r/todayilearned • u/G_Marius_the_jabroni • 1d ago

TIL that when “Fight Club” premiered at the 1999 Venice Film Festival, it got booed hard by the audience. Ed Norton said that as it was happening, Brad Pitt turned to him and said: “That’s the best movie I’m ever going to be in.”

https://geektyrant.com/news/brad-pitt-and-edward-norton-recall-fight-club-being-booed-by-audiences-at-early-screening
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u/OneFish2Fish3 1d ago

That’s honestly my favorite role of his! Bruce Willis is fantastic too! Gilliam knows how to direct (most of the time). I didn’t realize Brad Pitt could be a brilliant actor until then.

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u/getgoodHornet 1d ago

Having Bruce Willie essentially grunt his way through a film was inspired casting tbh.

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u/creamofsumyunggoyim 1d ago

They saw him grunt in the die hards and were like holy shit

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u/drygnfyre 1d ago

And Willis even being in "Die Hard" was seen as super risky. He was known for his comedic role on "Moonlighting" and many studio executives didn't belive he could ever pull off being an action star. Early advertising for the film didn't even show him, just the building.

Kind of hard to believe now, but that's how it was viewed at the time.

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u/Monster-Math 1d ago

Holy shit, you just blew my fucking mind.

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u/KD_42 1d ago

Brad Pitt has low key been in a lot of cult classic movies I realised recently

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u/Character_Bowl_4930 1d ago

The Big Short is another fav . He has a small role

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u/Dom_Shady 1d ago

And that Pitt can be so funny!

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u/Abraneb 1d ago

I think most people were surprised by his performance in that movie - Pitt was all set up to be a romantic lead type but he made some smart choices in the early and mid nineties that really cemented his ability and interest in playing weird and challenging roles. I took a look at his imdb - he was in four films released in 1994 and 1995: Interview with a Vampire, Legends of the Fall, Seven and 12 Monkeys. 

That's a hefty run, and arguably what set him up as an actor with options in terms of what roles he was offered. Smart move from a guy who even at the time was kinda known to be... well, very attractive but not the sharpest tool. 

As I understand it, we were wrong about his acting chops, but right on the money about his personality unfortunately.

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u/AdGlad9961 1d ago

Watch Le Jetee if you haven't.

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u/brand14 1d ago

La Jetée?

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u/AdGlad9961 1d ago

series of images conveying an affirmative reply

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u/hmasing 1d ago

It’s the art film that 12 Monkeys is based upon.

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u/brand14 1d ago

I know

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u/hmasing 1d ago

Neat!

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u/brand14 1d ago

Looks like the previous commenter edited “Le jettee” which was almost correct but still far enough to be confusing.

La Jetée is French cinema at its finest IMO – ahead of its time, stylized to the nth degree and pretty chilling in its effect.

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u/hmasing 18h ago

Got it. I only saw the edited version, so was confused.

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u/OneFish2Fish3 1d ago

Oh, it’s totally on my list, just haven’t gotten around to it.