Brad Pitt Says His Generation of Actors Were ‘More Uptight': ‘You Didn't Sell Out' with Franchises

Yahoo

03-07-2025

Now nearly four decades into his acting career, and star Brad Pitt has some thoughts on how the movie star has changed since he first began in Hollywood. The actor said during a recent appearance on the 'New Heights' with Jason and Travis Kelce podcast (check it out in the below video) that there is less pressure now to be anti-'selling out' as an actor. Instead, Pitt said, he sees rising talents taking on a myriad of roles, ranging from indies to franchise films and yes, MCU installments, without those choices negatively impacting their careers.
'I like watching what the new generations are coming in with. I like to see what they're up against and also the way they negotiate their way through it. I feel they enjoy it more,' Pitt said. 'We were a little more uptight — and had to be — about acting. You didn't sell out. And now it's this thing of, 'Hey, man, we can be artists in many different arenas. So let's do it. Let's enjoy it.' But this idea that they have to have a franchise or have to [be] a superhero or something… I keep going, 'Don't, don't.' They will die.'
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Pitt's 'Ocean's Eleven' director Steven Soderbergh recently cited how star Timothée Chalamet has navigated his acting career, similarly shifting throughout various genres and kinds of projects. From leading the 'Dune' franchise to starring in the 'Wonka' IP musical to the biopic 'A Complete Unknown,' Chalamet has steered clear of Hollywood typecasting.
'It would appear Timothée Chalamet is a movie star,' Soderbergh told Men's Health in 2024. 'Like, this guy can make movies hits, and they're a wide range of movies. So, everybody's chasing him. I don't know him, but he seems to be making interesting choices. Even the stuff he's got coming up sounds and looks interesting. He seems to be pretty savvy about finding things that allow him to build out a range that people will accept, which is smart.'
Soderbergh continued, 'It's interesting to think about how you make a movie star now, because movies aren't the same as they were 25 years ago. Leading men, or people who become stars, do so by getting opportunities and making good on them. A lot of the conversation now, if you talk to filmmakers in terms of casting, is using people who have already established themselves and who everybody's chasing.'
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