James Gunn keeps a 'long list' of actors he'll never work with

It seems Brad Pitt isn’t the only Hollywood star in possession of a ‘s**t list’ of actors he’d never work with. 

Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn revealed over the weekend that he’s also written up ‘a long list’ of actors he won’t work with, and plenty of them are A-listers.

Taking part in an impromptu fan Q&A on Saturday (27 August), Gunn was asked: “If you have an actor who isn’t working out for any number of reasons do you talk to them and give them a chance or two or do you quick trigger it and recast?”

Viktor Vytolsky/Alamy Stock Photo

Gunn offered up a lengthy reply, explaining that if it’s an issue with an actor’s ‘temperament’, he’ll immediately recast, however, if it’s ‘performance related’ - but they’re putting their all in - he’ll try his best to figure things out. 

Gunn explained across two tweets: “If it’s their temperament & it’s serious, I’ll immediately recast. Life’s too short for a**holes. 

“Same if they’re repeatedly very late, which I hate, or unprepared. I have a long list of actors, A-list & otherwise, I’ll never work with for these reasons…”

He went on: “But if it’s performance related, & they’re putting their all into it, I’ll do everything on my end to make it work until it’s absolutely clear the quality of the project will be perceivably harmed if we don’t recast. 

“This can happen with really talented actors who just don’t fit.”

Posing the question to Gunn, the social media user noted he’d been inspired to ask because of ‘something he recently read’, which was no doubt a reference to actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s recent comment that his Bullet Train co-star Brad Pitt has a ‘s**t list of actors he’d never work with’.

Taylor-Johnson made the remark during an interview with Variety, in which he shared some insight into Pitt’s ‘gracious and humble’ character.

 “He just wants to bring light and joy into the world and be around people who are there to have a good time," the actor said.

“You work with many actors and after a while, you start making notes, ‘I am definitely not working with this person ever again’. Brad has this list too: the good list and the s**t list.”

Pictorial Press Ltd/Alamy Stock Photo

Pitt’s approach to movie making has clearly paid off, as his and Taylor-Johnson’s latest flick was billed by many as one of the best films of the year.

Bullet Train follows Pitt in the character of Ladybug, an assassin desperate to have a peaceful job after one too many disasters.

The film is directed by David Leitch, who also brought us Deadpool 2, and sees Ladybug finding himself up against it when lethal adversaries from around the globe end up joining him on the train, all with connecting objectives.

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