“I’m actually very snobbish about directors. I have to say no all the time,” Brad Pitt told GQ in an interview for the magazine’s upcoming issue. He went on to say that, “No is the most powerful word in our business. You’ve got to protect yourself… To leave home, it’s got to be worth leaving.”
Pitt’s self-diagnosed “snobbishness” about directors certainly hasn’t gone unnoticed. Throughout his career, Pitt has worked with David Fincher (Seven) and Steven Soderbergh (Ocean’s Eleven) three times apiece, Andrew Dominik (Killing Them Softly) twice, and a slew of other great directors once each, including Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds), Bennett Miller (Moneyball) and the Coen brothers (Burn After Reading).
Additionally, Pitt’s selectiveness has led him to starring in director David Ayer’s (End of Watch) upcoming film Fury, a World War II tank drama that focuses on a crew of battle-hardened allied soldiers during a mission deep in enemy territory. Co-starring in the film are Shia LaBeouf, Michael Peña, Logan Lerman, Scott Eastwood, Jon Bernthal, and Jason Isaacs. It’s a solid cast all-around, but Pitt had some especially high praise to dole out for LaBeouf in particular.
“Oh, I love this boy. He’s one of the best actors I’ve ever seen. He’s full-on commitment, man. He’s living it like no one else, let me tell you. I’ve been fortunate to work with a lot of great actors. He’s one of the best I’ve seen.”
LaBeouf has been better known this past year for his exploits off-screen, which include allegedly plagiarizing an author’s work, plagiarizing his initial apology to said author, apologizing again via a skywriter, and proclaiming on Twitter (and via a brown paper bag) that he is “not famous anymore.”
However, despite all that, LaBeouf is also a good actor when he’s got the right people around him — Lawless comes to mind immediately — and he’s certainly got quite the cast support in Fury.
As for Pitt, he is far and away one of my favorite actors, and I’m happy to see him doing career-best work in recent years, from his Oscar-nominated roles in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Moneyball to his performance in the surprisingly good World War Z. He has plenty of standout performances, so here’s hoping Fury is another one to add to the list.
Fury hits theaters October 17.
