Scott Eastwood recalls Brad Pitt breaking up a’ volatile moment’ between him and Shia LaBeouf on Fury set

Making films can be a grueling experience, especially when one actor’s methods don’t match up with someone else’s on set. Scott Eastwood is recalling that very experience and breaking down a “volatile moment” he had with Fury co-star Shia LaBeouf on the set of David Ayer’s World War II film that had to be broken up by Brad Pitt.

During a chat with Insider to promote his romantic comedy I Want You Back, Eastwood revisited a scene where his character in Fury, Sergeant Miles, chews tobacco and spits on the war tank led by Brad Pitt’s Don Collier. Eastwood’s co-stars didn’t realize the moment was in the script which prompted LaBeouf to get upset. Here is what Eastwood had to say:

“[LaBeouf] got mad at me and it turned into a volatile moment that Brad Pitt ultimately got in the middle of. I never think your process as an actor should ever hinder how people are treated on set. It should always enhance the production, not take away and put people in a situation where it’s a shitty work environment or you’re rude or people have to be in an uncomfortable situation.”

Eastwood went on to say that storytelling should always have its parameters and he added, “You got to put things in perspective. This is make-believe, it’s fun, and at times it’s serious and you’re doing emotional world and you give people space to do that in, but everything has its parameters.”

Pitt previously addressed the moment back in his British GQ profile in 2014. Pitt called LaBeouf “one of the best actors I’ve ever seen” and noted that “he’s full-on commitment, man.” Pitt’s detailing of the story is a bit more elaborate:

“We were driving down the road, I’m in the turret, Shia is at the other turret, and Scott is on the back, spitting juice and I’m starting to get pissed off, I’m starting to get hot, because this is our home, he’s disrespecting our home, you know? So I said, in the scene with the cameras rolling, ‘You’re going to clean that shit up.Shia clocks it, and you have to understand, we’ve been through severe boot camp already, we’ve been through a lot in this tank. Shia saw it and felt the same — he’s disrespecting our home. So Shia had the same reaction I did, and started having some words.”

Pitt admitted that he had to get involved once things got out of hand and that it only dawned on him later that Eastwood had just been following instructions in the script. Pitt said, “The funny thing is, when we got home at the end of the day and read the script, it said Scotty’s character is ‘chewing tobacco and spitting it on the back of the tank. He was just doing as instructed in the script! So we were the knobs in the end.”

Fury portrays U.S. tank crews fighting in Germany during the final weeks of the European theater of World War II. Director David Ayer has said he was influenced by the service of veterans in his family and by reading books, such as Belton Y. Cooper’s “Death Traps”, about American armored units in World War II and the high casualty rates suffered by tank crews in Europe. In addition to Pitt, Eastwood, and LaBeouf, the film also stars Logan Lerman, Michael Pena, Jon Bernthal, and Jason Isaacs. Fury garnered mostly positive reviews, registering a 78% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and it went on to gross $211.8 million globally against a $68 million budget.

What are YOUR thoughts on the volatile moment between Scott Eastwood and Shia LaBeouf on the set of Fury?