MovieChat Forums > Boardwalk Empire (2010) Discussion > Pitt & Buscemi may have butted heads

Pitt & Buscemi may have butted heads

posted 7 years ago by SaltandLimes (154)
13 replies | jump to latest

As many have heard, there are rumors that Michael Pitt was fired from Boardwalk Empire. There were rumors that he was always coming to work late, that he would often arrive high/drunk, he was getting into fights with his co-workers, and forgetting lines. But, I came across something very interesting that I haven't heard.

I heard that the producers of BE wanted to write him out of the show, because Jimmy Darmody was more popular than Steve Buscemi's Nucky Thompson. Since they knew most people preferred to watch Jimmy's storylines instead of Nucky's, Buscemi and the producers were not happy about this. Which is why they decided to write Pitt out to make the lead more interesting. I also heard that Pitt & Buscemi butted heads on set. Pitt supposedly called Buscemi a hack. Buscemi demanded that he should be fired, and the producers agreed.

If this rumor is true, I wonder if Winter & Buscemi's team might have hurt him, underhandedly? It might explain why all of a sudden stories of Pitt being difficult were "leaked from 4chan." And also how the story of his agency "firing" him made it to Deadline.

I think this is possible, because his career has been stunted since he left the show. It does seem that his reputation isn't great within the industry. I really hope he doesn't have powerful enemies.

[–] not_a_virus.exe (1267) 7 years ago

I didn't even know Pitt was blacklisted. I just figured he chose his roles carefully. If this is true then it's a damn shame as Boardwalk Empire really fell apart after Jimmy's death. Not that I liked Jimmy more than Nucky, but I just think the chemistry between them is what made the show so good. Like Heisenberg and Jesse Pinkman. It just felt so right. Too bad they shut that down so quickly. But if he really was a menace on set, then I don't really blame them. Its just unfortunate that's the way it happened.

[–] SaltandLimes (154) 7 years ago

Yeah, it was very unfortunate. Jimmy was my favorite character; Harrow was my 2nd. When he died, the show just wasn't the same without, IMHO. I didn't really care for Nucky. He wasn't my least favorite, but he was kinda meh. I'll also think Jimmy was originally suppose to be the Christopher/Jesse Pinkman of BE. Something had to have happened behind the scenes that made them change this.

As for Pitt being blacklisted, I think that's very possible. I've been following his career for quite some time. And to me it's very suspect that:

1. He wasn't even nominated for the 2011 Emmy for his sole performance as Jimmy Darmody.
2. It took him over a year to find something else after being let go - that part lasted a 5 minutes.
3. He has barely worked since then.

Surely a white male actor with his exposure, good looks, and talent would have all kinds of stuff in the works.

[–] captainbucky (15252) 7 years ago

I heard that too

[–] Stratego (30511) 7 years ago

I sincerely doubt Pitt was fired just because his character was supposedly more popular than Buscemi's. From the very start the focus was very much on Jimmy and he was intended to be the main character besides Nucky. Buscemi would have to be a moron to not understand that the character could build up a fanbase. If he was really such a diva (which I've never heard), he would've first asked to give Pitt less interesting storylines and less screentime instead of having him fired so quickly. And why was Harrow on the show for multiple seasons despite the enormous popularity of the character among the fans? Pitt, however, does have the reputation of being an addict who's difficult on set, so I think it's very likely that's the reason he was sacked. It's possible that the two actors butting heads contributed to this.

[–] SaltandLimes (154) 7 years ago

I don't know if Steve Buscemi is a diva. Though I have noticed a shady side to him. During the 2011 SAG awards, you could see him making fun of Paz de la Huerta behind her back. I know it's easy to make fun of Paz (she was a drunken mess during the acceptance speech), but that was still quite unprofessional. It just didn't sit well with me.

As far as Richard Harrow not being booted off, I guess it might be because the producers felt that they would lose even more audience if they cut him out. They focused more on Nucky in season 3. I thought Harrow was underused in seasons 3 & especially 4. Plus, Jack Huston is also Hollywood royalty. Who his family is might have been a contributing factor in him staying on there longer.

[–] Stratego (30511) 7 years ago

I don't remember Buscemi making fun of her, but she was the unprofessional one taking over the mic like that. We also don't know what her relationship was with the rest of the cast. Maybe she constantly annoyed the heck out of them.

Huston's role was actually extended from 3 episodes to 4 seasons because the character of Harrow was so popular. It seems contradictory to fire another actor in a main role for being too popular.

[–] SaltandLimes (154) 7 years ago

It looked like he was laughing at her along with everyone else here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WIaJON5kws

I know it's obvious she was on something, but that still doesn't mean they should have behaved that way.

As for Richard being there for 4 seasons, I know it was mainly because he's so popular. It's possible that Buscemi and Winter never experienced any problems with Huston. Therefore, SB wasn't pushing for JH to be written off so soon. But you do have to admit that Richard's role could have been a lot bigger in seasons 3 & 4. Personally, I felt his story was lost in the shuffle. I think they could've given him more screen time.

[–] Stratego (30511) 7 years ago

So all those folks are shady? Laughing is nothing, I would've been pissed.

There were more characters that were neglected. What about Van Alden? Seems rather like the writers weren't quite sure where to take the story sometimes.

There's no evidence whatsoever that Buscemi was in any way jealous of Pitt or anyone else. There are multiple stories about Pitt being a problem on set, so that seems a way more likely reason.

[–] [email protected] (2017) 4 months ago

On season 3 howevee, Bobby stole the entire season from everyone else, despite playing a deranged character. Until now, Jimmy, Gyp, and Harrow are my favorite BE characters,

[–] GrowingFamily (271) 7 years ago

If the rumors are true, that's a shame. I thought the character of Jimmy Darmody was very well written and acted. It did seem at the time to be a weird way to end that story arc. As everyone wrote above, Michael Pitt is a good actor and I've liked him in everything I've seen him in. I don't really see any gossip about him so I hate to hear that people don't like to cast him or work with him.

[–] ottoskorzeny83 (19) 2 years ago

dont know what to believe on this matter, probably rumours blown out of proportion though imn certain theres been a bit of beef. the jimmy character wasnt ever mentioned just shown in scenes in this doc from when it ended https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TtzY3aqVBA&t=1574s

[–] Annkat (342) 8 months ago

I didn't like the Jimmy Darmody character nor Pitt. But it was obvious that it was set up for the character to rise in the crime scene while Nucky was on his way to a fall. The series kind of lost its way after the flame out because there was no one to balance out Nucky and work against him. The ending of the series should have been Darmody holding the smoking gun.

[–] TandyMan (11098) 8 months ago

Actor only has one job. Show up on time and remember your lines. You can be as drunk and high and difficult as you wanna be so long as you don't delay production. All other issues aside including possible popularity and butting heads with the lead, that's the only thing that matters. If he couldn't get that done, that would for sure derail your career.