Brad Pitt Reveals the One Movie That Brought Him Endless Trouble

Brad Pitt has made plenty of great movies, but there is one film from his early career that still stands out for all the wrong reasons. It is not one of the strange early projects fans often joke about. Instead, Pitt has said the real trouble came from a movie that looked serious and important at the time.

That film was The Devil’s Own, released in 1997. Pitt talked about the experience during an interview with Empire magazine that same year. When asked about the lowest point of his career, he made it clear that the movie caused more problems than he expected.

I have just got myself into a load of trouble over remarks I made about The Devil’s Own, Pitt said. I am not going to make the same mistake again. Sorry.

Those comments were a response to the backlash he received after speaking honestly about the film’s production. Earlier, while promoting the movie in an interview with Newsweek, Pitt openly criticized how the project was handled behind the scenes.

We had no script, he said at the time. Well, we had a great script, but it got tossed for various reasons. According to Pitt, the constant changes made filming extremely stressful. To have to make something up as you go along, Jesus, what pressure! He said. It was ridiculous.

Pitt felt the situation showed a lack of respect for the work and for the people involved. It was the most irresponsible bit of filmmaking, if you can even call it that, that I’ve ever seen, he added. I couldn’t believe it.

The Devil’s Own starred Pitt alongside Harrison Ford and focused on an IRA conflict storyline. While the movie earned only average reviews, Pitt’s performance drew criticism, especially for his Irish accent. More than that, the situation taught him how risky it could be to speak too freely during a press tour.

Although Pitt later tried to soften his words and said he appreciated parts of the final film, the experience clearly stuck with him. Fast forward to 2026, and Pitt’s career looks very different. He is enjoying major success with the racing drama F1, which has earned multiple Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture.

He is also set to return as Cliff Booth in The Adventures of Cliff Booth, a sequel to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. The project reunites him with director David Fincher and writer Quentin Tarantino.

Another upcoming film is Heart of the Beast, directed by David Ayer. The movie was shot in New Zealand and follows Pitt as a former Navy SEAL trying to survive in the wilderness alongside his retired military dog and co-star J.K. Simmons.

Looking back, The Devil’s Own remains a turning point for Brad Pitt. Not because of the role itself, but because it taught him a hard lesson about honesty, press, and how messy filmmaking can become.

Do you think Pitt was right to speak so openly about the movie, or should he have kept his frustrations private?