- After Bruce Dern slightly changed one of his lines during filming and improvised the scene, the unexpected moment reportedly caused Brad Pitt to stop the camera during the take, which left Quentin Tarantino upset.
- Bruce Dern said filming continued after the tense moment and he later came up with another line during the scene.
- Brad Pitt won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Once Upon a Time in Hollyw
Bruce Dern made a rare public appearance with his family at the Cannes Film Festival and shed light on a surprising story about Brad Pitt and Quentin Tarantino from the time they were filming for the 2019 movie Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
During a recent conversation, Dern recalled shooting a scene with Pitt, where his character visits the blind ranch owner George Spahn, played by Dern. According to the actor, he slightly changed one of his lines during filming and improvised the scene. The unexpected moment reportedly caused Pitt to stop the camera during the take, which left Tarantino upset, who reminded Pitt that actors should never interrupt filming while the camera is rolling.
In a conversation with People, Bruce Dern said, “When Brad Pitt wakes me up in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, I'm in the bed and I get up and I'm a little groggy and stuff and I just say, 'I'm not really sure what's going on'. I'm looking at him. [Pitt] cut the camera. He cut the camera. The look on Quentin's face, I mean, he was insanely grave, and he said, ‘Brad, what did you just do?'”
“He said, ‘Well, I cut the camera.' He said, 'Never again in your life will you ever cut a camera or you'll be dead in this business. That's my domain. Don't stop behaviour.' So then we went on and did the scene and all Brad did was say to him, 'Well, that wasn't in the script what he said'.”
Bruce Dern said filming continued after the tense moment and he later came up with another line during the scene. He explained that the emotional part about being “touched” by the visit was something personal he added himself. According to Dern, the idea came from a real moment when Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt had told him that they wanted him to be part of the movie no matter what.
Dern said that the gesture meant a lot to him and he used those feelings while performing the scene. He also explained that many of the lines he improvises are inspired by real emotions or experiences happening around him at the time. Instead of planning everything in advance, he prefers to react naturally during filming and let the emotions come out in the moment.
Brad Pitt won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
