Brad Pitt Advises Young Actors To Avoid Pressures To Tackle Superheroes Or “Have A Franchise”: “I Keep Saying, ‘Don’t! Don’t! They’ll Die”

“F1” star Brad Pitt has been kicking around Hollywood for a while now, having experienced the highs and lows going from background player to A-lister. He’s now trying to give the next generation of actors some career advice or wisdom on navigating the world of franchises.

Pitt has been doing the podcast circuit to promote the box office hit and spoke with The Kelce Brothers on their popular “New Heights” podcast (via Variety), revealing that he hopes the new generation of actors will avoid the industry pressure to attach themselves to the superhero genre or get themselves a franchise.

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“I like watching what the new generation is coming in with,” Pitt said on the podcast. “I like to see what they are up against and the way they negotiate and work their way through it. They enjoy it more. We were more uptight, and it had to be about acting… like, you didn’t sell out, you didn’t sell out. But now it’s like, ‘We can be artists in many different arenas, so let’s do it and let’s enjoy it.’ But they also get caught up in you ‘have to have a franchise’ or ‘have to have a superhero.’ But I keep saying, ‘Don’t! Don’t! They’ll die.”

Is Pitt sharing from personal experience? We assume so, but also, it’s worth mentioning he’s had the dual role as a producer via his production banner Plan B and is quite aware of how talent can be disposable when it comes to certain studio franchises.

Interestingly enough, his “F1” co-star Kerry Condon has been the voice of the Tony Stark’s AI F.R.I.D.A.Y. in multiple MCU movies (has denied involvement in their “Vision” series while speaking with Entertainment Tonight), and Damson Idris has recently played coy about meeting Marvel Studios about playing “Black Panther,” but is open to the idea.

While Brad Pitt has mostly avoided the superhero genre, despite a brief cameo as The Vanisher in David Leitch‘s “Deadpool 2” and went on to lead the filmmaker’s would-be franchise-starter “Bullet Train,” the actor isn’t exactly a franchise guy outside of Steven Soderbergh‘s “Ocean’s” movies and trying to get a sequel to “World War Z” going a few years back with longtime director pal David Fincher only for the two to reunite on a follow-up to Quentin Tarantino‘s “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood” that is set to begin shooting this month.

There is reportedly early development on an “F1” sequel, although it hasn’t been officially announced by either Apple Original Films or the film’s theatrical distributor, WB. Also, back in 2024, there had been chatter about coaxing director Edward Berger (“Concalve”) to tackle an “Ocean’s 14,” but we’re still waiting on more information on that front, including the status of the prequel spinoff with Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling.

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Watch Brad Pitt’s full interview on the podcast below.