Quentin Tarantino makes no exceptions when it comes to running his sets — not even for Brad Pitt. During an interview at the Cannes Film Festival, Bruce Dern (father of actress Laura Dern) recalled appearing in Tarantino’s 2019 film Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood, in which he plays the blind, elderly ranch owner George Spahn. The film starred Pitt as Cliff Booth, the loyal stunt double of fading Western television actor Rick Dalton (played by Leonardo DiCaprio).
Speaking to People magazine at Cannes, Dern recalled improvising a line for his character when Cliff comes to check on him. "When Brad Pitt wakes me up in Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood, I’m in the bed and I get up and I’m a little groggy and stuff and I just say, ‘I’m not really sure what’s going on,’" Dern said. "I’m looking at him. [Pitt] cut the camera. He cut the camera. The look on Quentin’s face — I mean, he was insanely grave — and he said, ‘Brad, what did you just do?’"
Dern continued, "He said, ‘Well, I cut the camera.’ He said, ‘Never again in your life will you ever cut a camera or you’ll be dead in this business. That’s my domain... So then we went on and did the scene and all Brad did was say to him, ‘Well, that wasn’t in the script what he said.’"
The Independent has contacted representatives for Pitt and Tarantino for comment. A source close to the collaborators told Variety that "Quentin is one of Brad’s favorite directors, and the two have always had a great working relationship." The two previously worked together on the director’s 2009 film Inglourious Basterds. Once Upon a Time went on to become a critical and commercial hit, and won Pitt a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his performance.
Dern, meanwhile, is currently at Cannes promoting Dernsie, Mike Mendez’s documentary about the 89-year-old Oscar nominee’s life. It features interviews with his daughter, Laura, and colleagues, including Tarantino, Alexander Payne and Walton Goggins. In an interview with Sight and Sound, Dern recalled his first conversation with the acclaimed director before he was cast in Django Unchained. "I’d never met him when he called me in and said, ‘Look, I’m doing this movie Django. You’re the icon of your generation.’ So I said, ‘Come on, if that was true, I’d be starring in movies.’ He said, ‘You starred in movies, but people never found them.’ And he said, ‘I love Tattoo [1981].’"
