Brad Pitt reportedly had a torrid time working on the 1994 Gothic vampire flick Interview with the Vampire. The film celebrated its 30th birthday recently, with director Neil Jordan taking some time to tell Variety all about the making of the movie and the actors that embodied the vampiric roles. The Warner Bros. film, based on the 1976 debut horror novel by Anne Rice, is packed with talent and led by Pitt, Tom Cruise, Antonio Banderas, and Kirsten Dunst.
The film centers on Pitt’s character Louis’ begrudged relationship with the vampire that cursed him, Cruise’s character, Lestat. Having turned young girl Claudia (Dunst) into a vampire, Lestat then forces Louis to help raise her. While it sounds the stars would have had a good time dressing up as majestic nineteenth century blood-suckers, Jordan explained to Variety that, like his character Louis, Pitt was miserable during production.
Although the film received two Oscar nominations and Dunst’s impressive performance for her age was nominated for a Golden Globe, Pitt did not gain much praise from the film, with many critics calling his performance lackluster. Now, director Jordan has shared his insight into why Pitt’s character and the actor himself seemed so depressed during that time. Pitt has previously discussed how unhappy he was during filming on the movie, and when asked about whether he was aware of Pitt’s unhappiness during filming, Jordan explained that it was sort of supposed to be that way. Jordan explained:
“Brad was great in the role. I think the problem that he suffered from was the fact that the role suffers. It was the passive role, and it was the central role … often the narrative central character can be the most passive element in the whole equation. We were shooting at night constantly, we never saw the daylight for months and months, and I think it affected him, but it was part of the character as well. I mean, Louis is somebody who is punished through a 300-year period by this creature. So the way the role affected Brad was not unlike the journey Louis himself had to go through.”
Playing a Depressed Vampire Made Brad Pitt…Depressed.
Jordan was asked whether he attempted to lighten the mood on the set for Pitt, but the director had his reasons for not wanting to intervene in the process.
“No, I don’t think I did. I just tried to work with him as an actor. But for one thing, Brad was there for far longer than Tom Cruise was, so he had to endure the entire production, so maybe that — and the passivity of the role, perhaps — took a toll on him a little bit. But I thought he was really good in the part. Any faults of what people perceive to be the performance are faults of the actual character itself, and of the novel itself. I mean, Louis suffers in the novel from the moment he’s turned into a vampire to the very end of the book. So I’m sure it was a tough journey for Brad, but it was also a tough journey for the character, too.”
While it may have cost the actor some happy times, it seems that Pitt’s position in Interview with the Vampire was unavoidable given the nature of stepping into the shoes of a sad and lonely vampire. While his performance may not have impressed critics at the time, it is part of the reason the movie continues to be loved after three decades.