Courtney Love claims refusing to let Brad Pitt play Kurt Cobain got her fired from Fight Club
A source close to the film has refuted the claims and said Love was ‘never offered’ the role
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Your support makes all the difference.Courtney Love has claimed she was fired from Fight Club because she wouldn’t allow Brad Pitt to play her late husband, Kurt Cobain.
Pitt, Edward Norton and Helena Bonham Carter starred in David Fincher’s acclaimed cult thriller Fight Club (1999)
During a recent episode of the WTF With Marc Maron podcast, Love alleged that she was originally cast to play Marla, a character eventually portrayed by Bonham Carter.
Love told host Marc Maron that she was fired from Fight Club after she “went nuclear” on Pitt and film director Gus Van Sant when they approached her about making a film about Cobain.
Love married the Nirvana frontman in 1992. Cobain died at 27, two years later in 1994. The couple had one child together, Frances Bean Cobain who is now 30.
“I wouldn’t let Brad play Kurt,” said the Hole frontwoman. “I went nuclear. I don’t do Faust. Who the f*** do you think are?”
Love recalled details of their alleged discussion, stating that she told Pitt: “I don’t know if I trust you and I don’t know that your movies are for profit. They’re really good social justice movies, but… if you don’t get me, you kind of don’t get Kurt, and I don’t feel like you do, Brad.”
She clarified that their alleged discussion they had was not about Van Sant’s 2005 movie Last Days, which was inspired by Cobain.
Love alleged that after the meeting, she was told that she had been fired from the film. She said that Norton had been the one to first break the news to her.
“He starts sobbing,” Love claimed. “He was like, ‘I don’t have the power!’” She then apparently received a call from Fincher, who confirmed that she would no longer be playing Marla.
A source close to the film told The Independent: “Nearly 25 years ago, Courtney Love auditioned for a role in Fight Club, a role she was never offered at any point. You cannot be fired for a job you didn’t get. It’s common knowledge that roles are not decided by other actors but by the director.”
Love claimed she once again said no to Pitt’s proposed biopic on Cobain in 2020.
Love said that she was not entirely opposed to the idea about making a movie about Cobain, only that she thinks she wants to make it with someone else.
“My friend Cameron Crowe [told me] Brad Pitt was put on this earth to stalk you for Kurt, which has been going on since 1996,” she said.
The Independent has contacted a representative of both Pitt and Fincher for comment.
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