(by Francesco Gallo)
James Gray's film 'Ad Astra',
produced by 20th Century Fox and slated to be released on
October 26, was the most difficult "ever" for actor Brad Pitt,
he said at the Venice Film Festival Thursday.
Pitt met with journalists at the festival, where the film is
in competition, and discussed the work and the themes it deals
with
"This has been the most challenging film I've ever worked
on," he said. "It was a constant effort just to try to maintain
this balance, and try to keep this story unfolding in a very
subtle, delicate way."
And the film is also one in which Pitt had to show fragility
that was far from the masculine models he has often played but
which he may have discovered inside himself after his break-up
with actress Angelina Jolie.
In the film that looks to such classics as Joseph Conrad's
'Heart of Darkness' and Herman Melville's 'Moby Dick' for
inspiration, Pitt must show the fragility of a man apparently
without feelings who eventually opens up and starts showing his
feelings.
In 'Ad Astra', the actor plays the part of astronaut Roy
McBride, who takes off on a mission to the edges of the solar
system to find his missing father - played by Tommy Lee Jones -
who abandoned him as a child: a father under the sway of an
obsession linked to the mystery of life and which can threaten
the future of humanity.
Pitt said that he and director James Gray had spoken for
years about doing something similar to this film and that "what
we were really digging at, without labeling it so much, was this
definition of masculinity".
He added that, "having grown up in an era where we were
taught to be strong, not show weakness, don't be disrespected,
and so on and so forth, there's certain value in that as far as
entering into the world and holding your own, but there's also a
barrier that's created with this kind of embracing of the self,
because you're denying, to a sense, those pains or the things
[that make] you feel shame, whether real or imagined, the
regrets in one's life. Looking back, we were asking the
question: Does actually being more open provide you with a
better relationship with your loved ones, with your parents,
with your kids, and with yourself?"
Pitt added that he and Gary had discussed the meaning of
vulnerability a great deal in working on the film - since it
reveals around a man who has become vulnerable, aware of the
fact that being unfeeling towards the world is no longer
feasible - and that they had concluded that strength comes from
vulnerability.
Pitt was asked where he - a muscular man known for being a
'sex symbol' - found inspiration to play such an introverted
character, he responded that everyone has wounds from their
childhood and that if actors are sincere, then viewers will
realise that.
When asked how he manages to be in such good shape at age 56,
he answered that he lifts weights at the weekend and engages in
exercise four times a week, noting that he needed to be in good
shape to play the role assigned to him in 'Ad Astra'.
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