.png)
3 days ago
13
Seeing Brad Pitt on the big screen has been a pleasurable experience for many as he proved time and time again what a commendable actor he is. But it seems the offscreen experience of working with him hasn’t been all too kind for but a few. Filmmaker Ed Zwick, for instance, has been one who didn’t exactly have the most pleasurable venture working with him.
Brad Pitt in Legends of the Fall. | Credits: Sony Pictures.Although the pair only collaborated on one movie, it didn’t go down as one of the best filmmaking adventures for either. The physical altercations for that one project were high enough that this duo may never reunite for another project. But surprisingly enough, Pitt isn’t the only one who might not work with Zwick again, for Julia Roberts seemingly shares the same fate.
Ed Zwick May Never Work With Brad Pitt Again
While celebrities allegedly ending up on bad terms after working on a project – bad enough to never collaborate again – is nothing new in Hollywood, Zwick and Pitt faced a similar yet different fate. This started years ago, in the early 1990s, when they joined forces to work on their fan-favorite movie that was met with mixed reviews from critics: 1994’s Legends of the Fall.
Pitt in a still from the 1994 movie. | Credits: Sony Pictures.Apparently, Brad Pitt was never too keen on the final product, as the director alleged in his memoir Hits, Flops, and Other Illusions: My Fortysomething Years in Hollywood. What’s more, is that Pitt’s alleged “discomfort” and discontentment with the piece had him acting out on the sets of the film, even resulting in Zwick and Pitt sometimes ending up in a brutal fight.
But this ill-will never stayed between the pair, as the director went on to claim. As he wrote in his memoir (via Vanity Fair): “After each blowup, we’d make up, and mean it. It was never personal.”
That’s not all. Zwick even went on to praise the way the actor worked before adding, “When all was said and done, the movie Brad and I made reflected the depth of our passion.”
Even when later this pair decided to record a commentary for the film together at the studios’ request, Ed Zwick didn’t hesitate to share a good dinner, talk for hours, and get high on a joint for the same. “Later, walking to our cars, Brad sighed. ‘Man, I didn’t know what I was doing half the time on set,’” wrote Zwick. “‘Brad,’ I said, ‘I don’t know what I’m doing most of the time on set.’”
Ed Zwick. | Credits: @ed_zwick_official/IG.However, even though the Blood Diamond director concluded by mentioning how this calm event was followed by them hugging and sharing “a nice moment,” he also didn’t hold back on adding one major fact: “We’ve never worked together again.” Perhaps, this one project was enough to make both of them realize that their creative interests clearly didn’t lie together.
Ed Zwick Has Also Had a Not-So-Good Experience With Julia Roberts
While Pitt was one to share a not-so-comfortable experience of working with Zwick, he wasn’t the only one. Adding to this list was none other than Julia Roberts, who had paired with Zwick in the late 1990s to work on his critically acclaimed comedy-romance masterpiece, Shakespeare in Love. As it turned out, she was the only reason Universal Pictures agreed to finance the project.
Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman. | Credits: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.However, things didn’t quite work out well for them. For one, Roberts was initially bent on having Daniel Day-Lewis play her Romeo, finding faults in every other actor as Day-Lewis politely backed out due to prior engagements. But when she finally happily agreed to a chemistry read with Paul McGann, something else went wrong: She hadn’t practiced enough to master her accent.
As Zwick confessed in an interview with Variety, he tried to be encouraging nonetheless as he sensed the Pretty Woman actress’ discomfort at everyone noticing this fault. But his efforts were to no avail, as he explained: “She must have intuited my unease, and I made the tragic mistake of underestimating her insecurity. […] I would never get to talk her off the ledge.”
A still from Shakespeare in Love. | Credits: Universal Pictures.Riding on exceptional heights of fame and success at the time, Zwick sensed Roberts “must have been terrified to fail” so early on. Thus, she ended up leaving the project by the next morning even though making sets and dresses and securing locations for the project had already begun. That was also their last verbal encounter, as Zwick revealed, “I’ve never spoken to Julia again.”
Well, after being met with such experiences, we’re sure no one would blame Ed Zwick if a possible collaboration between him and Brad Pitt / Julia Roberts never worked out!
Shakespeare in Love and Legends of the Fall are available on Prime Video.
Bengali (BD) · 
English (US) ·