Brad Pitt can relate to the legendary outlaw Jesse James –
not because he’s ever harbored a desire to rob banks or roam the countryside
blasting away with a six-shooter, but because James was the foremost celebrity
of his day, and somewhat blinded by the glare of the spotlight.
“I don’t think James enjoyed
the level of fame he had,” says
Pitt, who grew up in Springfield, Missouri, less than 200 miles from the
desperado’s childhood home. “It was something he was trapped behind. He’s been
portrayed 125 times in film, so that speaks to his level of celebrity. Back
then, it was him and Mark Twain, and that’s about it.
“I certainly understand the feeling
of being hunted in some
sense, but he had guns pointed at him. And most of the people I’ve had a chance
to meet are delightful, so there is a difference. Mostly, I think he was unable
to deal with his own legend.”
Even so, Pitt, who stars in The Assassination of Jesse James
by the Coward Robert Ford – a project
long-delayed by studio concerns about its nearly three-hour length – believes
that his latest film deals with the concept of celebrity, and the ravenous
desire for it, in more ways than one.
“The film deals with an element of celebrity in
the sense
that some people view it as a conduit to self-worth, to meaning. That’s very
true of the Bob Ford character,” he says. “Ford was a demoralized kid who, in
his own eyes, suffered a series of great humiliations. He’s looking for fame as
validation, at whatever cost. And when he’s spurned by Jesse James, it
amplifies that humiliation, and the character takes on a rather Chapman-esque
quality.”
While Pitt acknowledges that preparing the final cut of The
Assassination of Jesse James represented a
tiring but ultimately rewarding ordeal – as co-producer, he even took the time
to put together a version of his own – the experience has hardly slowed him
down. He is already busy filming an upcoming Coen brothers comedy, Burn
After Reading, with an old friend, Ocean’s
Thirteen co-star George Clooney.
Still, Pitt, who will turn 44 in December
and already has
four children with partner Angelina Jolie, can envision a time in the
not-too-distant future when he might take a break from acting to concentrate on
his family.
“That seems like the natural evolution, though I don’t have
any specific plans,” he says. “I’m filming with the Coen brothers now, which
has been a lot of fun, and after that I’ll be doing a thriller called State
of Play with Edward Norton. But that’s been
part of my plan for some time now, to take a big break and indulge my passions
– my family, my children. And I’m a big architecture nut, too.”
