Brad Pitt Speaks On ‘The Counselor’ – Praises Ridley Scott, Cormac McCarthy & Michael Fassbender

While in Cannes for the world premiere of Andrew Dominik’s crime thriller ‘Killing Me Softly,’ Brad Pitt spoke to Empire about a film he has in the pipeline, Ridley Scott’s ‘The Counselor.’ The screenplay for ‘The Counselor’ comes from one of my favourite authors, Cormac McCarthy, whose critically acclaimed books have been adapted into ‘No Country for Old Men, ‘The Road,’ and ‘All The Pretty Horses.’ ‘The Councelor’ is the Pulitzer Prize-winning authors first screenplay. Alongside Brad Pitt, the film stars Michael Fassbender, Cameron Diaz, Jeremy Renner and Javier Bardem. Speaking about the ‘The Counselor’ and the people involved, Pitt said the following: “I’m only doing a few days on that. Andrew and I are both Cormac McCarthy fans — I mean, I’ve read every word the guy’s published and most of them more than once. So this was a chance to do something of his and also to work with Ridley again. Ridley gave me my first break into the big leagues [with 1991’s Thelma & Louise]. And I’m a Fassbender fanatic too.”

While details are sparse, ‘The Counselor’ is said to follow a lawyer, simply named The Counselor (Michael Fassbender), who gets embroiled in the drug trade, and ends up fighting for his life. Pitt is playing Westray, who helps Fassbender’s lawyer get hold of a $20 million stash of cocaine. Bardem is taking the part of Reiner, a criminal who brings The Counselor into the drugs trade. Diaz has supposedly taken the role of Malkina. Insiders are describing the film as “No Country For Old Men on steroids.” Producer Steve Schwartz has said the following about the ‘The Counselor’: “Since McCarthy himself wrote the script, we get his own muscular prose directly, with its sexual obsessions. It’s a masculine world into which, unusually, two women intrude to play leading roles. McCarthy’s wit and humor in the dialogue make the nightmare even scarier. This may be one of McCarthy’s most disturbing and powerful works.” Ridley Scott starts shooting the film in June.