A behind-the-scenes clash between Brad Pitt and Quentin Tarantino on the set of once upon a time in hollywood has been revealed, and it seems like it was quite the moment.
The story comes courtesy of Bruce Dern, 89, who played elderly ranch owner George Spahn in the 2019 film and was present when the confrontation unfolded.
Dern said PEOPLE that the incident occurred during the scene in which Pitt’s character Cliff Booth visits the ranch to check on George, a moment that featured one of Dern’s signature improvised lines, which she cheerfully refers to as “Dernsie.”
Midway through the scene, while Dern was doing her thing, Pitt did something no actor should do on a Tarantino set.
He called to cut.
“I’m looking at it. [Pitt] “I cut the camera,” Dern recalled. “The look on Quentin’s face, I mean, was incredibly serious and he said, ‘Brad, what did you just do?'”
Tarantino’s response was unequivocal.
“He said, ‘Well, I cut the camera.’ He said, ‘You’ll never cut a camera again in your life or you’ll be dead in this business.’ That’s my domain. Don’t stop the behavior.”
Pitt’s defense, Dern revealed, was straightforward, if not exactly welcomed: “All Brad did was tell him, ‘Well, that wasn’t in the script what he said.'”
The implication is that Dern’s improvisation had thrown him off, which, given that a “Dernsie” can seemingly occur at any moment, is perhaps understandable, if not forgivable, in Tarantino’s eyes.
Filming resumed, and Dern delivered a new impromptu line for the ages: “I don’t know who you are, but you touched me today. You came to visit me, now I have to go back to sleep.”
Pitt won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the role.
Despite friction on set, the relationship between director and star has clearly survived.
A source told daily mail that Tarantino is among Pitt’s favorite directors and that the two share a strong relationship. Representatives for both have been contacted for comment.
