Pitt tells of boozy deal with Tarantino

Brad Pitt said today his appearance in Quentin Tarantino’s new Second World War film began when they shared five bottles of wine and some kind of “smoking apparatus”.

'Inglourious Basterds' stars Pitt as an American army officer leading a group of Jewish-American soldiers around Europe taking violent revenge on Nazis.

Tarantino was a bundle of energy as he talked about the movie today, clearly delighted to be back in competition for the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival 15 years after he won it for 'Pulp Fiction'.

Pitt, 45, said he had only a hazy recollection of agreeing to make the film.

“Quentin came to visit some time at the end of the summer, we talked about backstory, we talked about movies,” he said.

“I get up the next morning and see five empty bottles of wine right on the floor. Five.

“And something that resembles a smoking apparatus – I don’t know what that was about – and apparently I had agreed to do this film.

“Six weeks later I was in uniform, and I was Lieutenant Aldo Raine (his character in the film).”

Tarantino said he was only days away from abandoning the project altogether at the casting stage after struggling to find the right actor to play one of the German generals.