Legends Of The Fall director Edward Zwick has claimed that Brad Pitt almost walked away from the 1994 epic.
The director shared the story in his new memoir titled Hits, Flops, and Other Illusions: My Fortysomething Years in Hollywood, which is set for publication on February 13.
The Oscar-nominated Legends Of The Fall follows three brothers and their father (played by Anthony Hopkins) who live in the wilderness of early 20th-century Montana, and charts how their lives are affected by nature, war and love over a 50-year period. It is based on the 1979 novella of the name by Jim Harrison.
In his memoir, Zwick writes about the difficult relationship he had with Pitt, who was cast in the role of Tristan Ludlow after Tom Cruise dropped out.
“It fell to [producer] Marshall [Herskovitz] to talk Brad off the ledge,” Zwick writes in an extract published by Vanity Fair, after claiming that Pitt’s agent called him after the first table read “to say Brad wanted to quit”.
“It was the first augury of the deeper springs of emotion roiling inside Brad. He seems easygoing at first, but he can be volatile when riled, as I was to be reminded more than once as shooting began and we took each other’s measure,” the Oscar-nominated filmmaker added.
He continued: “Sometimes, no matter how experienced or sensitive you are as a director, things just aren’t working,” claiming Pitt “would get edgy whenever he was about to shoot a scene that required him to display deep emotion.”
The Last Samurai director said he and Pitt clashed over their respective visions for the character of Tristan, claiming that Pitt resisted “revealing himself” to the point that they would go through “blowups” in front of the crew, then later make up.
However, Zwick stressed that Pitt was “a forthright, straightforward person, fun to be with and capable of great joy. He was never anything less than fully committed to doing his best.”
Pitt has not yet commented on Zwick’s claims. NME has reached out to the actor’s representatives.
In other news, it was recently reported that Pitt is in talks to star in Quentin Tarantino’s final film, The Movie Critic.