Inside Brad Pitt's Best Action Films, From 'Fight Club' to 'Mr. & Mrs. Smith' and More!
A man of action! Brad Pitt is known for many things -- his winning smile, handsome face, acting range and ability to disappear into a character, and as seen once again in Bullet Train, his ability to pull off some epic action scenes.
While Pitt has said this is one of his first forays into high-octane action comedy, he has no shortage of experience in delivering some exciting moments of pulse-pounding action.
With Bullet Train rocketing into theaters this weekend, ET is taking a look back at Pitt's legacy of action movies and his history playing battle-hardened characters -- beginning with Fight Club.
Fight Club (1999)
The powerful social commentary of director David Fincher's Fight Club has become a beloved classic, despite disappointing at the box office upon its release. However, the siren call the film has had for many in the years since hitting theaters seems to be the same it had for Pitt when he first read the script.
"It just spoke to me, I was really drawn to the thing," Pitt told ET at the Venice Film Festival in 1999, ahead of the movie's wide release, adding that the film really showed how "art feeds off life and life feeds off art."
Troy (2004)
Pitt showed off his chiseled torso and flawless fighting figure when he donned some armor, a shield and a sword for Wolfgang Petersen's epic period piece, Troy. Pitt, playing the legendary fighter Achilles, had some truly iconic action scenes that fans still marvel at. However, he didn't just have to get in shape to fight, but also because of the film's more revealing scenes.
"Apparently, the Greeks, they were naked all the time! Eat naked, play naked... these are naked people, they like to be naked," Pitt told ET during a press junket for Troy. "I just didn't realize that I was the only one doing it in the movie. I thought everyone else was too."
Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005)
In one of his first true action flicks, Pitt starred opposite future ex-wife, Angelina Jolie, in this shoot-'em-up action romcom that saw Pitt and Jolie playing a married couple who were both, secretly, assassins working for opposing agencies. Understandably, their marriage is strained and the pair are in couple's therapy -- which takes a turn for the more violent when they are pitted against each other with a price on their heads.
"What I like about it most, it's always like the relationship or the argument is at the foreground the action is always in the back," Pitt told ET at a junket in 2005. "It's good stuff!"
Fury (2014)
Fury follows the tank crew, of the same name -- featuring Pitt, Shia, Logan Lerman, Jon Bernthal and Michael Pena -- as they lead one last offensive against the waning Nazi forces in 1945. Pitt played a hard-nosed commander named Wardaddy -- sporting a very close-cut 'do -- who had to face harsh conditions alongside his band of brothers.
The authenticity of the story meant a lot to the star, telling ET at the time that he appreciated how the film "focuses so much on the psychological hardships of men dealing with those extreme conditions."
Bullet Train (2022)
Based on the Japanese novel Maria Beetle by Kotaro Isaka, Bullet Train follows multiple assassins aboard the same bullet train out of Tokyo, all hunting for the same man. Pitt is forced to contend with a whole train-load of killers, but the fast-paced action was a chance for the star to embrace the comedic elements of the action genre.
According to Pitt, he and director David Leitch were heavily influenced and inspired by Jackie Chan. He told ET during the LA premiere of Bullet Train, "We always talk about Jackie Chan, how much we love Jackie Chan. He's like our Charlie Chaplin, he's just so underrated. And it's so amazing the stuff that he's pulled off. So to do something in that vein, with the comedy infused into the fights, I've never done that before!"
Bullet Train hits theaters Aug. 5.
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