The Red Bulletin September 2019 (UK)

Brad Pitt & Leonardo DiCaprio
Last Action
Heroes
In the shark pool known as Hollywood, it’s a case
of swim or get eaten. What does it take to survive?
We asked two guys who know a bit in that regard…
Words RÜDIGER STURM
think, “I have the right material and
a great director,” and sometimes it
still misses, but you keep going.
bp: Acting is like being in the ring:
you’re enjoying the fight, but taking
punches. A film is a big commitment
– it’s one or two years of your life.
In a leading role, the preparation
alone can take six months, and then
you’ve got post-production. It’s got
to mean something to me. I don’t
know how much time I have left,
I just want it to matter.
“The most exciting dynamic star duo
since Paul Newman and Robert
Redford” is how director Quentin
Tarantino describes the leads in his
latest movie, Once Upon a Time in
Hollywood. The film is Tarantino’s
confessed love letter to Los Angeles
in 1969 – the year that the Manson
murders shook Hollywood, signalling
the end of the hippy movement;
the Vietnam War was at its zenith;
Nixon entered the White House; and
humans first landed on the Moon.
It’s also the year that Newman
and Redford starred in Butch Cassidy
and the Sundance Kid, a revisionist
Western that – alongside the two other
highest-grossing films of 1969, Easy
Rider and Midnight Cowboy – heralded
a new wave of counterculture cinema.
Enter the protagonists of Once Upon
a Time: an ageing film star and his
stunt double, struggling in the
afterglow of Hollywood’s golden age.
Half a century on, the parallels
are clear. Global unrest and
controversial presidents aside, Pitt,
55, and DiCaprio, 44, could be seen
as anachronisms – the last big-screen
idols in a shifting landscape of
streaming media consumption.
Are they portraying representations
of themselves? What does it take to
stay alive in a carnivorous industry
with younger talent waiting to take
their place? The Red Bulletin asked
the stars for their survival secrets…
“Once you get
in the door, you
have to stand
in the room”
Don’t fear the reaper
brad pitt: There’s a shelf life to
what we do, and we’re aware of that.
It makes us more appreciative of
the time we’ve had. As long as you
find meaning in what you do, it’ll
transition into something else. Look
at the amazing careers of Anthony
Hopkins and Gene Hackman.
leonardo dicaprio: Any career
is a rollercoaster ride; there are ebbs
and flows for better or worse. I look
at this as a long-distance race. Both
of us try to make the best choices
we can, working hard on films that
challenge us and are hopefully
great pieces of art. That’s the best
we can do.
You need to get lucky,
but be ready
ldc: Brad and I talked about this.
You need to be prepared, but also you
need to have that one stroke of luck.
I have actor friends who are still
searching for those opportunities. I
just happened to be in the right place
at the right time when I was younger.
bp: I agree. I feel like we won the
lottery. There are many talented
people out there, but the trick is:
once you get in the door, you have
to stand in the room. We’ve had
opportunities to learn that, find
our way, and make it our own.
Keep your chin up
ldc: I’m ambitious. I grew up in LA
and I don’t come from a well-to-do
background, so I know how hard it
is to get your foot in the door, to be
a working actor. It comes from a need
to satisfy a hunger – not for wealth
or celebrity, but to do great work
that moves me. That’s not easy. You
Be prepared to take risks
bp: I don’t ever like to repeat myself.
For better or worse, I want to keep
moving on. It’s like I’m on a road trip
and I forget something – I can’t go
back, I’ve just got to do without my
glasses or my licence and risk getting
a ticket. I choose projects by the
inexplicable feeling that this next
one is something new and different.
ldc: Martin Scorsese once said to
me, “It’s important to do films about
the darker side of human nature.
Don’t sugarcoat it. If you’re authentic
about the way you portray someone,
the audience will go on that journey
with you, no matter what.”
Always bring your A-game
ldc: Research is the most
underrated part of filmmaking. If
you don’t show up with a wealth of
knowledge about a person and the
way they would act – if you’re not
comfortable in their shoes – it won’t
result in an authentic character.
On the day, the director may change
his mind, or you might. If you don’t
have real intent going in, it won’t
be as good.
Become a strong negotiator
ldc: A lot of making movies is
agreeing on what you don’t want
to do. You have to be blunt from
the very beginning and tell the
writers and directors what you’re
comfortable with and in what
direction you feel the movie should
go. My blunt German honesty [his
mother is German] comes out when
it’s something I really care about.
I hope that elevates it sometimes.
Directors don’t always agree with
me, but not one of them would say
that I ever pull my punches. The
unknown is what you do want to
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