Brad Pitt left far from ‘impressed’ with controversial Lewis Hamilton comment that prompted rewrite of F1 movie
BRAD PITT was left far from impressed with a comment from Lewis Hamilton which prompted a rewrite of the F1 movie.
Toto Wolff has lifted the lid on the exchange which happened at a dinner at his Oxford home with the movie’s director Joseph Kosinski, producer Jerry Bruckheimer, Pitt, Hamilton and Susie Wolff.
The Mercedes boss says the seven-time world champion, 40, said that Pitt, 61, was “much too old” to play a current F1 driver.
In the film, Pitt plays Sonny Hayes – a retired driver thrust back into the championship to help revive the struggling underdogs APXGP.
Hamilton’s comment led to Pitt’s character being modified to a more realistic role.
Wolff said: “So at the beginning, you know… I am lucky,
“I’m seeing lots of people who have a big media profile, but there was one dinner that we organised with Joe, who is the director, and Jerry Bruckheimer, Lewis, Brad Pitt, Susie and I.
“We had dinner at our place in Oxford, and suddenly the door opens and there’s Brad Pitt in the driveway and he says, ‘Thank you for having me for dinner.’ So that was a bit of a surreal experience.”
Wolff revealed that Pitt’s character had originally been placed centrally in the story with him fighting for a world championship – but Hamilton put a stop to it.
He added: “The initial concept was him being a driver and fighting for a world championship,
“And then Lewis said, ‘That’s not going to go, you’re much too old for a Formula 1 driver,’ and Brad was not impressed by it.
“He felt that he was in his prime to be a Formula 1 driver. How they adapted the script was fantastic because it was credible. His role was credible.”
The Mercedes team principal added that the film was a hit within the paddock.
He said: “We looked at, all of the F1 drivers and the team principals, we looked at it at the premiere in Monaco around the Grand Prix, and we liked it. There was nothing that was not to be liked.
“It’s good entertainment, and the revenue that the movie has been generating is phenomenal.”
Hamilton provided the directors and writers with all sorts of knowledge about what happens inside an F1 car, on the track and in the pit lanes.
The British driver hilariously gave two-time Academy Award winner Pitt the fright of his life during filming.
Director Kosinski said: “Lewis gave Brad the scare of a lifetime in a lap.
“Brad was clawing at the windows, begging to get out.”
