Like most A-list actors, Brad Pitt has turned down a lot of films that went on to become massive hits. Most Hollywood fans know that he left the role of Neo in The Matrix. That film made Keanu Reeves what he is today. But that’s obviously not the only project the Bullet Train star didn’t climb on.
The actor refused to star in an Oscar-winning hit film that broke barriers in the industry and is today regarded as a benchmark project. However, back when it was released, it created a tonne of controversy. One might be inclined to think of Pitt as foolish for not doing the film, but that’s not the case. Even Leonard DiCaprio turned it down.
The Hit Oscar-Winning Film That Brad Pitt And Leonardo DiCaprio Turned Down
Brokeback Mountain was a box office hit as it earned $178 million on a $14 million budget. Initially, Gus Van Sant and Pedro Almodóvar, two directors with plenty of queer projects, were courted to helm the groundbreaking romance film. It is Van Sant who said in 2018 in an interview with IndieWire that several A-list actors were approached for the roles of Jack and Ennis, but no one took the risk. He said:
“Nobody wanted to do it. I was working on it, and I felt like we needed a really strong cast, like a famous cast. That wasn’t working out. I asked the usual suspects: Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Ryan Phillippe. They all said no.”
The director didn’t specify which actors were offered which characters but it really doesn’t matter. Many concluded that Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio didn’t touch the project because they were afraid their reputations would be tattered if they did the homoerotic film. Also, there was probably a risk of them getting typecast in future roles.
Ultimately, Van Sant dropped out of the project. He explained, “I was not ready. I’m not sure why. There was just sort of a hiccup on my part. There was something off with myself, I guess, whatever was going on.” Ang Lee then took over, and Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger came on board to play Jack and Ennis. The rest is history.
The film won Lee the Best Director Oscar. Also, the Academy awarded the movie with Oscars for Best Original Score and Adapted Screenplay. Additionally, the cowboy love story didn’t put a dent in Gyllenhaal and Ledger’s careers. But this isn’t the only high-profile mistake Brad Pitt has made.
Brad Pitt Turned Down This American And Christian Bale Classic Film
Patrick Bateman and the film American Psycho have divided people for long. But it can’t be denied that the film has developed a cult following with Christian Bale’s psycho character now being revered by many. However, Bateman was initially going to be played by Brad Pitt and the film was going to be directed by David Cronenberg.
But that actor/ director pairing didn’t really work out. As per Bret Easton Ellis, the writer of the 1991 novel the film is based on, it’s largely because Cronenberg was quite weird. In an interview with Rolling Stone, he said:
“David was lovely – is lovely, I still like David - but he had strange demands. He hated shooting restaurant scenes, and he hated shooting nightclub scenes. And he didn’t want to shoot the violence. I ignored everything he said. So, of course, he was disappointed with it and he hired his own writer; that script was worse for him and he dropped out.”
Due to further creative differences, Pitt abandoned the project as well. Later on, Mary Harron and Bale came together to create cinematic magic. However, the Once Upon a Time in Hollywood star’s career didn’t stagnate due to not starring in these films. In fact, he has flourished thanks to other hit films.
Source: IndieWire and Rolling Stone
