Where “Legends of the Fall” ranks among the best Brad Pitt movies is up for debate. However, the Western was well-received by audiences and can be credited as one of the A-list star’s most notable early performances. That said, getting that standout turn out of Pitt was difficult for Edward Zwick, as he believes the actor was reluctant to show emotion due to his masculine upbringing and desire to emphasize his cowboy character’s madness. This caused the director to push his star to open up, leading to intimidating outbursts on set.
“Brad wasn’t about to give in without a fight,” Zwick describes. “In his defense, I was pushing him to do something he felt was either wrong for the character, or more ’emo’ than he wanted to appear on-screen. I don’t know who yelled first, who swore, or who threw the first chair. Me, maybe? But when we looked up, the crew had disappeared. And this wasn’t the last time it happened.”
While it seems that Zwick and Pitt had a hostile relationship on set, they didn’t stay mad at each other for too long. The director claims they always made up after their disputes, and they even got high when they sat down together to record a commentary track for the film’s home media release.
