Director Praises Brad Pitt For Having A “Hands-On” Role In Netflix Hit Show ‘Adolescence’

Brad Pitt is anything but a lazy producer. According to the ‘Adolescence’ director Philip Barantini, the ‘Wolfs’ star was very much a big help throughout the making of the show.

Brad Pitt Shared His Ideas During the Making of ‘Adolescence’

Brad Pitt is the one executive producer you’d love to have onboard when you’re working on any project, at least according to the director of the breakout Netflix show, ‘Adolescence.’

Speaking of Pitt’s involvement on the ‘Rest is Entertainment’ podcast, he gushed, “When we were pitching to Plan B, they kept saying, ‘We’re just waiting for Brad’s schedule.’ I thought, ‘It can’t be that Brad.’ But sure enough, there he was on the Zoom — such a lovely human being and a remarkably hands-on producer.”

Speaking more clearly on the ways Pitt’s involvement helped move the show forward, he said, “He gave feedback, shared ideas, and was so engaged throughout the process. He couldn’t visit the shoot because of his F1 project, but having someone like Brad Pitt involved — and so invested — was incredible. And he’s, yeah, I mean, I’d love to work with him again.”

‘Adolescence’ Director On Finding the Right Star To Play Young Jamie Following An Extensive Search

Finding the perfect actor to embody a character onscreen in a way that makes fans go “wow” is not always easy, and after a careful search for teenage boy Jamie, the director was ready to try something new.

He said: “One of the first things I asked for was just an improvised moment of two scenarios. One of them was, ‘You’ve been brought into your head teacher’s office and you’re guilty of something.’ The other was, ‘You’re innocent of this thing.’ And I just wanted to see how they played it.”

“Owen [Cooper] was someone who just felt so real and so natural, and it’s quite rare to see that in an actor, especially in auditions. I think he just didn’t really have any preconceptions about what acting was. He’d done some acting classes, but he was doing it for fun, really.”

Despite being, as he said, “so real and so natural” in the role, the director still needed to know whether he got what he takes to become the character in the best way possible.

“We put him through his paces — he had five auditions, including a couple with Stephen [Graham] towards the end of the process. And every time he came in, he just absolutely nailed it. I’d give him more and more things to do, and each time, he smashed it.”

Smashing it is an understatement: Owen received so much love for the role he has already snatched another one where he gets to play a younger version of Jacob Elordi’s character in ‘Wuthering Heights.’

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