Brad Pitt stopped a fight between co-star Scott Eastwood and Shia LaBeouf on the set of the movie Fury. David Ayer’s raw, violent war movie was released in October 2014 to critical and commercial acclaim, grossing over $211 million globally and holding a Rotten Tomatoes approval rating of 76%. Fury features an all-star cast, including Brad Pitt, Shia LaBeouf, Scott Eastwood, Logan Lerman, and Jason Isaacs. The movie follows United States tank crews fighting in Germany at the end of World War II, and the film has been noted for its authentic portrayal of wartime conditions and tensions.
Pitt and LaBeouf were cast in April 2013, in the roles of ‘Wardaddy’ and ‘Bible’ respectively, while Eastwood signed on in August, playing the character of Sergeant Miles. Shooting took place predominantly in the UK, while boot camps were run for four months before filming by real-life Navy SEALs to ensure the actors were properly prepared. Indeed, Training Day writer Ayer sought to make the movie as authentic as possible, and this extended to the behavior he encouraged among the cast, including pushing them to physically spar, insult one another, and live together in the tanks for prolonged periods.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the conditions led to a few on-set tensions, and one of the most well-known was an altercation between LaBeouf and Eastwood, which almost ended in a fight until Pitt stepped in. In an interview from Insider, Overdrive actor Eastwood discussed a scene in the movie where his character is chewing tobacco and spits on the tank. Not realizing it was a scripted part of the movie, LaBeouf took exception, leading to a tension, before Pitt had to intervene. Read Eastwood’s comments in full below:
“[LaBeouf] got mad at me and it turned into a volatile moment that Brad Pitt ultimately got in the middle of. I never think your process as an actor should ever hinder how people are treated on set. It should always enhance the production, not take away and put people in a situation where it’s a shitty work environment or you’re rude or people have to be in an uncomfortable situation.”
Movie sets can often be chaotic and stressful, with conditions and schedules often grueling for the talent, and it is easy to see why tensions might have spilled over. War movies deal with harrowing subject matter already, and production can take a mental toll on the actors, so frictions between co-stars are not altogether uncommon. Eastwood’s comments suggest there was no shortage of friction on the set of Fury, and undoubtedly Ayer’s approach to filming played a role in this.
It should be noted that the movie was a success and was largely well-received, which would suggest that Ayer’s unorthodox approach was warranted. Whether or not tension still remains between Eastwood and LaBeouf remains to be seen, but they have not worked together since, and Eastwood’s comments would suggest he did not approve of LaBeouf’s on-set behavior. The Peanut Butter Falcon actor LaBeouf has not spoken about the altercation, and, with LaBeouf’s schedule, it seems unlikely he will address it any time soon. The overall experience must have been a positive one, as, following the success of Fury, all three actors went on to appear in subsequent war movies, Pitt starring in War Machine and Allied, Eastwood in The Outpost, and LaBeouf in Man Down.
