Brad Pitt once said he felt betrayed by Santa Claus, but the two actually share some crucial character traits in common: primarily keeping a list, checking it twice, finding out who’s naughty and nice.
At least that’s what Aaron Taylor-Johnson let slip when reflecting on his experience working with the Oscar winner in the new action comedy “Bullet Train.” Yes, according to Taylor-Johnson, Pitt has cultivated a specific approach to surrounding himself with optimal energy throughout his career.
“He just wants to bring light and joy into the world and be around people who are there to have a good time,” the actor told Variety about Pitt in a recent interview. “You work with many actors and after a while you start making notes: ‘I am definitely not working with this person ever again.’”
“Brad has this list too: the ‘good’ list and the shit list,” he added.
While Pitt has yet to confirm the existence of the list, naturally, the juicy tidbit demands a purely speculative investigation into who he has refused to work with again over his decadeslong career in Hollywood.
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First, let’s start with which past co-stars should be excluded from contention.
Pitt indeed has a habit of working with the same stable of actors, including his new film, which stars Sandra Bullock and Logan Lerman, who he’s appeared alongside in “The Lost City” and “Fury,” respectively. He’s also frequently linked up with Julia Roberts, Cate Blanchett, Leonardo DiCaprio, as well as directors Quentin Tarantino and David Fincher over the years.
When it comes to who, as Taylor-Johnson put, might’ve ended up on Pitt’s “shit list,” it’s safe to say that he’ll never be working with ex-wife Angelina Jolie for starters.
The former couple appeared together in two films, “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” and her third directorial effort “By The Sea,” but are still at war over details in their seemingly never-ending divorce, including the ownership of the Château Miraval winery.
(As for his other former loves, Pitt seems to be on relatively good terms with both Jennifer Aniston and Gwyneth Paltrow, who we can confidently place in the friendly exes category).
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And then there’s Tom Cruise, who Pitt has never worked with again since their iconic roles as bloodsuckers in the 1994 film “Interview with the Vampire.”
Speaking with Premiere magazine about behind-the-scenes dynamics a year after the film’s release, Pitt hinted at some underlying tension with his co-star.
“You gotta understand, Tom and I are… we walk in different directions,” he told the now defunct outlet. “He’s North Pole. I’m South. He’s coming at you with a handshake, where I may bump into you, I may not, you know?”
“I always thought there was this underlying competition that got in the way of any real conversation,” he added. “It wasn’t nasty by any means, not at all. But it was just there and it bugged me a bit. But I’ll tell you, he catches a lot of shit because he’s on top, but he’s a good actor and he advances in the film. He did it. I mean, you have to respect that.”
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Speculation also swirled that Pitt clashed with his co-star Harrison Ford during the filming of the 1997 action thriller “The Devil’s Own,” according to Rolling Stone.
Pitt once described the project as the “most irresponsible bit of filmmaking” due to production difficulties, but did later clarify that his frustration wasn’t directed at Ford. The two, however, have yet to cross paths on a film set again.
“He’s absolutely cool,” Pitt said of Ford, debunking the rumors. “Look, it was tough. It was the hardest film I’ve ever been on. But as for reports about out-of-control egos and people hiding out in trailers, that just wasn’t the case. It was everyone trying to make the best movie they could under the circumstances.”
As for who else made Pitt’s naughty list, your guess is as good as ours.