Brad Pitt Impressed His Much Younger Co-Star After Fighting Him on the Set of ‘Fury’
Brad Pitt has usually been in tip top shape for his roles. But he showed just how fit he was in Fury when he hung with a much younger co-star during a physical fight.
Brad Pitt showed his younger ‘Fury’ co-star that he was still in ‘Fight Club’ shape
Pitt worked alongside several younger actors when he starred in David Ayer’s Fury. His castmates at the time included the likes of Shia LaBeouf, Scott Eastwood, and Logan Lerman. Given the nature of the war film, tensions occasionally ran high between the actors on set. LaBeouf and Eastwood famously almost came to blows, with Pitt having to break up the impending fight between the two.
Pitt also once got involved in the action. It turned out, Ayer would frequently pit the actors against each other in regulated fights. After seeing what Pitt was still capable of, Percy Jackson star Lerman couldn’t help praise Pitt’s athleticism.
“I think Brad Pitt is one of the coolest tough guys in movie history,” Lerman once told Shortlist (via Contact Music). “Fight Club is one of my favourite films and Tyler Durden is one of the most badass characters ever. Every morning at 5am, David Ayer had us put on UFC-style padded clothes and fight each other for a few hours. I forgot Brad is f***ing 50 you know? He’s in killer shape and f***ing fought with the young dudes. He still looks like Tyler Durden.”
Pitt has always been willing and able to maintain his physique. Fight Club stunt coordinator Damon Caro once recalled what it was like seeing Pitt get in shape.
“He’s a genetic freak,” Caro once said according to Men’s Health. “Brad’s got the ability to do whatever he wants to do. He can build up, but for that one he got lean, so while he was working out and lifting he was restricting his calories. I mean he was shredded for that film.”
Brad Pitt once named the film he wanted to go all in on when getting into shape
Pitt made it a point to get into the shape of his life for Troy. The Oscar-winner portrayed the warrior Achilles in the 2004 epic. Since he was reaching an important milestone, Pitt was determined to reach his peak form for the role.
“I was turning 40. I wanted to go all out and just see what I could do. I worked for a year on that one, physically,” Pitt said in a 2011 interview with Entertainment Weekly.
He’d take a different approach for his Troy workout than what he did for Fight Club. According to his trainer Duffy Gaver, Pitt needed to achieve a beefier look for the Wolfgang Peterson feature.
“Brad’s never had a problem leaning out, but the uphill battle was about putting size on him,” Gaver said in an interview with Esquire.
Gaver further added that he wanted Pitt to look like a more accurate depiction of warriors during ancient times.
“We talked about what is good aesthetically on the male body,” Gaver said. “If you look at Roman-Greco wrestlers they don’t go to the gym, they just do their job but they happen to look amazing. You don’t want the audience to go ‘Wow, I bet he benches a lot’. That doesn’t have anything to do with the film.”
Gaver shared there were key target areas on the body to focus on to complete Pitt’s desired Troy physique.
“If you really want to build a good physique, my take is you need a good thick back, decent shoulders and decent arms,” Gaver added. “And then you can worry about leaning out.”
Brad Pitt found his ‘Troy’ physique more mundane as he’d gotten older
In his older years, Pitt seemed less concerned and impressed with maintaining the kind of body he had in his youth.
“Now I find that look very mundane. It’s just everywhere. I actually think people aging is more interesting,” he said.
After starting his family with ex Angelina Jolie, Pitt was relieved he didn’t have to put too much focus on his body anymore.
“To me, it’s been an amazing time. I actually feel like, ‘Oh, good, that‘s off me,’” he said.
