Turns Out Brad Pitt’s Role In Sandra Bullock’s Lost City Isn’t Just A Cameo

Brad Pitt, Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum running away from an explosion in The Lost City trailer
(Image credit: Paramount Pictures)

Having Brad Pitt and Sandra Bullock starring together in a comedy is a big deal. But the Pitt cameo didn’t just happen by circumstance. It was a trade-off of sorts as the two-time Oscar winner decided to pop up in The Lost City as a favor to Bullock, who appears in his upcoming thriller Bullet Train. While his role was originally touted as a cameo, viewers might get more Pitt than they expected in the romantic action-comedy.

Trading cameos seemed to work for both Oscar winners as fans' responses to The Lost City and Bullet Train trailers, respectively. But The Lost City directing duo Aaron and Adam Nee may have let it slip about how big Brad Pitt’s role in the action-comedy. Adam Nee revealed to Total Film (via Games Radar) how much the two-time Oscar winner is in the comedy.

Brad Pitt’s name came up early for this. But the role isn’t a cameo, he’s in a good chunk of the movie. We were like, 'We’re never going to get Brad Pitt to do this. And then Sandy did Bullet Train [with Pitt], she was pitching him the role and she and Brad share a hairdresser, Janine [Thompson]. Janine was saying to Brad, ‘How would you do your hair if you played this part? What would you do about this?’ It felt like she just started getting him excited about it. And it then suddenly became real – and we were sitting on a Zoom, and talking to him about the movie. Before we knew it, he was in the jungle.

It's amazing how sharing a hairdresser convinced Pitt to star in a film. Something Sandra Bullock used to her advantage in landing his previously announced cameo. But getting Brad Pitt to play not just a small cameo but a significant supporting role in the action-comedy is a major cue for any film. So, Pitt’s gun-ho adventurer will be competing with Bullock and Channing Tatum for screen time. It seemed like the Bullet Train star was just as excited to be in The Lost City as the Nee brothers were to have the A-lister in their film. So, it’s a lesson for any filmmaker wanting Pitt in their project – go through his hairdresser.

Getting the Once Upon a Time in Hollywood star was just a big deal for the Nee brothers as it was for leading man Channing Tatum. Tatum got starstruck sharing the jungle with Pitt. The Dog star even admitted to paying homage to Brad Pitt by having wigs created based on Pitt’s hair from Legends of the Fall. He wanted long, flowing hair like the two-time Oscar winner’s character to get into the headspace of a romantic book cover model.

Viewers won’t have to wait much longer to see the Bullet Train star as The Lost City arrives in theaters on Mar. 25. The romantic action-comedy is just one of the exciting new movie releases dropping this Spring. Fans will see Brad Pitt tap into his inner assassin when Bullet Train drops in theaters on July 15.

Adreon Patterson
News Writer

A boy from Greenwood, South Carolina. CinemaBlend Contributor. An animation enthusiast (anime, US and international films, television). Freelance writer, designer and artist. Lover of music (US and international).