He is one of the few men to have been named Sexiest Man Alive by People Magazine twice.
But Brad Pitt reportedly wasn't a fan of the coveted award when he first graced the iconic cover in 1995.
The future Oscar winner, now 60, was coming off two big hits from the previous year: “Interview With The Vampire” and “Legends Of The Fall.”
And now, in his new memoir from Legends director Edward Zwick, the filmmaker reveals that becoming a sex symbol worsened Pitt's mood.
“He was…unhappy when people named him Sexiest Man of the Year.” [sic] — something for which I take no credit or blame,” claims Zwick, 71, in Hits, Flops, and Other Illusions: My Fortysomething Years in Hollywood, via Variety.
Brad Pitt, 60, was reportedly not a fan when he was first named Sexiest Man Alive by People magazine in 1995; seen in February 2023 in NYC
According to “Legends Of The Fall” director Edward Zwick, Pitt was “unhappy” gracing the iconic cover, according to Variety
It's unclear whether Pitt and Zwick's tumultuous collaboration on Legends Of The Fall may have influenced the rising star's reaction to his looks being celebrated.
In his memoirs, the filmmaker described how Pitt “became nervous whenever he wanted to shoot a scene that required him to express deep emotions.”
The discomfort with production was there from the start.
After Pitt stepped in to play the role of Tristan Ludlow – who was originally set to be played by his future “Interview” co-star Tom Cruise before dropping out of the film – he apparently had such a bad experience at the first table read that his agent reportedly called the director “to say that Brad wanted to quit.”
Zwick went on to say that Pitt “can be volatile when upset,” and they disagreed about how emotionally open his character should be.
“Brad had grown up around men who kept their emotions in check; I believed in the meaning of it [Legends Of The Fall] Roman was that a man's life was the sum of his grief. […] But the more I pushed Brad to reveal himself, the more he resisted. So I kept pushing and Brad pushed back,” Zwick wrote.
He recalled a particularly tense moment on set when he criticized Pitt's performance in front of the film crew rather than speaking to him privately, which he later described as “a stupid, shameful provocation.”
“The considered move would have been to tell the crew to take five and that we would both talk about it. “But I felt like I was doomed and I didn’t want to give in,” Zwick continued.
Zwick jokes in his memoir “Hits, Flops, and Other Illusions: My Fortysomething Years in Hollywood” that he takes “neither credit nor blame” for Pitt's dissatisfaction, citing the difficult time she spent filming ” “Legends Of The Fall” (1994); seen in Beverly Hills in 2019
He recalled arguing with the rising star over his desire to make Pitt more emotional while the actor wanted to deliver a more subdued performance; Still from Legends Of The Fall
The two began shouting and swearing at each other, and the director claims they even threw chairs at each other, although he couldn't remember who threw the first one.
The painful experience of making the film may have been highlighted by Brad's People Magazine cover, as he sports long hair and a goatee reminiscent of his rugged Legends Of The Fall look.
Despite their regular arguments, Zwick also emphasized that the two would “make up and be serious” after each explosion.
He also praised the “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood” star as “an open, easy-going person who is a lot of fun to be with and capable of great joy.” “He has never been less determined to do his best. “
Ultimately, however, Pitt ended his time with the production on a different note, as he was unhappy with the final cut of Legends of the Fall because “he felt I had downplayed the insanity of his character,” Zwick wrote.
“In fact, I had only cut a single shot from the scene where Tristan is raging with fever and screaming as the waves wash over him on the schooner,” he continued.
“But it was a shot that he really loved and it would have been small enough to leave in, and I should have done that too. 'Sorry, Brad.'
Pitt also had a difficult experience on Interview With The Vampire, which he admitted in a 2011 interview with Entertainment Weekly.
Ultimately, he was unhappy with the final cut of the film, and the fact that his People cover was designed similarly to his in the film may not have helped matters
But Pitt had a difficult year, as his other 1994 hit, Interview With The Vampire, left him depressed after filming for “six months in the fucking darkness”; seen in January 2023 in Paris
After the interviewer commented that he looked “miserable” in the film, Pitt replied, “I'm miserable.” Six months in the damn darkness. Contact lenses, makeup, I'm playing the damn part.'
He made it clear that he was a fan of his character, Louis de Pointe du Lac, as portrayed in Anne Rice's iconic novel, but he felt that the film version sanded down the more interesting parts of the character and highlighted the more salacious aspects of Tom Cruise's character Lestat de Lioncourt, forcing him instead to be a mere observer.
Although Pitt was unhappy with his People cover, he was named Sexiest Man Alive again for the magazine's cover in 2000.
Only George Clooney and Johnny Depp have been named “Sexiest Man Alive” twice, although Richard Gere won the award in 1999, having previously appeared on the cover alongside his then-wife Cindy Crawford when the magazine temporarily renamed the issue to “Sexiest Couple.” Alive” changed.