Despite being two of Hollywood’s most successful actors with seemingly lots in common, Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise have a long-running feud that goes back three decades.
The pair first butted heads when they worked together on the 1994 horror movie, Interview with the Vampire, with Brad, 60, describing Tom, 62, as "North Pole" while he was "South”.
And now, as Brad gets set to spend an extended time in London to film his new racing movie F1, in which he stars as a driver who returns to the world of Formula 1, it seems their rivalry has been reignited once again. Insiders claim that not only is Tom – who lives in the UK – unimpressed that Brad will be in the same country, he’s also annoyed that he’s working with Joseph Kosinski – the same director he hired for Top Gun: Maverick.
“There’s a reason they haven’t worked together in 30 years. They clashed so badly when they shot Interview with the Vampire, neither of them has ever been able to move past it,” a source tells Closer. “They play it down publicly, but it’s no secret they can’t stand each other.”
“Tom feels very territorial about the UK so that’s part of it – he’s the last person he wants in what he now sees as his personal kingdom. Tom takes a huge amount of pride in the fact that he’s totally immersed in British high society, he’s rubbing shoulders with royalty and back in the good books with the Beckhams.”
Our insider adds, “As far as he’s concerned, London is his home, so people like Brad, who just want to fly in and out to make a movie or take a quick vacation once in a while, are just not on his same wavelength. But it also really sticks in his craw that Brad’s now working with the same director that Tom hired.”
The movie, which is co-produced by Top Gun producer Jerry Bruckheimer as well as Formula 1 legend Lewis Hamilton, has been tipped to follow in the Top Gun sequel’s success. And there’s even speculation it could become Brad’s first billion-dollar film, which reportedly hasn’t gone down too well with Tom.
“There’s been all sorts of buzz about how Brad’s going to follow the success that Tom had with Top Gun and bring in a billion dollars when this movie finally hit theatres, and that has not gone over well with Tom. He feels like Brad’s purposely stepping on his toes and trying to show him up,” our source continues.
“Tom’s taking it as a challenge and letting everyone know he’s going to kick Brad’s butt at the box office. They have plenty of contacts in common so of course Brad is going to hear every word he might say about him and knowing him, he’ll have plenty to say back.”
Opening up about working on the set of Interview with the Vampire, Brad previously admitted that Tom “bugged” him. “There came a point during filming when I started really resenting him. He’s North Pole, I’m South,” he said. “He’s always coming at you with a handshake, whereas I may bump into you. There was this underlying competition that got in the way of any real conversation.”
But their rift didn’t end there. Years later, in 2009, the pair found themselves going head-to-head at the box office with their World War II dramas — Brad starred in Inglourious Basterds and Tom starred in Valkyrie. It was reported at the time that Brad, whose movie came out on top, blasted Valkyrie as “ridiculous”. However, Brad’s spokesperson later stated that his quote was “not accurate”.
Things appeared frosty again a year later when Angelina Jolie, who was married to Brad from 2014 to 2016, got the lead role in the movie Salt – which Tom had previously been in talks to do. “Well, Tom Cruise was never signed, but he was really thinking about it,” director Phillip Noyce confirmed. “We needed a start date, so we needed an actor. Amy Pascal, head of Sony Pictures, said, ‘Let’s send it to Angelina.'”
Since Brad and Angelina’s bitter split following their ten-year relationship, the actress, 49, has reportedly been romantically linked to Tom, which unsurprisingly, is said to have left Brad unhappy. One source previously revealed, “Over the past few years, they’ve had conversations about working together, it’s just about finding the right project. And lately, Ange has seemed more open to getting to know him socially, too.
“Tom raves about Ange’s intellect and what a strong, impressive woman she is. He loves that she’s never really conformed in Hollywood. Plus, they’re both such superstars, only a handful of people can truly understand the life they live. That in itself creates a bond.”
And it seems that Brad and Tom won’t be burying the hatchet any time soon. “The two of them couldn’t be more opposite. Brad’s attitude has always been that Tom needs to seriously relax and stop taking himself so seriously. It’s the same old argument they had way back in the day when they worked together, they’re really like oil and water,” our source says.
“Brad loves to swoop in and take a bow and show himself off as the King of Hollywood, it’s been that way for years, at least as far as Tom sees it, and he finds it very annoying. It’s that much worse because Tom’s convinced Brad’s trying to take a page out of his Top Gun handbook. Considering he’s working with so many of the same crew, right down to the director and producer, you can see why Tom’s convinced Brad’s a copycat. But of course, Brad would never admit it. He’s not going to kowtow to Tom or stroke his ego. And he’s certainly not going to do a thing to fix this feud. The two of them have been at odds for 30 years and probably will be another 30 more.”