Brad Pitt is an icon of the Hollywood scene, so it’s easy to forget that he’s human, just like the rest of us. But, in a recent interview, he revealed just how human he is with a little method acting overshare.
Method acting is the practice of getting into a role by emotionally understanding the character. This can involve everything, from actors locking into characters for weeks, to simply living elements of the role’s life. But, for Brad Pitt, early in his career, it involved eating beans.
On the New Heights podcast, Brad Pitt opened up about a time his method acting cleared a whole set of crew. “One of my first movies. We’re doing this little independent film. We’re shooting in this little tiny cafe,” he told the hosts. “It’s full of the crew, so there are about 60 people in there. It’s hot. You can’t breathe.”
But Brad Pitt is still early in his career, and he’s trying out new things to get into a role.
“My character hadn’t eaten for days, and he gets his big plate of beans, first plate of beans, and bacon. And I was all like, method, you know? I was like, yeah, I’m going to do this right,” he explained. “I just powered down this plate of beans. Take two, do the same thing. Take three, I do the same thing.” Finally, “Take four, I do the same thing.”
Beans and bacon, as wonderful as they are, also have a certain effect on the gut that may be healthy for the consumer, but certainly isn’t for bystanders. “Something hit me,” Brad Pitt teased.
Room Clearing Method Acting Results
Of course, everyone on the podcast knew exactly what Brad Pitt was dealing with. Because nobody wolfs down four plates of beans and doesn’t feel a little rumble of something. However, Pitt thought he might be able to get away with it.
“There was nothing I could do,” he told the room. “I was stuck in this chair. And nature took its course. Then there was nothing.” He had managed to relax enough not to be too ‘vocal’ about his bean intake, and he presumed he was in the clear.
“I went, oh, great. I got away with that one,” Brad Pitt recalled thinking of his method acting mishap. “And then suddenly the entire crew… the most diabolical something… something descended on the crew in the whole room and they fled the cafe.”
As a result of the beans, he inadvertently gassed the entire crew of the small independent movie he was working on. Not the most illustrious start to a famed career.