Tarantino: Brad is all grown up

Quentin Tarantino says Brad Pitt is not a "pretty boy" anymore.

The 'Inglourious Basterds' director says the film's star has become a "man", and with it reached the zenith of his career.

Tarantino said: "What's really cool about Brad right now is that the pretty boy is gone. He's a man now. He can bear the weight. Brad is at the zenith of his iconicness."

The director - who had a starring role in 'From Dusk Til Dawn' and has appeared in numerous other films, including 'Little Nicky' and his own 'Deathproof' - also told how he has given up acting, to concentrate on his work behind the camera.

Referring to directing his 2003 kung-fu film he added: "I just lost the bug. 'Kill Bill' was so hard to make, I just thought, if I'm going to get up early and be on set all day, it's going to be my movie.

"I just don't have the patience to be on somebody else's dumb movie."

Tarantino also said how, despite it taking him 10 years to bring 'Inglourious Basterds' to the screen, he wrote it at a furious pace, as he couldn't stop having ideas for his characters.

He added: "I couldn't turn my brain off. I couldn't stop coming up with new avenues, new ideas".

'Inglorious Basterds' opens in European cinemas from August 19.