Brad Pitt once made a mistake that left Quentin Tarantino looking “insanely grave.”
LONDON, ENGLAND – JULY 30: (L-R) Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie and Leonardo DiCaprio attend the UK Premiere of Once Upon A Time…In Hollywood at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on July 30, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images for Sony)
The drama went down while they were shooting “Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood.”
According to Pitt’s 89-year-old costar Bruce Dern, here’s what happened.
Dern told PEOPLE, he delivered one of his signature improvised moments, what he calls a “Dernsie,” that caught Pitt off guard mid-scene.
“When Brad Pitt wakes me up in ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,’ I’m in the bed and I get up and I’m a little groggy,” Dern recalled. “I just say, ‘I’m not really sure what’s going on.'”
CANNES, FRANCE – MAY 20: Bruce Dern poses during the “Dernsie: The Amazing Life Of Bruce Dern” photocall at the 79th annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 20, 2026 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Hoda Davaine/Getty Images)
What happened next? Pitt supposedly cut the camera.
Big mistake.
“The look on Quentin’s face, I mean, he was insanely grave,” Dern said. “And he said, ‘Brad, what did you just do?'”
Pitt’s answer, “Well, I cut the camera,” did not go over well.
“He said, ‘Never again in your life will you ever cut a camera or you’ll be dead in this business,'” Dern recalled. “‘That’s my domain. Don’t stop behavior.'”
CANNES, FRANCE – MAY 21: Brad Pitt attends the screening of “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood” during the 72nd annual Cannes Film Festival on May 21, 2019 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images)
The pair redid the scene, but Pitt reportedly wasn’t exactly thrilled about Dern’s improvised additions to the script either.
“All Brad did was say to him, ‘Well, that wasn’t in the script what he said,'” Dern revealed.
The crew kept rolling anyway. And Dern? He improvised again.
His line in the scene: “I don’t know who you are, but you touched me today. You came to visit me, now I gotta go back to sleep.”
Classic Dernsie.
CANNES, FRANCE – MAY 19: Bruce Dern during an interview and portrait session for “Dernsie: The Amazing Life Of Bruce Dern” during the 79th annual Cannes Film Festival at the Carlton Hotel on May 19, 2026 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, Pitt is set to reprise his role as stuntman Cliff Booth in the Netflix spinoff “The Adventures of Cliff Booth,” with a two-week IMAX run kicking off November 25.
There’s just one twist: Tarantino wrote the script but won’t be directing.
That job goes to David Fincher.
CANNES, FRANCE – MAY 22: Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio and Quentin Tarantino attend the “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood” Press Conference during the 72nd annual Cannes Film Festival on May 22, 2019 in Cannes, France. (Photo by John Phillips/Getty Images)
Tarantino explained his decision on “The Church of Tarantino” podcast, saying the project felt too familiar.
“I love this script, but I’m still walking down the same ground I’ve already walked,” he said. “This last movie, I’ve got to not know what I’m doing again. I’ve got to be in uncharted territory.”
LONDON, ENGLAND – JULY 30: Brad Pitt attends the UK Premiere of Once Upon A Time…In Hollywood at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on July 30, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images for Sony)
But Tarantino made clear there’s no one better suited to take the reins.
“I think me and David Fincher are the two best directors,” Tarantino said. “So the idea that David Fincher actually wants to adapt my work, to me, shows a level of seriousness towards my work that I think needs to be taken into account.”
No ego there whatsoever.
HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA – JULY 22: (L-R) Brad Pitt, Quentin Tarantino and Leonardo DiCaprio arrive at the premiere of Sony Pictures’ “One Upon A Time…In Hollywood” at the Chinese Theatre on July 22, 2019 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
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