Brad Pitt Says Hollywood Is A “Young Man’s Game”
When it comes time for the red carpet premiere of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, don’t be surprised if you see Brad Pitt zipping past photographers on a Rascal scooter, waving his fist at a 30-year-old talking on their phone, muttering something about “Dang kids and their texting tablets.”
Brad recently spoke to GQ Australia about his starring role in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and he implied that the reason you might see him less in front of the camera is because he’s not young anymore.
Brad tells GQ Australia that OUATIH is a “love letter” to Los Angeles, but also to his and Quentin Tarantino’s childhoods (both were born in 1963). Brad once again talked about meeting his childhood idol Burt Reynolds (Burt died right before he was scheduled to shoot his scenes as George Spahn, the owner of the ranch where the Manson family lived). GQ Australia notes that Hollywood went through a transformation during Brad’s childhood and the year the film is set, 1969. They also point out that Hollywood recently went through another transformation a few years ago with the #MeToo movement, box offices being dominated with sequels and franchises, and shift from seeing films in movie theaters to streaming movies at home. GQ Australia describes it as “a place in which a movie star like Pitt has precious few options for a good old-fashioned original screenplay.”
Brad kind of agrees, because much like George Clooney before him, he’s slowly moving behind the camera since he’s getting older.
“I’m behind the camera on the producing side and I enjoy that a lot. But I keep doing less and less. I really believe that overall it’s a younger man’s game – not that there aren’t substantial parts for older characters – I just feel, the game itself, it’ll move on naturally. There will be a natural selection to it all.”
That doesn’t mean he doesn’t like the way things are. He adds that he can appreciate the streaming services, and he’s curious to see what the future holds. He also thinks there’s room for both streaming and traditional movie theater films. Although he jokes that he might be a clueless dinosaur about the whole thing.
Brad Pitt is only 55, but remember – that’s a Hollywood 55. If only there was a way Brad Pitt could go back in time to the mid-1990s, push Gwyneth Paltrow out of the way, grab young sexy Brad Pitt by the shoulder-length blonde hair and warn him, “This won’t last! You won’t be People’s Sexiest Man Alive forever!” Then again, if Brad Pitt got to go back in time to talk to mid-90s Brad Pitt, he might just be like “Yo buddy, pass those Cheetos over here.”
Pic: Art Streiber/GQ Australia