We will see him dance and… sing? Shoot Brad Pitt to the conquest with ‘Babylon’

While the Internet had spread the rumor that he was going to leave acting, Brad Pitt returns to the cinema twice. After the action success of ‘Bullet Train’, it’s time for a better Oscar level, thanks to margot robbie with the overproduction of ‘Babylon’ with a certain style of ‘La La Land’ and the same manager Damien Chazelle. And with the luxury of having been invited to the first screening, in the private cinema of the Oscar Academyin Beverly Hills, Brad Pitt agreed to talk about the character who is also a fictional movie superstar, going back to the beginning of movie history.

Is it true that the incredible story of ‘Babylon’ is based on true events? Damien Chazelle, the director, had apparently been fascinated by the strange phenomenon of the number of deaths and suicides in the late 1920s, probably from drug overdoses, as if it had been an epidemic. And Damien was the one who began to investigate the subject, out of curiosity, until he discovered that it had also coincided with the transition between silent films and the arrival of sound. That is why he investigated the extreme lifestyle in the midst of so much passion and ambition that characterized Hollywood at the time.

THE WORLD OF SILENT FILM

The best way to define the story of ‘Babylon’ is as if Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie had starred in ‘La La Land’ instead of Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling. Even the music has a certain resemblance, with the same director Damien Chazelle, although the production is ten times larger and the story has much more to do with the world of silent films. The beginning, in a certain way, describes the style of madness that was lived at that time, with the transfer of a real elephant to a classic party of hollywood (including the excess of sex and drugs of that time). And since it is based on real events, it is impossible to forget that Brad had also starred with Leonardo DiCaprio in another story based on ‘certain’ reality from the world of cinema, in ‘Once upon a time in Hollywood’.

The difference is that this time, Brad Pitt is the big movie star and the time goes back to the 1920s, just before sound movies. But beyond illustrating the delusions of the filming of that time, the way in which he exaggerates the fiction of the actors’ private lives is even more delusional. And there, in the middle of the exaggerations, margot robbie She is the actress destined to be a star, just like Emma Stone in ‘La La Land’, even if the road to success has a lot more drama and less glamour.

The funny thing is that Emma Stone was originally going to be the real protagonist who was going to accompany Brad in ‘Babylon’ but she resigned in December 2020 due to ‘scheduling conflict’ and was replaced by Margot. The wow factor is added by Tobey Maguire in the role of a mobster (with the added surprise of actually being the executive producer of ‘Babylon’). And what very few highlight is that the true protagonist of the story is the lesser-known Mexican diego bald, as the right hand of the movie star. Yes, yes, yes, very similar to the character that Brad Pitt had in ‘Once upon a time in Hollywood’, but… nothing to do with it.

At the time of reading the original script, did the strange scenes of the story appear or were they added during filming? Unlike. I was surprised how the director, Damien, managed to shoot all 180 pages of the script. I thought that maybe 120 pages would remain in the final version and the first thing I said was “Everything seems great, but… What scenes are going to be cut?” and Damien told me “Nothing, I plan to shoot one minute per page”. And that’s how he more or less ended up filming.

Is it true that in the first conversation you had with the director Damien Chazelle you also hesitated to accept the leading role? When he offered it to me, I only dared to ask “Are you sure?” (Laughter). I had my doubts… and I tried to sell him other of my movie ideas (More laughs).

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Have you already read the script? How exactly did the offer come about? Well, since ‘Whiplash’, I had already discovered Damien’s original voice. He’s someone who’s been in it for a long time, so I was pretty excited when he called me. Only later did I read the script and when we met in person he seemed like a person with his feet on the ground. I think our first conversations had more to do with the period of that era of cinema, trying to understand a period in which the world of cinema seemed to have no rules or limits.

MUCH FOR THE SHORT SONG

To what extent did you know the crazy things that were lived in the silent film era? Actually, silent film is an era that I never paid attention to, because it is not characterized by a great style of acting and I was always much more interested in the current era. I didn’t know it was so big, that they had to communicate better, because of course they didn’t have language and communication went through facial expressions. In truth, I hadn’t realized all of this until I sat down to watch various film productions that Damien had recommended I see.

What style of cinema did you discover? Lots of Valentino, actors like John Gilbert and some Fairbanks. But we also had a lot of conversations about the beautiful way ‘Joan of Arc’ was filmed.

The hardest part of the whole shoot? I can’t even sing Happy Birthday, let alone an opera. And for the two little verses that you see in the cinema, I had to work for three months, three times a week.

For those who believe that Brad Pitt is about to retire, it is worth clarifying that in addition to having starred in ‘Bullet Train’ and ‘Babylon’ this year, without appearing in front of the cameras, with the same Plan B company that he had created with Jennifer Aniston, he is also the producer of ‘Father of the Bride’ with Andy Garcia and Gloria Estefan; in addition to real candidates for the next Oscar such as the story of Marilyn Monroe in ‘Blonde’ with Ana de Armas; ‘Women Talking’ with Rooney Mara and the true story of the journalists who launched the #MeToo movement with Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan in ‘She Said’. In short: In addition to continuing to work in Hollywood like never before, Brad Pitt is responsible for the largest number of film productions, in the upcoming Oscar nominations.

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How easy was it to prepare the performance of a movie star, being in real life another style of movie star, in another era? Honestly, I don’t have any particular formula. I just try to immerse myself in the world of my characters, beyond talking a lot with the director.

Do you really not keep any particular routine to revive a movie character? For me, it’s something that builds on you, little by little, until it feels like a good fit and I start to feel like I’m doing the right thing by thinking “Oh, that feels good” or “That doesn’t feel good at all”. (Laughter). Little by little, one is finding the right rhythm.

Have you ever dared to ask for outside help? Sometimes yes, ten or thirteen years ago, I felt like I had hit a wall and wanted to start from scratch, with an acting coach, only to split it all up again. I needed to feel more comfortable in my job.

OLD HOLLYWOOD

What changed in Brad Pitt those acting classes, in full fame? Nothing (laughs). I just wanted to find a little more intuition, trying to go back to the basics, the ABC of dividing everything, part by part, looking for the ideas where one wants to go, where everything comes from, simple features like that. It’s something that really helped me a lot. So it’s something I can do again… it depends.

Do you have some old Hollywood nostalgia left after you’ve filmed a story that goes back into the past of the movie world? And… the best part is that the people who started that world didn’t do it because they were famous or because they became millionaires. It was something new and they came to California to dedicate themselves to the cinema, at a time when it was only an open space and they could film anywhere. Only later did the movie business take hold of lawyers and business people who changed priorities. Today is another time and we also need to raise the level to regain people’s attention.