Author: Josan

From Getting McDonald’s with Brad Pitt to Fox News Commentator

Not only did acting help Hyman learn to be more “outgoing,” she also has fun memories of meeting other actors, including a before-he-was-famous Brad Pitt.

“I met Shalane McCall who was on Dallas and, ironically enough, Brad Pitt was her TV boyfriend before he was Brad Pitt,” says Hyman. “He was a sweet guy.”

She remembers going to McDonald’s with McCall and Pitt after an event in Studio City.

“Shalane’s mom, Sherry, took photos of us there,” says Hyman, who adds, “I remember him telling me he was from small place in Missouri and there was a local newspaper doing a story about him. And I was like, ‘That’s great.'” Read more.

Before ‘Almost Famous’ Exit, Brad Pitt Used PlayStation to Form Connection with Patrick Fugit

Russell Hammond in “Almost Famous” is one of Billy Crudup’s career-defining roles, but there was a four-month period where writer-director Cameron Crowe worked with Brad Pitt developing the character. Pitt was Crowe and casting director Gail Levin’s first choice for the role. When young Patrick Fugit got to the screen test round of auditions to play protagonist William Miller, Brad Pitt was still attached to the role. Fugit recently spoke to Uproxx about his first meeting with Pitt.

“I went in and Cameron introduced me to Brad,” Fugit said. “He was sitting in Cameron’s office and Brad could tell I was nervous, but I was also excited to get into things. Brad started talking about PlayStation, and he was like, ‘Hey, man, I’ve been playing this game, ‘Cool Boarders.’ Do you play ‘Cool Boarders?” I, by the way, had been playing a fuck load of ‘Cool Boarders.’ So I was like, ‘Well, Mr. Pitt, I can do these tricks.’ And he was like, ‘Wow, you can land that trick? I’ve only got this one and that one.’ And he’s like, ‘You’ve got to show me how to land that trick.’ Just loosening me up and geeking out about ‘Cool Boarders,’ but really just spending the time to get to know me, make me feel comfortable and that sort of thing.”

Fugit continued, “By the way, Cameron had left the room. He sort of introduced us and he left the room and let us talk for about 15 minutes. Then he came back in and it was time to do some scene work. I remember it being a lot of fun. And then, I think by that time, Kate Hudson was being considered for Penny. I did a screen test with Kate and we did some scenes together and then I flew back to Utah.”

Read more.

Tarantino On His ‘Once Upon A Time In Hollywood’ Novel, Retirement, Fatherhood, And Other Great Tales

Quentin Tarantino long has taken his encyclopedic cinematic influences, including genres and actors from the past, and blended them through his filter to create wildly inventive films that have influenced many up-and-coming filmmakers. Now, he has done a similar thing that I bet will not be copied by other filmmakers. After steeping himself for a half-decade in the lore of ’60s films, stuntmen, Western TV series and the Manson family to create Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Tarantino harkened back to his love for movie novelizations and wrote one for his own movie, after the fact. The book becomes in a way its own singular Tarantino creation: Using his film as a springboard, Tarantino heads into many unexpected directions while satisfyingly expanding and fleshing out the mythology of the world and the characters populated by Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie and others. If you are a fan of the movie, you’ll find it hard to put down a novel that first was published in paperback. Here, Tarantino discusses why he put the same painstaking detail in the book as he did the movie, and where he goes from here.

Read more. Great read, lots of mentions of Brad’s character Cliff Booth.

CinemaCon Footage Reveals Brad Pitt Vs. Bad Bunny Fight

Footage from John Wick director David Leitch’s Bullet Train debuted at CinemaCon, and introduces Brad Pitt as a drifter assassin.

The first footage from John Wick director David Leitch’s Bullet Train debuted at this year’s CinemaCon event, and features Brad Pitt going toe-to-toe with global hip-hop star Bad Bunny. While the sequence shows was reportedly quite brief, especially when compared to other reels shown at the event, it does give us a good idea of what to expect, as well as some interesting insight into Pitt’s character.

While many no doubt expected Brad Pitt to be suited up and looking stylish, this is apparently far from the case, with the actor reportedly looking more akin to his stoner character in 1993’s True Romance. Pitt’s character, named Ladybug, is shown in the footage as “a drifter rocking hiking boots and a faded tweed coat,” with the titular transport looking “gorgeous and claustrophobic.”

The footage then broke into a fight between Pitt and Bad Bunny, whi sports “a white pinstripe suit, killer boots and an edge weapon.” The pair then “slap each other around a luxury cabin on the speeding train,” with the fight scene being rather “fun” as the tussle over and tussling over a briefcase. Unfortunately, the fun times come to a brutal end when “someone gets stabbed.” Mortal Kombat star Hiroyuki Sanada is also featured in the short clip as an “ominous passenger.”

Read more.

PS. Re: Brad’s True Romance character Floyd was just hilarious and I just personally digged the stoner look, he was amazing in that movie!

Plan B Entertainment Hires Carina Sposato & Ernest McNealey As TV Executives

Scott Free’s Carina Sposato and Netflix’s Ernest McNealey have joined Brad Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment as the company’s first dedicated, senior-level TV executives. The expansion of Plan B’s television division is part of the ongoing TV ramp-up at the company, run by co-presidents Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner, whose current series slate is its largest to date. Sposato and McNealey will work on developing TV projects for Plan B, which has an exclusive overall television deal at Amazon Studios.

“As we continue to grow and expand the business, we do so with an eye towards building for the future with the next generation of storytellers,” said Plan B’s Pitt, Gardner and Kleiner. “Carina and Ernest will be two great additions to Plan B as we head into our next decade.”

Read more.

Oh and Thank You!

The last few months I have been quite neglecting the website, not on purpose though. I have had to have two big surgeries that both had quite an impact on my stamina and mood overall. Besides that I have two young boys in the age of 1,5 and 3,5 years old and somehow made promotion at my work amidst this all. This caused me to put SB on a pause. Thanks to my dear friend Shann, who is mainly focused on our social media (Instagram and Twitter: links above post), SB stayed up to date. I am so thankful for her friendship, commitment, mutual admiration for Brad and craziness.

However, I am very aware that a lot needs to be added and while I am in recovery at the moment from my latest surgery, I have already worked through our email account and will now slowly add all the news and pictures like you are used to.


Some time ago I asked you all that if you could help with our website bills and some of you donated graciously!

A big, big thank you to Monaki53 (twice!), Shann, Laura and Beth for their donations. It is overwhelming to realise that people actually want to contribute to the funding of my website. It is so needed and helpful, THANK YOU!

If you could spare a few bucks… then please donate. All donations are welcome and of course not obligated. It would make life a lil easier on the webmiss however. All donations go straight into SimplyBrad.com. Thank you!

‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ Never-Before-Seen Footage Debuts in Trailer for Tarantino’s New Book

Harper Perennial has debuted an official trailer for Quentin Tarantino’s upcoming novelization of “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” and it’s jam-packed with never-before-scene footage from the director’s ninth feature film. “Hollywood” was a critical and commercial hit when it opened theatrically in July 2019 following a world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. The film grossed $374 million worldwide and picked up 10 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director. Brad Pitt won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

The “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” novelization trailer, which can be viewed exclusively on Entertainment Weekly (check the video here), showcases footage Tarantino left on the cutting room floor for the movie’s theatrical cut. “Hollywood” ran 161 minutes in theaters, but Tarantino’s assembly cut was around four hours. Never-before-seen footage featured in the trailer includes new scenes with Al Pacino’s Marvin Schwarz and Damon Herriman’s Charles Manson. Herriman had a lot of buzz going into “Hollywood” for playing the infamous serial killer, but he only appeared in one brief scene in the theatrical cut.

One part of the book Tarantino touted was several chapters fleshing out the backstory of Pitt’s stuntman Cliff Booth. The “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” novel releases June 29 via Harper Perennial.

Read more.

Kristen Wiig to Star in ‘Stepford Wives’-esque Thriller ‘The Husbands’ From Producer Brad Pitt

Due for release on Aug. 3, The Husbands follows Nora Spangler, a successful attorney and overworked mother who goes house-hunting in Dynasty Ranch, a nice suburban neighborhood where she meets a group of high-powered women — a tech CEO, a neurosurgeon, an award-winning therapist and a bestselling author — with enviably supportive husbands.

When Nora agrees to help with a resident’s wrongful death case involving the woman’s husband, she is pulled into the lives of the women there and uncovers a plot that may explain the secret to having it all… one that’s worth killing for. The upcoming novel explores what lengths a woman will go to for a little more help from her husband.

Read more.

Susan Sarandon Says Brad Pitt ‘Impressed’ Her in Thelma & Louise: ‘He’s Not Just a Really Gorgeous Face’

Susan Sarandon is looking back on her time spent filming Thelma & Louise alongside Brad Pitt.

During a recent interview with Extra, the 74-year-old actress discussed the 1991 film, which just celebrated its 30th anniversary, sharing that she never thought it would become a classic. “I just thought it was so fun, we were kind of like a cowboy movie except with women and trucks instead of horses and guys,” she said.

In the trailblazing film, Louise (Sarandon) and Thelma (Geena Davis) embark on a road trip that quickly devolves into a crime spree. The women evade authorities one final time by driving to their deaths in the Grand Canyon.

The movie also features Pitt, 57, as a cowboy drifter called J.D., in what was one of his earliest roles. Sarandon told the outlet that Pitt’s performance in the film surprised her.

“When I saw the film, the part that really impressed me, in addition to his good looks and great body, was his sense of humor because he really fleshed that part out in a way that wasn’t necessarily in the script,” Sarandon said. “I thought, ‘Ah, this guy’s interesting, you know, he’s not just a really gorgeous face.'”

“He took it as a character part and as we can see from his career, he really continued to push the envelope in ways that he really didn’t have to when you look like that,” she added.

In February 2020, Davis, 65, also shared her thoughts about Pitt in his breakout role alongside her in the film.

“He just has ‘it.’ I could tell when he was auditioning that he was super talented,” she told PEOPLE after the actor snagged his first Oscar. “He has done so many incredible things over the years. I don’t think that it is unusual for him to be honored. He really is the ‘star’ of the moment, which is fabulous, and it is just great to see.”

Read more.