In 2019, director Quentin Tarantino was reportedly berated by Brad Pitt on the set of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, warning him that he would “die in this business.”
In an interview published Thursday, Pitt’s co-star Bruce Dern told People magazine that the incident occurred while filming a scene in which Pitt’s character Cliff Booth checks on Dern’s blind George Spahn.
“When Brad Pitt woke me up in ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,’ I was in bed and when I got up I was a little lightheaded and just said, ‘I don’t really understand what’s going on,'” the 89-year-old recalled.
According to Dern, Pitt improvised the line and “cut the camera off,” which enraged Tarantino.
“Quentin’s face was — I mean, he was serious as hell — and he said, ‘Brad, what did you just do?'” Dern recalled.
The famed director, 63, is said to have told Pitt, “If you don’t ever turn off the camera again, you’re going to die in this business. That’s my area. Don’t stop acting.”
According to Dern, when they shot the scene again, all Pitt said to Tarantino was, “Well, what he said wasn’t in the script.”
In the final edited scene, Dern improvised another line: “I don’t know who you are, but you touched me today. You came to visit me, so I need to go to sleep.”
The Great Gatsby actor explained to the outlet that he improvised because Pitt and co-star Leonardo DiCaprio told him, “No matter what, you’ll be in my movie.”
“They did that, and it touched me,” Dern added.
A source told Page Six: “Quentin is one of Brad’s favorite directors. They have great chemistry and respect each other.”
Page Six has reached out to Pitt and Tarantino’s representatives for comment.
In Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Pitt played the stunt double for Hollywood actor Rick Dalton (DiCaprio), for which he won the 2020 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
In his acceptance speech, the “F1” actor praised Tarantino, calling him “original” and “one of a kind.”
“Without you, the movie industry would be a much more bland place. I love the spirit you gave Cliff Booth,” Pitt gushed at the time.
The two are co-starring again in the sequel to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, The Adventures of Cliff Booth, with Pitt reprising his role from the previous film from a script written by Tarantino.
David Fincher will direct the sequel, which will be released in November.
