Varanasi is absolutely staggering: Brad Pitt

While he’s been in the news more for the speculation surrounding his marriage to partner, actor Angelina Jolie,  Hollywood heartthrob Brad Pitt will be seen in the upcoming film Killing Them Softly — an adaptation of George V Higgins’ novel Cogan’s Trade, with the action moved from the 1970s to the 2008 financial crisis. The actor, who’s no stranger to India, however took time out to recount experiences he’s had here.  The excerpts:

How do you look back at your visit to India?
On my last visit, I got to see a lot of India.  There is no place like it. And it’s so diverse — both the South and the North, that one cannot get to see all of it in a couple of weeks. But I found Varanasi absolutely staggering. I have never seen anything like it before. The city just spills into the river Ganges. It’s a holy place where people go to die. It’s really, really extraordinary!

Would you ever work in a film from Bollywood?
I’m not too familiar with Indian music or Bollywood. I got an opportunity to explore a bit of India when Angie (Jolie) and I came down for the shooting of her film A Mighty Heart. That’s when we got close to Bollywood actor Irrfan Khan, who was also in the film. I’m open to working in India if a good script comes along, why not?

You play Jackie Cogan in your next film. tell us a little about it... 
It was fun getting that dominant element in terms of my body language. There is a scene where I tell Frankie (Scott McNairy) how victims “get touchy-feely. Emotional, not fun, lot of fuss. They cry, they plead, they beg, they piss themselves, they call for their mothers. It’s embarrassing. I like to kill them softly, from a distance, not close enough for feelings — don’t like feelings, don’t want to think about ‘em.” That, I think, sums up Cogan.

Is it true that in your personal life, you don’t feel ‘safe without the gun’?
America is a country founded on guns. It’s in our DNA. It’s very strange, but I feel better having a gun. I really do. I’m very protective about my family and that is what motivated me to keep the gun. I have learnt to use the gun in a better way after working on Killing Them Softly.

Now that Vivienne is making her movie debut in Angelina’s movie, Would you want your other kids to follow suit?
Yes it’s true, Vivienne will play the child version of Princess Aurora opposite her mother in Maleficent. She has a small role in the project which is a re-telling of Sleeping Beauty from the point of view of her horned, evil opponent. I think it would be a fun experience for Angie and Viv to share screen space, and Viv is a natural (laughs). The other kids are now nagging Angie and me to land them roles.

If they so desire, then who’s  to stop them, not me for sure.