Brad Pitt Says Violence In 'Killing Them Softly' Is 'Important'

Actor also tells reporters at Cannes Film Festival that he and Angelina Jolie have yet to set a wedding date.
By Kara Warner

Brad Pitt at the premiere of "Killing Them Softly" at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival
Photo: Anne-Christine Poujoulat/ Getty Images

When it comes to the comings and goings of Brad Pitt, nearly everything the A-list actor says or does makes international news. That's why, when Pitt participated in a press conference at the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday (May 22), he found himself faced with several questions not entirely related to his upcoming flick "Killing Them Softly."

And according New York magazine's Vulture, Pitt was more than happy to answer all of them.

He was asked about the heavy violence in "Killing Them Softly" and whether, as a dad, he had any reservations about playing a killer. In the gritty crime drama, he portrays a hitman who is hired by a crime boss (Ray Liotta) to find and kill a pair of overzealous upstarts who attempt to stake their claim by robbing a high-profile card game staged by Liotta's character. But according to Pitt, the role didn't disturb him at all.

"Not in any way, because murder is an accepted possibility when you're dealing in crime," he told reporters. "I would have a much harder time playing a racist or something along those lines. That would be much more unsettling for me than a guy who shoots another guy in the face." Pitt went on to say that the violence in the film is realistic in that it's not glorified for the sake of entertainment.

"We live in such a violent world. I certainly grew up hunting, which is a very violent act," he said when asked if the film was in any way influenced by the popularity of graphic video games that involve gangsters and hired killers. "Have you ever had a hamburger? Have you seen how they butcher cows? It's barbaric, it's horrendous, it's very violent. This is the world we live in, so I see it as absolutely important to film."

The Oscar-nominated actor even happily answered a quandary about whether or not his upcoming marriage to longtime love Angelina Jolie would affect his work schedule.

"We have no date. We actually really, truly have no date," he said. "It's something that makes sense to us ... and we're still hoping we figure out marriage equality in the States before then, before that date."

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