Brad Pitt, who won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor by playing stuntman Cliff Booth in 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood', performed nearly all of his own stunts for upcoming movie 'Bullet Train'.
The action movie is directed by David Leitch, who previously graced his talent in hit films like 'John Wick', 'Deadpool 2', and 'Atomic Blonde'. He starred 56-year-old actor as one of several hitmen who engage in bloody warfare aboard a speeding train.
The supporting cast of the upcoming thriller includes Pitt's fellow Oscar winner Sandra Bullock, plus Michal Shannon, Joey King, Brian Tyree Henry, Zazie Beetz, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Bad Bunny.
"Brad did all of his physical stunts — the fighting," Greg Rementer, the second-unit director and stunt coordinator on 'Bullet Time', recently told a media outlet. 'He’s like a natural-born athlete. He really got in there!'
Tom Cruise, who is a year older than Brad Pitt , is well known for doing all of his stunts himself. Pitt hasn't really built that reputation despite being the same age and certainly appearing in his share of action movies.
Brad Pitt was far from the only actor to do a lot of his own physical stunt work. Several of the other actors in the movie did as well.
“Bullet Train” is based on the graphic novel “Maria Beetle” by Kōtarō Isaka and marks a reunion between Pitt and Leitch. The director served as Pitt’s stunt double on films such as “Troy,” “Fight Club,” and “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” before making the jump to the director’s chair with his breakout “John Wick.” Once Pitt joined “Bullet Train,” the rest of the star-studded ensemble quickly joined.
“We were fortunate to be shooting in LA during a time when artists were ready to get back to work and having Brad on the project — hot off an Oscar win and having a great script by Zak Olkewicz — really did attract the best people,” Leitch told Vulture. “We were able to get people back to work safely during a pandemic, which is pretty amazing.”
“Bullet Train” was filmed under strict COVID safety guidelines during the fall. Sony Pictures is behind the action tentpole, which carries a reported production budget north of $80 million. The film does not yet have a release date, although a 2021 launch is possible.
