Brad Pitt, embodying the epitome of cool and commanding as the unflappable stuntman Cliff Booth in Quentin Tarantino's 2019 masterpiece Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, was the star of the show. However, when the cameras rolled, it was clear who was the true director. According to a People interview given by co-star Bruce Dern at Cannes, the Oscar winners had a tense exchange while working on the blockbuster film.
In the movie, Dern plays the role of blind ranch owner George Spahn. During one scene, Pitt's Booth wakes up Spahn to check and see if he's okay. Dern says he improvised a line.
"When Brad Pitt wakes me up in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, I'm in the bed and I get up a little groggy and stuff," Dern recalled. "I just say, 'I'm not really sure what's going on.' I'm looking at him, and he cuts the camera. He literally tells the camera crew to stop recording."
Dern continued, "The look on Quentin's face was insanely grave. He said, 'Brad, what did you just do?' Brad replied, 'Well, I cut the camera.' Quentin then said, 'Never again in your life will you ever cut a camera or you'll be dead in this business. That's my domain. Don't stop my behavior.' 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.'"
Despite the incident, the team continued filming, and Dern improvised a different line, "I don't know who you are, but you touched me today. You came to visit me, now I gotta go back to sleep."
Dern was at Cannes to premiere director Mike Mendez's documentary Dernsie.
Dern and Pitt had previously worked with Tarantino. Dern collaborated with Tarantino in 2012's Django Unchained and 2015's The Hateful Eight, while Pitt worked with the director on 2009's Inglourious Basterds. In addition, Pitt had a small role in 1993's underrated True Romance, which was written by Tarantino and directed by Tony Scott.
Pitt will reprise his Cliff Booth character in Netflix's as-yet-untitled spinoff to Once Upon a Time, which is written by Tarantino and directed by David Fincher. The film will receive a two-week exclusive engagement in IMAX starting Nov. 25.
