Brad Pitt takes on 'Troy'
By Olivia Barker
USA Today
Even someone like Brad Pitt — the $20-million-a-movie man, one-half of Hollywood's platinum couple — has his weak spots.
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There's that tendon in his heel, the one he hurt after months of pounding the sands of Mexico and Malta during the "Troy" shoot, the one that's named for Achilles, the very man he plays in the celluloid epic about the Trojan War. "Stupid irony," Pitt mumbles dismissively. Judging from his strong gait, he's healed.
"Troy," at $200 million, is titanic in expense and expectations. Brad Pitt, who plays Achilles, said the movie is his biggest ever "in budget, scope and scale."
He and his Greek warrior character may share another vulnerable site — the heart (after all, love, as much as an arrow to the heel, ultimately brings down Achilles). When it comes to intimacy and emotion, "the more you put yourself out there and open yourself up to that, the more you risk being hurt," Pitt says. "That's probably true for most of us."
But there's yet another place where Pitt is susceptible these days. Though his nearly four-year marriage to Jennifer Aniston appears solid as they try to have their first child, some say Pitt's matinee-idol status is being tested with "Troy," opening Friday.
At a reported $200 million, it's not only Pitt's biggest movie ever "in budget, scope and scale," he says, it's also one of Hollywood's, in the company of "Titanic." And for Pitt, "Troy" is arguably fraught with titanic expectations.
Pitt, 40, hasn't starred in a film that grossed at least $100 million in nearly a decade, since 1995's "Seven" (the 2001 hit "Ocean's Eleven" was an ensemble). Though "Troy" features a cast of stars, including Orlando Bloom and Peter O'Toole, Pitt carries the weight of the epic on his tanned, muscled shoulders.
Rated R Opens Friday
Since he bared his abs in 1991's "Thelma & Louise," Pitt's successfully zigzagged between riskier material such as "Twelve Monkeys" and commercial fare such as "Ocean's Eleven."
'Troy'
In "Troy," Achilles must make a decision: fight for the Greeks in their quest to recapture Helen and their honor from Troy, or stay home and raise a family — in other words, achieve lasting glory but almost certain death, or settle into anonymity.
What "Troy" means for Pitt's career as a leading man is uncertain.
"I don't think it's wrong to say there's a fair amount riding on this movie. And he is the main attraction," says film critic Leonard Maltin. "But I think he has much to gain here, because we haven't seen him in this kind of heroic part." And film studio Warner Bros.? "I think they bet on the right horse."
Pitt, though, is positively blasé about the pressure.
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Whether dealing with an edgy, arty flick such as "Fight Club" or an aspiring blockbuster like "Troy," the moviemaking process "still feels the same to me," says Pitt, sitting for an interview in a New York City hotel suite.
Brad Pitt sheared off the long locks required for "Troy." "I was just sick of hair," he said.
"You put everything you can into it, and some work, some don't. I think this one's really strong."
Physically, Pitt prepared for the role with a year of intense training. "The first three months were daunting and not fun at all." It included, every day, two to three hours in the gym, two additional hours of sword work and four high-protein, low-carb meals.
As a result, he gained about 10 pounds of brawn. "It was grueling," Pitt says.
Giving up beer, smokes
He nixed cigarettes and sharply cut back on beer and chips, although he did allow himself the occasional treat: McFlurry shakes from McDonald's, "though it was more for a little taste of home, you know, a little Americana."
Pitt tries to shrug off the emphasis on his body-building. Transforming himself into the arrogant and aloof ancient warrior had its cerebral component, too.
Among other research, Pitt dived into "The Iliad" for the first time. (He jokes that he had to because journalists would quiz him on it.) "I was surprised. It wasn't a task at all. I really enjoyed it. There's a reason it is what it is."
Director Wolfgang Petersen, best known for showing the underbelly of U-boat life in "Das Boot," stresses that a buffed-up Pitt was "extremely important."
"You cannot have Achilles with a pot belly. That doesn't work. He should not only fight like an artist, but he should look like a god."
There were other, um, behind-closed-doors benefits, akin to what Will Smith said he experienced when he pumped up to play Muhammad Ali in 2001's "Ali": "My wife's loving it."
Pitt flashes a broad, dimpled grin. "I'm going to agree with Will. There are certain advantages to the hard work. There is a payoff."
Slacking off, though, began the day "Troy" wrapped, says Pitt, fresh from a pre-interview cigarette break.
With pizza and burgers back in his diet, his six-pack has shrunk to a "two-pack." He has sheared Achilles' shoulder-length flaxen locks into a buzz cut. "I was just sick of hair. I kept hitting myself in the face with it."
Says Petersen: "Achilles is such a huge name. To play a part like that, for every actor that must be a little intimidating. There's a lot of scrutiny going on here, and he did it really well.
"A lot of people are surprised to see Brad doing a part like this.
But for me, it was not at all a stretch."
