“I had no choice”— When Brad Pitt revealed why he almost quit Interview with the Vampire

Brad Pitt first got recognition as an actor following his role as a cowboy hitchhiker in the 1991 Ridley Scott film Thelma & Louise. Three years later, he cemented his position in Hollywood with Interview with the Vampire. Since then, he has won two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award.

Directed by Neil Jordan, based on Anne Rice's 1976 novel of the same name, the 1994 gothic horror film Interview with the Vampire saw Pitt star opposite an already-established Tom Cruise. Their characters in the film, Lestat (Cruise) and Louis (Pitt), have now become household names, and the film remains a favorite with fans to this day.

However, the circumstances under which the film was made seemed quite unpleasant to Brad Pitt, so much so that he even thought of quitting Interview with the Vampire. Since the filming was already underway, the studio executives did not take this very well.

When Pitt approached a producer asking what it would take for him to get out of the project midway, he was told that he would have to pay the studio $40 million.

Koimoi published a report on December 15, 2024, that carries the following statement from Brad Pitt, spoken in response to the massive hurdle placed in his way out of the project:

“I had no choice.”

The Once Upon a Time in Hollywood star has repeatedly remarked over the years how uncomfortable the entire filming process was for him.

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Brad Pitt felt 'miserable' on the set of Interview with the Vampire

In an interview given to Entertainment Weekly on September 16, 2011, the Hollywood actor opened up about his struggles during the principal photography of the horror film. He said that the perpetually dark environment took a toll on him.

“We were shooting nights … London was f**king dark. London was dead of winter. We’re shooting in Pinewood, which is an old institution … There’s no windows in there. It hasn’t been refabbed in decades,” Pitt stated.

He continued:

“You leave for work in the dark — you go into this cauldron, this mausoleum — and then you come out and it’s dark. I’m telling you, one day it broke me. It was like, life’s too short for this quality of life.”

That was when Brad Pitt decided that he wanted to leave the project, but the hefty price that was asked of him made his exit impossible. He also complained that he was given the script of the film only two weeks prior to the beginning of filming.

Additionally, the Inglourious Basterds star remarked that while the interesting bits of Cruise's character Lestat were retained in the script, there was nothing much for his character Louis to do. Thus, the filming experience of Interview with the Vampire was not the best for the young Brad Pitt.

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"It was a tough journey for Brad": Director Neil Jordan confirmed Pitt's account

In an interview given to Variety on November 11, 2024, Neil Jordan, the director of Interview with the Vampire, confirmed Brad Pitt's account, saying that the process was indeed difficult for the actor.

Jordan remarked how they constantly shot at night and "never saw the daylight for months and months." At the same time, Jordan also opined that the suffering Pitt underwent mirrored his character's suffering in the narrative.

“I mean, Louis is somebody who is punished through a 300-year period by this creature. So the way the role affected Brad was not unlike the journey Louis himself had to go through," the director said.

Also, Jordan added that Pitt had to "endure the entire production" and that he was present on set far longer than Tom Cruise was. All of this added to Pitt's listlessness while working on the movie.

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