(Credits: Alamy)

It’s hard to imagine him as anything but an established megastar these days, but there was a time when Brad Pitt was a young up-and-comer. After paying his dues on various TV shows and lower profile movies, the pin-up made himself a household name with his turn as a hitchhiker in Thelma & Louise. He followed this up with starring roles in A River Runs Through it and Interview with the Vampire, before landing his first Oscar nomination in Terry Gilliam’s 12 Monkeys. 

Pitt was a film fan’s dream when he burst onto the scene. Young, talented, and devilishly good-looking, he had the world at his feet. This naturally drew comparisons to other big names of the day, like Tom Cruise and George Clooney. He was also regularly compared to the late, great James Dean, but this isn’t something Pitt took too kindly to.

In an interview with Tiger Beat magazine in 1996, the year after 12 Monkeys and Seven came out, Pitt was asked about his apparent similarities to the star of Rebel Without a Cause. Most people would probably be grateful to be seen in the same league as a Hollywood icon, but not Pitt. He gave a very strong response – “I don’t know why you’d want to pattern your life after someone who’s not a survivor.” Yikes. 

For anybody who somehow doesn’t know, Dean died tragically young. A keen motor racer, he was travelling to an event when he was involved in a crash. He passed away at the age of just 24, with only three starring roles under his belt. Dean’s death has since become the ultimate symbol of the ‘live fast, die young’ attitude. He is the ultimate ‘What if?’ in Hollywood, as he had seemingly unlimited potential to become one of the biggest stars to have ever lived.

Pitt was older than Dean when he made his breakthrough, first gaining recognition in his last 20s. That being said, there were plenty of reasons why the two were mentioned in the same sentence. Both embodied the untamed spirit of youth, with their pretty faces and endless charisma. His character in Thelma & Louise, a brooding drifter, would have very much been in Dean’s wheelhouse. It also helps that the two really look like each other. 

In the same interview, Pitt outlined the sort of actor he did want to be compared to. “I know very few men to look up to,” he revealed. “That’s why I appreciate the older films, because they show a man standing up for his principles. Like [Robert] Redford. He portrayed the kind of man men wanted to be and the kind of man women wanted men to be.” In various separate conversations, he also admitted a fondness for Marlon Brando, Jack Nicholson, and Mickey Rourke, whom he praised for being the perfect mixture of ‘toughness and intimacy’. It’s clear that, at this age, Pitt favoured a more traditionally masculine idol, which might be why he was put off by Dean and his ‘pretty boy’ image. 

Pitt’s comments about him not being ‘a survivor’ come across as extremely callous. It’s one thing to distance yourself from somebody, but another thing entirely to be so flippant about their tragic death. Hopefully he has matured since this interview was conducted and would be a little more sympathetic if asked about this topic again.