vh1.com : person: brad pitt : movie feature | Mon. 12 06. 2004 12:00 AM EST
Yep, they're all back. Clooney, Pitt, Damon, Cheadle, Roberts, Reiner,
LET'S DO IT AGAIN George Clooney: We were in Rome sitting in a restaurant and Steven [Soderbergh], who had never been to Italy before, looked up and said, "I've got an idea for a sequel." The problem with sequels is that it's usually a rehash of the film before it. Steven said, "Let's mix up what just happened in the first one and really throw these guys off." Matt Damon: This time I didn't actually read the script. George Clooney: Yeah, that's not important to us. Matt Damon: If you approach it that way, then you're always going to be surprised really. George Clooney: I did that with Batman and Robin too, and that worked out. EWOKS George Clooney: Is this our Empire Strikes Back? We had it all together in the first one and you were never really in doubt that we were going to pull it off. Then suddenly we get thrown by this next one, and we're bumbling idiots. Matt Damon: It's not like the third George Clooney: That's actually in Ocean's Thirteen. We'll have to rewrite that. Will there be an Ocean's Thirteen? We came up with our own theory which was the musical Ocean's Five, Six, Seven, Eight. CAMERADERIE Brad Pitt: First of all, there's a very low level of maturity amongst all the guys there. So we bond very quickly because of it. Then we've got the beautiful women to make us look a little better. George Clooney: In Eleven, the caper wasn't the most important part. It was the camaraderie. Until Get Shorty, filmmakers failed at making Elmore Leonard films because they were focusing on the capers. Then all of a sudden you see it done well, like in Get Shorty or Out of Sight, and you go, "Oh! Focus on the characters." Don Cheadle: The first day we came back to work in Chicago, we just stood around for two hours talking. Then after a couple of hours we were like, "Are we going to work today?" George Clooney: I got along with Zeta-Jones, and I guess I like Carl [Reiner] because he's older. Don Cheadle: Because he can't fight back? George Clooney: There was actually no camaraderie at all on the set of this one. Brad set the tone and he's such a movie star, it was very hard. No, they're fun people except for Julia. We don't like her or her twins. THE NEW GIRL Catherine Zeta-Jones: I met Steven Soderbergh on Traffic. I knew that Ocean's Twelve was going to be starting up soon, and I got a call from [producer] Jerry [Weintraub] and Steven and they wanted to meet about a script. I assumed that it was Ocean's Twelve. I liked my character. I liked the arc. So here I am. Jerry Weintraub: Brad was guaranteed in this film to get the girl because George got the girl in the first film. Brad Pitt: Apparently there was some ambiguity about [my character] Rusty's sexuality in the first one and we really wanted to clear that up in this one. Jerry Weintraub: She came on the set the first day and she was the new lady in town. She was a little worried about walking into this-- Brad Pitt: Den of lions. Jerry Weintraub: It was our first day of shooting. Brad had just come back from Troy and was still in a dress. Catherine had lost a lot of weight after having the baby and she looked to die for. She was absolutely gorgeous. She had the high heels on and tight jeans, those low-cut things-- Catherine Zeta-Jones: I think they get it Jerry. Jerry Weintraub: Anyway, all the guys were around Catherine within 60 seconds ... everyone! She was the center of attention - as she should be -- and she fit right into the group. George Clooney: It might be intimidating to come onboard with a group of people that's already done one of these, and Catherine jumped in with both feet and had a blast. Or that's what she said. Brad Pitt: The great thing about Catherine is that there is this great beauty and elegance, but at the same time she'll drink anyone under the table. Catherine Zeta-Jones: Don't be fooled. BUMPER STICKERS George Clooney: When we first got to Italy, Brad had a memo put out to all the Italian crew that "Mr. Clooney would appreciate it if you only engaged him as Danny Ocean or Mr. Ocean" and "Don't look at him in the eyes." So for about a month everywhere I went, they were like, "Okay, Mr. Ocean," until I finally said, "What the hell is going on?" It got in the paper that I was like this diva. Brad Pitt: Listen, I know he's calling it a memo. That's his story now because it did make the paper about his prima donna type behavior. It became a problem on this movie. He can paint it however he wants to paint it, but it was a problem. George Clooney: So I just put two bumper stickers on the back of his car that said, "I'm gay and I vote." It was a political year. Then it was "Small penis onboard," and that ran for a few days too. Matt Damon: That was right on the side door too. So as he drove home through L.A. rush hour traffic people were honking at him and waving; and he thinks it's because he's Brad Pitt, so he's waving back. Brad Pitt: The biggest joke was on Catherine because she actually thought that we were making a movie. REGRETS George Clooney: I have a lot of regrets about [the cast] staying in my house [in Italy], although Matt is very clean, I will say that. He cleans up his room. We had a great time. We took a boat to work a lot. Matt Damon: I didn't work at all. George Clooney: [to Cheadle] You didn't work either, did you? Don Cheadle: No. George Clooney: Yeah, there are quite a few regrets actually. LIFE BEGINS AT 50 George Clooney: I was in Italy last year and some younger girl said to me, "Hey, Georgio! How old are you?" Stupidly enough I asked a question that you should never ask: "Well, how old do you think I am?" She said, "Fifty." I said, "You think that I'm 50 years old!" She said, "Fifty-one?" Steven thought that it'd be funny to put in the film. Don Cheadle: That should come under "regrets." George Clooney: I file that under "Ewok." THE SEXIEST MAN ALIVE George Clooney: Brad Pitt's been a little bit upset because of the Jude Law/People Magazine "Sexiest Man Alive" thing. It hurt him. Matt Damon: I'm friends with Jude because we did The Talented Mr. Ripley together and I'm a little worried for him, because Brad is really angry. Brad Pitt: Matt was most shaken by it because he campaigned hard, but if he sticks with it and keeps applying himself like he has been, we'll see some greatness from him next year. George and I started a class for former Sexiest Men. We're working with the young ones. Jude was just at the top of his class immediately. He had great flair and it was obvious to us that he was a natural. George Clooney: But by the way, being on the list means that in the event that Jude can't serve [Matt] could actually be bumped up. Matt Damon: I'm hoping that it's kind of my Eve [Harrington in All About Eve] moment. We're hoping to get George the "Fifty and over Sexiest Man Alive." COOL Matt Damon: The director makes it cool. Don Cheadle: Steven [Soderbergh] set the tone. You could've really been safe and tried to do the same thing again -- but this film was a complete departure. George Clooney: You look at the first one and it wasn't as grand as people remember it. There's still a lot of handheld camera. Steven always tries to bring the things that he learned from independent films and foreign films back into studio pictures. This is a little grittier, but it's still high-end entertainment. We're not disemboweling anyone. Well, there are a couple of people that we did. Matt Damon: I think that we're just older and we look less glamorous. And by "we," you know who I'm talking about. George Clooney: Thank you. |
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