As the recipient of various accolades and awards, Brad Pitt is one of the most powerful and influential people in Hollywood. The actor began his career in 1987 with a series of minor uncredited roles before moving on to more developed performances in the 1990s, featuring characters like Thelma and Louise, fight cluband Se7fr.
Pitt’s appearance in Ocean’s Eleven, directed by Steven Soderbergh, had great commercial success in 2001. He played the role of Rusty, George Clooney’s accomplice in a heist. From there, Pitt became one of the most popular men in the industry and he quickly appeared in the historical epic Troy and the romantic detective film Mr and Mrs Smith.
In 2001, the star co-founded production company Plan B Entertainment, where he produced The dead, 12 years of slaveryand Moonlight. Each of the aforementioned feature films won the Best Picture Oscar, while his other efforts, such as Selma, received nominations. Back on camera, Pitt’s recent roles include Once upon a time in Hollywood for which he won the Oscar, the Golden Globe and the British Academy Film Award for Best Supporting Actor. He also appeared in ad astra and High-speed trainthe former being a critical success and the latter a box office triumph.
However, like many actors who have been in the industry for a long time, Pitt’s career has had its downsides and flaws. One is a movie the actor regrets starring in, citing it as a career disaster.
What Belongs to the Devil is a 1997 drama thriller film directed by Alan Jay Pakula and written by Vincent Patrick, David Aaron Cohen and Kevin Jarre. To do a favor for a friend, Tom, a New York policeman, lets Rory, an Irishman, stay at his house. When Tom learns that Rory is an IRA terrorist, things begin to deteriorate. The film also stars Harrison Ford, Rubén Blades and Julia Stiles.
In a previous issue of Newsweek, Pitt revealed during an interview that he wanted to leave the production, no longer aligning himself with the project. However, a lawsuit obliges him to remain on board the production, in spite of this artistic fracture. The actor then called the film a “disaster”, saying it was “the most irresponsible movie – if you can even call it that – that I’ve ever seen. I couldn’t believe it”.
There were reports of conflict on set, with actors competing to be the focus of the film. These ego-driven disputes plagued the production, causing the original script to be deleted, followed by seven subsequent rewrites. Pitt reviewed the final version negatively, calling it “a mess”. Detailing further, the actor said, “The script that I loved was gone,” he commented. “I guess people just had different visions and you can’t argue with that. But then I wanted out and the head of the studio said, “Okay, we’ll let you out, but it’ll be $63 million to start with.”
What Belongs to the Devil interrupted a triumphant era of Pitt’s career, as the film followed the success Interview with a Vampire and Se7fr and preceded the beloved fight club and To tear out. The next film in the actor’s career was Seven years in Tibeta war drama about the experiences of an Austrian mountaineer in Tibet between 1944 and 1951. The film was hailed as a fine insight into history, putting What Belongs to the Devil firmly in the back of his mind in the process.
