Brad Pitt has called the experience of shooting Interview with the Vampire “miserable.”

The 1994 film “Interview,” based on Rice’s bestselling book, also featured the actor with Tom Cruise. It was filmed before vampires were cool, and before Louisiana’s tax breaks made filming in New Orleans easy. The big-budget, big-name production from Warner Bros. brought a certain amount of Hollywood excitement to town that many locals still remember fondly, even though director Neil Jordan’s movie doesn’t exactly hold up 18 years later because it comes off as a laughably overwrought and frustratingly paced blend of homoeroticism and bloodlust.

The author was not overjoyed when producer David Geffen and director Neil Jordan chose Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt.

When Tom Cruise was cast as the principal character of Lestat, author Ann Rice told Movieline in 1994, “The casting is so odd, it’s nearly difficult to think how it’s going to work.”

Pitt was cast in the lead role of Louis, but Rice believed the performers would be more effective in a different position.

“I think Brad Pitt would be a fabulous Lestat,” the author said. “I tried for a long time to tell them that they should just reverse these roles – have Brad Pitt play Lestat and have Tom Cruise play Louis. Of course, they don’t listen to me.”

Interview is still one of the most cherished vampire films, with new admirers falling in love with its exquisitely tragic story every single day. But it seems that not everyone is as enamored with this movie as some of us are, including Brad Pitt, the outstanding performer who portrayed Louis of Pointe du Lac.

Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt in ‘Interview with the Vampire’ | Francois Duhamel/Sygma via Getty Images

The 1994 fantasy drama’s physical demands demoralized the Tree of Life actor, who further dismissed his famous role as a “bitch role.”

“I am miserable [in the film],” he said to Entertainment Weekly. “Six months in the f**king dark. Contact lenses, make-up, I’m playing the bitch role.”

Pitt said he was depressed by the colorless role and the wearisome London shoot: “One day, it broke me… I called David Geffen, who was a producer… I said, ‘David, I can’t do this anymore. I can’t do it. How much will it take to get me out?’ And he goes, very calmly, ‘Forty million dollars.’”

The actor eventually became tired of the sad setting, recalling the dull shoot that was taking place in London at the time.

“We’re shooting in Pinewood (Studios), which is an old institution There’s no windows in there,” he said. “You leave for work in the dark – you go into this cauldron, this mausoleum – and then you come out and it’s dark.”

“I’m telling you, one day it broke me. It was like, ‘Life’s too short for this quality of life.’ I called David Geffen, who was a good friend. He was a producer, and he’d just come to visit. I said, ‘David, I can’t do this anymore. I can’t do it. What will it cost me to get out?’ And he goes, very calmly, ‘Forty million dollars.’ And I go, ‘OK, thank you.’ It actually took the anxiety off of me. I was like, ‘I’ve got to man up and ride this through, and that’s what I’m going to do.'”

The script, which Rice herself wrote in her first attempt at producing a screenplay, was another significant issue. Two weeks before the commencement of filming, Pitt had not seen it. When he did get a copy, he discovered that everything that made Rice’s novel intriguing about his persona — Louis de Pointe du Lac, the Louisiana vampire who recounts his violent tale in the movie’s title interview — was missing.

Pitt obviously made the choice to remain. Interview With The Vampire went on to become a box office success despite his terrible memories of the incident.

Brad has previously spoken about how boring the part was, but this is the first time I’ve heard him discuss it in such frank depth. I can absolutely see why he would feel this way since, according to what I’ve read in the past, he is the kind of actor that immerses himself in his character to the fullest extent possible. With that in mind, I can imagine him going to a pretty dark place when portraying Louis. He had a significant hand in the fact that Interview is still one of my all-time favorite movies, despite his dislike of the character. The film was made incredible by Brad Pitt’s outstanding performance, which perfectly embodied Louis. Even though he had a terrible time making the film, I hope Brad is aware of how fantastic it is.

Pitt also suggested that he and longtime love Angelina Jolie might work together again despite their self-imposed ban on doing so following 2005’s Mr. & Mrs. Smith.

“That’s what we should be doing,” he stated. “We should be doing everything together, and then we could work less. We could have more time off.”