# Is Brad Pitt a "great" actor? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 20, 2010, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-brad-pitt-a-great-actor/529783 "2010-02-20T18:17:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![King\_Bobo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@King\_Bobo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/King_Bobo)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2010, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-brad-pitt-a-great-actor/529783/41 "2010-02-21T11:39:43Z")
I am not sure what “great actor” is. But whenever I watch “Legends of the Fall” (my favourite movie) or “A River Runs Through It” (my second favourite) - he sure seems great to me. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2010, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-brad-pitt-a-great-actor/529783/42 "2010-02-21T16:03:48Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > Oh no kidding. [This scene on its own](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vVrR3BJIUo) doesn’t have the emotional resonance without having seen what came before and led up to it, but for those who’ve seen the movie, it’s so intense. James knows the minute he walks in the room that he’s a dead man, and his stopping to look at his daughter is heartbreaking. This is the eyes thing you were talking about, right? One of the moments anyway. That scene makes me anxious all over again just watching it now! Fantastic acting on both Pitt’s and Casey Affleck’s parts. Another scene is the one where he comes in at dinner and Robert starts making all the comparisons between the two of them (excerpted briefly [here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wETZA5nb2Uc#t=0m37s)) – the look on Pitt’s face during that scene, and especially at the end of the scene when he’s laughing uproariously but his eyes are cold and hard…that was stunning. I think I rewound that a couple of times, too. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![sulamith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@sulamith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sulamith)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2010, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-brad-pitt-a-great-actor/529783/43 "2010-02-21T16:43:28Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > I loved him in Inglorious Basterds. Except for the fact that it’s an already perfect movie, the only thing keeping it from being _110%_ perfect is that I wanted more Aldo Ray. I felt the same way about wanting more Aldo Raine, but did you notice how all the movie posters and trailers featured Brad so prominently and heavily to sell the movie? I think if he had been featured in the storyline more, it would have truly become a Brad Pitt movie, which I felt Quentin T wanted to avoid, especially considering all the other outstanding performances in that movie (Christoph W is superb). But, that didn’t stop the studio from using Brad’s mug to sell it as if his part were much bigger. No denying, Brad looks great on camera. > [@](#): > > No, you don’t, but you felt obliged to state that she was batshit crazy anyway, as if it were irrefutable fact, didn’t you? > > I assume Brad knows. 😉 Unfortunately for both Brad and Angelina the tabloid fiction is encroaching on their craft. Some people can’t get past the supermarket headlines to see the actors. The couple’s usual response to the outragous stories is to ignore them, but they have filed a lawsuit about the latest round of lies, so good for them. And if you’ll notice, they are not on any of the covers of the weeklies this past week, so maybe they will finally get a reprieve. The tabloid background noise doesn’t seem to be affecting them being offered scripts or juicy parts, though. I read Brad is talks to star in The Lost City of Z, where he will play Percy Fawcett. I can’t wait to see that. Everything I said above about Brad in IB I also think could be applied to Angelina in Wanted. Her part wan’t all that big, I wanted to see more of her, and they used her image heavily to sell the movie. The studios know who puts butts in seats. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2010, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-brad-pitt-a-great-actor/529783/44 "2010-02-21T16:48:52Z")
I’d put him above average but not in the great category ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2010, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-brad-pitt-a-great-actor/529783/45 "2010-02-21T16:58:50Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > I can’t remember where I read this but someone once described Brad Pitt as a leading man who wishes he was a character actor. I agree with this assessment. Pitt is at his best in quirky roles in movies like **12 Monkeys, Fight Club, True Romance** and **Snatch**. However, when he’s a straight-forward leading man, he’s dull as dishwater. I think I remember reading that as “a character actor trapped in the body of a leading man”, and I agree that his most uninspired performances are as a straight-up lead. (Also, I don’t think we can hold Troy against him. Everyone was awful in Troy, because Troy was awful.) I’m not sure that he’s great, but I think he is tremendously talented. ---
**Author:** ![sulamith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@sulamith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sulamith)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2010, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-brad-pitt-a-great-actor/529783/46 "2010-02-21T17:01:44Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > I hesitate to include any scenes from **Kalifornia** , because out of context, it does just look like Brad Pitt trying to be a redneck, but as most people who’ve watched the movie know, in context, Early Grace is one freaking frightening guy. [Here’s one anyway](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gX3uHkNF6KA), just to show how different he looks from most of his other characters. > > I could keep going but I’ll stop. No! Don’t stop! I really enjoyed those. The Jesse James movie is so, sooo good. I read that the studios gave it next no publicity due to some behind the scenes issues with somebody being mad at somebody else. I can’t recall now what it was, but either way, it is a shame that movie didn;t get more attention. And about Early Grayce, jesus-pete that guy was scary, but as scary as he was, I found myself laughing out loud at such lines as “Adele, what kind of a koo koo bird carries a cactus in her purse?” and the whole “reebs” thing, only to subsequently feel sorry for Early a time or two along with being strangely turned on by him. When Adele talks about putting up with his mean side because he “has the eyes of an angel” I totally get it. Despite the fact that Adele is completely mentally deficient, I understand why she is with him. Dayum, I want to watch that movie again. Too bad Kalifornia would be overshadowed by movies like Natural Born Killers and Badlands, because I think it is better than both of those. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2010, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-brad-pitt-a-great-actor/529783/47 "2010-02-21T17:59:54Z")
> [@Charley](#): > > I’m honestly surprised to see that I’ll be the first dissenting voice, but I actually think he’s overall a pretty poor actor. Beautiful to look at, but I just don’t rate him generally. I’ve actually always been rather perplexed by the adoration he gets for his looks. I’ve never quite understood the appeal. I’m a guy, and if you told me that i could look exactly like any movie star, Brad Pitt would be quite a long way down my list. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2010, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-brad-pitt-a-great-actor/529783/48 "2010-02-21T21:16:46Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > Brad’s a fine actor in my opinion. Maybe not a stratospheric great, like Daniel Day Lewis, but pretty darned good, and eclectic DDL a stratospheric great? 😕 Are you saying DDL’s as good as Olivier or Bogart or Coward or Fonda? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2010, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-brad-pitt-a-great-actor/529783/49 "2010-02-21T21:31:07Z")
I’d say he’s better than all of them. I would not consider any of thsoe to be “stratospheric,” except maybe Olivier. Bagart wasn’t a great actor, just a great movie star. He didn’t do characters, he was exactly the same in every movie. Henry Fonda was just average, in my opinion. Noel Coward, I know nothing about. For me, “stratospheric” is somebody like Brando or Streep. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2010, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-brad-pitt-a-great-actor/529783/50 "2010-02-21T21:41:30Z")
Just as an aside, has anybody else ever noticed that [Benecio Del Toro](http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://imagecache.allposters.com/images/pic/MMPH/245176~Benicio-Del-Toro-Posters.jpg&imgrefurl=http://lidocafe.livejournal.com/tag/actors&usg=__RHHH9TbDMBcEp-voUA53fkmI5yQ=&h=450&w=360&sz=44&hl=en&start=5&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=j576mCFPfecorM:&tbnh=127&tbnw=102&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbenicio%2Bdel%2Btoro%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26tbs%3Disch:1) looks just like the Latino Brad Pitt? ---
**Author:** ![sulamith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@sulamith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sulamith)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2010, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-brad-pitt-a-great-actor/529783/51 "2010-02-21T22:53:57Z")
> [@Alice\_The\_Goon](#): > > Just as an aside, has anybody else ever noticed that [Benecio Del Toro](http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://imagecache.allposters.com/images/pic/MMPH/245176~Benicio-Del-Toro-Posters.jpg&imgrefurl=http://lidocafe.livejournal.com/tag/actors&usg=__RHHH9TbDMBcEp-voUA53fkmI5yQ=&h=450&w=360&sz=44&hl=en&start=5&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=j576mCFPfecorM:&tbnh=127&tbnw=102&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbenicio%2Bdel%2Btoro%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26tbs%3Disch:1) looks just like the Latino Brad Pitt? Yes, I have. They both have the same eyes, only BDT’s are dark. How about this…did anyone know that Johnny Lee Miller was known in England during the 90s as the British Brad Pitt? He was Angelina’s first husband. I think there is also some Bollywood actor who is called the Indian Brad Pitt. For some reason he has become the yardstick by which other sexy males are measured. ---
**Author:** ![FordTaurusSHO94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f07891/32.png) [@FordTaurusSHO94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordTaurusSHO94)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2010, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-brad-pitt-a-great-actor/529783/52 "2010-02-21T23:09:42Z")
At the beginning of Snatch, a friend and I both thought Brad Pitt was dressed as one of the Jewish guys. We were both surprised to see it was Del Toro. I’ll watch any movie with Brad Pitt. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2010, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-brad-pitt-a-great-actor/529783/53 "2010-02-21T23:15:32Z")
I’d call Pitt a competent actor, not great. He has a limited ability to act, and really is not good at portraying complex characters. Given that he is in his 40’s, how much longer will he be a top star? ---
**Author:** ![sulamith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@sulamith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sulamith)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2010, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-brad-pitt-a-great-actor/529783/54 "2010-02-21T23:34:35Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > I’d call Pitt a competent actor, not great. He has a limited ability to act, and really is not good at portraying complex characters. > Given that he is in his 40’s, how much longer will he be a top star? Well, I actually like him better with some age on him. I think his looks and abilities will mature well and he’ll carry alot of character roles in the future. If he had built a career of being the pretty boy leading man that always gets the girl, then I would say that yes, his days are numbered, but as we have been discussing here, he has not built his career that way. The roles he has chosen show he does not crave to be the center of attention in a film, even though he usually winds up being the main draw. I think he’ll be a bankable actor for many years to come. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-brad-pitt-a-great-actor/529783/55 "2010-02-22T21:54:36Z")
I think Pitt is a very good actor. He does a lot of things well. He plays “type” well. We saw that in **Thelma and Louise** and **Troy**. He pokes fun at “type” well as in the **Ocean’s** series and **Mr. and Mrs. Smith**. He also plays against “type” well as in **Snatch**. I even find he is maturing well, but I feel the true test for him will be the next five or ten years to see if he can make that move as Newman did and Harrison Ford has to mature leading man. We have seen so many actors get lost in that gulf. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-brad-pitt-a-great-actor/529783/56 "2010-02-22T22:53:27Z")
It’s depressing because yesterday I was working on a post responding to lots of people, talking about his upcoming movies such as **The Lost City of Z** (which I believe is why he’s been wearing that stupid-looking beard for so long, because it looks just like his character [Col. Percy Fawcett](http://www.cinefools.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleID=1237), and filming keeps being delayed), plus giving more links to YouTube scenes, and my Firefox crashed and I lost it all. It would have been a pretty good post, really! Teach me to finish a post before going off to do something else, or at least save it first in Notepad. :smack: Anyway, he’s got [projects coming out of his ears](http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0000093/). Most thrilling for me is [The Tree Of Life](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0478304/), Terrence Malick’s new film, with Sean Penn! Look at that In-Development list! Not all of those will come to fruition, but the one I’m excited about is “Untitled Steve McQueen Biopic” _swoon_. I’ll see if I can recreate my clips list again later, after laundry. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-brad-pitt-a-great-actor/529783/57 "2010-02-23T01:33:09Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > I’d say he’s better than all of them. I would not consider any of thsoe to be “stratospheric,” except maybe Olivier. Bagart wasn’t a great actor, just a great movie star. He didn’t do characters, he was exactly the same in every movie. Henry Fonda was just average, in my opinion. Noel Coward, I know nothing about. > > For me, “stratospheric” is somebody like Brando or Streep. Henry Fonda is the greatest American actor of all time, with no close second. I qualify with “American,” because Charles Laughton is the only actor I might conceivable elevate above Fonda. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-brad-pitt-a-great-actor/529783/58 "2010-02-23T02:53:30Z")
I don’t even think he was the best actor named Fonda. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-brad-pitt-a-great-actor/529783/59 "2010-02-23T03:50:32Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > Anyway, he’s got [projects coming out of his ears](http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0000093/). Most thrilling for me is [The Tree Of Life](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0478304/), Terrence Malick’s new film, with Sean Penn! Look at that In-Development list! Not all of those will come to fruition, but the one I’m excited about is “Untitled Steve McQueen Biopic” _swoon_. He has a production company, Plan B Entertainment. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was attached to most of those as just a producer. ---
**Author:** ![BrassyPhrase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea666f/32.png) [@BrassyPhrase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrassyPhrase)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-brad-pitt-a-great-actor/529783/60 "2010-02-23T07:21:26Z")
> [@astro](#): > > I know he has been in lots of films, but is he considered a “great” actor? > > I ask because I thought his character in “Inglorious Basterds” was a pretty awful job of acting, although I liked the film and most of the other performances. I thought he chewed the scenery in that film, and his portrayal of his character was too clownish even for the the over top nature of the movie. I can’t remember if I’ve posted it before (or even in this thread), but I remember seeing him in _Thelma and Louise_, and thinking, “He’s so good, but how is this scrawny kid ever going to make a living..” I actually had a younger coworker the other day tell me “I think he’s a good actor, but, I don’t think he’s that attractive.” A guy my age was in the room and half-listening and I thought he would break his neck at the “whaaaaa??” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-brad-pitt-a-great-actor/529783.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-brad-pitt-a-great-actor/529783.md?page=4)