Brad Pitt Almost Ended His Career Early With A Gutsy Move In His First Movie

It's always strange to think of screen legends starting out with bit parts and background roles. True movie stars have a certain aura that makes it seem as if they just sort of appeared one day, leading big features and exuding charisma. Of course, everybody has to start somewhere, even the icons of cinema. Prior to "Rocky," for example, Sylvester Stallone's career was mostly characterized by roles that he termed "atmosphere." In a 1977 BBC interview, he explained these sorts of parts as "the drunk that was being stepped over in the gutter" — though he did make an uncredited appearance in one of the greatest war movies ever, which might have been atmosphere but was surely a great experience for the young actor. Stallone was, of course, far from the first major star to have started out as "atmosphere." John Wayne had a string of non-speaking roles in a number of films in the late 1920s even before his early B-movie Western days. If an monolithic figure like Wayne can start as a prop boy and extra, then anyone can, and it was no different for modern day mega-star Brad Pitt.

The "F1" star began his acting career back in the late 1980s after moving to Los Angeles and taking acting classes. In 1987 he had uncredited parts in three films: Roger Donaldson's neo-noir "No Way Out," the adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' novel "Less than Zero," and Peter Werner's crime drama "No Man's Land," in which Pitt played a waiter in an uncredited role that merely required him to be "atmosphere." While shooting his brief scene in "No Man's Land," however, he almost ensured his acting career was over before it had a chance to flourish, with a gutsy move that went beyond what the director required.

"No Man's Land" starred D. B. Sweeney as undercover cop Benjy Taylor who's charged with inserting himself into an auto-theft operation. Soon, however, Taylor forms a bond with the leader of the illicit group, Ted Varrick (Charlie Sheen) before falling for Varrick's sister, Ann (Lara Harris). As he becomes more and more enmeshed in the criminal gang, Taylor begins to question his loyalties. The film didn't fare too well upon its 1987 debut, garnering lukewarm reviews and making just $2.8 million at the box office on an $8 million budget — though Roger Ebert called it "better and deeper than you might expect." More importantly for Brad Pitt, whose "F1" just dominated the box office, "No Man's Land" gave him a half-decent non-speaking role that at least had him interacting with the main cast, even if he had no lines. But the aspiring young actor wasn't going to let a lack of written dialogue stop him from saying something while on-camera, which almost cost him the part altogether.

While on his "F1" press tour, Pitt stopped by the "Armchair Expert" podcast (via Entertainment Weekly) and chatted to hosts Dax Shepard and Monica Padman about his early career, including his role as a waiter in "No Man's Land." As the actor recalled, "It's a restaurant scene. The main characters are Charlie Sheen and D.B. Sweeney, and a bunch of other actors that I wasn't necessarily aware of. I am the waiter. I'm supposed to bring up champagne and pour champagne. They show me how to do it. You gotta pour. You spin. You wipe the thing." But Pitt found himself facing a problem. As the actor explained, at the time he wanted to get his Screen Actors Guild card, but in order to do so he needed to have a speaking part on his résumé. To get such a part, however, he needed a SAG card. "It's this catch-22," he said. That tricky conundrum was what led him to make a bold move during filming, much to director Peter Werner's chagrin.

"No Man's Land" might not be one of

Brad Pitt's greatest movies

, but it is noteworthy simply for almost being Pitt's first speaking part. in the scene featuring a young Pitt, the actor can be seen briefly tending to a table that seats D. B. Sweeney's Benjy Taylor, Charlie Sheen's Ted Varrick, and their crew. He's only on-screen for less than 10 seconds, and sports one of the most impressive mullets in the history of cinema. He mimes taking some orders, then disappears, but the actor took it upon himself to embellish this small part, adding his own lines without telling anyone on-set about his plans.

In his "Armchair Expert" interview, Pitt recalled the moment. "Like a jackass, they're doing the scene. I get to the last actor — and she seemed lower on the totem pole? Maybe? And, literally, the scene is going on, I pour her champagne and I go, 'Would you like anything else?' It was 'CUT! CUT! CUT!'" The actor then remembered the first Assistant Director running over and saying "You do that again, you're out of here!," with Pitt adding, "It was just shame for the rest of the night." Still, you can't fault the guy for trying, or as he put it, "Took a shot!" 

The scene in question features a band playing throughout, so even if Pitt did have some lines, they wouldn't have been all that audible, and he's miming speech throughout his appearance. Either way, he didn't have to wait long for that SAG card, as the same year "No Man's Land" debuted the actor secured speaking roles in several TV series including "Dallas," and "Growing Pains."