Brad Pitt is renowned for his acting prowess, and it’s hard to miss his penchant for snacking on-screen. In many of his films, Pitt is often seen munching away, whether it’s on a turkey leg in “Troy” or a bowl of mac and cheese accompanied by a Bloody Mary in Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood.”
These are just a couple of examples, but across his career, Pitt has been seen eating in more than 60 films, with his snacking in “Ocean’s Eleven” being particularly memorable. In that movie, he seemed to snack throughout the entire film.
Though this might appear to be an unusual technique, Pitt has a rationale behind it, though it’s not necessarily a strategy every actor should adopt for a full-length film. A whole cast engaged in eating would resemble more of a cooking program than a movie.
Pitt has previously addressed this habit during an interview with JOE as he promoted “Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood” alongside Margot Robbie. Robbie brought up Pitt’s on-screen eating habits after noting a 15-minute compilation of him eating in films.
Robbie observed, “I have noticed you eat food a lot in movies,” to which Pitt replied, “I like to busy myself, I’m a grazer by nature, so…”
Robbie added, “I know, I like that too, when you get to do something. In Ocean’s Eleven, do you talk about it, or do you just always have food handy?”
It seems they did “just have it,” but there was some reasoning, particularly in “Ocean’s Eleven.”
Pitt elaborated, “Well, there was actually method to that, because he was always on the run, always on the move, I figured he could never sit down and have a proper meal. So he always had to grab something on the run.”
This approach makes sense, and while director Steven Soderbergh might not have planned it, it certainly paid off.
Furthermore, if you examine the food he’s consumed on screen, such as the turkey leg in “Troy,” you’ll find he’s eaten that same dish in five different films throughout his career.
The other instances are in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “True Romance,” “Legends of the Fall,” and “Cool World.”
Fans have taken note, with one person commenting, “I was just rewatching Moneyball and this stood out to me in the movie too! He’s always snacking on something.”
Another added, “I used to work in Hollywood and the thing about eating during scenes is that it’s literally just something to do.”
Meanwhile, a third remarked that it’s “his thing.”
Everyone has their unique quirks, after all.