, mostly all-star cast”
Also read: Bullet Train Review: Fun But Not Fast Enough
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With most of the movie featuring the cast in the train, the story is pumped with fast-paced action and funny moments sprinkled throughout. Aaron Taylor-Johnson stated how much he loved the script because of the humor, he stated:
“So me and Brian [Brian Tyree Henry], we just ran around with it and just kept on every day, we pushed it and improvised, a lot of ad-libbing. And it was just really joyous to do that. Every day was a blessing really.”
Hiroyuki Sanada and improv with Brad Pitt
Famous for his performance in Ringu, Mortal Kombat, and The Last Samurai, the actor is well-versed and skilled in action. But despite his amazing portfolio in action, the actor stated in an interview with Hollywood Reporter that he found it difficult to keep up with Brad Pitt, describing the process:
“… so I have to carefully listen, what’s coming next, I was scared but I could enjoy….”
He further stated Brad Pitt would always try to improvise the fights, since Brad Pitt’s stunt coordinator Greg Rementer stated the actor did 95% of his own stunts, we can imagine it must’ve happened many times.
Bullet Train is now in theatres.
Source: YouTube
