THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, January 14, 1995 TAG: 9501130059
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, ENTERTAINMENT WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 145 lines
EVER SINCE Brad Pitt with blond hair, blue eyes and tight jeans - hitched a ride with ``Thelma and Louise'' three years ago, he has been steadily labeled ``the next big movie star'' or ``the next James Dean.''
Then came ``A River Runs Through It,'' the surprise hit directed by Robert Redford. The expectations rose even higher.
But several sidetracks followed, with Pitt looking scroungy and playing a psychopathic killer.
Now, Pitt has finally found his star-making vehicle. As Tristan Ludlow, the wild son of Anthony Hopkins, he is the force driving the Western epic ``Legends of the Fall.'' He's received a Golden Globe nomination for best actor and earned top billing, above Oscar-winner Hopkins.
Coming just behind the still-popular ``Interview With the Vampire,'' it's Pitt's year.
Bounding into the room with the energy and brash smile of a teenager, the 30-year-old Pitt admits that he doesn't much care for his new fame but is willing to run with it.
``Yeah, I'm smart enough to know that this is the start, but I'm also smart enough to know that this is the end of surprising people,'' he said. ``From now on, it's expected.''
He remembered that I had met him on the set of his lone TV series ``Glory Days,'' back when his salary was nothing like the $3.5 million he gets now.
``The first dollars I finally got came as the result of a two-minute spot on `Dallas,' '' he said. ``Before that, I was living in a two-room apartment with seven guys - all sleeping on the floor. . . . It was a blast - then - but I'd cut my throat before I tried it again. When I first came out to Los Angeles, I worked for three days, trying to sell things on the telephone. I sold nothing because I just had a good time talking to folks. I got fired. Then, I handed out cigarette samples and chauffeured limousines. When the bit on `Dallas' came along, they immediately started taking pictures of me in shirts open down the front and stuff. It made me sick.''
His remedy was to play a killer in a 1990 TV-movie, ``Too Young to Die.''
``It was pretty cheesy, but it showed them I wasn't going to play just pretty boys. Ya' gotta show 'em! Ya' gotta show 'em what you can do or that's where you'll end up.''
Perhaps because he's played a vampire as well as the wild brothers in both ``A River Runs Through It'' and now ``Legends of the Fall,'' the press has tried mightily to create a wild rebel image for him. There have been stories that he was a rebellious youth; that he dropped out of college and has been a hell-raiser in the Young Hollywood set.
``It's not true,'' he said. ``I was a pretty good kid. I made good grades and I played sports - all kinds of sports. Of course, I was always kind of impatient. I never wanted to work hard enough to be really good in any of the sports. I wanted to be an architect, but I decided that took too long. I majored in journalism at the University of Missouri, with the idea that I'd go into magazine layout, but once I saw everyone getting married and going off to their little houses, I decided that wasn't for me.''
Mention the name River Phoenix and the drug scene in Hollywood and he gets serious.
``The drug thing is out. Period. I've experimented with all kinds of life styles - sure. But you either quit drugs or you die. It's that simple. I'm smart enough to learn from other peoples' mistakes. River was the best of all the young actors. He was getting deeper and deeper into his roles. And then. . It woke up a lot of people.''
What's the wildest false rumor ever printed about him?
``There was one printed just the other day - that I hang around this gay bar all the time and I've donated sperm to my friend (singer) Melissa Etheridge.'' He laughed heartily. ``At least they're showing some imagination. Next, they'll be printing that I'm having Michael Jackson's baby.''
He claims that his spare time is actually spent biking and flying kites. ``I guess that isn't exciting enough for them, but, hey, I like flying kites.''
Pitt speaks with the down-home drawl of his native Missouri, where he was the oldest of three children in a close-knit family. It was the family angle that drew him to the Jim Harrison novella ``Legends of the Fall'' back in college. He met director Edward Zwick when he got a small part in the TV series ``thirtysomething'' and they immediately talked about the role of Tristan for him.
``Tristan is the only role I've ever had when I didn't think anyone else could do it any better,'' Pitt said. ``I love the wildness in him. I love the love in him. I love the hate in him. His journey just makes sense to me. It's the first time I thought a part was really right for me.''
Hopkins plays a military colonel who moves his family to the backwoods of Montana to protest the government's treatment of American Indians.
Their lives are changed by World War I as well as the visit of Susannah Fincannon, a charming and highbred beauty from back East. All four Ludlow men fall in love with her.
The part is played by newcomer Julia Ormond, a Brit who stars in the Audrey Hepburn role in the upcoming remake of ``Sabrina.'' Aidan Quinn plays Alfred, the older, reliable and stuffy son. Henry Thomas, the now-grown-up child who starred in ``E.T.,'' is cast as the most beloved, youngest brother.
The film was shot in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies, outside Calgary.
Pitt and Ormond shared a cabin but, according to Pitt, they were just roommates. ``Julia is a classy, classical beauty,'' he said. ``She had to be classy or the film would have fallen apart. The shooting was in a remote spot. At night, the guys all just sat around a campfire and Henry played his guitar. Julia brought a whole library of books. She read, and wrote, all the time. She wrote a diary of the filming.''
Pitt makes fun of his outdoorsman role. ``If I see a bear, I'm going to roll up in a ball and quiver,'' he said. ``This guy I was playing kills antelope with his bare hands. And I never did, really, learn the Cree language. I was told every word to say.''
Back in Missouri, Brad always loved movies. ``We had a club and went to a different movie every week,'' he said. ``On Saturdays, we'd go to drive-in and sit on the hood.''
His favorite flick: ``Godzilla.''
When I remind him that ``Legends of the Fall'' is similar, in scope, to the classic ``Shane'' with Alan Ladd, he says, ``I never saw that one.'' Looking apologetic, he added, ``But I saw `Hud.' Wasn't that similar?''
``Kalifornia'' (1993), in which Pitt played a psychopathic killer opposite his then-real-life girlfriend Juliette Lewis, was either loved or hated by the critics, but did nothing to help his movie star image. ``Cool World,'' in which he appeared with cartoons and Kim Basinger, was a disaster. ``Johnny Suede,'' in which he played a '50s rocker with a pompadour, was aimed mainly at the midnight-movie crowd.
His long hair for ``Legends of the Fall'' has been cut to a spiky crew cut for ``Seven,'' which is presently before the cameras. He plays a cop, opposite Morgan Freeman.
He hated filming ``Interview With the Vampire'' but denies rumors that there was bad feelings with co-star Tom Cruise. ``Any differences Tom and I had were just because of the roles we played. I had only one and a half weeks off between `Legends' and `Vampire,' which took six months to film. Making it was really a miserable experience. Louis, the narrator I play, was so STILL. I mean, he never moved. He never motivated anything. He just was miserable all the time. He didn't want to be a vampire. After being outdoors for `Legends,' I had to get up every morning, go to the set and be miserable all day. In spite of the experience, I'm really pleased with how `Interview' turned out. I think it's poetic.
``I've been watching some of the bigger guys and it seems they are picking movies that fit a format as to what the polls want. I don't want to do that. I think it's possible to be both a movie star and an actor and I'd like to be that - but the whole movie star thing confuses me. I don't think my personality should even get into it. People should judge me only by my movies.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Brad Pitt...
FILE PHOTO
Brad Pitt's rise to fame began three years ago with ``Thelma and
Louise,'' which co-starred Geena Davis.
by CNB