Brad Pitt‘s recent use of Serbian swear words in a new film has reminded many of his first major role in a former Yugoslav film, specifically on the Montenegrin coast.
Born in Oklahoma, the famous actor moved to Beverly Hills, California in 1987. After six years of studying acting, he landed his first leading role in 1988 in the film “The Dark Side of the Sun,” where he played a young American brought to the Adriatic by his family to recover from a skin disease. The film was shot in Kotor and its surroundings in the summer of 1988, but due to the breakup of Yugoslavia, it was only released in 1997.
He starred alongside Milena Dravić and Sonja Savić
“The Dark Side of the Sun” is a 1988 American-Yugoslav co-production directed by Božidar Bota Nikolić, with a screenplay by Andrew Horton and Željko Mijanović based on a story by Nikola Jovanović. The main roles in the film are played by Brad Pitt, Cheryl Polak, and Guy Boyd.
Brad plays Rick Clayton, a young man suffering from a rare skin disease who learns important life lessons on the Adriatic coast, and his mother is played by Milena Dravić. Gorica Popović and Sonja Savić also star in the film.
Director Nikolić chose Brad Pitt from 400 candidates for the lead role, and the actor was very happy with the choice, although, as it turned out later, he was only paid $1,523 for seven weeks of filming.
“We went to kafana every night”
“We went to kafana and bars every night and stayed until four in the morning. Girls were after him because he was simply always the center of attention. However, he preferred to drink wine with me and talk about films and philosophy rather than focus on girls,” screenwriter Željko Mijanović once told Blic.
His female co-stars remembered him similarly.
“GERMAN WOMEN WHO WERE VACATIONING IN MONTENEGRO CHASED HIM! I remember him as a nice, simple guy and a great professional who always arrived on time for filming. When he came to Budva, it seems to me he wasn’t quite sure where he had wandered off to,” Gorica Popović told Press many years ago.
She also said that the famous Hollywood actor only later relaxed and became sociable and that nothing indicated that he would become such a star.
“He jumped for joy when he got the role”
The film’s director, Božidar Bota Nikolić, said that he chose Pitt from 400 candidates at a casting in Metro Goldwyn Meyer. “When I told him he was chosen, Pitt ran to the park and started jumping for joy and doing somersaults,” Nikolić said.
After filming, Brad Pitt came to Belgrade in the early 1990s to visit the director who gave him his first major role.
“I took him to a match, I don’t remember exactly who Red Star was playing. He was thrilled to see 100,000 people at Marakana and cheered loudly for Red Star,” Bota claimed and added that Brad announced then that he would buy a house in Montenegro.
“I remember he loved Kotor and especially Perast and that he used every break from filming to visit those places. He said he would buy a house in Montenegro someday,” the director said.
A few years later, Pitt’s acting career took off – in 1994 he starred in the film “Interview with the Vampire,” followed by “Legends of the Fall” and “Seven.” After that, in 1997, he filmed “Seven Years in Tibet,” becoming one of the most popular Hollywood actors.
Source: Media; Photo: “The Dark Side of the Sun”