Why Harrison Ford Called His Relationship With Brad Pitt 'Difficult'
Behind-the-scenes drama is nothing new in Hollywood, but while some nasty on-set feuds manage to be kept quiet, others hit the headlines immediately. Ryan Reynolds and Wesley Snipes' dispute, Megan Mullally and Debra Messing's clash, and Charlize Theron and Tobey Maguire quaarrel are only a few examples. Yet, while some A-listers manage to remain professional and complete their work, other actors outright refused to shoot scenes together. In 1996, for instance, when Harrison Ford and Brad Pitt were working on 1997's "The Devil's Own," it was hard to tell which way their terse relationship would go. Would the project be scrapped, or could they make it work?
While promoting the film's initial release, Pitt told Newsweek in 1997 that he had actually considered walking away from the project. It was a week before shooting started and he was not happy with the writing. "We had 20 pages of dogs***," he slammed. "And this script that I had loved was gone." So he told the studio he wanted out, and they said okay — if he paid them a penalty of $63 million. In the end, the two actors pushed through and made the film, but to this day, they're still talking about how difficult it was to complete "The Devil's Own." Which, incidentally, has a measly 41% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Here's why Ford found working with Pitt so darn hard, and why the feeling was mutual.
Harrison Ford says working with Brad Pitt was 'complicated'
It's been nearly three decades since Harrison Ford and Brad Pitt filmed "The Devil's Own" but folks are still talking about the reported on-set drama. While promoting the latest "Indiana Jones" installment in May 2023, Ford was asked by Esquire to clarify why that shoot had been so difficult and he remembered it like it was yesterday. As it turns out, the root of the problem lay in Ford and Pitt not being able to agree on anything — not the film's director and definitely not its storyline.
"Brad developed the script, then they offered me the part," Ford recalled. Initially, he said, "I saved my comments about the character and the construction of the thing — I admired Brad," but that soon changed. Ford wanted his character (an Irish-American cop) to be more complex. He thought Pitt's role (an IRA soldier who flies to New York to buy weapons) had more depth and he wanted the same for himself. "I worked with a writer, but then all of a sudden we're shooting and we didn't have a script that Brad and I agreed on," he said. Admitting they butted heads on how the story should play out, Ford conceded, "I was imposing my point of view, and it's fair to say that that's what Brad felt." In the end, though, he's proud of the result they eventually achieved. "I like the movie very much," he concluded.
Brad Pitt almost quit the film with Harrison Ford
When Brad Pitt and Harrison Ford first signed up to star in "The Devil's Own," there was a Pitt-approved script in place. However, it soon underwent so many changes that the finished film was nothing like the planned original. As Pitt told Newsweek in 1997, the script he agreed to was scrapped, then he and Ford couldn't agree on a new direction and that left him less than impressed. "To have to make something up as you go along — Jesus, what pressure! It was ridiculous," he slammed. "It was the most irresponsible bit of filmmaking — if you can even call it that — that I've ever seen." Pitt was so upset, in fact, that he wanted to quit the project. "I don't know why anyone would want to continue making that movie," he seethed. "We had nothing."
Just a month later, though, Pitt found himself walking back those comments in an interview with Tampa Bay Times. Saying his thoughts had been misinterpreted, he clarified the real reason why he wanted to quit. "It wasn't because of lack of script or loss of faith in anybody," he assured. Rather, he was worried they wouldn't do justice to the Irish people suffering under the violence of the IRA. He also emphasized that he liked the end result. "Now I'm very happy, and it would be a shame to hurt the movie because lots of people worked very hard," he added.