Brad Pitt says Troy made him rethink his career

Brad Pitt started out his career as a heartthrob. Appearing in movies like LEGENDS OF THE FALL, A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT, THELMA AND LOUISE, and INTERVIEW WITH A VAMPIRE, his poster was plastered to teenage girls' bedroom walls worldwide. Things began to change in the mid-nineties when hits like FIGHT CLUB, SEVEN, and 12 MONKEYS showcased the actor's talent and demonstrated he was more than just a pretty face. However, despite the critical acclaim Pitt received for those films, one movie from the 2000s changed his whole career perspective.

Wolfgang Petersen's 2004 film TROY was a big, bold, grandiose blockbuster that brought Homer's Iliad to the big screen. The $185 million movie was a celluloid marvel chock full of big moviestars, sword and sandal action, and beautiful women. Pitt played the lead role as the legendary warrior Achilles. While the movie was a moderate hit at the box office, critics were nonplused by the ancient Greek tale. The movie also made Pitt take a long hard look at his movie career according to a recent interview:

"I had to do 'Troy' because – I guess I can say all this now – I pulled out of another movie and then had to do something for the studio. So I was put in 'Troy'. It wasn't painful, but I realized that the way the movie was being told was not how I wanted it to be. I made my own mistakes in it. What am I trying to say about 'Troy'? I could not get out of the middle of the frame. It was driving me crazy. Every shot was like, here's the hero! There was no mystery. So about that time I made a decision that I was only going to invest in quality stories, for lack of a better term. It was a distinct shift that led to the next decade of films."

Sometimes self-reflection can result in monumental change. Now whether or not Pitt's involvement with TROY was the main reason why he shifted his career focus, you can't deny the quality of films that came after Petersen's film. BABEL, THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD, THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON, and INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS all came out within five years of TROY. All of these films were critically acclaimed and featured Pitt working with some of the best directors in the business including Quentin Tarantino, David Fincher, and Alejandro Gonzalez. That trend continues to this day as both 2019's ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD and AD ASTRA were two of the best reviewed and thought provoking films of the year.