Although Quentin Tarantino and Brad Pitt are close collaborators, they allegedly had one moment where they disagreed while filming 2019โs โOnce Upon a Timeโฆ in Hollywood.โ
The anecdote comes via co-star Bruce Dern, who spoke with People while celebrating a new documentary about him debuting at Cannes Film Festival named โDernsie.โ A โDernsieโ is the name given to little lines or moments Dern has improvised in order to enhance his onscreen performances.
One of these came up while Dern was shooting a scene with Pitt for โHollywood,โ and he described what happened when he improvised.
โWhen Brad Pitt wakes me up in โOnce Upon a Timeโฆ in Hollywood,โ Iโm in the bed and I get up and Iโm a little groggy and stuff and I just say, โIโm not really sure whatโs going on,’โ Dern said. โIโm looking at him. [Pitt] cut the camera. He cut the camera. The look on Quentinโs face โ I mean, he was insanely grave โ and he said, โBrad, what did you just do?’โ
โHe said, โWell, I cut the camera.โ He said, โNever again in your life will you ever cut a camera or youโll be dead in this business. Thatโs my domain. Donโt stop behavior,’โ Dern said. โSo then we went on and did the scene and all Brad did was say to him, โWell, that wasnโt in the script what he said.’โ
โOnce Upon a Timeโฆ in Hollywoodโ was a critical and commercial hit which ended up being nominated for 10 Academy Awards and winning two,ย including a supporting actor trophy for Pitt.
Variety has reached out to Pitt and Tarantinoโs camps for comment.