David Leitch: “Brad Pitt could have been a great action hero”

The director of Bullet Train has known the star for years: before directing him, he was his stunt double on many films. Meet him.

Brad Pitt will be the star of TF1 in Bullet Traintonight, one of the last action movies of David Leitch (John Wick, Deadpool 2, The Fall Guy). Before becoming a director, the latter was a stuntman, then stunt coordinator, on several films starring this American actor, notably Fight Club, Troy And Mr. and Mrs. Smith. They know each other well, so who better than Leitch to tell us about their collaboration? Here are three questions from his interview in Première n°531 (July August 2022, with Natalie Portman on the cover).

Bullet Train: A Lot of Brad for Not Much [critique]

FIRST: Before becoming the director of John Wick, Atomic Blonde Or Deadpool 2you were a stuntman, notably for Brad Pitt, during the Fight Club / Mr. and Mrs. Smith…Has the idea of ​​directing him in a film ever crossed your mind?
DAVID LEITCH : In truth, I didn't even dare to think about it! When I was a stuntman and stunt coordinator, about twenty years ago, I already dreamed of becoming a director. But to imagine that I would direct films with Brad Pitt… When he came to make this micro-appearance in Deadpool 2 [Pitt joue un superhéros invisible dont on ne voit le visage qu’une seconde à peine]I realized that he knew my work, that he had followed my career closely over the years. It was very touching. That's when I started to think that I would like to find a project that would appeal to him. Then the script of Bullet Train arrived on my desk… I couldn’t imagine anyone else but Brad as the Beetle [le nom de son personnage, Ladybug en VO]. He was offered the film, he said yes, and he came with his ideas. He was able to exercise his talent in character development.

That's to say?
The starting point of Bullet Trainit's: seven assassins on a train. Suspense, comedy, and the challenge of imagining action scenes in a confined space. Originally, I imagined the character of Coccinelle as a fairly classic killer. What interested me was to bring the “physicality” Brad's approach to a form of action inherited from Buster Keaton and Jackie Chan. But he came up with a lot of proposals, starting with this idea of ​​a character who believes he is cursed, unlucky, who is in therapy and who only speaks with self-help formulas. He also imagined the character's look: the bob, the glasses… He wanted Ladybug to be a real outsider, to wear this slightly low-end outfit. It was brilliant, because it offered the possibility of a narrative arc for his character, not only emotionally but also physically. At the end of the film, we are dealing with a much cooler version of Ladybug than at the beginning.

Bullet Train is a fun, summer action movie… And we realize that in Brad Pitt's career, this kind of film can be counted on the fingers of one hand.
Brad could have been a great action herohe had all the qualities for it. As a choreographer, stunt coordinator or director, I don't mind working with actors who don't have, a priori, all the athletic qualities required. The most important thing is that they are very strong in drama! My job is then to guide them physically through the action. But Brad is one of those rare specimens of actors who are incredibly competent physically, in addition to everything else. He does almost all of his fights himself. As I said, he could have been a great action hero. He preferred to become… the most iconic actor of his generation, quite simply!

To read the full interview with David Leitch, go to in our online kiosk.

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