Brad Pitt opens up about embarrassing career moment that ‘still haunts him'
The actor, who stars in Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski's new F1 film, has reflected on his past roles in a new interview – and was left cringing while recalling a particular interaction when he first started in Hollywood.
Before his breakout supporting role in Thelma & Louise in 1992, Pitt was a jobbing actor trying to hit the big time when he landed a non-speaking part in cop film No Man's Land, written by TV producing maestro Dick Wolf (Law & Order).
When Pitt scored the role as a waiter, he was yet to be admitted into the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), a membership designed to help actors further their careers.
Frustratingly for the burgeoning Hollywood star, to secure SAG membership, you need to have at least one speaking part – and Pitt's role in No Man's Land required him to simply pour champagne and say nothing.
'The whole game was, how do you get your SAG card? Because you can't get a job if you don't have your SAG card, but you can't get your SAG card unless you've had a job. It's this catch-22,' he told Armchair Expert podcast.
However, this didn't stop Pitt from trying to make his mark with a move he admitted 'still haunts' him.
'It's a restaurant scene. The main characters are Charlie Sheen and DB Sweeney, and a bunch of other actors that I wasn't necessarily aware of.
'I am the waiter. I'm supposed to bring up champagne and pour champagne. They show me how to do it. You gotta pour. You spin. You wipe the thing.'
Pitt continued: 'Like a jackass, they're doing the scene. I get to the last actor – and she seemed lower on the totem pole? Maybe? And, literally, the scene is going on, I pour her champagne and I go, 'Would you like anything else?' It was 'CUT! CUT! CUT!''
The actor was scolded by the Assistant Director, who ran over to tell him: 'You do that again, you're out of here.'
Pitt said he felt 'shame for the rest of the night'.
Shortly after his wordless role in No Man's Land, Pitt starred in slasher film Cutting Class.
The following decade, he went on to become one of the world's biggest actors, starring in films including True Romance, Interview with the Vampire, Se7en, Twelve Monkeys, Meet Joe Black and Fight Club.
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